Chapter Summaries

The Giant Whale Gang helped Dragon Soaring Manor dispel Hui Chun Valley’s Five Elements Great Formation, forcing Valley Master Nie and the Jade Standing Alliance to flee through a secret passage. Dragon Manor Lord then caught them at the mountain peak, where Nie Qianxiu revealed her betrayal and Young Master Long demanded Nie Qianyu as his concubine.

• A Giant Whale Gang disciple used a violet object to dispel the white mist and disable Hui Chun Valley’s Five Elements Great Formation.
• Valley Master Nie realized Old Master Qiang had betrayed them, then led the Jade Standing Alliance into Hui Chun Valley’s secret passage.
• Valley Master Nie opened a hidden stairway in the pill chamber, and the group climbed to a peak in the inner valley.
• Dragon Manor Lord appeared with his forces and revealed that Nie Qianxiu had shown them the secret passage.
• Nie Qianxiu urged Valley Master Nie to submit to her master, while Young Master Long emerged and demanded Nie Qianyu as his concubine.

Dragon Soaring Manor and its allies attacked the Jade Standing Alliance, while Young Master Dragon assaulted Nie Qianrong, Nie Qianyu, and Xiao Juzi. Zhang Xiaohua arrived, killed Young Master Dragon and Dragon Manor Lord with flying swords, and offered Nie Qianyu medicine for Xiao Juzi before noticing something near the secret passage.

• Dragon Manor Lord and the leaders of the allied forces rejected Valley Master Nie’s plea and began fighting the Jade Standing Alliance.
• Young Master Dragon disarmed and wounded Nie Qianrong, then reached for Nie Qianyu as Dragon Manor Lord wounded Valley Master Nie.
• Xiao Juzi shielded Nie Qianyu, and Young Master Dragon tore off her left arm before reaching for Nie Qianyu again.
• Zhang Xiaohua appeared and sent eight streaks of sword light through the battle, killing Young Master Dragon, Dragon Manor Lord, and many of their fighters.
• Nie Qianyu begged Zhang Xiaohua to save Xiao Juzi, and he gave her a jade bottle of medicinal pills before looking toward the secret passage.

Zhang Xiaohua arrived at Hui Chun Valley after Young Master Long’s attack, rescued the Jade Standing Alliance, and learned that the conflict had cost Mu Qingxuan and Fei He their lives. He offered to take Nie Qianyu as a disciple, but when she affirmed her ties to the Big Dipper Sect, he accepted her provisionally and left her a communication jade talisman before flying toward Mochou City.

• Zhang Xiaohua killed the attackers from Dragon Soaring Manor and recalled his flying sword as the Jade Standing Alliance mistook him for a Sword Immortal.
• Zhang Xiaohua urged Valley Master Nie to prioritize Xiao Juzi’s treatment, and Valley Master Nie carried her down the mountain to reattach her severed arm.
• Si Yakong recounted the attack and its causes, leaving Zhang Xiaohua sorrowful over Mu Qingxuan and Fei He’s deaths.
• Zhang Xiaohua offered to take Nie Qianyu as his disciple, but she explained that she regarded the Big Dipper Sect as her master’s sect.
• Zhang Xiaohua accepted Nie Qianyu as a provisional registered disciple, gave her a communication jade talisman, and flew away toward Mochou City.

Zhang Xiaohua heard rumors about the immortal who saved Hui Chun Valley, reunited with Meng, and decided to visit the valley with her. They entered Hui Chun Villa at night, where Valley Master Nie confronted Nie Qianxiu over her role in letting Dragon Soaring Manor into the valley.

• Zhang Xiaohua heard increasingly extravagant stories about the battle at Hui Chun Valley and left the rumors uncorrected, thinking they might protect the valley.
• Zhang Xiaohua met Meng at the Matchmaker Temple and told her that an Immortal Path practitioner had supposedly killed Dragon Soaring Manor’s forces.
• Meng persuaded Zhang Xiaohua that visiting Hui Chun Valley would not endanger the Incense-Passing Cult’s plans, and he agreed to go with her.
• Zhang Xiaohua and Meng entered Hui Chun Villa unnoticed at night while disciples discussed Nie Qianyu’s refusal of the immortal elder’s offer and the formation she had set up.
• Valley Master Nie confronted Nie Qianxiu and Qiangsheng as they knelt in Herb Hall, and Nie Qianxiu defended her decision to let Dragon Soaring Manor enter the valley.

Zhang Xiaohua arrived at Hui Chun Valley with Meng and revealed that his actions had caused the valley’s recent disaster. He offered pills as an apology, while Nie Qianyu learned that Meng was named Zixia and had heard Zhang Xiaohua speak of her often.

• Valley Master Nie prepared to cripple Nie Qianxiu and Qiangsheng’s martial arts and imprison them after Old Master Yue argued for punishment instead of execution.
• Zhang Xiaohua and Meng entered the hall, and Zhang asked to question the prisoners about the mysterious master linked to Dragon Soaring Manor.
• Valley Master Nie refused to let Zhang and Meng question the prisoners privately, citing the need to handle the matter openly.
• Zhang revealed that he was an Incense-Passing Cult Protector disciple, explained that he had come secretly because Hui Chun Valley’s crisis was partly his fault, and asked those present to keep his whereabouts secret.
• Zhang apologized to Valley Master Nie and offered him bottles of Incense-Passing Cult pills as compensation.
• Nie Qianyu greeted Meng, who introduced herself as Zixia and said Zhang had often spoken of Nie Qianyu, leaving her pale with shock.

Zhang Xiaohua settled matters at Hui Chun Valley, returned Si Yakong’s Wordless Heavenly Book, and left Nie Qianyu to decide whether she wanted to join the Big Dipper Sect. After secretly searching for clues about the hidden conspirators, he overheard Nie Qianyu confessing her feelings for him, leaving him stunned.

• Zhang Xiaohua gave Nie Qianyu healing pills as compensation for Hui Chun Valley’s losses and asked everyone to keep his visit secret.
• Si Yakong asked for the Wordless Heavenly Book back, and Zhang Xiaohua returned it untouched.
• Valley Master Nie urged Zhang Xiaohua not to pursue Nie Qianyu’s discipleship, but Zhang Xiaohua said the choice was hers and warned her not to keep practicing his cultivation method if she declined.
• After leaving with Meng, Zhang Xiaohua returned to Hui Chun Valley to question Qiangsheng and Nie Qianxiu, but found no useful clues.
• Zhang Xiaohua overheard Nie Qianyu lamenting that she loved him and could not bear to see him with Meng, and he stood stunned above the peach grove.

Zhang Xiaohua and Meng learned that Nie Qianxiu knew little about the mysterious master beyond the name Shuiyun, while news of the immortal’s attack on Dragon Soaring Manor spread through the martial world. The Incense-Passing Cult and Righteous Path Alliance began weighing the rise of Immortal Dao practitioners and preparing for what might follow.

• Zhang Xiaohua told Meng that Nie Qianxiu and Qiangsheng had been used as pawns and that she had heard the master was connected to a place called Shuiyun northeast of Mochou City.
• Gang Leader Huang questioned Peng Yeyu about his missing son, then learned that an immortal had slaughtered Dragon Soaring Manor’s attackers at Hui Chun Valley.
• Peng Yeyu set out for Mochou City and ordered Gang Leader Huang to investigate the survivors and report the incident to the master.
• Abbess Jingyi and Abbess Jingfan discussed the Immortal Dao’s appearance alongside changes in Primordial Qi and agreed that the Incense-Passing Cult needed to act.
• Zhang San and Deputy Alliance Leader Chai considered whether the Immortal Dao practitioner was connected to the earlier destruction of the Fierce Tiger Gang’s underground hall.

The Righteous Path Alliance planned to hunt down the Misty Sect remnants and pressed Shui Yupeng for information about the sect’s hidden inheritance. Great Forest Temple and the Heavenly Dragon Divine Cult also discussed the Immortal Path practitioner and the destruction of the Misty Sect, leaving Di Shitian ordering his followers to uncover the reason behind it.

• Zhang San and the Righteous Path Alliance deputies discussed their search for Immortal Path secrets and decided to sweep away the Misty Sect remnants hiding with Hu Yunyi.
• Zhang San secretly used a crimson flag and a greenish yuan stone in a private chamber.
• Deputy Alliance Leader Chai learned Shui Yupeng had been captured and questioned him about a sheepskin scroll, using Tiantian and the possibility of restoring the Misty Sect to pressure him.
• Elder Changsheng dismissed concerns about the Immortal Path practitioner in Mochou City and declared that Great Forest Temple was ready to face any challenge.
• Di Shitian questioned his followers about the Immortal Path practitioner and the destruction of the Misty Sect, then ordered them to find out why the sect had been destroyed.

Zhang Xiaohua and Meng reached a temple called Great Forest Temple, but found that its abbot, rules, and monks did not match the Great Forest Temple they expected. Zhang Xiaohua realized the temple was a different institution sharing the same name, and the pair left to continue their search.

• Zhang Xiaohua and Meng discussed their long journey and the Incense-Passing Cult’s plans as they rode toward Great Forest Temple.
• They saw women entering the temple despite hearing that women were forbidden, and an elderly worshipper told Zhang Xiaohua that its abbot was Wu Lan rather than Changsheng.
• Zhang Xiaohua asked a young monk about Changsheng, Chang Geng, Chang Xing, Yuan Liao, Yuan Kong, and the temple’s halls, but the monk knew none of them.
• Zhang Xiaohua concluded that this Great Forest Temple was not the Great Forest Temple he sought, then led Meng away.

Zhang Xiaohua and Meng followed young monks through the mountains toward Great Forest Temple, where Zhang Xiaohua rescued one of them and the pair found their way onward. A monk guarding the route then mistook them for fame-seeking challengers and dismissed Meng’s Incense-Passing Cult attire as a common disguise.

• Zhang Xiaohua and Meng followed a group of young monks carrying heavy water buckets to a mountain spring.
• When one monk slipped toward the spring, Zhang Xiaohua swiftly caught him and carried him and his buckets to safety.
• The rescued monk silently signaled for them to follow, and Zhang Xiaohua and Meng tracked water stains along the middle path.
• At a pavilion, a guard monk blocked their way and accused them of coming to challenge Great Forest Temple for fame.
• The guard monk said women often impersonated Incense-Passing Cult disciples, leaving Zhang Xiaohua and Meng stunned.

Zhang Xiaohua and Meng tried to gain entry to Great Forest Temple to deliver a message to Elder Changsheng, but a suspicious monk refused to believe their identities. After Zhang Xiaohua fought off the gate guards, the temple began verifying their Incense-Passing Cult credentials.

• Meng introduced herself and Zhang Xiaohua as Incense-Passing Cult disciples, but Yuan Meng dismissed their claim and refused to take her waist token into the temple until his shift ended.
• Zhang Xiaohua attacked Yuan Meng with the Prajna Heavy Sword, bent his Crescent Spade, and triggered a signal that brought four more monks to the gate.
• Zhang Xiaohua defeated the five monks with his Misty Steps and heavy sword, leaving their weapons bent and their arms numb.
• The senior monk reconsidered after learning they were from the Incense-Passing Cult, accepted Meng's waist token, and sent a junior monk to deliver it to Chang Geng for verification.
• More people rushed toward the gate, and Zhang Xiaohua spotted the monk who had carried Meng's waist token among them.

Ren Xiaoyao faced Kong Jian, a Great Forest Temple Protector disciple who challenged his claim to represent the Incense-Passing Cult. After studying Kong Jian’s hammer technique while defending with Prajna Heavy Sword, Ren Xiaoyao counterattacked, leaving Kong Jian’s arms numb from the clash.

• Kong Jian arrived at the mountain gate and questioned Ren Xiaoyao’s claim that he was an Incense-Passing Cult Protector disciple.
• Ren Xiaoyao argued with Kong Jian over their titles and refused to explain himself again, so Kong Jian summoned his twin copper hammers to challenge him.
• Kong Jian attacked with a hammer technique that sent a mind-disrupting sound toward Ren Xiaoyao, but Ren Xiaoyao calmed himself with the Spirit Guiding Technique.
• Ren Xiaoyao blocked Kong Jian’s twin hammers with Prajna Heavy Sword, then deliberately appeared to struggle while memorizing the hammer technique.
• After declaring that it was his turn, Ren Xiaoyao struck with Prajna Heavy Sword, and Kong Jian blocked with both hammers, leaving his arms numb.

Zhang Xiaohua and Zixia reached Great Forest Temple to deliver the Incense-Passing Cult’s invitation to a Martial Arts Gathering, but the temple’s disciples initially obstructed them. After Kongchan verified their credentials and welcomed them, they met the temple elders and presented the invitation, leaving Master Chang Xing surprised and suggesting Abbess Jingyi still held a grudge.

• Kongjian attacked Zhang Xiaohua at the mountain gate, but Zhang Xiaohua knocked his bronze hammers from his hands.
• Kongchan arrived, reprimanded Kongjian for mistreating the visitors, and ordered him to report to the Disciplinary Hall.
• A disciple presented Ren Xiaoyao’s waist token, and Kongchan recognized Zixia and Zhang Xiaohua as guests of the Incense-Passing Cult.
• Kongchan escorted Zixia and Zhang Xiaohua into Great Forest Temple, where monks rang the Guest Welcoming Bell and the temple gates opened.
• Zixia told Master Chang Xing and Master Chang Geng that the Incense-Passing Cult had invited Great Forest Temple to a Martial Arts Gathering at Yi Xiang Peak.
• Zhang Xiaohua handed Master Chang Xing the jade-slip invitation, and Master Chang Xing remarked that Abbess Jingyi seemed to still bear a grudge.

Ren Xiaoyao delivered Abbess Jingyi’s jade slip to Great Forest Temple, where Master Chang Xing explained the old wager that had kept Jingyi from entering the temple. The monks prepared to test Ren as a Protector disciple, and the chapter ended with them learning the Incense-Passing Cult’s protective array had opened and its Martial Arts Gathering would take place in two months.

• Master Chang Xing explained that Great Forest Temple’s rule barred women, so Abbess Jingyi had once wagered she could enter by passing three trials and lost at the final array.
• Master Chang Xing said Jingyi had promised to send a disciple to attempt the array, and he treated Ren Xiaoyao’s visit as fulfilling that promise.
• Master Chang Geng recognized Ren as resembling a young man he had seen at Huanxi Mountain Villa years earlier.
• Master Chang Geng questioned Ren about the Martial Arts Gathering, and Ren said it would be held at Yi Xiang Peak in two months.
• Ren told the monks that the Incense-Passing Cult’s protective grand array had opened, prompting them to fear turmoil in the martial world.

Zhang Xiaohua wagered an Incense-Passing Cult cultivation manual for the chance to enter Great Forest Temple’s Library Pavilion, then stepped into the Arhat Formation. As the eighteen monks began their formation, he sensed them drawing in the surrounding Primordial Qi.

• A bone-chilling wind swept through Great Forest Temple, and Master Chang Geng sent a disciple to investigate.
• Master Chang Xing prepared the Arhat Formation and invited Zhang Xiaohua to challenge it on Abbess Jingyi’s behalf.
• Zhang Xiaohua negotiated a wager: he offered an Internal Energy Cultivation Method in exchange for permission to read a non-cultivation manual inside the Library Pavilion if he won.
• Master Chang Xing accepted the wager with restrictions, and Zhang Xiaohua entered the formation carrying Prajna.
• The eighteen monks circled Zhang Xiaohua and struck their Long Staffs against the ground, while he used the Spirit Guiding Technique to clear his mind and sensed the formation gathering Primordial Qi.

Zhang Xiaohua entered Great Forest Temple’s Arhat Formation and endured its coordinated staff attacks while concealing his Misty Sect techniques. After discovering how the monks pooled their strength, he disrupted their formation, and Master Chang Xing praised his skill as the trial ended.

• Zhang Xiaohua avoided using Misty Steps so Master Chang Geng would not recognize his ties to the Misty Sect, then blocked the monks’ powerful staff blows with Prajna.
• As the attacks continued, Zhang Xiaohua noticed that only one monk struck at a time and that the force behind the blows was gradually weakening.
• Zhang Xiaohua used his divine sense to detect the ripples transmitting strength among the eighteen monks and understood how their formation combined their power.
• Zhang Xiaohua decided to break the monks’ coordination with Prajna rather than reveal his lightness skill or wait for them to tire.
• Zhang Xiaohua intercepted the next monks before they could attack in sequence, cutting off the formation’s flow of strength and breaking the Arhat Formation.
• Master Chang Xing praised Zhang Xiaohua’s insight and composure, and Zhang Xiaohua modestly credited his success to luck.

Zhang Xiaohua rested after breaking Great Forest Temple’s Arhat Formation, then faced the second trial against Kongchan and the Demon Subduing Pestle. He discovered the artifact’s crushing weight firsthand and was forced backward by its first strike.

• Master Chang Geng rebuked the eighteen monks for underestimating Zhang Xiaohua, and they withdrew after he broke their formation.
• Master Chang Xing invited Zhang Xiaohua to rest, while Zhang Xiaohua and Meng discussed why the Cult Master had sent him to undertake the trials and wagered the cult’s Internal Energy Cultivation Method.
• Master Chang Xing and Master Chang Geng returned, and Kongchan emerged carrying the Demon Subduing Pestle for the second trial.
• Kongchan explained that the Demon Subduing Pestle felt light in his hands but became mountain-heavy when striking crooked and evil opponents.
• Kongchan attacked, and Zhang Xiaohua thrust Prajna at the pestle, but its increasing weight numbed his arm and drove him backward.

Zhang Xiaohua defeated Monk Kongchan by exploiting the Demon Subduing Pestle’s short-lived magical power and then rested before the Great Forest Temple prepared its third trial. Kongchan led Zhang Xiaohua and Meng away from the square to face the next challenge.

• Zhang Xiaohua endured Kongchan’s powerful attacks and realized the Demon Subduing Pestle’s weight depended on magical power Kongchan could not sustain.
• Zhang Xiaohua recognized similarities between Kongchan’s techniques and Kongjian’s hammer techniques, then avoided direct clashes and targeted flaws in Kongchan’s movements.
• As Kongchan weakened and the pestle grew lighter, Zhang Xiaohua repeatedly struck it with the Heaven-Shaking Strike until Kongchan conceded.
• Master Chang Xing and Master Chang Geng revealed that Abbess Jingyi had defeated the previous Protector disciple by wearing him down, and Master Chang Xing offered Zhang Xiaohua a rest before the third trial.
• After an hour, Kongchan recovered, came to fetch Zhang Xiaohua, and led him toward the third trial at another location.

Zhang Xiaohua entered the Great Forest Temple’s third trial in Forbidden Wind Valley, where a restriction sealed away everyone’s internal energy. He learned he would compete with Kong Ju in lifting the Town Suppressing Cauldron and showed that he could lift its initial weight with ease as Master Chang Geng rang the bell to increase it.

• Kong Chan led Zhang Xiaohua and Meng to Forbidden Wind Valley, where they met Masters Chang Xing and Chang Geng and the enormous Kong Ju.
• Master Chang Xing led Zhang Xiaohua and Meng through a crevice to ruins centered on a bronze cauldron, and Zhang Xiaohua discovered the platform suppressed True Qi and divine sense.
• Master Chang Xing explained that the third trial tested physical strength, and Master Chang Geng described how his bell increased the Town Suppressing Cauldron’s weight.
• Kong Ju lifted the cauldron first, then Zhang Xiaohua raised it one-handed with little effort.
• Master Chang Geng expressed surprise and rang the bell to make the cauldron heavier.

Zhang Xiaohua defeated Kong Ju in the Town Suppressing Cauldron trial and learned that Master Chang Geng recognized someone resembling Meng, raising questions about Zixia’s origins. He entered Great Forest Temple to meet Abbot Changsheng, while Meng waited outside.

• Zhang Xiaohua proposed raising the Town Suppressing Cauldron’s weight by five thousand jin at a time, and Kong Ju failed to lift it at sixteen thousand jin.
• Zhang Xiaohua lifted the cauldron and set it down gently, prompting Kong Ju to concede defeat.
• A gust lifted Meng’s veil, and Master Chang Geng reacted as though he recognized her before claiming he had seen someone resembling Zixia forty years earlier.
• Master Chang Xing suggested that Master Chang Geng report the matter to Abbot Changsheng, and Zhang Xiaohua entered Great Forest Temple while Meng waited outside.
• Zhang Xiaohua concealed his cultivation when a divine sense swept over him, then entered the room and greeted Abbot Changsheng.