Chapter Summaries

Gu Cheng led Zhang Qiling’s group into an ancient tomb and warned them about a Snake Demon statue resembling one they had fought before. In the next chamber, they found a trap-filled Yellow Springs Road lined with soldier statues, and Gu Cheng discovered that gems embedded in their brows could turn them into killing puppets.

• Zhang Qiling identified the chamber as an antechamber, and Gu Cheng recognized its Snake Demon statue as the kind they had encountered at Kunlun Glacier.
• Gu Cheng warned the group not to touch the statue, then chose the right-hand passage after Lao Hu’s compass failed near Magnetic Mountain.
• The group entered a long chamber lined with lifelike soldier statues, and Zhang Qiling and Lao Hu suspected the walkway between them was full of traps.
• Gu Cheng rejected Sh...ev Yang’s suggestion to take the other route and examined the statues for a way to disable the traps.
• Gu Cheng spotted green stones between the statues’ brows and learned they contained worm gu that could control figures and turn them into killing puppets.

Gu Cheng identified the soldier statues as insect-controlled puppets, and Zhang Qiling and Lao Hu stopped one after it killed a team member. Zhang Qiling revealed that Zhang Rishan was the only survivor of a disastrous tomb operation, and Gu Cheng disclosed that the tomb belonged to Li Si, the chancellor of Great Qin.

• Gu Cheng warned that the soldier statues were controlled by insects through Witchcraft Spirit Stones embedded in their brows.
• A member of Zhang Qiling's team touched a stone, awakening a statue that decapitated him before the team opened fire.
• Zhang Qiling fought the statue with his Coiling Dragon Staff while Lao Hu helped remove its Witchcraft Spirit Stone, stopping it.
• Zhang Qiling explained that Zhang Rishan had been the sole survivor when the rest of their Action Team was wiped out in the tomb.
• Gu Cheng admitted that the tomb in Lijia Village belonged to Li Si, the chancellor of Great Qin.

Gu Cheng claimed that Li Si owned the tomb, then helped the group cross the Yellow Springs Road by disabling its soldier puppets and using them as stepping stones. The group reached a mist-filled burial chamber, where they wondered whether the mist was poisonous.

• Gu Cheng told Zhang Qiling that Li Si owned the tomb and claimed they had found a waist token identifying him as Great Qin's chancellor, while concealing what they had really learned about Li Si.
• Gu Cheng, Lao Hu, Fatty, and Zhang Qiling speculated about the identity of the tomb's owner, and Gu Cheng suggested destroying the Witchcraft Spirit Stones in the soldier statues.
• Lao Hu shot the Witchcraft Spirit Stones in every soldier statue, causing the puppets to close their eyes.
• Gu Cheng tested the Yellow Springs Road by running across the tops of the puppets, and the group crossed in pairs; Gu Cheng carried Sh...ev Yang and then A Ning.
• Zhang Qiling opened the next stone door, revealing a chamber filled with white mist that stayed inside, and the group wondered whether it was poisonous.

Gu Cheng gave Sh...ev Yang and A Ning blue spirit accessories to protect them from poison, then noticed Zhang Qiling's Black Obsidian storage artifact. The group entered the mist-filled chamber, where Gu Cheng heard snakes approaching; grenades scattered some of the fog, and he saw something that made his expression change.

• Gu Cheng gave Sh...ev Yang and A Ning sets of blue spirit accessories that granted immunity to poison.
• Zhang Qiling's team put on gas masks and protective suits, and Gu Cheng recognized Zhang Qiling's Black Obsidian bracelet as a storage spirit artifact.
• Gu Cheng led the group into the dense white mist and warned them that the chamber might conceal traps and poison.
• Gu Cheng heard faint hissing, sensed danger, and shouted that snakes were nearby before retreating with Sh...ev Yang and A Ning.
• Gu Cheng ordered Zhang Qiling to throw grenades, and the explosions dispersed some of the fog; Gu Cheng looked back and saw something that shocked him.

Gu Cheng and the others battled Black-Eyed Strange Snakes in the mist, then escaped through a stone doorway into a chamber filled with execution racks and desiccated corpses. After learning that Zhang Qiling’s team had lost more members, Gu Cheng sensed something evil in the chamber and took out a Skeleton Spirit Pearl and a Spirit-Guarding Toad.

• Gu Cheng identified the snakes as deadly Black-Eyed Strange Snakes and told Zhang Qiling to use flashbangs to immobilize them.
• Gu Cheng caught a snake attacking Sh...ev Yang, then rescued A Ning from another snake that had crawled onto her back.
• The group found the snakes surrounding them rather than attacking, while Zhang Qiling’s team fought them and one member died from a bite.
• Zhang Qiling used flashbangs to lead his team through the snakes, and Gu Cheng brought Sh...ev Yang and A Ning through the stone doorway.
• The group discovered a huge chamber filled with execution racks and desiccated corpses, and Zhang Qiling emerged from the mist with three more team members missing.
• Gu Cheng explained the snakes’ connection to the Ghost Cave and Jingjue Ancient Kingdom, then took a Skeleton Spirit Pearl and Spirit-Guarding Toad from his Ring after sensing something eerie in the chamber.

Gu Cheng and Zhang Qiling discovered a giant invisible evil spirit in the stone chamber and used magical weapons to fight it. The spirit regenerated after Gu Cheng cut off its arm, and the battle continued with Zhang Qiling and Fatty joining in while the others stayed back.

• Gu Cheng gave Sh...ev Yang the Jade Toad, equipped the Skeleton Spirit Pearl, and warned the group about a huge invisible presence.
• Zhang Qiling used his Exorcism Purification Bottle and willow twig to see the giant evil spirit and reveal it to the others.
• Gu Cheng attacked the spirit with the Ghost Soul Blade and severed its arm, but the arm quickly regrew.
• The spirit struck Gu Cheng into a wall, and Zhang Qiling drove it back with the willow twig after washing the group's eyes.
• Gu Cheng told Lao Hu to guard Sh...ev Yang and A Ning, then had Fatty wet his Torture Whip with the bottle's water and join the fight.

Gu Cheng and the others defeated the evil spirit in the torture chamber, and Ghost Soul absorbed it and advanced into Demon Blade Ghost Soul. After Lao Hu explained how the spirit had been cultivated from tortured souls, the group found no exit and began investigating the chamber’s raised stone platform.

• The shadow abandoned its attacks on Gu Cheng and Zhang Qiling to pursue Fatty, who lured it into a corner while Gu Cheng stabbed it from behind with Ghost Soul.
• Ghost Soul absorbed the shadow, lit all three gems in its hilt, and advanced into Demon Blade Ghost Soul with three new abilities.
• Zhang Qiling compared Gu Cheng’s weapon to Hei Bei Lao Liu’s soul-absorbing blade, while Sh...ev Yang checked on Gu Cheng and teased Fatty.
• Lao Hu explained that the Tomb Master had imprisoned hundreds of tortured souls in the chamber, where they devoured one another until the last became the evil spirit they had fought.
• The group searched the chamber for an exit but found none, and Lao Hu realized that the raised stone platform Fatty was sitting on was unusual.

Gu Cheng and the others discovered a hidden burial chamber beneath a concealed floor brick and identified its tomb master as the Prince of Gumo. The murals revealed new details about Queen Jingjue and the prince, and the group prepared to open the coffin.

• Lao Hu recognized that the eight irregularly placed stone platforms marked a Nine-Star Formation missing its Yinyuan point, and Gu Cheng found and opened the concealed stairway there.
• Gu Cheng and the others descended into a burial chamber, where they found a bronze outer coffin and murals identifying the tomb master as the Prince of Gumo.
• Sh...ev Yang interpreted the murals, which showed Queen Jingjue making a person disappear and the Prince of Gumo entering her bedchamber with an eye-shaped bead.
• Gu Cheng recounted a legend about a desert queen whose powers and fate resembled Queen Jingjue's, and Sh...ev Yang agreed that it matched the murals.
• The murals showed the Prince of Gumo killing Queen Jingjue, then dying after her curse left him gravely ill; Gu Cheng called Fatty over to open the coffin.
• Fatty asked whether they should light a candle before opening their first proper coffin.

Gu Cheng discovered that an imitation Phoenix Gallbladder in the Prince of Gumo’s coffin could teleport people, and he was sent alone to a strange cave near the Ghost Cave. After crawling through a passage that led to an identical chamber, he realized he was trapped in a maze and spotted something on the wall that left him terrified.

• Gu Cheng stopped the coffin opening to agree with Zhang Qiling that any treasures inside would belong to Gu Cheng and his companions.
• Gu Cheng, Lao Hu, and Fatty found only a skeleton and worthless burial goods in the coffin, but noticed its fingers pointed toward a bead in the ceiling.
• Gu Cheng identified the bead as a false Phoenix Gallbladder, and it suddenly teleported him to an unfamiliar cave alone.
• Gu Cheng called for his companions, then crawled through a passage and emerged in a cave identical to the one he had left.
• Gu Cheng concluded that the caves formed a maze, then noticed something on the wall and reacted with terror.

Gu Cheng crawled through a strange cave system, killed a Giant Scorpion, and found Sh...ev Yang surrounded by Black-Eyed Strange Snakes. After rescuing her, he learned about the dangers she had encountered, but the Giant Scorpion he had killed was missing when they returned to its cave.

• Gu Cheng marked his route, crawled into another cave, and killed a Giant Scorpion with Ghost Soul before extracting its first-grade inner core.
• Gu Cheng crawled onward and found Sh...ev Yang trapped among thousands of Black-Eyed Strange Snakes, then used Blue Spirit Accessories to reach and carry her away.
• Sh...ev Yang told Gu Cheng that she had been transported after staring at an eye-like jewel and had since encountered giant bats, an arrow trap, and the snakes.
• Gu Cheng and Sh...ev Yang returned to the cave where he had killed the Giant Scorpion, but Sh...ev Yang saw no scorpion there.

Gu Cheng realized the caverns kept changing and that he had not returned to the same places, then rescued A Ning from a Giant Spider. He explained his deductions to A Ning and Sh...ev Yang and concluded that they were likely inside Imaginary Space.

• Gu Cheng and Sh...ev Yang found no trace of the Giant Scorpion or Gu Cheng's marks, leading him to suspect the caverns were not the ones he remembered.
• Gu Cheng followed a tunnel and found A Ning being dragged toward a Giant Spider, then cut her free and killed the spider.
• A Ning thanked Gu Cheng for saving her and explained that she had reached the cavern after looking at an eyeball on the ceiling.
• Gu Cheng retraced his movements across the caverns and explained that the missing scorpion and changing marks showed the caverns were shifting.
• Gu Cheng told A Ning and Sh...ev Yang that he suspected they were in Imaginary Space.

Gu Cheng, Sh...ev Yang, and A Ning escaped the dangerous caves of Imaginary Space, only to emerge on an unfamiliar seashore after their passage vanished. Gu Cheng explored the area and confirmed A Ning’s suspicion that they were stranded on an island, while they remained cut off from Lao Hu and Fatty.

• Gu Cheng explained his theory that Queen Jingjue’s artifact had trapped them in Imaginary Space, where passages randomly connected distant caves.
• Gu Cheng, Sh...ev Yang, and A Ning pressed on through traps, beasts, poison, flames, and an evil spirit, narrowly escaping several deadly encounters.
• After resting and sharing milk from the Immortal-Brew Gourd, the three crawled through a passage and emerged on a sunny beach beside a vast sea.
• A Ning discovered that the passage had disappeared, and Gu Cheng found only solid rock where its entrance had been.
• A Ning’s satellite phone showed no signal, so Gu Cheng searched the nearby jungle and later confirmed that they were on an island.

Stranded on the island, Gu Cheng, A Ning, and Sh...ev Yang drank Hundred Immortals' Brew, and Gu Cheng woke to discover that his Blissful Zen had advanced to the second level. After the women confronted him about the drunken night, they argued over whether to stay on the island or return to their former lives.

• Gu Cheng complained about their island life while A Ning and Sh...ev Yang brought him food and discussed their daily fish catch.
• A Ning revealed she had found Gu Cheng's Hundred Immortals' Brew, and she and Sh...ev Yang drank it despite Gu Cheng's warnings.
• Gu Cheng joined them in drinking, and after they all passed out, he woke with a severe headache and recalled what had happened during the night.
• Gu Cheng found that his true qi and physical attributes had increased and discovered that Blissful Zen had advanced to the second level.
• A Ning attacked Gu Cheng after waking, but he disarmed and restrained her while insisting she had been warned about the consequences.
• Sh...ev Yang said she wanted to remain on the island, while A Ning wanted to leave, and Gu Cheng tried to reassure both women that they were his favorites.

Gu Cheng, Sh...ev Yang, and A Ning realized that Imaginary Space had unnaturally affected their emotions and considered whether Magnetic Mountain’s field was responsible. A Ning proposed that their experiences might all have been hallucinations, and Gu Cheng ended the chapter wondering if Imaginary Space had made their thoughts real.

• Sh...ev Yang and A Ning told Gu Cheng that they had felt unusually anxious, frightened, or irritable in Imaginary Space, and Sh...ev Yang recalled his disturbing behavior there.
• Gu Cheng checked the Spirit-Guarding Toad and Spirit-Clearing Pendant and found that their protections against evil and mental disturbance had not explained what happened.
• Sh...ev Yang described physical effects caused by visual stimuli and magnetic fields, while A Ning recalled incense that had induced hallucinations in a tomb.
• Gu Cheng speculated that Imaginary Space lay within Magnetic Mountain and that its magnetic field had caused their distress and might even produce hallucinations.
• A Ning suggested that everything in Imaginary Space could have been an illusion, and Gu Cheng recalled familiar creatures and the suspiciously convenient island before asking whether their thoughts had been given physical form.

Gu Cheng and his companions escaped an illusion that had kept them unconscious for four or five days, then learned they were trapped in a strange mountain passage near Jingjue Ancient City. As the group searched for a way out, Sh...ev Yang sensed something calling to her from above.

• Fatty's voice made Gu Cheng realize that the island was an illusion, and the scene shattered, returning him, A Ning, and Sh...ev Yang to a dark cave.
• Fatty and Lao Hu explained that Zhang Qiling had escaped the illusion first and rescued the unconscious team from a disorienting network of mountain passages.
• Gu Cheng used a Great Tonic Pill to recover his strength and gave the other two pills to A Ning and Sh...ev Yang, then discovered that the island's events and his apparent gains had all been unreal.
• Zhang Qiling and Lao Hu told Gu Cheng that the group was trapped near a suspected Magnetic Mountain, with disorienting branching tunnels and a seemingly bottomless abyss blocking their way.
• As the group turned back from the abyss, Sh...ev Yang stared upward and said something seemed to be calling to her.

Gu Cheng investigated the caves inside Magnetic Mountain to find a way out, enduring worsening physical effects as he followed signs of human excavation. He reached a cavern containing a familiar nine-story stone tower and recognized it as the Nine-Story Demon Tower.

• Sh...ev Yang stepped toward the Abyss while in a daze, but Gu Cheng caught her and brought her back to safety.
• Gu Cheng questioned Zhang Qiling about Jingjue Ancient City, and Zhang Qiling explained the limits of the Divine Administration Bureau's records and showed him the Jade Pupil, which could distinguish illusion from reality.
• Gu Cheng learned that Zhang Qiling had explored the outer caves and encountered starfish-like creatures that attacked people's faces.
• Gu Cheng borrowed Zhang Qiling's Jade Pupil and entered the deeper caves alone, while Lao Hu and Fatty stayed behind to protect the others.
• Gu Cheng endured worsening symptoms as he followed signs of human excavation through the maze and reached a cavern with a huge black stone tower.
• A red firefly emerged from the tower, prompting Gu Cheng to recognize it as the Nine-Story Demon Tower.

Gu Cheng discovered a black-stone Nine-Story Demon Tower in Magnetic Mountain and found that Wuyin Stone could partially shield people from the magnetic field. He returned to Lao Hu and the others with stones to help them enter the tower, which he suspected contained the exit.

• Gu Cheng recognized the stone structure as a Nine-Story Demon Tower and reasoned that it might hold a passage out of Magnetic Mountain.
• Gu Cheng entered the tower and discovered that its Wuyin Stone walls blocked the magnetic field, then tested fragments and found that carrying enough of the stone made the field tolerable outside.
• Gu Cheng collected Wuyin Stone and followed his markings back to Lao Hu, Fatty, Sh...ev Yang, A Ning, and Zhang Qiling.
• Gu Cheng told the group he had found a stone Nine-Story Demon Tower and suspected the exit lay inside it.
• Gu Cheng showed the group the Wuyin Stone, and Lao Hu and Fatty dropped the fragments after feeling their chilling yin energy.

Gu Cheng found a Jade Eye in the Nine-Story Demon Tower that could open a teleportation gate, and Fatty’s Jade Pendant activated it. The group reached a vast hall at the other end, where Gu Cheng prepared to return to the tower to search the Jingjue kings’ tombs for treasure.

• Gu Cheng explained that Wuyin Stone could counter the cave’s magnetic field, and Zhang Qiling accepted that his unconscious teammates were unlikely to wake.
• The group carried Wuyin Stone to the Nine-Story Demon Tower, where the magnetic pressure disappeared; Gu Cheng warned them that Fire Beetles might be nearby.
• Gu Cheng discovered a Jade Eye on the tower’s first floor and recognized it as a teleportation artifact.
• Gu Cheng used the recess in the Jade Eye to identify Fatty’s Jade Pendant as its key, and Fatty placed the pendant into it to open a portal.
• Gu Cheng led the group through the portal to a great hall with another Jade Eye, then said he would return to the tower to search for treasure.

Gu Cheng returned alone to the Nine-Story Demon Tower to search for overlooked treasures and discovered the Snake Pearl, a spirit artifact capable of creating an imaginary space. On the fifth floor, he found a blinking Doppelganger Puppet that could take damage and death in his place.

• Gu Cheng entered the tower alone while Lao Hu stayed behind to guard the portal and the others rested.
• Gu Cheng found ceramic jars on the second floor and avoided inspecting them because they might contain Black-Eyed Strange Snakes.
• On the third floor, Gu Cheng found the Snake Pearl, learned it was the Snake God's inner core, and stored it in his Ring.
• Gu Cheng examined murals depicting the Demon Kingdom's history and its survivors founding the Jingjue Ancient Kingdom, then found coffins made partly of Wuyin stone on the fourth floor.
• Gu Cheng explored the fifth floor, mistook the lifelike puppets for ordinary figures, and later discovered that one was a supreme-grade Doppelganger Puppet that could substitute for him and take fatal damage.

Gu Cheng saw through the Doppelganger Puppet’s illusion, survived its attempt to hang him, and captured it inside his Ring. He continued to the sixth floor of the Demon Pagoda, where he found people trapped in ice sculptures surrounded by Dapu Ghost Insects.

• A girl puppet lured Gu Cheng into a peaceful village illusion while a rope strangled him in the Demon Pagoda.
• Gu Cheng used Zhang Qiling’s Jade Pupil to see through the illusion and cut himself free with Ghost Soul.
• Gu Cheng realized the Doppelganger Puppet could possess different puppets, then tricked it into revealing itself and stored it in his Ring.
• Gu Cheng searched the room and continued toward the sixth floor of the Demon Pagoda.
• Gu Cheng found the sixth floor filled with human-shaped ice sculptures containing real people and identified the surrounding insects as Dapu Ghost Insects, also called Ice Beetles.