Chapter Summaries

Cui Jiuyang secretly listened as He Xiangu convinced an elderly couple that the Penglai Wandering Immortal Painting had extended their lives, then exposed their exploitation of the poor and warned of their punishment in the Underworld. After they begged for help, He Xiangu revealed she possessed another immortal painting called the Hell Refining Ghosts Picture.

• Cui Jiuyang entered the Golden Immortal Temple courtyard secretly and listened outside the shrine hall as He Xiangu explained the Penglai Wandering Immortal Painting to the elderly couple.
• He Xiangu told the couple that the immortal painting had extended their lives by five years and that their remaining lifespan was only seven or eight years.
• When the couple pleaded to know why their lives were short, He Xiangu accused them of exploiting famine victims and using thin porridge to bind refugees and their families into servitude.
• The elderly couple begged He Xiangu to save them from their short lives and the punishments awaiting them in the Underworld.
• He Xiangu reluctantly said she could help and revealed that her master had also given her the Hell Refining Ghosts Picture, which depicted ghosts being punished in the Eighteen Layers of Hell.

Cui Jiuyang watched He Xiangu trick an elderly couple into fetching valuables, then discovered that a dead God of Wealth was draining her strength. He forced the spirit to leave the Golden Immortal Temple and flee west.

• He Xiangu sent the elderly couple home in Protective Daoist Robes to gather valuables for bribing Underworld Ghost Constables.
• Cui Jiuyang overheard He Xiangu and her attendant discussing the scheme, then sensed that the deity statue held a deeper connection to her troubles.
• Cui Jiuyang summoned the dead God of Wealth from the temple and offered him chestnuts in exchange for leaving He Xiangu alone.
• When the God of Wealth refused to cooperate, Cui Jiuyang threatened him with Heavenly Thunder and ordered him to leave.
• The terrified God of Wealth packed his belongings, fled west, and Cui Jiuyang identified him as the spirit of the former God of Wealth Temple.

Cui Jiuyang learned how the dead God of Wealth had become corrupted and freed Changchun City from his remnant soul. He met He Xiangu at the Golden Immortal Temple, where they shared tea and began discussing their backgrounds.

• Cui Jiuyang deduced that the dead God of Wealth’s remnant soul had been feeding on merchants’ greed and draining their wealth and vitality.
• The elderly couple returned to the Golden Immortal Temple with a chest of valuables, and He Xiangu sent them into another frightening Illusion Realm before putting them to sleep.
• He Xiangu told Daotong that the God of Wealth’s remnant soul had vanished and ordered the valuables donated to the city’s charitable hall.
• He Xiangu sensed Cui Jiuyang nearby by the scent of sugar-roasted chestnuts, and he revealed himself and accepted her invitation for tea.
• Cui Jiuyang said he was traveling to Mount Heming to visit a friend, and He Xiangu introduced herself as a member of the Three Sincerity Sect.

Cui Jiuyang learned that a numinous treasure left by Hu Third Great-Grandfather might emerge in Changchun, and decided to seek it to stabilize his cultivation. He prepared for the contest and traced the activity of rival cultivators, identifying three likely gathering places as the shantytown drew unusual buyers.

• He Xiangu told Cui Jiuyang that one of Hu Third Great-Grandfather's treasures was expected to emerge in Changchun and warned him about the danger; she gave him a Protective Jade Plaque and described three possible treasures.
• Cui Jiuyang returned to the inn, prepared talismans, cultivated with the Soul-Anchor Pearl, and nourished the dormant Evil Ghost Pearls of Xuansheng and Xuanyun.
• Cui Jiuyang surveyed Changchun for traces of demons and cultivators, but found the Golden Immortal Temple locked after He Xiangu had left.
• Cui Jiuyang identified three likely locations for the treasure's emergence, including a shantytown where wealthy strangers paid poor residents for their homes and land.

Cui Jiuyang surveyed the factions waiting across Changchun for Hu Third Great-Grandfather’s Numinous Treasure, then joined Shopkeeper Lin for a snowy-night drink. When a strange fluctuation came from the shantytown, Cui Jiuyang rushed there, but the gathered jianghu figures found the shack that produced it empty.

• Cui Jiuyang assessed the rival groups watching three possible locations for the Numinous Treasure and planned to reach whichever one showed signs of its emergence.
• Cui Jiuyang drank with Shopkeeper Lin in the inn’s woodshed as the first snow fell, and Shopkeeper Lin eventually passed out drunk.
• A soul-stirring fluctuation spread through Changchun, and Cui Jiuyang left the inn to race toward the shantytown.
• Jianghu figures rushed toward a thatched shack, and an attacker’s giant iron shears cut down the dog demon guarding its entrance.
• The strongest gathered cultivators surrounded the shack but discovered that it was empty.

Cui Jiuyang and the remaining cultivators examined a mysterious silver fox statue that Hu Seventeen believed could be the key to Hu Third Great-Grandfather’s Numinous Treasure. When another disturbance arose near Toudaogou Railway Station, many left to investigate, but Cui Jiuyang and a few others stayed behind to solve the statue’s mystery.

• A silver fox statue appeared in the shed, and a melee broke out when cultivators and demons tried to seize it.
• Cui Jiuyang arrived after the fighting, used Thunder Techniques to stop attackers, and watched the survivors fail to move the statue.
• Hu Seventeen revealed himself and pointed out that the statue had one red eye and one black eye, suggesting the colors held a clue.
• A disturbance came from the direction of Toudaogou Railway Station, prompting many cultivators to leave for the Japanese courtyard despite Hu Seventeen’s warning.
• Cui Jiuyang stayed, suspecting Hu Seventeen knew the broad outline of the treasure trial, and several other powerful figures remained with them.

Chunniang unraveled the formation in the silver fox statue, opening two gateways to Fule City. Hu Shiqi could not explain why there were two identical doors, leaving the group uncertain which one to enter.

• Hu Shiqi told the five remaining adventurers that the fox statue was a door to Fule City, where they could find treasures by surviving the trials.
• Hu Shiqi explained that Fule City had once held a city of believers and contained countless treasures left behind by Hu Third Great-Grandfather.
• Chunniang recognized that the silver fox statue contained a formation and used spider silk to locate its nexus.
• Chunniang activated the formation, causing the statue's eyes to open two gateways, one black and one red.
• The group asked Hu Shiqi what distinguished the gateways, but he admitted he did not know.

Lei Xiaosan entered the red portal after Cui Jiuyang secretly told him to choose it, and found Fule City beyond the fog. He tried to return and warn the others, but the portal had vanished.

• Hu Seventeen explained Hu Third Great-Grandfather’s unpredictable two-choice trials, and the group hesitated over the black and red portals.
• Old Daoist Yuan persuaded Lei Xiaosan to scout by appealing to his hope of finding blood lichen to cure his mother.
• Cui Jiuyang secretly urged Lei Xiaosan to choose the red portal, and Lei Xiaosan followed his advice.
• Lei Xiaosan emerged in a foggy realm and spotted Fule City’s towering gate.
• Lei Xiaosan turned to go back and tell the others to choose red, but the portal was gone, replaced by endless churning fog.

After Hu Seventeen confirmed the red entrance led to Fule City, the group followed it and arrived before the city’s enormous gate. The Ox Demon failed to force open its heavenly meteoric iron doors, leaving everyone stranded until Cui Jiuyang said he had an idea.

• Hu Seventeen identified the red entrance as the path to Fule City, and the group entered it one by one.
• Cui Jiuyang and the others emerged before Fule City’s towering gate and marveled at its scale.
• The Ox Demon recognized that the gate was made of heavenly meteoric iron, and the group realized how rare and costly it was.
• At Hu Seventeen’s urging, the Ox Demon transformed and strained to push the gate, but it did not move.
• As the group despaired over being unable to enter, Cui Jiuyang announced that he had an idea.

Cui Jiuyang and the others opened Fule City’s gates and entered, but the city separated him from the group and drew him into a village through a lantern’s image. He reached a courtyard where a heated argument was underway, apparently the next point in his trial.

• Cui Jiuyang suggested pulling the gates outward, and Old Ox used his horns to open a narrow passage.
• Old Daoist Yuan sent a plant spirit through the gates to scout and learned that a lantern-lined street beyond appeared safe.
• Old Daoist Yuan, Hu Seventeen, Old Ox, Chunniang, Lei Xiaosan, and Cui Jiuyang entered the city, but Cui Jiuyang found himself alone on the street.
• Cui Jiuyang examined a blue lantern depicting a bird over the sea and was transported into an apparently realistic fishing village.
• Cui Jiuyang walked through the empty village, heard a heated argument in a courtyard, and approached its gate.

Cui Jiuyang entered Chen Family Village and heard Chen Fengzhu explain the villagers’ dispute over their Fish God worship. Chen Fengzhu began recounting how a white seabird appeared during his first deep-sea fishing voyage, leaving the story at the moment he recognized its call.

• Cui Jiuyang persuaded the villagers to let him into their courtyard despite Chen Fengzhu’s attempt to send him away.
• Cui Jiuyang introduced himself and asked what had caused the villagers’ argument.
• Chen Fengzhu explained that the village had worshipped the Fish God for generations before fishing trips.
• Chen Fengzhu recalled hearing a mysterious birdcall in his mind on the twentieth day of his first deep-sea voyage.
• Chen Fengzhu said a pure white seabird flew across the sunset that evening, making the same call he had heard in his mind.

Chen Fengzhu told Cui Jiuyang how the Fish God once guided the villagers to plentiful catches, then demanded human sacrifices after falling silent. With the Fish God now demanding two victims each month, Chen Family Village debated whether to stop drawing lots or hire the monks of Guanchao Temple, whose protection came with heavy demands.

• Chen Fengzhu recounted how the Fish God first guided him to a school of fish and later helped other villagers catch fish.
• Chen Fengzhu said the Fish God fell silent, then returned after an elderly villager rowed out to sea and vanished, only to demand people as nourishment for his injuries.
• Chen Fengzhu explained that the villagers began drawing lots monthly to choose someone for sacrifice after two elders volunteered to go out to sea and did not return.
• Chen Fengzhu revealed that the Fish God now demanded two people each month, and Chen Fengping argued that the villagers should stop the sacrifices and invite the monks of Guanchao Temple to fight him.
• Chen Fengzhu warned that the monks might fail and would likely extort the village, then described how they had once stopped a deadly sea surge.

Cui Jiuyang went to sea to confront the Fish God terrorizing Chen Family Village and discovered that it was a giant skeletal seabird. After the creature admitted it had demanded offerings, Cui Jiuyang began questioning how a dead bird had become a demon.

• Cui Jiuyang persuaded Chen Fengzhu and the villagers to take him to the Fish God's fishing grounds, demonstrating his power with a Talisman.
• Chen Fengzhu explained that the Fish God had once made fishing abundant and safe, but the villagers caught nothing after it stopped guiding them.
• After eight days at sea, Cui Jiuyang used a Water-Avoidance Spell and dove into the depths, where a large black fish dragged him to an underwater palace.
• Cui Jiuyang saw that the Fish God was a huge, rotten skeletal seabird and raised his Nine Apotropaic Coins as it approached.
• The Fish God claimed it had only asked Chen Family Village for two offerings, and Cui Jiuyang questioned what had made its corpse into a demon.

Cui Jiuyang sealed the White Bone Bird and found a Sea-Born Egg in its nest, then returned to his boat. There, Chen Fengzhu and the crew ambushed him, suppressing his Spiritual Power and leaving him vulnerable to a spear attack.

• Cui Jiuyang trapped the White Bone Bird in the Golden Light Demon-Trapping Formation and sealed it in the Five Warlords Register.
• Cui Jiuyang searched the bird's nest, found a Sea-Born Egg, and collected it as a treasure.
• Cui Jiuyang suspected that the Buddhas who had appeared at Guanchao Temple had taught the bird how to control Chen Village.
• Chen Fengzhu and another man pulled Cui Jiuyang from the water, then sprang aside as Nail Snails pierced his palms and suppressed his Spiritual Power.
• Four men attacked the airborne Cui Jiuyang with magic-breaking spears made from Unicorn Whale horns.

Cui Jiuyang survived an ambush by monks from Guanchao Temple, defeated them with thunder, and forced their leader to reveal their scheme. After confirming the confession against the white-bone bird’s memories, he learned that the monks had killed the Chen Village fishermen and planned to exploit the villagers through a fake Fish God.

• Cui Jiuyang used He Xiangu’s Protective Jade Pendant to block four magical spears, then discovered that the supposed fishermen were monks disguised with Mimic Octopus faces.
• Cui Jiuyang broke the Golden Needle-Snail Threads’ hold on his Spiritual Power with Dragon Qi and drove the monks back with repeated bolts of Heavenly Thunder.
• Cui Jiuyang sealed the defeated monks’ cultivation with Apotropaic Coins, dragged them onto the fishing boat, and tortured their leader until he answered his questions.
• The leader revealed that Hai Guang and the East Sea Sea Buddha lineage had used the white-bone bird to impersonate a Fish God and extort offerings from local fishermen.
• Cui Jiuyang learned that the monks had killed the Chen Village fishermen and disguised themselves to ambush him, then checked the leader’s account against the bird’s memories.

Cui Jiuyang understood that the fishermen of Chen Family Village had been sacrificed to the Fish God just as people could be trapped by the false security of work, and he resolved their deaths would not be in vain. He reached Guanchao Temple and hurled its bronze Skanda statue through the Buddha statue’s forehead, where the monks panicked until an elderly monk arrived.

• Cui Jiuyang learned the old monk Hai Guang’s background, refined the Conch Boat, and headed for Guanchao Temple.
• Cui Jiuyang reflected on his own resignation and recognized how the Fish God’s promise of plentiful catches had trapped the fishermen of Chen Family Village in fear and sacrifice.
• Cui Jiuyang reached Guanchao Temple, tore the bronze Skanda statue from its foundation, and hurled it through Mahavira Hall’s Buddha statue.
• The monks gathered in the hall and argued over how to handle Skanda’s feet sticking out of Buddha’s forehead.
• An elderly monk in a gold-threaded kasaya entered Mahavira Hall and calmly began an invocation.

Cui Jiuyang fought Zen Master Hai Guang and the monks of Guanchao Temple after storming the temple, using his Nine Apotropaic Coins and Eight Desolations Thunderfire Formation against their Buddhist arts. Hai Guang summoned the Sea Buddha Lineage’s Four Seas Refining Demons formation, manifesting white lotus thrones above the square.

• Cui Jiuyang launched the Nine Apotropaic Coins into a formation and linked them with lightning to form an electrical net around the square.
• Hai Guang activated his jeweled staff and the Tathagata Dharma Magic Bead, summoning a phantom Buddha and waves that clashed with Cui Jiuyang’s lightning.
• Cui Jiuyang brought out the Little Golden Gong and spread Shouyang Fire through the electrical net, strengthening his Eight Desolations Thunderfire Formation and forcing Hai Guang’s phantom waves back.
• The monks gathered behind Hai Guang, raised their ritual implements, and channeled their Buddha light into his staff, making the Buddhist formation stronger.
• Hai Guang announced the Four Seas Refining Demons formation and struck the ground, causing translucent white lotus thrones to rise into the air.

After Cui Jiuyang unleashed his Buddha’s Fury Fire Lotus against Guanchao Temple’s monks, he was swept away by the blast and awakened on a misty street holding an oil-painted mask. The chapter left him examining the mask beneath a lantern depicting a sea and a white-feathered waterbird.

• Hai Guang and the surviving monks focused their Buddhist power into a colossal palm and sent it descending toward Cui Jiuyang.
• Cui Jiuyang crushed the Sea-Born Egg inside a condensed thunderfire orb, unleashing the Buddha’s Fury Fire Lotus.
• The explosion hurled Cui Jiuyang away despite his protection from the Little Golden Gong.
• Cui Jiuyang came to on a quiet, misty street with a cold mask in his hand.
• Cui Jiuyang examined the mask’s intricate red-and-black paint and stern old-man face beneath a lantern showing an ocean and a white-feathered waterbird.

Cui Jiuyang realized that the battle in Chen Family Village had been an illusion on Hundred Performances Street and obtained a painted mask as proof of passing. He and Lei Xiaosan reached the Fule Theater, where an invisible barrier stopped them from entering until they wore their masks.

• Cui Jiuyang recognized that his battle in Chen Family Village had been a convincing illusion, found the words “Hundred Performances Street” on his mask, and confirmed that the skeletal bird from the illusion was a dead Jingguai.
• Lei Xiaosan emerged from a lantern with a clown’s mask, recovered his memories, and thanked Cui Jiuyang for keeping him from entering the black gate.
• Cui Jiuyang and Lei Xiaosan introduced themselves, exchanged information about their masks, and agreed to continue down the street together.
• Cui Jiuyang and Lei Xiaosan reached the Fule Theater, but an invisible barrier blocked the entrance; Cui Jiuyang suspected they needed to wear their masks.
• Lei Xiaosan immediately put on his clown’s mask.

Cui Jiuyang and Lei Xiaosan entered the theater after passing the Illusion Realm and discovered that more than twenty masked performers had gathered there. When a gong sounded, everyone gained simultaneous views of the theater and its backstage, and an opera performance began with a masked old male role summoning newly appointed Outer Sect Elders.

• Lei Xiaosan and Cui Jiuyang crossed the threshold wearing masks that transformed them into theatrical characters.
• Cui Jiuyang and Lei Xiaosan found more than twenty masked people gathered around an empty stage, unable to recognize one another.
• More masked performers arrived, and rumors that they might have to fight for the Numinous Treasure heightened the theater's tension.
• A clown entered the courtyard, the theater darkened, and a gong gave everyone simultaneous perspectives from the audience and backstage.
• An old male role appeared onstage, sang about dwindling spirit ore and an approaching competition, then summoned the newly appointed Outer Sect Elders.
• Four martial male roles somersaulted onto the stage and took positions at its corners.