Chapter Summaries

Pei Yu explained how she escaped the Sun Household, and Gu Nian and Xue Fuyao flew out of Wuling City with her to avoid a search. During the journey, Xue Fuyao learned that Gu Clan members were seeking her on the Eastern Continent and sent Shadow Two Shiwu to contact them with the Gu Bell.

• Pei Yu told Gu Nian and Xue Fuyao that she had fled Lin Household Village after her parents died and escaped the Sun Household using her father's talismans.
• Gu Nian decided to return to the sect with Xue Fuyao, and they chose to fly out of Wuling City rather than undergo the soldiers' searches.
• Shadow Two Shiwu told Xue Fuyao that Gu Clan members had appeared on the Eastern Continent and were searching for someone.
• Xue Fuyao explained that the Gu Clan had mistaken her for their Saintess because she possessed the living Silver-Thread Gu Bracelet.
• Xue Fuyao told Shadow Two Shiwu to take the Gu Bell and make contact with the Gu Clan members.

Xue Fuyao and Gu Nian returned to the Yuanji Sect with Pei Yu, whose five spiritual roots were unusually pure and balanced. Several elders rushed to claim Pei Yu as a disciple, and the chapter ended with them asking her to choose her own master.

• Xue Fuyao ordered Shadow Two Shiwu to investigate whether the Gu Clan could be brought under her command and said they could be used as disposable supplies if they could not.
• Xue Fuyao and Gu Nian returned to the Yuanji Sect with Pei Yu, who wondered whether she could join the sect.
• Pei Yu tested as having five spiritual roots, each around eighty percent pure, and Xue Fuyao explained that her aptitude could allow her to reach Foundation Establishment and possibly Golden Core.
• Elder Han and the other elders arrived after the test and began competing to take Pei Yu as their disciple.
• Xue Fuyao told the elders to ask Pei Yu what she wanted, and they turned to her to choose.

After helping Gu Nian clear a mountain of official documents, Xue Fuyao learned that Ying Sishi Jiu and Shadow Fifty had returned unconscious after an encounter with the Buddhist Sect. She removed the Bodhi Mantra clinging to them, while the monks behind it abandoned their pursuit and reported that Venerable Spiritwood had stabilized the barrier.

• Elder Han defeated every competitor in the contest and took Pei Yu away, while Gu Nian dragged Xue Fuyao off to help with official documents.
• Xue Fuyao and Gu Nian worked through the night and finished the documents before dawn, then Xue Fuyao slept until a messenger woke her with news about Ying Sishi Jiu and Shadow Fifty.
• Shadow Five told Xue Fuyao that the two Dark Guards had escaped capture but remained unconscious after the Buddhist Sect had affected them.
• Xue Fuyao used the Dark Guard token to tear the Bodhi Mantra auras from Ying Sishi Jiu and Shadow Fifty and dispersed them, though the pair did not immediately wake.
• A gaunt monk discovered that his Bodhi Mantra had been removed and stopped his fellow monk from retaliating, warning that they could not provoke whoever had done it.
• The monk reported that Venerable Spiritwood had soothed the Kongtong Seal, stabilizing the barrier so everyone could return after it was reinforced again.

Xue Fuyao learned that the Precious Temple’s Spirit Transformation Realm elders had left for the Mortal Realm and used puppets from the Imperial Mausoleum to launch an attack on the temple. The puppets and her infiltrators began a massacre, but a powerful monk appeared as the assault continued.

• The old monk refused to open the Teleportation Array and sent the Buddhist Sect’s secluded elders toward the barrier between the Mortal Realm and the Cultivation Realm.
• After Ying Sishi Jiu and Shadow Fifty recounted what had happened, Xue Fuyao learned that the Precious Temple’s elders had left the Western Continent for the Mortal Realm.
• Xue Fuyao summoned more than a dozen Spirit Transformation Realm puppets from the Imperial Mausoleum and planned to attack the Precious Temple that night.
• Xue Fuyao destroyed the core of the temple’s Sect-Guarding Grand Array and began forming a poison array while Shadow Five and the others infiltrated the temple.
• The puppets and Shadow Five’s group slaughtered the temple’s defenders until a Spirit Transformation Realm monk in an ornate kasaya appeared.

Xue Fuyao’s attack on the Precious Temple nearly succeeds, but a dying monk reaches its forbidden grounds and releases a sealed Ghost Demon General. Xue Fuyao’s formation temporarily contains the spreading demonic qi, leaving her to face a rapidly worsening threat.

• Xue Fuyao watched Shadow Five and the puppets slaughter the Precious Temple’s monks, then spotted an old monk secretly heading toward the rear mountain.
• The old monk burned his lifespan to reach the temple’s forbidden grounds and decided to unleash the sealed Ghost Demon General as revenge on the Heaven-Seeking Tower.
• Xue Fuyao ordered her puppets to stop the old monk, but he opened the seal before they could reach him.
• Demonic qi poured from the forbidden grounds, killing everyone inside the Precious Temple and forcing Xue Fuyao to recall Shadow Five and the puppets.
• Xue Fuyao’s formation temporarily blocked the demonic qi as her Heavenly Eye revealed the awakening Ghost Demon General and its evil ghosts.

Xue Fuyao used the Demon-Suppressing Bracelet to absorb the demonic qi, ghosts, and Ghost General trapped in the Precious Temple, though the effort left the bracelet damaged and overfilled. After Shadow One shared memories of the bracelet and a map to the Azure Heavens and Yellow Springs, Xue Fuyao chose to investigate the Western Continent first; three days later, the bracelet had recovered and confirmed its power to suppress devils.

• Xue Fuyao pressed the Demon-Suppressing Bracelet against the Precious Temple's barrier and supplied it with spiritual power.
• The bracelet turned gold and absorbed the demonic qi, evil ghosts, and weakened Ghost General inside the barrier.
• Xue Fuyao left the Precious Temple with Shadow Five and the others as the overfilled bracelet began repairing itself with her spiritual power.
• Shadow One told Xue Fuyao that the bracelet was a Dharma Treasure made to counter the Devil Race and revealed that he remembered a map to the Azure Heavens and Yellow Springs.
• Xue Fuyao ordered an investigation into other Devil Race seals in the Western Continent and postponed seeking the Azure Heavens and Yellow Springs.
• After three days, the bracelet stopped absorbing Xue Fuyao's spiritual power and conveyed that it truly could suppress devils.

Xue Fuyao began a sweeping purge of the Western Continent’s Devil Race, Demon Race, and their collaborators while preparing to use Gu Worms for surveillance and control. After dispatching puppets to deal with factions that resisted her, she took the Demon-Suppressing Bracelet to consume a sealed demon and watched the marsh around its prison turn black with demonic qi.

• Xue Fuyao ordered the Cleansing Plan after Shadow Five and the others located the Western Continent’s seals and infiltrating factions.
• Ying Qi told Xue Fuyao that factions were searching for her, with some seeking cooperation and the Myriad Forms Temple vowing to purify the evil.
• Xue Fuyao directed Ying Qi to share limited information with factions willing to obey and gave him more than a hundred newly awakened Spirit Transformation Realm puppets.
• Xue Fuyao took the Demon-Suppressing Bracelet to a marsh where the Rotting Corpse Demon General was sealed a thousand meters underground.
• Xue Fuyao tossed the bracelet into the marsh and waited behind a barrier as the water inside turned black and foul with demonic qi.

Xue Fuyao purified the wetland after the Demon-Suppressing Bracelet absorbed the Rotting Corpse Demon General. She discovered the Devil Race was sending Monster Beasts to awaken him, but the scheme was already futile because he was no longer underground.

• Xue Fuyao waited for the Demon-Suppressing Bracelet to emerge, then used clear spirit waterweed to purify the wetland.
• Xue Fuyao concealed herself and watched a woman lure her pursuers onto a hidden swamp, trap them with Immobility Talismans, and strip them of their belongings.
• Xue Fuyao followed a new disturbance and found Monster Beasts gathering at the spot where the Rotting Corpse Demon General had been sealed.
• Xue Fuyao realized the Devil Race intended to sacrifice the Monster Beasts to awaken the Rotting Corpse Demon General, but the plan could not work because he was no longer underground.

Xue Fuyao purified the polluted waters around the Rotting Corpse Demon General’s seal and met Zhou Ran, who claimed to be its guardian. After the Demon-Suppressing Bracelet digested the demon, Xue Fuyao traveled to another sealed site, where her puppets had found no guardian.

• The Monster Beasts exploded in the sealed waters, polluting them with demonic blood, and Xue Fuyao ordered Shadow Five to guard other sealed sites.
• Zhou Ran arrived and tried to entrust the seal to Xue Fuyao before sacrificing herself to absorb the polluted water.
• Xue Fuyao restrained Zhou Ran and used the Jade Glass of the Azure Moon to purify the water.
• Zhou Ran identified herself as the Ninety-Eighth Generation Guardian and offered to make Xue Fuyao her disciple, but Xue Fuyao declined and left to investigate further.
• After three days, the Demon-Suppressing Bracelet finished digesting the Rotting Corpse Demon General, and Xue Fuyao reached another sealed site where her puppets had found no guardian.

Xue Fuyao destroyed sealed Demon Generals and prepared to eliminate the remaining demonic threats while the Heaven-Seeking Tower purged suspected spies across the Western Continent. After returning to the Different Space, she assessed the factions’ loyalties and ordered care and cultivation resources for 157 rescued people.

• A Devil Race prince discovered that the demonic aura at a seal had vanished and suspected his siblings were competing for the Demon Generals; he vowed to refine the Demon God Pill and seize the throne.
• Xue Fuyao’s Demon-Suppressing Bracelet devoured two more Demon Generals, bringing its total to five, and she set out to clear the remaining seals.
• After ten days, Xue Fuyao returned to the Different Space as the Heaven-Seeking Tower’s campaign against suspected Devil Race and Demon Race spies had left the Western Continent’s cultivator population down by nearly a third.
• Ying Qi reported that nearly half the factions had stayed silent and that Buddhist Sect-linked factions seemed to be waiting; Xue Fuyao ordered the silent factions dealt with and left neutral local powers alone for now.
• Ying Qi reported that Shadow Three had returned with 157 people whose bodies were severely depleted, and Xue Fuyao ordered their injuries treated and their cultivation supported with medicines and spirit plants.

Xue Fuyao buried a coffin in a guarded burial site, arranged how the Heaven-Seeking Tower would handle Western Continent leaders, and returned to her cave abode, where Gu Nian told her that the barrier had stabilized and the once-a-decade disciple recruitment assembly was approaching. The chapter ended with Xue Fuyao remembering the major event that gathered the Southern Continent’s young talents.

• Xue Fuyao learned that sixty-two people had died stabilizing the barrier and ordered the returning members of Precious Temple to be quietly disposed of.
• Shadow Five showed Xue Fuyao an auspicious burial site, where she buried the coffin and protected it with formations, Gu Worms, poisonous herbs, and puppets.
• Xue Fuyao told Shadow Twenty-One that one of her subordinates could meet the Western Continent leaders on behalf of the Heaven-Seeking Tower and warned them not to tolerate provocation.
• Xue Fuyao returned to her cave abode, freed Gu Nian from her formations, and gave her a dozen Formation Disks.
• Gu Nian told Xue Fuyao that the barrier had stabilized, two Yuanji Sect Grand Elders had died, and the once-a-decade disciple recruitment assembly was about to begin.

Xue Fuyao learned that the Disciple Recruitment Assembly would be held at the Heavenly Dao Academy and traveled with Gu Nian and Chu Yunzhe to begin recruiting in Lingwu City. There, the city lord arranged to test children’s spiritual roots over several days, reminding Xue Fuyao of her own near-abduction.

• Gu Nian explained that the five sects had moved the Disciple Recruitment Assembly from Kunlun Sect to the Heavenly Dao Academy, and Xue Fuyao agreed to wait for Chu Yunzhe before leaving.
• After Chu Yunzhe returned, Xie Yichu gave Xue Fuyao the Imperial Jade Seal and told her to accompany Gu Nian to the assembly.
• Xue Fuyao, Gu Nian, and Chu Yunzhe left Yuanji Sect by Spirit Boat, bound for Lingwu City, the first of five cities they would visit.
• The party arrived in Lingwu City, where the city lord explained that children’s spiritual-root tests would be spread across several days to manage the crowds safely.
• Hearing the city lord worry that something might happen, Xue Fuyao remembered nearly being abducted by human traffickers.

As Lingwu City tested young people for spiritual roots, Xue Fuyao used her Heavenly Eye to study the strands of qi connecting people. Near the city gates, she recognized a man using the Fortune-Borrowing Technique to steal a child’s spiritual roots and secretly knocked him unconscious, intending to stop him from repeating the crime.

• Gu Nian agreed to proceed with the testing, and Lingwu City tested more than a hundred residents, finding spiritual roots in only three youths.
• Xue Fuyao watched the crowd with her improved Heavenly Eye and realized that the strands of qi around people reflected their relationships.
• Xue Fuyao spotted black qi connecting a seven- or eight-year-old child to a young man and saw that the man was drawing something from the child.
• Xue Fuyao recognized the young man as the future rogue cultivator who would use the Fortune-Borrowing Technique to steal spiritual roots.
• Xue Fuyao concealed herself and struck the young man with pebbles, leaving him unconscious so he could not continue stealing the child’s spiritual roots.

Xue Fuyao knocked Changsheng unconscious to free the child he had been pressing against, then left without revealing herself. In the Western Continent, Shadow Five met the faction leaders, accepted the Zhao Household's gift, and reminded them that they all bore responsibility for the continent becoming a den of demons.

• Changsheng collapsed after the black energy vanished, and the village chief said he was only unconscious and should recover in an inn.
• The child felt light and at ease after Changsheng lost consciousness, and Xue Fuyao quietly left.
• Shadow Five entered the Shangguan reception hall with two powerful puppets and concealed his Golden Core cultivation with a Facial Mask.
• The Zhao Household's head thanked Shadow Five and offered him an ancestral treasure, which he accepted through a puppet.
• Shadow Five told the gathered faction leaders that everyone present bore responsibility for the Western Continent becoming a den of demons.

The Li Household pledged its entire lineage to the Heaven-Seeking Tower, surprising the other households as Shadow Five continued the Tower's effort to bring the Western Continent under its control. In Lingwu City, Xue Fuyao recorded a poor child's extraordinary water-type heavenly spiritual root and learned that the child wanted to be called Xia Qiaomu.

• The head of the Li Household offered to merge his lineage into the Heaven-Seeking Tower and obey its commands.
• Shadow Five accepted the Li Household's pledge, while the head of the Shangguan Household worried that his own household might be sidelined.
• Xue Fuyao helped record spiritual-root test results in Lingwu City while the Kunlun Sect disciple responsible for the records was missing.
• A frail child placed a hand on the Spirit-Testing Stone, producing a black pillar of light and revealing a water-type heavenly spiritual root.
• The child told Xue Fuyao that he had no name, then chose Xia Qiaomu, the name given to him by his village schoolteacher.

Xue Fuyao noticed the injured Kunlun Sect disciple had something inside his wounds that would be trapped if they healed. As Zhou Bai offered to remove it, the group faced an urgent attempt to save the unconscious disciple.

• Xue Fuyao recognized Xia Qiaomu’s cracked jade Buddha pendant and secretly sent spiritual qi into him to hide it and protect his life.
• Gu Nian said the sects were trying to recruit Xia Qiaomu and warned that his heavenly water spiritual root might come with a pure yin furnace constitution.
• Chu Yunzhe told Xue Fuyao and Gu Nian that the missing Kunlun Sect disciple had been found unconscious with strange claw-like injuries.
• Zhou Bai suspected a person had attacked the disciple because the wounds resembled monster-beast injuries but showed human force.
• Xue Fuyao examined the disciple and warned that something inside his wounds would be trapped if they healed, then Zhou Bai offered to cut them open himself.

Xue Fuyao helped Zhou Bai remove a baleful-control gu from an injured man and explained how the parasite took over its host. She learned that a rogue Gu Clan faction had disappeared with Gu Worms and Gu Masters, while the Gu Clan’s Grand Elder recognized her as Clan Chief and asked her to deal with any members who had committed grave wrongs.

• Zhou Bai pulled a two-foot-long baleful-control gu from the injured man, and Xue Fuyao pinned it with her dagger when it lunged at her.
• Xue Fuyao explained the gu’s growth and its ability to consume a host’s body and take control after eating the brain.
• Gu Nian ordered the disciples not to leave alone and told them to bring out more Spirit-Testing Stones.
• Xue Fuyao asked Er Shiwu to investigate whether anyone else could refine or possessed baleful-control gu.
• Er Shiwu reported that the Gu Clan had split into two factions, with the missing faction taking Gu Worms and Gu Masters when it vanished.
• The Grand Elder told Xue Fuyao that possessing two Sacred Relics made her Clan Chief and asked her to spare repentant Gu Clan members but show no mercy to those who had committed grave wrongs.

Xue Fuyao secretly returned to Lingwu City, uncovered the Gu Clan’s role in nurturing the Supreme Baleful-Control Gu, and killed the woman who had transformed herself into Gu Worms. Back aboard the Spirit Boat, she learned that an unidentified cloaked figure had supplied the Gu and strengthened her King Butterfly with emerald liquid.

• Xue Fuyao secretly returned to Lingwu City and used a bell to make the Gu Worms covering a monstrous woman turn on one another, exposing and killing her.
• Xue Fuyao captured the fleeing City Lord and used the Soul-Seizing Technique to read her memories.
• Xue Fuyao learned that the City Lord and the woman were Gu Clan descendants who had replaced their bodies with Gu Worms, and that an unknown person had delivered the Supreme Baleful-Control Gu for them to nurture.
• Xue Fuyao recalled that the cloaked supplier had a low, hoarse voice she would recognize if she heard it again.
• Xue Fuyao gave emerald liquid from a green bottle to her transparent King Butterfly, strengthening its body.

Xue Fuyao returned to Heavenly Dao Academy and learned that two yin and yang chaos spirit root holders had appeared at the Disciple Recruitment Assembly, potentially drawing resources and powerful elders. After arriving at the academy with her fox and Big White, she reunited with Xie Yichu, who approvingly noted how well she had raised the goose.

• Chu Yunzhe explained that the assembly had found two cultivators with yin and yang chaos spirit roots, while Gu Nian described how their needs could affect other disciples’ resources.
• Gu Nian and Xue Fuyao wondered which sect the two gifted cultivators would join and whether a powerful elder would take them as disciples.
• A day later, Xue Fuyao, Gu Nian, and Chu Yunzhe arrived at Heavenly Dao Academy with the people they had recruited.
• Gu Nian and Chu Yunzhe reminisced about Little Senior Uncle’s ducks as Xue Fuyao entered the academy with her three-tailed fox and Big White.
• Xue Fuyao reported back to Xie Yichu, who looked at Big White and said that she had raised it well.

Xue Fuyao followed Xie Yichu’s advice to win over promising recruits with dual or triple spiritual roots, visiting their lodgings at the Heavenly Dao Academy. She offered to teach the gathered candidates qi gathering and began guiding them with a Spirit-Gathering Formation.

• Xie Yichu told Xue Fuyao to focus on recruiting talented candidates with dual or triple spiritual roots while others pursued the most exceptional talents.
• Xue Fuyao left the Yuanji Sect’s group and visited the courtyard where candidates were waiting for the Disciple Recruitment Assembly.
• She reassured the candidates that they only needed to follow instructions at the assembly, then suggested that learning qi gathering could help them make a good impression.
• When the candidates admitted they did not know how to gather qi, Xue Fuyao offered to teach them and asked them to call everyone else over.
• Xue Fuyao set up a Spirit-Gathering Formation and guided the candidates through the basics, using her experience and Heavenly Eye to identify their difficulties.