Chapter Summaries

Cheng Xinzhan called on Northern Dipper altars across the Divine Land to send their different lights to the Purple Tenuity Divine Altar, where he used them to withstand Green Robe’s assault. As the final light was summoned from the rebuilt Northern Dipper Palace, He Songshi and the disciples awaited the next rite.

• Daoist Zhanchang and Daoist Shengying answered Cheng Xinzhan’s calls by sending cleansing and salvation star rain from their altars to Redwood Ridge.
• Green Robe attacked the Purple Tenuity Divine Altar with an Asura sword and a million Demon Soldiers, but star rain from Juqü Mountain formed a barrier and summoned seven Star Lords to guard it.
• Altars on Three Pure Ones Mountain, Weibao Mountain, and Eight-Faced Mountain sent further Northern Dipper lights as Green Robe charged the altar in person.
• Cheng Xinzhan shaped the demon-slaying light into a Talisman Sword and struck Green Robe’s tail, wounding the dragon while remaining unharmed on the altar.
• At the ruins of Northern Dipper Palace, He Songshi continued the salvation rites until Cheng Xinzhan’s call for the light of bringing relief and resolving calamity reached Chessboard Mountain.

Cheng Xinzhan united the Northern Dipper lineages in a seven-altar formation and unleashed star rain against Green Robe and Rotten Peach Mountain. The clear water flowing from the mountain revealed that the star gang had overcome its baleful fire, while Cheng Xinzhan looked toward Jupiter and awaited what came next.

• He Songshi answered Cheng Xinzhan's summons, proclaimed the Northern Dipper Palace's participation, and sent its star rain toward the Purple Tenuity Divine Altar.
• Cheng Xinzhan confronted an incoming moonlight attack as He Songshi guided his disciples toward the Heaven and Earth Transposition formation.
• The seven altar lights merged, and the star rain wounded Green Robe until he fled to Rotten Peach Mountain.
• Cheng Xinzhan completed the Purple Tenuity Imperial Command Evil-Slaying Incantation and sent the star rain sweeping toward the mountain.
• Green Robe unleashed Rotten Peach Mountain's baleful fire, but the star gang overcame it, and clear water flowed from the mountain.
• Lion's million golden eyes and roars announced the victory as Cheng Xinzhan glanced toward Jupiter.

Cheng Xinzhan used Northern Dipper star rain to break Green Robe’s defenses at Rotten Peach Mountain, then seized the Peach Blossom River and trapped what appeared to be Green Robe in a Star Cord. He discovered the captive was only a bewitched dragon scale, while Green Robe had escaped toward the Qian River-Xun River line.

• Green Robe activated Rotten Peach Mountain’s Earthly Baleful Intent Treasure Restriction and Dragon Horse Cloud-Racing Restriction, but Cheng Xinzhan’s star rain destroyed both.
• Green Robe summoned the Asura Devil Palace Restriction, but the star rain shattered the palace and forced him to flee through an underground current.
• Green Robe used Purple Flame Void-Piercing Divine Light to block the star rain and escaped into the Peach Blossom River, where he discovered Cheng Xinzhan had taken control of its waters.
• Cheng Xinzhan bound Green Robe with a Northern Dipper Star Cord and subdued the dragon-shaped object as star rain continued to strike it.
• The old stronghold chief of Chiyou Cave reported that the captive was only a bewitched dragon scale and that Green Robe had already fled.
• Cheng Xinzhan told the old stronghold chief and Immortal’s Cave forces to cross the river and said Green Robe had likely retreated to the Qian River-Xun River line.

Cheng Xinzhan subdued Green Robe’s unstable treasure, fought Gong Zhengyu at Chessboard Mountain, and drove her away with the Northern Dipper altar’s divine light. He then transformed the altar into a Taiyi Jiuku Compassionate Spirit Altar and began a rite to cleanse the Southern Wastes, deliver the dead, and restore the land.

• Cheng Xinzhan suppressed the destructive divine light in Rotten Peach Mountain and stored it inside the Fire Sword.
• Cheng Xinzhan fought Gong Zhengyu at Chessboard Mountain, studied her sword arts, and gradually turned the battle in his favor.
• Gong Zhengyu summoned the Taiyin Venerable Deity dharma form, but fled when Cheng Xinzhan aimed the altar’s Void-Piercing Mirror Wheel at her.
• Cheng Xinzhan redirected the altar’s final divine light toward the Eastern Brightness Hall.
• Cheng Xinzhan changed the altar into a Taiyi Jiuku Compassionate Spirit Altar and began praying for sweet dew rain to heal the wasteland and deliver its wandering souls.

Cheng Xinzhan completed the Taiyi rain-bestowing rites, directing several Daoist sects to send life-giving rain across the Southern Wastes. The Lion entered the Nascent Soul Realm and grew a second head, while Cheng Xinzhan hoped Biji Mountain would return to the righteous path.

• Cheng Xinzhan changed the altar to Taiyi's compassionate altar and summoned Jupiter's starlight as Sweet Dew.
• Cheng Xinzhan ordered the Lion to carry the divine talisman across barren and resentful lands, and the Lion entered the Nascent Soul Realm with a second head.
• Daoist Tizhen, the Four Wood Star Lords, Fang Wuya, and You Gaomin answered Cheng Xinzhan's commands by sending spring winds, rain, and precious dew to the Southern Wastes.
• Five life-giving rains revitalized the demonic soil, completing Cheng Xinzhan's two great altar formations.
• Cheng Xinzhan regretted that Biji Mountain had missed the rites, but hoped it would return to the righteous path after Green Robe retreated.

Cheng Xinzhan united with the Dao of Rotten Peach Mountain and the Peach Blossom River, then moved his ritual altar from Redwood Ridge to suppress the mountain’s baleful cavern. After reviewing his gains and setting aside Green Robe’s dragon pearl for his junior sister, he sent Lingzheng Light Mass back into the cavern, while his Lingzheng body fired a divine light toward the Ice and Snow Palace’s Eastern Brightness Hall.

• Cheng Xinzhan united with the Dao of Rotten Peach Mountain, gaining strength from its position in the Southern Wastes’ earth veins.
• Cheng Xinzhan flew the Three-Thousand-Step Circular Mound Ritual Altar from Redwood Ridge and set it atop Rotten Peach Mountain’s baleful cavern.
• Cheng Xinzhan assessed the Southern School’s losses and his own gains, including the dragon pearl and Lingzheng Light Mass.
• Cheng Xinzhan placed Green Robe’s dragon pearl in a box for his junior sister and returned the still-gestating Lingzheng Light Mass to the underground cavern.
• At Chessboard Mountain, Cheng Xinzhan’s Lingzheng body fired Dipper Chief’s Weapon-Wielding Form-Extinguishing Divine Light toward the Ice and Snow Palace’s Eastern Brightness Hall, drawing the attention of Gong Zhengyu, Shi Zhangji, and the Blood God Child.

A hidden Fifth Realm incarnation unleashed Extinction Divine Light from Chessboard Mountain, annihilating Accumulating Moon Valley and killing Murong Yan. Gong Zhengyu attacked the altar in rage, while Blood God Child identified the figure as Master Cheng from the south and sent Flame Mountain to assist.

• Murong Yan recovered from Shi Zhangji’s frost sword qi and worried over his losses, then noticed the Heavenly Mountain Sword Sect had unexpectedly withdrawn from Accumulating Moon Valley.
• Murong Yan used the Mirror Flower, Water Moon Art to inspect Chessboard Mountain and saw brilliant starlight before divine light descended on Accumulating Moon Valley.
• The divine light destroyed the Eastern Brightness Hall and erased Murong Yan, leaving only his golden core, which Shi Zhangji collected.
• Gong Zhengyu saw Accumulating Moon Valley’s destruction and charged back toward Chessboard Mountain after realizing Murong Yan was gone.
• Blood God Child sensed the strike, recognized the Daoist as a Fifth Realm incarnation, and sent Flame Mountain to help as Gong Zhengyu attacked Cheng Xinzhan and the Northern Dipper Altar.
• Blood God Child told Gong Zhengyu that the figure was Master Cheng from the south, not Du Shouzhuo.

Cheng Xinzhan fought Gong Zhengyu after destroying the Eastern Brightness Hall, but she used the Twelve Stream Water Palace and Twelve Thunder Gates to restrain him and destroy his Dipper-Worshipping Altar. Blood God Child exposed Cheng Xinzhan’s identity as Master Cheng, and as Gong Zhengyu trapped his incarnation, another powerful presence arrived from the south.

• Cheng Xinzhan unleashed his Northern Dipper divine light at Gong Zhengyu, who blocked it with the Void-Containing Pure-Mixing Abode.
• Gong Zhengyu deployed the Great Yin Twelve Stream Water Palace Dao Domain and spent immortal power to prevent Cheng Xinzhan from escaping through the void.
• Gong Zhengyu used the domain’s waves to swallow Cheng Xinzhan’s divine light, then destroyed the Dipper-Worshipping Altar with her Mirror Wheel.
• Cheng Xinzhan attacked with Geng Metal Sword Qi, but Gong Zhengyu countered with a Fire Thunder from the Twelve Thunder Gates.
• Blood God Child revealed that Cheng Xinzhan was Master Cheng, prompting Gong Zhengyu to encircle his incarnation rather than confront him directly.
• Cheng Xinzhan considered escaping after completing his mission, when a powerful streak of fire arrived from the south.

Cheng Xinzhan escaped Gong Zhengyu’s domain, but Huo Wuwei tracked him beneath Flame Mountain. After Cheng recognized Huo Wuwei as a calamity hound and challenged his service to the Demon Cult, Huo invited him to Scarlet Smoke City, where Cheng asked why he had joined the Northern Faction decades earlier.

• Huo Wuwei arrived to reinforce Gong Zhengyu, but Cheng Xinzhan used the Great Five Elements Annihilation Divine Light to break through her Dao domain and escape underground.
• Huo Wuwei tracked Cheng Xinzhan beneath Flame Mountain, and Cheng stopped in a fire cavern to confront him.
• Cheng Xinzhan inferred that Huo Wuwei had attained the Dao from a calamity hound’s remains and asked why he served the Demon Cult despite his clan’s honored history.
• Huo Wuwei admitted that he remained proud of his calamity hound heritage and invited Cheng Xinzhan to Scarlet Smoke City for tea.
• After Cheng Xinzhan praised the Fire Cloud Tea, he asked Huo Wuwei why he had joined the Northern Faction during the Demon Tide decades earlier.

Cheng Xinzhan learned that Huo Wuwei had attacked the Xiling and Qilian Sword Sects for an old personal grudge, while protecting human settlements in the Gobi. After Huo Wuwei gained insight into his cultivation from Cheng Xinzhan’s Taiji Diagram, Cheng Xinzhan mentioned a Qilin who became a Corpse Immortal, and Huo Wuwei asked whether he knew his master.

• Huo Wuwei explained that Flame Mountain protected humans in the Gobi and that he had joined the attacks on the Xiling and Qilian Sword Sects only to avenge a four-hundred-year-old grudge.
• Huo Wuwei refused to reveal the grudge and vowed to finish his revenge before withdrawing Flame Mountain from worldly affairs.
• Cheng Xinzhan agreed to stay at Scarlet Smoke City, and Huo Wuwei told Blood God Child that he had failed to catch him.
• Huo Wuwei asked Cheng Xinzhan how to resolve the imbalance of yin and yang in his cultivation, and Cheng Xinzhan drew a Taiji Diagram and left only its yang half.
• Huo Wuwei realized he could use flourishing yang to generate true yin, then thanked Cheng Xinzhan for the guidance.
• Cheng Xinzhan described a Qilin who had become a Corpse Spirit and later ascended as a Corpse Immortal, prompting Huo Wuwei to ask whether Cheng Xinzhan knew his master.

Huo Wuwei told Cheng Xinzhan how Jin Mingzi had fallen from the Immortal Realm, awakened beneath Flame Mountain, and later ascended again, revealing that Jin Mingzi’s murderers included members of the Xiling Sword Sect, Qilian Sword Sect, and Azure City Sect. The chapter left Cheng Xinzhan confronting the possibility that a much wider Xuanmen alliance had arranged the killing, while Huo Wuwei remained set on taking revenge.

• Cheng Xinzhan told Huo Wuwei that Jin Mingzi had ascended from a Qingzhou metal cavern, and Huo Wuwei rejoiced to learn his teacher had returned to the Immortal Realm.
• Cheng Xinzhan revealed the golden qilin corpse in his Lung Palace and explained that he had made Jin Mingzi’s undying metal intent his Inner Landscape Deity, leading Huo Wuwei to regard him as a fellow disciple.
• Huo Wuwei recounted how Flame Mountain’s former City Lord protected Jin Mingzi’s corpse, how Jin Mingzi awakened and taught him, and how Jin Mingzi had been ambushed by nineteen Heavenly Immortals calling themselves the Golden Immortal Association.
• Huo Wuwei identified the Qilian Sword Sect’s Linked Mountains Sword Arts, the Xiling Sword Sect’s Dharma Sword techniques, and Azure City Sect’s Tiandu sword among the attackers who killed Jin Mingzi.
• Cheng Xinzhan and Huo Wuwei considered whether other Xuanmen and Sword Sect powers had joined the conspiracy, while Huo Wuwei declared that he would keep pursuing revenge against his teacher’s enemies.

Cheng Xinzhan returned from the Western Regions after delaying Huo Wuwei’s campaign against the Qilian Sword Sect and learned that his martial uncle was consolidating power in the Ice and Snow Palace. At Rotten Peach Mountain, Bai Yongliang and the Lion finished building Listening to the Earth Monastery, where Cheng Xinzhan’s followers settled beneath the looming divine altar.

• Cheng Xinzhan failed to dissuade Huo Wuwei from seeking revenge, but kept him on Flame Mountain for two months and gave him an alchemical poem to study, buying the Qilian Sword Sect time to recover.
• Chen Suxing told Cheng Xinzhan that the Ice and Snow Palace was in turmoil and that he was focused on supporting Gong Zhengyu and expanding Northern Yin Hall’s influence.
• Cheng Xinzhan recalled his manifestation and returned to Rotten Peach Mountain, where Bailong Nai had come back from Chiyou Cave and then left to fight Southern Demons.
• Bai Yongliang and the Lion completed Listening to the Earth Monastery, and the Lion settled inside its incense-burner statue to enjoy the mountain’s spiritual energy.
• Cheng Xinzhan’s household occupied the monastery, while Xinshu and Zhaoli played in the Peach Blossom River and the divine altar remained a feared sacred instrument.

Cheng Xinzhan completed the initial form of his Yin-Yang Treasure Mirror with Huo Wuwei’s help, then considered how to manifest his Inner Landscape Deities through his Myriad Phenomena Dao Domain. He left the Purple Tenuity Great Emperor unvisualized and planned to study Shangqing methods and seek True Person Chengchu’s guidance.

• Cheng Xinzhan used rare Yang Gang, baleful intents, and materials from Huo Wuwei to shape the Yin-Yang Treasure Mirror, also called the Formless Spirit Mirror.
• After returning to his original body, Cheng Xinzhan continued refining the mirror and considered using it to manifest his Inner Landscape Deities externally.
• Cheng Xinzhan visualized the Seven Star Lords of the Northern Dipper during the altar rite, bringing his total number of Inner Landscape Deities to nineteen.
• Cheng Xinzhan decided against visualizing the Purple Tenuity Great Emperor because the Great Emperor’s influence could change him and no suitable great Aperture remained.
• Cheng Xinzhan planned to place his Inner Landscape Deities throughout his Myriad Phenomena Dao Domain so they could manifest together and give the domain form and spirit.
• Cheng Xinzhan intended to study the Supreme Celestial Capital Talisman and Shangqing Bilu Mirror, then ask True Person Chengchu for instruction.

Cheng Xinzhan consulted True Person Chengchu about joining his Inner Landscape Deities with his Dao Domain, then firmly declined the Haoran Alliance’s planned title of True Lord of Evolving the Subtle. The chapter ended with news that True Person Baoyuan’s Immortal Tribulation was approaching and he needed a replacement for his overseas post.

• True Person Chengchu visited Cheng Xinzhan and discussed how he could manifest his Inner Landscape Deities within his Dao Domain, explaining the Shangqing Sect’s method of Manifest Deity Union with the Dao.
• Over more than a month of discussion, True Person Chengchu helped Cheng Xinzhan complete the Spirit Preservation restrictions in the Yin-Yang Treasure Mirror and refine his plans for a Myriad Phenomena Manifest Deity Dao Domain.
• True Person Chengchu told Cheng Xinzhan that the Haoran Alliance planned to honor him as the True Lord of Evolving the Subtle at next year’s Clear and Bright ceremony.
• Cheng Xinzhan thanked the sects but rejected the honor, insisting that demons remained and lost territory had yet to be reclaimed.
• True Person Chengchu explained that Cheng Xinzhan’s work restoring lands and establishing order justified the title, but he firmly asked her to end the matter.
• Cheng Xinzhan received a message that True Person Baoyuan’s Immortal Tribulation was nearing and that Baoyuan wanted to know whether Cheng Xinzhan had chosen a replacement for his overseas post.

Cheng Xinzhan considered whether to keep directing the fight against the demons or retreat to refine the Great Corpse Liberation Pill, which only he could make. Feng Ji Hu urged him to trust others with the work they could handle and recognize the strain he had accumulated, then prepared a medicinal bath for him.

• True Person Chengchu volunteered to guard the Eastern Sea, and Cheng Xinzhan sent her off with peach blossom tea.
• Cheng Xinzhan worried that the Eastern Sea was left exposed and weighed entering seclusion to refine the Great Corpse Liberation Pill against continuing to manage the demon-expulsion campaign.
• Cheng Xinzhan sought Feng Ji Hu's advice, and Feng Ji Hu pointed out that refining the pill was also a way to prepare for the future.
• Feng Ji Hu told Cheng Xinzhan that his tendency to handle everything himself reflected arrogance and a lack of trust in others, and Cheng Xinzhan accepted the criticism.
• Feng Ji Hu told Cheng Xinzhan to take off his clothes and enter the hot spring for a medicinal bath to treat his mental exhaustion.

Bailong Nai and Lu Tongxing traveled to Hundred Spirits Valley, where Bailong Nai accepted missions to slay three leaders of the Clay Figure Cult. They left for the Southern Wastes to pursue the dangerous Tian Younong.

• Guoshanfeng considered robbing the two Daoist boys, but Third Brother warned him that the white-robed boy was the Grand Master's attendant, so Guoshanfeng backed down.
• Bailong Nai and Lu Tongxing entered Hundred Spirits Valley and went to the ravine where demon-slaying Command Arrows were issued.
• Bailong Nai accepted missions to kill the Clay Figure Cult's Left and Right Elders, Vice Sect Master, and Sect Master.
• Bailong Nai and Lu Tongxing left the valley, crossed the Red Water River, and headed into the Southern Wastes.
• Lu Tongxing asked about Tian Younong, and Bailong Nai said they could try to defeat him together.

Kui Lingguan retrieved a divine drum he had nurtured inside Stone Drum Mountain for seven hundred years. He then set out to attack the Demon Dragon at Dinghu Mountain, arranging for Yuyang’s cultivators to limit the damage from the battle.

• Kui Lingguan left Zuo Feizi to guard Cloud Ladder Mountain and crossed the Lingding Ocean to retrieve his treasure.
• Kui Lingguan raised Stone Drum Mountain from underground, revealed the enormous divine drum inside, and explained how it had matured through the Earth Veins.
• Xu Shiren, Zou Shizheng, and the disciples of Parasol Tree Mountain witnessed Kui Lingguan’s power and learned that he planned to subdue demons in Yuyang to repay the land’s karmic debt.
• Kui Lingguan announced that he would attack the Demon Dragon at Dinghu Mountain and instructed Xu Shiren and Zou Shizheng to coordinate with the three River Earls to control flooding and clear rocks.
• Kui Lingguan dismissed concerns about Green Robe, saying the Scripture Master had wounded him, and transformed into lightning on his way to Dinghu Mountain.

In Year 483, Qi Jinchan attacked Wumeng Mountain, forcing Wufachi and its demons to flee while the Demon Ancestor, Xiao Youshi, confronted him. The chapter ended as Qi Jinchan, enraged by Xiao Youshi’s taunt, sent his sword blazing toward him.

• Zhou Qingyun received a message, left Qiongdu, and waited near Wumeng Mountain.
• Qi Jinchan’s golden light and blazing fire destroyed Wufachi’s iron-spike treasure, but the Demon Ancestor’s feather fan briefly drove the attack back.
• Wufachi fled with Wumeng Mountain’s demons after being told that the time had come, while Qi Jinchan’s sword destroyed the feather fan.
• Xiao Youshi confronted Qi Jinchan using a great bell to shield Wumeng Mountain, and Qi Jinchan revealed his identity as the son of Emei School’s sect leader.
• Xiao Youshi mocked Qi Jinchan with a rumor about his sixtieth-birthday banquet, and Qi Jinchan launched his sword at him in anger.

Qi Jinchan and Qi Lingyun fought Xiao Youshi with their immortal swords, but the demon patriarch’s Yinglong Battle-Breaking Music incapacitated them and left them falling from the sky. An Azure Cord Sword arrived before Xiao Youshi could seize them, forcing him to retreat from Wumeng Mountain.

• Qi Jinchan attacked Xiao Youshi with the Golden Light Blazing Fire Sword while Qi Lingyun arrived and used the Mandarin Duck Thunderbolt Swords to intercept Xiao Youshi’s Dragon-Sparrow Rings.
• Qi Jinchan’s sword thread wrapped around and began melting Xiao Youshi’s Dragon Bell, but Xiao Youshi struck the bell to shake the sword thread and disrupt the siblings with its sound.
• Qi Lingyun used the Mandarin Duck Thunderbolt Swords to generate thunder that suppressed the bell, while Qi Jinchan tightened a sword cocoon around it.
• Xiao Youshi played Yinglong Battle-Breaking Music through the Dragon Bell, stunning Qi Jinchan and Qi Lingyun and causing them to fall as their swords rushed to catch them.
• Xiao Youshi sent the Dragon-Sparrow Rings toward the falling siblings, but an Azure Cord Sword appeared and forced him to recall his artifacts and flee.

Mei Luzi watched the Southern School’s territories fall one by one while he guarded Ma Xiong Mountain and stabilized his newly formed Nascent Soul. When an Emei Immortal Weapon attacked him, Yan Renying was called upon to help him escape, leaving Ma Xiong Mountain exposed.

• Mei Luzi recalled how Green Robe had helped him enter the Fourth Realm and how the Righteous Path had seized several Southern School strongholds while Green Robe remained gravely wounded.
• Mei Luzi sensed Qi Jinchan’s Sword Intent at Wufachi and watched Green Robe save Water Buffalo before fighting Qi Jinchan, then saw Qi Lingyun join the battle with the Mandarin Duck Thunderbolt Swords.
• Green Robe ordered Mei Luzi to flee Ma Xiong Mountain, and Mei Luzi gathered his belongings as a vermilion Immortal Weapon streaked toward him.
• Mei Luzi tried to block the pursuing sword light with his wooden staff, but the weapon shattered and the sword continued after him.
• Yan Renying rose from meditation when the sword light reached Ma Xiong Mountain, and a Voice Transmission Artifact told him to ensure Mei Luzi escaped in exchange for settling an old debt.