Chapter Summaries

Yellow Qilin True Person and Qixia True Person defeated Yang Huaxian’s mortal shell, while Empress Dowager Guo and Xie Jinhuan returned safely to camp after Daoist Kongkong fled. The Goddess of War appointed Huo Yi leader of the Grasslands Twelve Tribes, and the group found Jiang Xian and Coal Ball unharmed.

• Yellow Qilin True Person and Qixia True Person destroyed Yang Huaxian’s mortal shell, then discussed how to divide the divine gifts they hoped to claim.
• Empress Dowager Guo and Xie Jinhuan returned to camp after Daoist Kongkong fled, and Guo explained that her depleted qi sea could not be easily restored away from the Vermilion Bird Mausoleum.
• Lü Yan and the others recognized Empress Dowager Guo as the Goddess of War, and she appointed Huo Yi to command the Grasslands Twelve Tribes.
• Xie Jinhuan and Zhao Ling searched for Jiang Xian until Jiang Xian climbed out of a mound of earth and explained that she had been knocked unconscious.
• Xie Jinhuan called for Coal Ball and found the black eagle trying to drag a roast leg of lamb from the campfire.

Shang Mingzhen weighed his master's strategy of staying outside the conflict over Northern Darkness Lake and challenged Yang Huaxian and Daoist Kongkong to prove they could win without help. In Wolf City, Xie Jinhuan comforted a tearful Nangong Ye, who urged him to visit the injured Goddess of War and pursue her if their feelings developed naturally.

• Shang Mingzhen concluded that his master had avoided joining either faction to protect his path to immortality, though the broken Way of Immortality might eventually force him to take a risk.
• Daoist Kongkong brought the badly wounded Chaochitai to Northern Darkness Lake and asked Shang Mingzhen to persuade his master to avenge his old grievance with the Goddess of War.
• Shang Mingzhen refused to commit his master to the fight and asked Yang Huaxian and Daoist Kongkong whether they had enough strength to win; Yang Huaxian said the Demon Path did not need his help and promised a satisfactory answer later.
• Huo Yi restored order in Wolf City, announced Chaochitai's downfall, and waived this year's taxes with the Northern Zhou Empress Dowager's support.
• Xie Jinhuan toured Chaochitai's Golden Tent with Tuotuo, then reassured Nangong Ye that he had only been teasing when he hesitated to pursue the Goddess of War.
• Nangong Ye urged Xie Jinhuan to visit the injured Goddess of War and care for her, and Xie Jinhuan left to see her.

Qixia True Person altered Jiang Xian’s storybook and taught Coal Ball, then arranged for Xie Jinhuan to be kicked into a room where Lin Zisu was examining Empress Dowager Guo. The mishap left Xie Jinhuan embarrassed and Empress Dowager Guo furious at Meconggao, while her strength remained unrecovered.

• Jiang Xian fell asleep reading and transformed into Qixia True Person, who censored the romance in her book and left herself an admonition in the Xian'er Diary.
• Qixia True Person taught Coal Ball cultivation knowledge, startling the bird when it woke from a dream of comprehending the Dao.
• Lin Zisu examined Empress Dowager Guo and discussed using extreme yang fire and essence absorption to restore her spiritual charm.
• Qixia True Person saw Xie Jinhuan approach Empress Dowager Guo’s room and kicked him through the doors into the hall.
• Xie Jinhuan landed on Lin Zisu and Empress Dowager Guo, accidentally kissing Zisu and touching Guo before Zisu left them alone.
• Empress Dowager Guo told Xie Jinhuan she had no way to recover her strength yet, then sent him away so she could pursue Meconggao.

Nangong Ye refused to join Xie Jinhuan and the others for a late-night gathering, while Xie Jinhuan celebrated their victory with the women in the Landlady's courtyard. At Northern Darkness Lake, Ancestor Huaxian explained his plan to make Chaochitai a divine servant and use the power of heaven and earth for the unorthodox Dao.

• Nangong Ye carved jade beads into a hidden reward for Xie Jinhuan, then shocked him when he tried to see what he was hiding.
• Xie Jinhuan invited Nangong Ye to join the others, but Nangong Ye refused and sent him to the Landlady's courtyard.
• Xie Jinhuan found Zhao Ling, Lin Zisu, and Ye Yunchi practicing body-tempering exercises, and the group began drinking together as Bu Yuehua arrived.
• Chaochitai awoke at the Divine Temple within the Heaven-Piercing Pillar and recognized three vessels of Ancestor Huaxian.
• Ancestor Huaxian told Chaochitai about the origins of heaven and earth and proposed making him a divine servant who could wield their power.
• Chaochitai accepted the logic of Ancestor Huaxian's plan to benefit their own faction while leaving the common people to bear the consequences.

Jiang Xian discovered that Coal Ball had learned to make a chilling breeze, then found that Xian'er Diary had censored much of her book and warned her about praising Xie Jinhuan. She went looking for Xie Jinhuan and impulsively kissed and hugged him in defiance of the diary, leaving him bewildered as Coal Ball attacked him.

• Jiang Xian woke to Coal Ball fanning her with an icy breeze and saw that it wanted a breakfast reward.
• Jiang Xian found large sections of Records of Immortal Xia and Strange Tales blacked out and read Xian'er Diary's warning about praising Xie Jinhuan.
• Xie Jinhuan found a string of nine white jade beads in Tuotuo's dress and returned it to Nangong Ye after securing a promise to discuss it later.
• Coal Ball signaled Xie Jinhuan to Jiang Xian, who kissed him twice and claimed she wanted a hug after a nightmare.
• Xie Jinhuan comforted Jiang Xian and asked Coal Ball whether it had frightened her, so Coal Ball beat him with its wings.

Ye Yunchi lost control of her body and ended up dancing and kissing Xie Jinhuan, while Lü Yan and Yellow Qilin True Person investigated Chaochitai’s blood sacrifices and discussed the Corpse Ancestor’s origins. As a disturbance stirred at Northern Darkness Lake, Yellow Qilin True Person hurried off, expecting Xie Jinhuan to be there already.

• Empress Dowager Guo and Ye Yunchi witnessed Meconggao throw himself into someone’s arms and Xie Jinhuan comfort Xiao Biao, respectively.
• Ye Yunchi found herself hanging from a ribbon and dancing uncontrollably, and Xie Jinhuan entered and played a tune for her.
• Ye Yunchi’s involuntary dance turned into a scissor kick that trapped Xie Jinhuan, and she unsuccessfully tried to make him leave.
• Lü Yan and Yellow Qilin True Person examined sheep bones from Chaochitai’s blood sacrifices and discussed how the Corpse Ancestor had turned toward forbidden experiments.
• Yellow Qilin True Person sensed activity at Northern Darkness Lake and vanished to investigate after Lü Yan suggested Xie Jinhuan was already there.

Ye Yunchi and Xie Jinhuan discussed their relationship while growing more intimate in the palace gardens, as Ye Hongshang recorded them. Meanwhile, Qixia True Person worried over her younger self’s romantic impulses and ordered Nangong Ye to steer Xie Jinhuan toward Bu Yuehua before heading to the gardens herself.

• Xie Jinhuan supported Ye Yunchi as she recovered, but she insisted they were not a proper couple and said she might be content raising a child alone.
• Ye Hongshang suggested that Xie Jinhuan and Ye Yunchi could live together if Ye Yunchi became a child’s godmother.
• Xie Jinhuan played a tune for Ye Yunchi, then touched and kissed her while Ye Hongshang recorded their intimacy.
• Jiang Xian relaxed with books and tea until she fell asleep, allowing Qixia True Person to take over and fret about her younger self’s attraction to romance.
• Qixia True Person told Nangong Ye to urge Xie Jinhuan to pursue Bu Yuehua and warned him not to raise his own request if he failed.
• Qixia True Person left Nangong Ye and went to the palace gardens, arriving in the stone pavilion.

Xie Jinhuan demonstrated that he had mastered a Buddhist divine ability, then joined Qixia True Person and the others on a concealed ship at Northern Darkness Lake to await an opportunity. While they watched for their enemies and the opportunity to appear, Nangong Ye followed Qixia True Person’s order to spend time alone with Xie Jinhuan, and the pair became intimate.

• Qixia True Person interrupted Xie Jinhuan and Ye Yunchi, then urged Xie Jinhuan to keep proper boundaries with Jiang Xian and Qingmo.
• Xie Jinhuan showed Qixia True Person a golden lotus technique he had learned in just a few days.
• Xie Jinhuan and the others set out for Northern Darkness Lake aboard a concealed ship, where Empress Dowager Guo used Mirror Flowers, Water Moon to survey the area.
• Qixia True Person urged Nangong Ye to spend time with Xie Jinhuan, so Nangong Ye called him into a cabin.
• Nangong Ye questioned Xie Jinhuan about neglecting the Goddess of War, but Xie Jinhuan made the encounter intimate instead.

Nangong Ye and Xie Jinhuan nearly got caught hiding a Dharma Artifact when Bu Yuehua, Zhao Ling, and the Goddess of War came to their room to drink. Beneath the Ninefold Underworld, Chaochitai probed the Black Tortoise Divine Pillar, encountered Ye Sheng in a chaotic realm, and collapsed after Ye Sheng’s gaze struck him; he warned Yang Huaxian that Ye Sheng was inside the pillar.

• Bu Yuehua and Zhao Ling entered Nangong Ye’s room but found him and Xie Jinhuan sitting properly, with the Dharma Artifact still hidden.
• The Goddess of War told everyone to rest, then joined Bu Yuehua, Zhao Ling, Nangong Ye, and Xie Jinhuan for wine in the same room.
• Yang Huaxian explained that probing the Black Tortoise Divine Pillar could trap a person’s divine sense and lead to their transformation into a Divine Servant.
• Chaochitai found a crack in the pillar and was pulled into a chaotic sea, where he saw a colossal scholar holding a damaged anchor chain.
• Ye Sheng looked toward Chaochitai, whose divine soul was nearly shattered; after Yang Huaxian suppressed him, Chaochitai said Ye Sheng was inside the pillar.

Nangong Ye hosted a late-night gathering aboard the boat while wearing a hidden Dharma Artifact, and Linghu Qingmo unexpectedly possessed her body to deliver news about a sheep demon near Northern Darkness Lake. After Qingmo and Xie Jinhuan spoke privately, Nangong Ye learned he had noticed her predicament and confronted him, only for him to trigger the artifact again.

• Nangong Ye joined Xie Jinhuan, Empress Dowager Guo, Ye Yunchi, Zhao Ling, and Bu Yuehua for a late-night gathering while wearing the Nine Stars Aligned.
• Linghu Qingmo possessed Nangong Ye and told the group that the Directorate of Celestial Observation had reported Chaochitai was polluting the Origin of Heaven and Earth at Northern Darkness Lake.
• Empress Dowager Guo and the others agreed to secure the opportunity first, deal with Ancestor Huaxian and Daoist Kongkong, and then address Chaochitai.
• Linghu Qingmo spoke privately with Xie Jinhuan, discovered Nangong Ye was wearing Black Silk Suspender Stockings, and asked him to keep the discovery from her.
• Nangong Ye regained control, learned that Linghu Qingmo had visited, and accused Xie Jinhuan of causing her embarrassment.
• Xie Jinhuan triggered the Lump-Suppressing Dharma Artifact again, leaving Nangong Ye unable to maintain her composure.

As the storm suppressed spells across the Northern Region, the cultivators detected that several opportunities had appeared and split up to seize them. Xie Jinhuan and Sister Guo headed north, while Qixia True Person sent their ship charging through the waves toward its destination.

• Yellow Qilin True Person judged that Xie Jinhuan had probably not already taken an opportunity and waited for the signs to appear.
• While Xie Jinhuan stood on punishment aboard the ship, he created a crude image of Old Rat Demon and Old Cat Devil on the water curtain.
• When the water curtain went dark, Qixia True Person and the others gathered and divided into groups to pursue the opportunities.
• Ye Hongshang located the opportunities and directed Xie Jinhuan and Sister Guo north toward one about four hundred li away.
• Qixia True Person ordered the large ship forward, and it surged through the waves with the youngsters aboard preparing for combat.

Daoist Kongkong raced across Northern Darkness Lake to claim an opportunity, reflecting on the life that led him to join the Unorthodox Dao. He confronted the Goddess of War and Xie Jinhuan, who tried to stop him, while Shang Mingzhen quietly approached Xie Jinhuan from nearby.

• Daoist Kongkong recalled his impoverished childhood, his meeting with the old Daoist of Empty Fish Temple, and how a flying sword set him on the Cultivation Dao.
• Daoist Kongkong remembered his rise during the Witch Cult Rebellion, his failure to match the era’s greatest figures, and his decision to seek immortality through the Unorthodox Dao.
• Daoist Kongkong reached the lakebed opportunity and found the Goddess of War and Xie Jinhuan blocking his way.
• Daoist Kongkong defended his choice as an attempt to break the limits of the world, while the Goddess of War challenged his reasoning and prepared to fight him.
• The Goddess of War told Xie Jinhuan to retreat and protect himself, and he withdrew while planning to stall Daoist Kongkong until reinforcements arrived.
• The Red-and-Black Octopus watched the confrontation as Shang Mingzhen quietly crept toward the retreating Xie Jinhuan.

Xie Jinhuan chased the Black Tortoise Divine Gift and fought Shang Mingzhen underwater while the Goddess of War battled Daoist Kongkong nearby. After taking a Dao Progress Surge Pill, Xie Jinhuan defeated and beheaded Shang Mingzhen, but a surge of blood qi erupted from the headless body and gathered around him.

• The Goddess of War and Daoist Kongkong clashed across Northern Darkness Lake as Xie Jinhuan spotted an octopus fleeing with the Black Tortoise Divine Gift and pursued it.
• Shang Mingzhen ambushed Xie Jinhuan underwater, and the two fought using their weapons, divine gifts, and techniques from several cultivation traditions.
• After Shang Mingzhen transformed into a powerful half-demon, Xie Jinhuan took a Dao Progress Surge Pill and discarded his weapons to attack with greater speed and force.
• Shang Mingzhen knocked Xie Jinhuan's divine soul out of his body, but Xie Jinhuan disrupted him with a curse technique and returned to his body.
• Xie Jinhuan pierced Shang Mingzhen's chest, shattered his heart, and cut off his head, but blood qi erupted from the headless body and gathered around him.

Empress Dowager Guo drove Daoist Kongkong away and joined Xie Jinhuan at the lake, where he had found three opportunities and was chasing a powerful spirit beast. After Xie Jinhuan became deliriously affectionate under the influence of a pill, Guo struggled to restrain him while refining the opportunities.

• Empress Dowager Guo told Daoist Kongkong that his wavering Dao Heart was unrighteous, and he retreated rather than continue fighting.
• Guo followed the disturbance underwater and found Big Coal Ball guarding three glowing opportunities beside a headless corpse while Xie Jinhuan pursued an octopus.
• Guo trapped the octopus in a cage of Gang Qi, but Xie Jinhuan suddenly lunged at her and kissed her.
• Xie Jinhuan continued making advances while Guo tried to refine the black sphere, until she called his name and jolted him back to his senses.
• Xie Jinhuan apologized and promised to limit himself to kissing her lips, while Guo resumed refining the opportunities.

Xie Jinhuan and Empress Dowager Guo refined a divine gift opportunity, then rushed to aid Qixia True Person as she pursued Old Devil Huaxian. Xie Jinhuan kept pestering Empress Dowager Guo on the way, while Coal Ball carried several opportunities.

• Qixia True Person pursued Old Devil Huaxian across Northern Darkness Lake after he reached an opportunity first.
• Empress Dowager Guo finished refining an opportunity while Xie Jinhuan distracted her, then stopped him from misbehaving.
• A Piao pointed out that another opportunity was moving toward Qixia True Person, so Xie Jinhuan charged in that direction with Empress Dowager Guo.
• Empress Dowager Guo stored three opportunities in Coal Ball and had Xie Jinhuan carry the Black Tortoise Divine Gift.
• Empress Dowager Guo immobilized Xie Jinhuan when he continued molesting her, but released him after the deity warned that the opportunity was close.

Chaochitai and Yang Huaxian set a Water Yin Array over Northern Darkness Lake to trap the arriving righteous cultivators and secure their opportunity. Empress Dowager Guo tried to withdraw with Xie Jinhuan, but Yang Huaxian began strengthening the array to stop them.

• Chaochitai sensed that the Goddess of War and Qixia True Person were approaching Northern Darkness Lake.
• Yang Huaxian told Chaochitai to hold off the righteous forces while he pursued their opportunity.
• Xie Jinhuan attacked Chaochitai and Yang Huaxian with his lance, and Empress Dowager Guo shielded him from Yang Huaxian's force.
• Yang Huaxian formed the Water Yin Array, turning the surrounding lake into a freezing water prison.
• Empress Dowager Guo decided to retreat with Xie Jinhuan and Coal Ball, but Yang Huaxian rose into the air and began casting another spell to trap them.

Yang Huaxian used the Water Yin Array and a ghostly Asura to overwhelm Xie Jinhuan, Empress Dowager Guo, and Ye Hongshang until Qixia True Person arrived and attacked him. Yang Huaxian split the glacier and tried to seal them inside an abyss, but a Thousand-Zhang Buddha Light surged from below and stopped the earth from closing.

• Yang Huaxian channeled the Northern Darkness Lake’s power through Chaochitai, drowning Xie Jinhuan and Empress Dowager Guo in an immense cold torrent while Coal Ball’s flapping briefly disrupted the array.
• Yang Huaxian summoned a thousand-foot Asura with the Soul Bell, and Xie Jinhuan and Empress Dowager Guo struggled to resist it.
• Qixia True Person arrived, took the Zhenglun Sword, and split the Asura with a powerful strike before charging Yang Huaxian.
• Yang Huaxian tore open the glacier to reveal an abyss and began closing it with a Demon-Sealing Grand Formation, while Empress Dowager Guo tried to help Qixia True Person escape.
• A powerful blast from below revealed a Thousand-Zhang Buddha Light in the narrowing rift, jamming the earth’s closure and shaking Yang Huaxian.

Xie Jinhuan was swallowed by the origin of heaven and earth after Yang Huaxian’s attack and awoke in Ye Hongshang’s cave. Ye Hongshang said he might be trapped for sixty years, but offered a way out if he accepted three conditions.

• Xie Jinhuan used Nine Lotuses Covering the Realm to delay Yang Huaxian long enough for the Goddess of War to rescue Qixia True Person, but he was badly injured and lost consciousness.
• The rift closed, and Empress Dowager Guo found Xie Jinhuan and Coal Ball missing from a cavity in the rock.
• Xie Jinhuan awoke in the origin of heaven and earth, where Ye Hongshang told him he could leave only when another opportunity appeared, possibly sixty years later.
• Ye Hongshang offered to help Xie Jinhuan escape if he agreed that she would lead the household, that he would not force her to give him anything, and that he would stop dwelling on her past.
• Xie Jinhuan accepted Ye Hongshang’s conditions, and they sealed the agreement with a pinky promise.

Ye Hongshang created a wedding residence at the origin of heaven and earth and married Xie Jinhuan with Coal Ball officiating. Their ceremony reached the parental bows, while Xie Wen dreamed of the wedding and woke wishing it had been real.

• Ye Hongshang told Xie Jinhuan that Coal Ball was receiving an opportunity from the origin of heaven and earth, then sent him to meditate while she dealt with her recovered memories.
• Ye Hongshang returned with a lively, alluring manner and proposed that she and Xie Jinhuan marry; Xie Jinhuan agreed to hold the ceremony after they returned home, but Ye Hongshang conjured a Night Residence and wedding furnishings.
• Ye Hongshang summoned Coal Ball to officiate, and she and Xie Jinhuan dressed for the wedding and began the ceremony with bows to heaven and earth and their parents.
• Xie Wen dreamed that Xie Jinhuan married Ye Hongshang, woke when a cold wind blew through his open window, and said he would have accepted her as the eldest wife if the dream had been real.

Xie Jinhuan and Ye Hongshang completed their wedding ceremony and spent the night together, while the others broke the formation and found him missing. Qixia True Person remained confident he was safe and led the group onward to confront Yellow Qilin Old Devil.

• Xie Jinhuan and Ye Hongshang bowed as husband and wife, then went to the bridal chamber together.
• Xie Jinhuan discovered that Ye Hongshang felt real and continued their intimacy as the bridal curtains closed.
• Nangong Ye, Ye Yunchi, Bu Yuehua, and Zhao Ling attacked the Demon-Sealing Grand Formation while Qixia True Person secured a portion of the Black Tortoise Divine Gift.
• Qixia True Person shattered the glacier, and Empress Dowager Guo emerged, reporting that Xie Jinhuan had gone missing.
• Qixia True Person took the Little Octopus from Empress Dowager Guo and ordered Nangong Ye and the others to set off to check on Yellow Qilin Old Devil.