Chapter Summaries

Xiao Hua broke the restrictions in a mountain hollow, drained its weak-water pool, and found a Weak Water Bead among the remains of fallen cultivators. He left to search Yaotai Mountain for a National Teacher's token, then rushed toward a muffled scream in a forest.

• Xiao Hua used the Pure Water Vase to absorb the weak water, then destroyed the inscriptions and magical artifacts that powered the hollow's formations.
• Xiao Hua found the bones of dead Golden Core cultivators and uncovered a Weak Water Bead with Little Silver's help.
• Xiao Hua realized the Daoist cultivators faced another slaughter over the National Teacher's tokens and considered joining forces with others.
• Xiao Hua flew through Yaotai Mountain searching for a token, relying on his soul sense despite its suppression.
• Xiao Hua heard a muffled scream from the forest and rushed toward it with the Wind Escape Technique.

Xiao Hua destroyed a Confucian defensive formation and fought a giant beast Du that exploded in an attempt to kill him. After escaping the blast, he searched the area with Xiao Yin and Xiao Guo, but Xiao Yin could not locate the National Teacher's token.

• Xiao Hua uprooted the ancient trees forming a defensive formation and uncovered a giant beast Du among piles of bones.
• Xiao Hua restrained the Du with his Nascent Soul hand, but the beast absorbed Vast Righteous Qi and exploded toward him.
• Xiao Hua evaded the blast with the Demonic Realm Concealment Technique, then fled from Righteous Qi Pillars with Wind Escape after they struck at him.
• Xiao Hua released Xiao Yin and Xiao Guo, burned the bones, and found that Confucian arts prevented them from burrowing far underground.
• Xiao Guo returned with rare spirit herbs, while Xiao Yin found refining materials and the Du's horn before failing to locate the National Teacher's token.

Xiao Hua followed Little Silver to a frozen mountain ravine, where True Person Xiangtian tried to buy Little Silver for his tiger cat and threatened Xiao Hua when he refused. Their confrontation was interrupted by True Person Yuanqing’s arrival, and Xiangtian left with his tiger cat through a wind tunnel.

• Xiao Hua pursued Little Silver and reached a ravine between two gray mountain ranges.
• True Person Xiangtian arrived with a tiger cat, identified Little Silver as a Spirit Seeking Rat, and offered one hundred top-grade Qi Stones for it.
• Xiao Hua refused to surrender Little Silver, and Xiangtian threatened him while his tiger cat prepared to attack.
• Xiao Hua and Xiangtian began preparing to fight, but True Person Yuanqing arrived riding a two-headed beast.
• True Person Xiangtian abandoned the confrontation and flew with his tiger cat into the nearby wind tunnel.

Xiao Hua entered the controlling formation with True Person Yuanqing, who explained True Person Xiangtian’s connection to Fairy Xiangfeng and pursued his wounded beast Si Hong. Xiao Hua followed and found Si Hong fighting Xiangtian’s tiger cat, while Xiangtian remained hostile toward him.

• Xiao Hua told True Person Yuanqing that True Person Xiangtian had tried to ambush him, and Yuanqing agreed to cooperate with him inside the formation.
• Yuanqing told Xiao Hua that Fairy Xiangfeng was a male cultivator who had helped Xiangtian reach Nascent Soul and that Xiangfeng had killed those connected to his past.
• Yuanqing heard Si Hong roar and rushed through the mist to help it, while Xiao Hua followed after realizing Yuanqing sought the Chilling Phantom Gall.
• Xiao Hua found Yuanqing facing Xiangtian as Si Hong fought the tiger cat, which had wounded Si Hong and turned aside its venom.
• The tiger cat leapt into Si Hong’s open mouth, and Si Hong twisted its other neck to attack the tiger cat’s tail.

Little Silver killed True Person Xiangtian’s tiger-cat, and Xiangtian’s attack on Xiao Hua triggered the protective array, revealing a rare treasure and the cultivators trapped in the mist. True Person Xiangtian raced toward the treasure, while True Person Yuanqing urged Xiao Hua to join him in pursuing Xiangtian and offered to let Xiao Hua claim half the treasure.

• The tiger-cat dodged Si Hong’s attack, bit its neck, and fought back as True Person Yuanqing and True Person Xiangtian prepared to intervene.
• At Xiao Hua’s signal, Little Silver silently pierced through the tiger-cat, leaving it helpless for Si Hong to kill.
• True Person Xiangtian attacked Xiao Hua, but his pressure triggered the protective array, which swept away the fog and revealed more than a dozen cultivators and a rare treasure.
• A distant Nascent Soul cultivator charged toward the treasure, and True Person Xiangtian abandoned his attack on Xiao Hua to pursue him.
• True Person Yuanqing retrieved the injured Si Hong and asked Xiao Hua to help kill True Person Xiangtian, offering him half the treasure.

Xiao Hua witnessed the imperial formation unleash a deadly cavalry that killed half the trapped Golden Core cultivators, then cleared a safe zone to protect the survivors while pursuing True Person Xiangtian. The battle between True Person Xiangtian and another Nascent Soul cultivator shook the formation, bringing forth more soldiers and swallowing the surviving Golden Core cultivators again.

• The imperial formation activated with strange pipa music and sent endless icy war riders and immortal soldiers into the battlefield.
• A Golden Core cultivator fought off repeated attacks but was killed by a hidden frost spear, and several other Golden Core cultivators also fell.
• True Person Xiangtian charged toward the strange treasure as another Nascent Soul cultivator raced to seize it, while Xiao Hua overtook True Person Yuanqing.
• Xiao Hua used his golden scissors and magic power to kill hidden immortal soldiers and expand a safe zone for the approaching Golden Core cultivators.
• True Person Xiangtian and the unnamed Nascent Soul cultivator collided near the treasure, shaking the imperial formation and causing more soldiers to overwhelm the surviving Golden Core cultivators.

Xiao Hua and three Nascent Soul cultivators battled the concealed Confucian forces and each other inside the defensive formation surrounding a strange treasure. As True Person Xiangtian reached for the treasure, Xiao Hua struck back, while an eerie flute began sounding through the formation.

• Ice cavalry and spears overwhelmed the Golden Core cultivators, while Xiao Hua killed a concealed immortal general with his As-You-Wish Staff.
• True Person Xiangtian, True Person Yuanqing, the nameless Nascent Soul cultivator, and Xiao Hua defended themselves against the ice forces and pressed toward the strange treasure.
• True Person Yuanqing attacked True Person Xiangtian, who fought him and the nameless cultivator at once with his flying sword and furnace.
• The formation abruptly fell silent, and True Person Xiangtian sent his plum-blossom hand toward the strange treasure as Xiao Hua charged to stop him.
• True Person Xiangtian's furnace blocked Xiao Hua, but Xiao Hua struck it with his As-You-Wish Staff and sent it rolling through the air as flute music and faint breezes arose.

Xiao Hua forced True Person Xiangtian, True Person Yuanqing, and Xu Tingzi to cooperate as the imperial formation’s weak winds grew more dangerous. They agreed that Xiao Hua would claim the strange treasure, and the four set off toward the cliff under the protection of his Weak Water Bead.

• Xiao Hua warned True Person Xiangtian that his fights had triggered changes in the imperial formation and endangered everyone.
• As the weak wind eroded their magical treasures, True Person Yuanqing retrieved the Minghao Halberd, True Person Xiangtian recovered his weapons, and Xu Tingzi used a Wind-Quelling Bead for protection.
• Xiao Hua confronted True Person Xiangtian and proposed that the four cultivators set aside their grudges and work together to survive the formation.
• Xu Tingzi introduced himself as a cultivator from Jingxi Mountain Villa and agreed to cooperate because he did not seek the National Teacher's token.
• True Person Xiangtian reluctantly accepted Xiao Hua's terms, including letting Xiao Hua take the strange treasure, and Xiao Hua used the Weak Water Bead to shield the group as they flew toward the cliff.

Xiao Hua led the group through the Star Lord imperial formation, exposing and defeating hidden immortal generals until they reached a jade casket. The formation expanded to ensnare many more cultivators, and as Xiao Hua crushed rival Nascent Soul hands, a three-colored giant python descended with the Twenty-Eight Star Lords’ overwhelming power.

• Xiao Hua directed True Person Yuanqing and Xu Tingzi to strike hidden immortal generals, helping the four advance through the imperial formation.
• The group reached the cliff and spotted a square jade casket, but the formation suddenly expanded and their divine senses and Nascent Soul hands became usable.
• New cultivators rushed to seize the casket, and Xiao Hua’s enormous Nascent Soul hand crushed the hands of several rivals.
• A piercing flute note returned with raging winds and waters as a majestic three-colored giant python descended, prompting True Person Xiangtian to recognize the Twenty-Eight Star Lords.

A three-colored spear struck Xiao Hua down, but the other cultivators continued toward the strange treasure as the defensive array erupted into chaos. A demonic Nascent Soul cultivator destroyed a rival’s magic treasure, only for that rival’s Nascent Soul to vanish inside a Righteous Qi Pillar.

• A three-colored python transformed into a spear and pierced Xiao Hua’s back, gravely wounding him as True Person Yuanqing and True Person Xiangtian advanced toward the strange treasure.
• Xu Tingzi gave up competing for the treasure and watched the array, hoping to rescue Xiao Hua if an opportunity arose.
• True Person Yuanqing and True Person Xiangtian’s advance prompted the other Nascent Soul cultivators to rush for the treasure and attack one another.
• A demonic-body Nascent Soul cultivator smashed through a rival’s giant hand and destroyed another cultivator’s life-bound magic treasure, but a weak wind and iron spear then wounded the treasure’s owner.
• As the injured cultivator’s Nascent Soul tried to flee, a Righteous Qi Pillar enveloped it, and it disappeared amid the array’s chaos.

Xu Tingzi realized the Yaotai Gathering’s imperial formation was likely designed to leave only a few survivors, so he rescued the unconscious Xiao Hua and gathered Golden Core cultivators under his protection. When the formation’s three-colored python spear attacked Xu Tingzi, Xiao Hua suddenly awakened and trapped it with his Sleeve Universe technique.

• Xu Tingzi concluded that the imperial formation was far deadlier than expected and suspected Star Lord Palace had arranged a deadly contest with few survivors.
• Xu Tingzi went to where Xiao Hua had fallen, picked him up, and encountered Golden Core cultivators following him; two of them died in the formation’s attacks.
• Xu Tingzi demanded blood oaths from the Golden Core cultivators who sought his help, then led them through the formation while fighting its iron cavalry and immortal soldiers.
• As the battle’s sounds faded, Xu Tingzi hurried toward the cliff, but a three-colored python spear descended and attacked him.
• Xu Tingzi threw Xiao Hua aside and tried to evade the spear; Xiao Hua suddenly sprang up, unleashed Sleeve Universe, and enveloped the spear as Vast Righteous Qi battered his technique.

Xiao Hua confronted Jing Mu An, a Star Lord commanding the Yaotai Mountain formation, and fought to protect the trapped cultivators. As the formation’s two dragon shapes began turning it into a deadly weapon, Xiao Hua unveiled another tactic against Jing Mu An.

• Xiao Hua’s scheme was revealed when the python spear fell into his hand and vanished, and Jing Mu An appeared in the sky as the Star Lord guarding the formation.
• Jing Mu An offered Xiao Hua a place as his Star General, but Xiao Hua refused and declared he would not submit to Confucian cultivators.
• Jing Mu An activated the formation with two dragon shapes and a three-colored sphere, leaving the Nascent Soul and Golden Core cultivators struggling against its force.
• Xiao Hua struck Jing Mu An with the As-You-Wish Staff, breaking his spear and mangling his arm, but Jing Mu An healed and continued fighting with a strange weapon.
• Xiao Hua controlled the Soaring Flood Dragon Scissors while fighting Jing Mu An, then brought out a tiny gourd that made Jing Mu An recognize danger and summon a three-colored “Zi.”

Xiao Hua and Jing Mu An fought amid the Yaotai Mountain formation, with Jing Mu An unleashing its Two Dragons Playing with a Pearl killing move. Xiao Hua used the Mountain River Seal to suppress Jing Mu An and his formation, but Jing Mu An began detonating his Primordial Spirit before Xiao Hua could finish him.

• Jing Mu An summoned a three-colored child that restored his clarity and helped him resist Xiao Hua’s Spirit Severing Primordial Light, while Xiao Hua’s lightning and fire attacks badly damaged him.
• Jing Mu An’s child struck Xiao Hua’s golden body, but a mysterious suction force forced Xiao Hua to recall his Nascent Soul before it could attack.
• Jing Mu An empowered the two dragon forms with his True Qi and Dragon Pearls, unleashing the formation’s final killing move against Xiao Hua.
• Xiao Hua released the Mountain River Seal, which suppressed the dragon forms, Dragon Pearls, and Jing Mu An’s child.
• The Spirit Severing Primordial Light severed Jing Mu An’s neck, but fluctuations from his fallen body and suppressed child revealed that he was detonating his Primordial Spirit.

Xiao Hua survived Jing Mu An’s self-destruction, and True Person Xiangtian tried to kill him to claim his treasures. Xiao Hua counterattacked, but a Righteous Qi Pillar appeared and seized Xiangtian’s Nascent Soul, leaving the outcome unresolved.

• Jing Mu An’s self-destruction devastated the defensive array and blasted Xiao Hua’s body apart, while six Nascent Soul cultivators survived by fleeing or hiding.
• True Person Yuanqing and True Person Xiangtian emerged from hiding, and Xiangtian discovered Xiao Hua’s battered body before the others noticed him.
• True Person Xiangtian attacked Xiao Hua with his flying sword, but Xiao Hua’s As-You-Wish Staff blocked the strike and revealed that he was still alive.
• Xiao Hua cut True Person Xiangtian in half with golden light, and Xiangtian’s Nascent Soul attempted to teleport away.
• Xiao Hua sent the sword gourd after Xiangtian’s Nascent Soul, but a Righteous Qi Pillar blocked the Spirit Severing Primordial Light and dragged the Nascent Soul from the void.

Xiao Hua defeated True Person Xiangtian, but the Righteous Qi Pillar swept Xiangtian into a strange void, leaving his fate uncertain. After rescuing Xu Tingzi and nine injured Golden Core cultivators, Xiao Hua offered to protect them and support their future cultivation if they pledged loyalty to him.

• The Righteous Qi Pillar struck down True Person Xiangtian and carried him through a closing fissure, while Xiao Hua failed to determine whether he had died.
• Xiao Hua ordered True Person Yuanqing and the other four Nascent Soul cultivators to search Yaotai Mountain for treasures, then reflected on the incomplete magic treasures he possessed.
• Xiao Hua found Xu Tingzi badly injured beside nine surviving Golden Core cultivators and recovered Xu Tingzi's Heaven Shaking Hammer.
• Xiao Hua gave Xu Tingzi and the nine Golden Core cultivators medicinal pills, helping them recover enough to survive their injuries.
• Xu Tingzi told the Golden Core cultivators that their service had transferred to Xiao Hua, who promised to protect them and aid their cultivation if they pledged loyalty to him.

Xiao Hua stored Pan Yue, the other Golden Core cultivators, and Xu Tingzi in the Mountain River Seal, then worried that Kong Hongwu would retaliate for the broken formation and dead Star Lord. At Star Lord Palace, Kong Hongwu watched lights fall from a starry formation and spoke of greed, until a star flared and the nearby river of stars spun toward it.

• Xiao Hua gave Pan Yue and the others pills to help them re-condense their Golden Cores, then placed them inside the Mountain River Seal.
• Xu Tingzi warned Xiao Hua that the Nascent Souls of two dead cultivators had vanished in the formation, then agreed to enter the seal and cultivate.
• Xiao Hua stored the Mountain River Seal and worried that Kong Hongwu would pursue him for breaking a Star Lord imperial formation and killing a Star Lord.
• Kong Hongwu watched light motes fall from the Twenty-Eight Mansions into a starry river while his attendants marveled at the display.
• Kong Hongwu warned Xiaoyun against greed and called True Lord Huode greedy for entering the Dragon Gate.
• The star resembling Bi'an burst with starlight as the nearby dragon-shaped river of stars began spinning toward it.

Xiao Hua secured the National Teacher's token from a jade casket after the Jing Mu An Stellar Array was breached. Though he planned to stop exploring Yaotai Mountain, he asked the surviving cultivators whether they knew of Heavenly Soul, Earthly Essence, and Human Vitality.

• Kong Hongwu saw the Bi'an star collapse and blamed Old Man Hongmeng for sending Xiao Hua to attack the Star Lord Palace, then unleashed a golden-armored divine man toward the starry sky.
• Xiao Hua burned True Person Xiangtian's corpse, collected his belongings, and took the Cold Plum Flying Sword.
• True Person Jingting found the jade casket, and Xiao Hua told him the National Teacher's token inside would belong to Xiao Hua, with compensation offered in return.
• True Person Yuanqing and the other surviving Nascent Soul cultivators gave Xiao Hua gifts, and Jingting opened the casket to reveal the National Teacher's token, which Xiao Hua took.
• Xiao Hua said he would wait for the Yaotai Gathering to end instead of continuing onward, then asked the cultivators who knew of Heavenly Soul, Earthly Essence, and Human Vitality.

Xiao Hua and True Person Jingting headed toward the Human Essence as a blood-red radiance spread across Yaotai Mountain, drawing its cultivators inside. At the sandbar, Jingting revealed that he had attended thirteen Yaotai Gatherings seeking a National Teacher's token and explained how his original ambition had turned into a spiteful challenge.

• True Person Jingting told Xiao Hua he knew where the Human Essence lay and offered to lead him there in exchange for a share.
• A blood-red meteor crossed the sky, and the Star Lord Palace's radiance spread across Yaotai Mountain as cultivators rushed inside to pursue exotic treasures.
• Xiao Hua followed True Person Jingting toward the Human Essence while the other Nascent Soul cultivators entered the radiance; True Person Yuanqing chose to accompany Xiao Hua.
• The three reached a sandbar where three streams converged, and Jingting identified it as the likely location of the Human Essence.
• True Person Jingting revealed he had attended the Yaotai Gathering thirteen times without obtaining a National Teacher's token, and said that after his first three attempts he kept returning out of spite.

Xiao Hua and his companions entered the sandbank’s defensive formation after discovering someone had opened a breach, and found several Nascent Soul cultivators restraining a powerful demon beast while a wounded woman stood behind it. Xiao Hua recognized True Person Xifan and True Person Chu Feng among the cultivators as the confrontation inside the formation continued.

• True Person Jingting explained how he had first entered the sandbank and offered to serve Xiao Hua in exchange for his support in the future.
• Xiao Hua accepted True Person Jingting’s offer, but suddenly seized him and True Person Yuanqing and pulled them toward the sandbank when a breach opened in its formation.
• Xiao Hua forced a passage through the defensive formation and entered the sandbank with True Person Yuanqing and True Person Jingting.
• Xiao Hua discovered several Nascent Soul cultivators restraining a huge rabbit-like demon beast and guarding a wounded female cultivator.
• Xiao Hua recognized True Person Xifan and True Person Chu Feng among the cultivators, while the demon beast struggled against its restraints.

Xiao Hua intervened when seven cultivators besieged Fairy Jing, breaking their attacks and freeing her demon beast. As powerful cultivators emerged from the spell formations and struck at him, Xiao Hua countered them, and a fresh blast shook the formation.

• Fairy Jing recognized True Person Jingting and called out to him while she struggled against seven mid-Nascent Soul cultivators.
• True Person Chu Feng tried to persuade Xiao Hua not to interfere, but Xiao Hua suddenly attacked him and True Person Xifan with a golden giant hand.
• Xiao Hua's strike disrupted the trident restraining Fairy Jing's demon beast, allowing it to break free and tear off its forepaw ring.
• A black-armored cultivator and two other powerful cultivators emerged from the spell formations and launched attacks at Xiao Hua, including True Lord Huode.
• Xiao Hua countered the incoming attacks, blasted apart True Lord Huode's crimson fist, and withdrew amid a new violent explosion near where he had stood.