Chapter Summaries

Zhang Xiaohua failed to find a cure for Ou Yan, though he managed to halt her fading life force by sealing the acupoints in her head and putting her back to sleep. Meanwhile, Li Jian agreed to accept Misty Hall's assistance, and Zhang Xiaohu was appointed to oversee contact with Misty Manor, leaving Yang Ruying wondering what he had said to Li Jian.

• Zhang Xiaohua examined Ou Yan, found that her life force was draining again, and sealed the acupoints in her head to stop it and return her to sleep.
• Zhang Xiaohua gave Qiutong a bottle of Grain Abstinence Pills and concluded that Ou Yan's illness was rooted in her head, though he could find no cause.
• Martial Uncle Bai told Zhang Xiaohu and the Misty Hall leaders that Li Jian had agreed to accept Misty Hall's assistance and would communicate only with direct lineage disciples for now.
• Yang Ruying appointed Zhang Xiaohu as a Misty Hall Special Envoy to handle assistance and communication with Misty Manor.
• After Martial Uncle Bai left, Yang Ruying asked Zhang Xiaohu what he had said to Li Jian during his previous visit.

Zhang Xiaohu was appointed Misty Hall’s fully authorized envoy to negotiate with Misty Manor, while Yang Ruying and Gao Kunheng discussed why Li Jian had agreed to compromise. They believed Zhang Xiaohu’s status as a former Misty Sect direct lineage disciple had influenced Li Jian, unaware that Zhang Xiaohua was the hidden force behind events.

• Zhang Xiaohu explained to Yang Ruying that he had not asked Li Jian to make him chief senior disciple and had only visited to discuss the hall’s situation.
• Yang Ruying ordered Zhang Xiaohu to go to Misty Manor that afternoon as a fully authorized envoy, and Gao Kunheng approved his request to stay overnight if necessary.
• After Zhang Xiaohu left, Gao Kunheng told Yang Ruying that Misty Manor’s worsening circumstances and Misty Hall’s attention to Zhang Xiaohu had encouraged Li Jian to compromise.
• Yang Ruying regretted overlooking Zhang Xiaohu’s value, while Gao Kunheng explained that the timing had made his lineage status useful.
• Aunt Qin admitted she agreed with Yang Ruying and Gao Kunheng, though she had not been listening to their discussion.

Zhang Xiaohua struggled to discover why Ou Yan remained unconscious, then realized he could use the Eye of Delusion Breaking to examine her. The Eye revealed only emptiness around Ou Yan, but a brief point of light appeared, leaving Zhang Xiaohua suspecting her illness was connected to the Immortal Dao.

• Zhang Xiaohua told Old Yu that Ou Yan seemed safe for now but might need her acupoints sealed repeatedly, and vowed to keep protecting her.
• Old Yu remarked that Ou Yan's head could not be examined through ordinary means, prompting Zhang Xiaohua to remember the Eye of Delusion Breaking.
• Zhang Xiaohua asked Qiutong and Old Yu not to watch, placed restrictions around Ou Yan's bedchamber, and prepared to use the Eye.
• Zhang Xiaohua saw only emptiness when he examined Ou Yan, though the Eye still showed his own bones, meridians, and golden sphere.
• A point of light briefly appeared in the emptiness around Ou Yan, and Zhang Xiaohua directed the Eye toward it.

Zhang Xiaohua discovered that tiny Spirit Locusts were clinging to Ou Yan’s Niwan Palace and used his Dharma Eye to draw them out. Xiaohuang devoured the insects and cured Ou Yan, who began to wake as Qiutong rushed into the room.

• Zhang Xiaohua used the Eye of Delusion Breaking to find crimson points in Ou Yan’s Niwan Palace, then drew them out with the Dharma Eye’s silver light.
• Zhang Xiaohua saw that the points were tiny black insects, but his attempt to kill them failed.
• Xiaohuang sensed the insects, captured them with its silver eye, and swallowed them with yellow radiance from its nose.
• An elderly man on Yi Xiang Peak realized his Spirit Locusts had been destroyed, suspected the Cult Master had acted, and decided to find another way to target Ou Yan.
• Zhang Xiaohua confirmed Ou Yan’s vitality had stopped declining, removed the restrictions, and heard her groan as Qiutong rushed into the room.

Zhang Xiaohua confirmed that Ou Yan had recovered from her illness and returned to work on pills for the Misty Sect. He joined Zhang Xiaohu at Misty Manor, where the brothers began treating injured disciples together.

• Zhang Xiaohua reassured Qiutong and Old Yu that Ou Yan was cured but needed rest, then left for the pill room to continue refining medicine.
• Zhang Xiaohua visited He Tianshu, who reported that his limbs and ability to gather qi were recovering, and agreed that he should be secretly moved from Zhang Xiaohu's courtyard.
• Zhang Xiaohua went to Misty Manor and found Zhang Xiaohu stalling while two injured men lay in a grass hut.
• Zhang Xiaohu explained that Martial Ancestor Li had asked him to treat Martial Ancestor Liu, so he had brought others to stand in while waiting for Zhang Xiaohua.
• Zhang Xiaohua asked Zhang Xiaohu to use his inner strength to crush an injured disciple's joint, and Zhang Xiaohu began treating the man.

Zhang Xiaohua showed Zhang Xiaohu how to treat Misty Sect members with medicinal pills, then helped him heal Li Jian and Liu Qingyang. The treatment succeeded, though it left Zhang Xiaohua exhausted, and Zhang Xiaohu learned he could handle many patients himself.

• Zhang Xiaohu reset Uncle Xu's crushed joints and gave him a Bone Condensing Pill, while Zhang Xiaohua supplied Meridian Nourishing Pills for Martial Uncle Ye.
• Li Jian and Liu Qingyang waited anxiously as Zhang Xiaohu treated two disciples inside the thatched hut.
• Zhang Xiaohua checked the disciples and confirmed the pills had begun repairing their joints and dantians without his direct intervention.
• Zhang Xiaohu invited Li Jian and Liu Qingyang into the hut, and Zhang Xiaohua treated their more severe injuries with Bone Condensing Pills, a Meridian Nourishing Pill, and his true qi.
• Zhang Xiaohua finished the treatment but was pale and sweating, and he noted that Liu Qingyang had strengthened his bones with medicinal herbs.

Zhang Xiaohua speculated that leaked cultivation pills had led to the Misty Sect’s destruction and told Zhang Xiaohu that his meridians had unusual potential. After Zhang Xiaohu confessed to practicing the Su Huan Cultivation Method and becoming chief senior disciple, Li Jian rejected both as incompatible with Misty Sect traditions, and Zhang Xiaohu withdrew his claim to the position.

• Zhang Xiaohua guessed that the Misty Sect was destroyed after news of rare cultivation pills leaked, though he kept his knowledge of the sheepskin scroll secret.
• Zhang Xiaohua told Zhang Xiaohu that his meridians and dantian were resilient and full of vitality, and encouraged him to cultivate diligently.
• Zhang Xiaohua urged Zhang Xiaohu to tell Li Jian about the Su Huan Cultivation Method and his appointment as chief senior disciple, then briefly left after unsealing Li Jian’s acupoints.
• Zhang Xiaohu unsealed Li Jian, explained why Liu Qingyang’s acupoints should remain sealed, and followed Li Jian to the Council Hall.
• Zhang Xiaohu told Li Jian about practicing the Su Huan Cultivation Method and becoming chief senior disciple, but Li Jian insisted that a Misty Sect disciple must practice its own divine art.
• Zhang Xiaohu accepted Li Jian’s objection and said he would no longer claim the chief senior disciple position.

Li Jian agreed to make Zhang Xiaohu the Misty Sect’s chief senior disciple, but insisted he must find the original sect token. At Shixin Peak, Zhang Xiaohua learned that the pill-and-herb trade relied on separate public and secret account books, and left the transaction to Du Feng.

• Zhang Xiaohu insisted that he wanted to become chief senior disciple of the Misty Sect, and Li Jian agreed while explaining why he supported him.
• Li Jian told Zhang Xiaohu that a newly made token would only make him chief senior disciple of Misty Hall; he still needed to find the original token.
• Zhang Xiaohua went to the Pill-Refining Hall courtyard to prepare for the exchange with Misty Hall and found Du Feng there with two account booklets.
• Du Feng explained the harsh public exchange terms and revealed a separate secret account used for the actual dealings.
• Zhang Xiaohua handed the transaction over to Du Feng and asked him to bring Xiao Gonghe, Mu Tangchun, and the others to help the next day.

Zhang Xiaohua continued refining pills and quietly changed Misty Hall by ensuring its trades were fair, supplying Zhang Xiaohu with pills to help Misty Manor, and aiding the recovery of injured disciples. After three months, many disciples had recovered or grown stronger, while Ou Yan remained healthy and the chapter ended with the rise of Du Feng, Ding Chao, Changge, and Chen Chen.

• Zhang Xiaohua tended the final batches of Meridian Nourishing Pills and Bone Condensing Pills while struggling to master a Flying Technique.
• Zhang Xiaohua arranged fair inspections of Misty Hall's herb deliveries, accepted Du Feng's share of the traded pills, and passed them to Zhang Xiaohu.
• Zhang Xiaohu sent the pills to Misty Manor, where Li Jian welcomed the aid and injured Misty Sect disciples gradually recovered under Zhang Xiaohu's treatments.
• Wen Wenhai, Xue Qing, Lu Yueming, and He Tianshu recovered their martial arts and improved their cultivation after Zhang Xiaohua repaired and strengthened their dantians.
• Ou Yan remained free of her illness after Zhang Xiaohua removed the black insect, while Du Feng, Ding Chao, Changge, and Chen Chen rose among Misty Hall's strongest female disciples.

Zhang Xiaohua continued refining pills and studying cultivation techniques while developing a subtle sense of events through the Way of Cause and Effect. Du Feng invited him to the Misty Sect’s upcoming Martial Arts Tournament and explained how its changed format favored the Mingcui Hall disciples, before a signal flare suddenly rose from below Shixin Peak.

• Zhang Xiaohua increased his pill-refining yield, studied talismans and the Flying Technique, and contemplated the Way of Cause and Effect.
• Sensing that something was happening, Zhang Xiaohua returned to the Pill-Refining Hall courtyard and found Du Feng knocking at his door.
• Du Feng invited Zhang Xiaohua to the annual Martial Arts Tournament and described how Deputy Hall Master Zhong had combined the separate rank contests into one competition.
• Du Feng said he hoped to secure a top-six place, while Zhang Xiaohua reflected on the likely competitors and his brother’s current limitations.
• A loud cry sounded from below Shixin Peak, and a large signal flare shot into the sky.

Zhang Xiaohua wondered why an envoy from Yi Xiang Peak had summoned him and Zhang Xiaohu, while suspecting the summons might be connected to their family or Misty Manor. The chapter left the brothers on their way to meet the envoy, unaware of the envoy’s intent.

• Du Feng left Zhang Xiaohua to welcome an inner sect disciple from Yi Xiang Peak, and Zhang Xiaohua stayed in the courtyard to study the rabbit talisman.
• Du Feng returned and told Zhang Xiaohua that the Yi Xiang Peak envoy wanted to see him, prompting Zhang Xiaohua to worry about the reason for the summons.
• Du Feng explained that Senior Brother Ding had gone to Misty Manor to summon Zhang Xiaohu as well.
• At Misty Manor, Li Jian urged Zhang Xiaohu to be cautious and assured him that the disciples there would stand by him if Yi Xiang Peak meant trouble.
• Zhang Xiaohu left Misty Manor with Ding Chao, while Du Feng led Zhang Xiaohua toward Misty Hall to meet the envoy.

Envoy Mu delivered the Cult Master's Edict appointing Zhang Xiaohu as Jingxuan of Yi Xiang Peak's registered disciple, but Zhang Xiaohu asked for the order to be withdrawn. Envoy Mu invoked the Incense-Passing Cult's Second Rule and explained that the Cult Master's command required Zhang Xiaohu to accept instruction from Yi Xiang Peak.

• Zhang Xiaohua recognized Zhang Ping'er among the visitors and realized she had summoned him to express her gratitude for rescuing her.
• Envoy Mu announced that the Cult Master had ordered Jingxuan of Yi Xiang Peak to accept Zhang Xiaohu as a registered disciple and allow Yi Xiang Peak duty disciples to answer his martial arts questions.
• Yang Ruying questioned the order because Martial Uncle Jingxuan had died years earlier, while Zhang Xiaohua briefly wondered whether she was the Jingxuan who had once saved him.
• Zhang Xiaohu asked Envoy Mu to request that the Cult Master withdraw the order, saying his former master could still guide him.
• Envoy Mu made Zhang Xiaohu recite the Incense-Passing Cult's Second Rule, which declared that those allowed to question or refuse the Cult Master's Edict were not fools.
• Envoy Mu argued that Zhang Xiaohu's former master could not teach him the Su Huan Cultivation Method and said Yi Xiang Peak's duty disciples could guide him to mastery.

Envoy Mu delivered the Cult Master’s edicts, giving Zhang Xiaohu ten days to decide whether to become Jingxuan’s registered disciple and appointing Zhang Xiaohua as an Inner Sect alchemy apprentice disciple. Zhang Xiaohua accepted the post and was ordered to arrive at Yi Xiang Peak within ten days.

• Envoy Mu gave Yang Ruying Zhang Xiaohu’s registered-disciple token and allowed him up to ten days to accept the Cult Master’s edict.
• Zhang Xiaohu agreed to give the Cult Master an answer before the deadline.
• Envoy Mu announced that Zhang Xiaohua had been appointed an Inner Sect alchemy apprentice disciple and could study alchemy and Inner Sect martial arts.
• Zhang Xiaohua hesitated, then decided the position would let him go to Yi Xiang Peak and accepted his token.
• Envoy Mu left, and Zhang Ping'er reminded Zhang Xiaohua that he had ten days to report to Yi Xiang Peak.

Zhang Xiaohua and Zhang Xiaohu both received unexpected recognition from the Incense-Passing Cult, leaving them and the Misty Hall leaders uncertain about the Cult Master's intentions. Zhang Xiaohu decided to seek advice from his elders before accepting his new position as Elder Jingxuan's registered disciple.

• After Envoy Mu left, Yang Ruying congratulated Zhang Xiaohua on becoming a reserve inner sect alchemy disciple, but neither he nor Du Feng knew what the title meant.
• Yang Ruying, Gao Kunheng, Aunt Qin, and Zhang Xiaohu discussed the Cult Master's decree making Zhang Xiaohu Elder Jingxuan's registered disciple and considered whether it preserved his Misty Sect lineage.
• Zhang Xiaohu said he would ask the Cult Master to withdraw the order if accepting it required him to abandon his Misty Sect identity, and Yang Ruying advised him to consult his master and other elders.
• Yang Ruying and the deputy hall masters wondered why the Cult Master valued Zhang Xiaohu so highly after he left to seek Wen Wenhai's advice.
• Wen Wenhai questioned Zhang Xiaohu about the decree, admitted he could not understand the Cult Master's motive, and asked what Zhang Xiaohu thought.

Zhang Xiaohu sought his master and Misty Sect’s martial ancestors’ opinions about accepting Yi Xiang Peak’s offer to make him an inner sect registered disciple. They agreed that he could accept the arrangement without changing his Misty Sect lineage, leaving Zhang Xiaohu reassured as he returned to find Zhang Xiaohua missing.

• Wen Wenhai told Zhang Xiaohu that he could decide for himself, then sent him to consult Li Jian and the other martial ancestors.
• Liu Qingyang protested that Zhang Xiaohu should refuse Yi Xiang Peak’s offer, while Zhang Xiaohu explained that the new status could make life within the Incense-Passing Cult more convenient.
• Li Jian considered whether Zhang Xiaohu might become an opportunity for Misty Sect’s future, then said they would object to him changing sects but would not oppose Yi Xiang Peak guiding his martial arts.
• Zhang Xiaohu accepted Li Jian’s approval and left, while Liu Qingyang continued to suspect Yi Xiang Peak had ulterior motives.
• Zhang Xiaohu returned to his courtyard and discovered Zhang Xiaohua was not there.

Zhang Xiaohua said farewell to Ou Yan and the others before preparing to go to Yi Xiang Peak, where he hoped to settle old grievances and investigate whether Elder Jingxuan was the Master Jingxuan he had met. He then learned that Zhang Xiaohu planned to refuse the Cult Master's Edict and remain at the Misty Sect, leaving their journeys uncertain.

• Zhang Xiaohua told Ou Yan and Qiutong that he would go to Yi Xiang Peak and seek a chance to repay Zhong Pei for having Zhang Xiaohu tortured, while Ou Yan warned him not to act beyond his abilities.
• Zhang Xiaohua let Old Yu keep the sword manual until he understood it, asking him to teach its techniques to Zhang Xiaohu afterward.
• Zhang Xiaohua promised to return and treat Ou Yan if she became ill, and then said farewell to her and the others without mentioning Zhang Xiaohu's registered-disciple status.
• Zhang Xiaohua found Zhang Xiaohu brooding over the Cult Master's Edict, and Zhang Xiaohu said he still could not understand why the Cult Master had chosen him.
• Zhang Xiaohua asked whether Elder Jingxuan could be the nun he had met years earlier, but Zhang Xiaohu knew only that the elder had died.
• Zhang Xiaohu told Zhang Xiaohua he did not plan to go to Yi Xiang Peak because he had accepted the registered-disciple status and no longer needed to return the token.

Zhang Xiaohua prepared to leave Shixin Peak for Yi Xiang Peak after completing the pills for the Misty Manor disciples. Before departing, he entrusted the pills to Zhang Xiaohu and warned him to keep their effects and his recovered cultivation secret.

• Zhang Xiaohua offered to supply Zhang Xiaohu with pills through herbs rather than having Misty Hall trade with the Pill-Refining Hall, and Zhang Xiaohu agreed to stand up for Misty Hall.
• Three days later, Zhang Xiaohua completed fifty-four Bone Condensing Pills and fifty-four Meridian Nourishing Pills and packed his belongings.
• He Tianshu, Changge, and Chen Chen gathered at Zhang Xiaohu's courtyard to see Zhang Xiaohua off and urged him to be careful at Yi Xiang Peak.
• Zhang Xiaohua gave Zhang Xiaohu the pills for the Misty Manor disciples and warned him that using them could attract trouble.
• Zhang Xiaohua reminded Zhang Xiaohu to conceal his recovered cultivation from Yi Xiang Peak, then reunited with He Tianshu and the others before leaving.

Zhang Xiaohua left Shixin Peak for Yi Xiang Peak, where he was to become an inner sect pill-refining disciple, and resumed practicing the Big Dipper Divine Fist along the way. He reached Fuqiu Peak and prepared to redeem Elder Purple Ginseng’s token for a divine weapon before continuing his journey.

• Du Feng gave Zhang Xiaohua a two-hundred-year-old Ice Grass from Deputy Hall Master Qin, and Zhang Xiaohua handed Du Feng, Xiao Gonghe, and Mu Tangchun bottles of Blood Replenishing Pills as farewell gifts.
• Zhang Xiaohua set off on Huanhuan, then returned to ask Du Feng for directions to Yi Xiang Peak because he did not know the route.
• Zhang Xiaohua practiced the Big Dipper Divine Fist in a mountain hollow and wondered what purpose its bone-tempering had beyond increasing his strength.
• A mountain guard scolded Zhang Xiaohua for ignoring his earlier advice, then gave him detailed directions after learning he was an inner sect pill-refining disciple of Yi Xiang Peak.
• After traveling for two days, Zhang Xiaohua reached Fuqiu Peak and planned to use Elder Purple Ginseng’s token to collect a divine weapon from Qiankun Hall.

Ren Xiaoyao brought a token from Hall Master Purple Ginseng to Qiankun Hall to claim a weapon, but Senior Brother Zheng explained that it was an obsolete token issued by a previous Misty Hall Master. The steward approved it, and Senior Brother Zheng hinted that Ren Xiaoyao owed him thanks as they continued inside.

• Ren Xiaoyao arrived at Fuqiu Peak and showed Senior Brother Zheng his Pill-Refining Hall token after explaining he had no waist token.
• Senior Brother Zheng led Ren Xiaoyao into Qiankun Hall and chatted about the hall’s busy work and the difficulty of getting permission to leave the cult.
• Senior Brother Zheng took Ren Xiaoyao’s token to the steward, who approved it, then explained that it belonged to a batch of old tokens issued recklessly by a previous Hall Master.
• Ren Xiaoyao learned that the old tokens were still valid, though most had been returned, and Senior Brother Zheng said Ren Xiaoyao should thank him.

Zhang Xiaohua entered Qiankun Hall’s Treasure Pavilion to choose a weapon, but found nothing worthwhile in the Earth Pavilion. He secretly explored the Heaven Pavilion and took a heap of discarded objects, then considered searching the Human Pavilion.

• Senior Brother Zheng persuaded Zhang Xiaohua to give him a bottle of Spirit Condensing Pills in thanks for arranging access to a weapon.
• Senior Brother Zheng brought Zhang Xiaohua into the Treasure Pavilion and told him he had one hour to choose from the Earth Pavilion’s first two floors.
• Zhang Xiaohua searched all ten floors of the Earth Pavilion but found no weapons with Primordial Qi fluctuations.
• Zhang Xiaohua sneaked into the Heaven Pavilion and collected a strange plaque and other discarded objects from a heap in a corner.
• Zhang Xiaohua found no weapon worth taking in the Heaven Pavilion and decided to return to the Earth Pavilion before considering the Human Pavilion.