Chapter Summaries

Mu Bai was swept into a hidden underground tribe, where a vision of a Divine Crow and the Heaven-Questioning Statue transformed the Three-Legged Crow Cauldron into a mark on his chest and left him with a new affinity for water. He escaped back to the deep pool, only to be chased through the sky by the Silver-Winged Giant Tiger and dive toward two lit cottages in the forest.

• Mu Bai pulled a floating root and was dragged into a cavern containing an abandoned tribe beneath the deep pool.
• Mu Bai explored the tribe and witnessed an illusion of its people worshipping the Heaven-Questioning Statue and a Red-Gold Divine Crow.
• The Red-Gold Divine Crow passed through Mu Bai, causing the Three-Legged Crow Cauldron to become a mark on his chest that he could summon and dismiss.
• A cataclysmic vision blasted Mu Bai into the dark river, and he awoke back in the deep pool with a new ability to move through water.
• Mu Bai escaped the pool and fled on Golden Roc, but the Silver-Winged Giant Tiger caught up and attacked them.
• Mu Bai ordered Golden Roc to dodge the tiger's blow, and Golden Roc plunged toward two lit thatched cottages.

Mu Bai and the Golden Roc found shelter for the night in a silver-haired old woman’s cottage, where they met her fierce blood-red chick, Red Dance. After repaying the old woman with firewood, a fence, and game, Mu Bai stayed for lunch and received a new robe as he prepared to leave.

• Mu Bai escaped the Silver-Winged Giant Tiger and persuaded the silver-haired old woman to let him and the Golden Roc stay the night.
• The old woman warned that Mu Bai could not settle in her cottage, while a powerful force protected the rooms from beasts outside.
• Mu Bai chopped firewood and built a fence, and the Golden Roc brought Black Pythons and Ming deer as repayment for their shelter.
• The old woman invited Mu Bai and the Golden Roc to lunch, and Red Dance repeatedly stole the roasted meat from the Golden Roc.
• The silver-haired old woman sewed Mu Bai a coarse hemp robe, and Mu Bai washed in a hot bath behind the cottage.

After the silver-haired old woman tempered Mu Bai’s body with lightning and gave him a powerful Hemp Robe, he and Golden Roc returned to Silver Frost Forest to exploit the robe’s protection. They entered Silver-Winged Giant Tiger’s territory, but after Mu Bai spared the tiger’s cubs, a Rainbow-Winged Giant Tiger appeared and seized Golden Roc.

• The silver-haired old woman added Wind-Thunder Grass and a Thunder-Bathing Fruit to Mu Bai’s bath, knocking him unconscious as lightning purged his impurities and raised him to the middle stage of level two.
• The silver-haired old woman gave Mu Bai a Hemp Robe that kept beasts from approaching for a day, and Mu Bai left with Golden Roc.
• Mu Bai and Golden Roc flew over the grasslands, where a stampede of Spotted-Horned Horses disrupted rhinoceroses defending themselves from lions.
• Mu Bai returned to Silver-Winged Giant Tiger’s territory, and the Hemp Robe’s red gleam made the tiger flee while Golden Roc chased it away from its lair.
• Mu Bai found three nursing tiger cubs in the cave, considered taking one, then put them back; outside, a Rainbow-Winged Giant Tiger appeared with Golden Roc caught in its paw.

Mu Bai escaped the Silver-Winged Giant Tiger with the Golden Roc, collected the dead third-tier white wolf, and refined the Rice Butterfly Orchids into Body-Refining Pills. After the Man in Green crashed into their canyon and died, he poisoned Mu Bai and left him carrying a secret item for the Spirit Taming Sect, seventy thousand li away.

• Mu Bai and the Golden Roc fled the Rainbow-Winged Giant Tiger, then returned to the ravine and harvested the dead third-tier white wolf and its Beast Core.
• Mu Bai flew home with the wolf hide and materials, but the Silver-Winged Giant Tiger pursued them until the Man in Green intervened.
• Mu Bai escaped to the canyon and refined the Rice Butterfly Orchids into Body-Refining Pills, sharing them with the Golden Roc.
• The Man in Green crashed into the canyon with the Golden Roc, and Mu Bai gave him Firecloud Pills that briefly revived him.
• The Man in Green identified himself as Qing Mao of the Spirit Taming Sect and entrusted Mu Bai with a brocade box before dying again.
• Qing Mao poisoned Mu Bai with the Hundred-Day Bone-Shattering Pill and told him to take the secret item to the Spirit Taming Sect for an antidote.

Mu Bai set out west toward the Spirit Taming Sect with the dead elder’s Spirit Command and Mustard Seed Bag, while Ling'er worked at the Taiyuan Merchant Guild’s Peony Pavilion in Ximu City. Mi Yan protected Ling'er from Xi Hong’s advances and wondered how Mu Bai was faring.

• Mu Bai took the Spirit Command and Mustard Seed Bag from the dead blue-robed man, then flew west with the Golden Roc toward the Spirit Taming Sect.
• After several days of travel, Mu Bai passed an unnamed tribe and thought of the people he had known.
• Ling'er and Mi Yan arrived in Ximu City to manage the Taiyuan Merchant Guild’s new Peony Pavilion, which drew customers away from Xiong Ba’s trading house.
• Xiong Ba killed his old shopkeeper after the man quit in protest, then dismissed the trading house’s troubles.
• Mi Yan gave Xi Hong a hundred high-grade Soul Crystals to secure his goodwill, but refused his request to take Ling'er because the guild leader had his eye on her.
• After Xi Hong left, Mi Yan regretted that she could offer Ling'er little beyond protection and wondered how Mu Bai was doing.

Mi Yan’s Peony Pavilion weathered Xiong Ba’s attempt to drive away its customers and his later threat to force it out of business. After Xiong Ba and his men were killed, Mi Yan revealed that Taiyuan Qing had intervened, and the two spent the night together.

• Xiong Ba’s public performances drew customers away from the Peony Pavilion, but ten days later the shop regained its business after the shows stopped.
• Ling’er continued training while waiting for Mu Bai, who traveled through the mountains on the Golden Roc.
• Xiong Ba confronted Mi Yan at the Peony Pavilion with his hunting cultivators, and Mi Yan paid him ten thousand soul crystals to avoid a fight.
• After Xiong Ba and his men threatened the Peony Pavilion, Xi Hong warned him about its powerful backers, but Xiong Ba refused to be deterred.
• Xiong Ba and all his men were killed, and their bodies were displayed on Ximu City’s walls; Mi Yan later told Taiyuan Qing she was grateful he had stood up for her.
• Taiyuan Qing revealed his possessive feelings toward Mi Yan and asked about Ling’er, then Mi Yan spent the night with him.

Mu Bai reached Spirit Command City seeking the Spirit Taming Sect and discovered its secular power was a city of pleasure quarters. The White Jade Token secured him an audience with the sect master, and he left the Golden Roc in Mu Lan’s care as he flew toward the sect.

• After three months of travel, Mu Bai arrived in Spirit Command City with the Golden Roc and found the city filled with women and pleasure quarters.
• At Blue Flower Pavilion, Mu Bai asked about the Spirit Taming Sect and learned that its city’s women joked about being tamed for Soul Crystals.
• Mu Bai presented the Man in Green’s White Jade Token, and Mu Lan and the other women recognized him as a sect elder and treated him with deference.
• Mu Bai waited more than half a day at the pavilion while the Golden Roc stayed behind, then sect representatives arrived and invited him to meet the sect master.
• Because the Golden Roc could not enter the sect, Mu Bai left it with Mu Lan and flew west toward the mountains with the representatives.

Mu Bai delivered the Silver-Winged Giant Tiger's organ to the Spirit Taming Sect's sect master and learned that the Hundred-Day Bone-Shattering Pill was harmless. He received Qing Mao's Elder Token and discovered that the sect had recruited him because he was an Alchemist, leaving him wary of the dangers around him.

• Xi Bazì and Sweet Potato Boy escorted Mu Bai into the Spirit Taming Sect, where he met the sect master in the Spirit Command Hall.
• The sect master took the Silver-Winged Giant Tiger's organ from Mu Bai's brocade box and told him the pill was not poisonous but had been used to deceive him.
• Mu Bai passed on Qing Mao's request that the sect look after his family, and the sect master gave Mu Bai Qing Mao's Elder Token.
• Xi Bazì and Sweet Potato Boy explained that the token made Mu Bai a sect elder entitled to a cave abode and a monthly allowance of two thousand Soul Crystals.
• Xi Bazì told Mu Bai that Mu Lan had identified his Soul Mark as that of an Alchemist, which was why the sect had sent for him.

Mu Bai toured the Spirit Taming Sect with Xi Bazì and Sweet Potato Boy, then watched the pair clash with the powerful Mo Dekun. After Mo Dekun defeated them and threatened Sweet Potato Boy, Mu Bai asked him to show mercy.

• Mu Bai accepted Qing Mao's elder token and learned about the Spirit Taming Sect as Xi Bazì and Sweet Potato Boy escorted him to Qing Mao's residence.
• Xi Bazì and Sweet Potato Boy argued over their physiques until other disciples gathered to watch.
• A disciple mocked the pair, and Sweet Potato Boy attacked him before Mo Dekun easily kicked him away.
• Xi Bazì joined the fight, but Mo Dekun knocked him down with a palm strike.
• Xi Bazì and Sweet Potato Boy combined their attack, forcing Mo Dekun to defend himself until he unleashed Jade Rain Green Lotus and defeated them.
• Mo Dekun pinned Sweet Potato Boy and threatened to cut him, prompting Mu Bai to ask him not to harm Brother Sweet Potato.

Mu Bai intervened when Mo Dekun attacked Sweet Potato Boy and fought the Spirit Taming Sect disciple, using his strength, Divine Crow Soul Spirit, and wolf-fur coat to defeat him. He spared Mo Dekun but kept a Spirit Light Sword at his head while lecturing him, forcing him to yield.

• Mu Bai stopped Mo Dekun from stabbing Sweet Potato Boy and challenged him to show consideration.
• Mu Bai countered Mo Dekun's close-range attacks and forced him to retreat.
• Mu Bai summoned his Divine Crow Soul Spirit to avoid Mo Dekun's sword technique, then took two Soul Arrows without being seriously hurt.
• Mu Bai pulled out the arrows and threw them at Mo Dekun, then threatened him with a Spirit Light Sword but stopped short of killing him.
• Mu Bai rebuked Mo Dekun while holding the sword over his head, and Mo Deqian yielded.

Mu Bai reached Qing Mao's Estate after escaping Mo Deqian's attack with Zhou Dekai's intervention. He discovered that Elder Qing Mao's token made him the estate's supposed husband and father, but the assembled women and children dispersed when they learned he had no Soul Crystals.

• Mo Dekun's elder brother Mo Deqian attacked Mu Bai, but Zhou Dekai's guard stopped the fight and ordered the Mo brothers to leave.
• Mu Bai, Xi Bazì, and Sweet Potato Boy arrived at Qing Mao's Estate, where crowds of women, men, and children hailed Mu Bai as their husband and father because he held Elder Qing Mao's token.
• Mu Bai tried to escape the crowd and offered them the Elder Token, but they refused to take it.
• When Mu Bai admitted he had no Soul Crystals, the crowd scolded him and quickly dispersed.

Mu Bai collected six months of Qing Mao’s stipend and distributed most of it among Qing Mao’s enormous household. After calming two crying infants and narrowly escaping a beating, he hid away, realizing that supporting the family would keep draining his stipend.

• Mu Bai received twelve thousand soul crystals at the Attendant Hall and learned that Qing Mao’s household expected him to distribute the stipend among its many relatives.
• Mu Bai entered Qing Mao’s empty residence and found two unattended infants, whom he entertained with magical flowers and Divine Crows.
• Mu Bai fed each infant half a Soul-Gathering Pill, prompting Qing Mao’s family to rush in and accuse him of stealing the children.
• Mu Bai explained that he had come with soul crystals, then spent an hour distributing them to the household.
• Mu Bai retreated to a room with just over eleven hundred soul crystals left and worried that Qing Mao’s growing family would keep consuming his stipend.

Mu Bai searched for a private cave abode on Hundred Flowers Peak, but learned he needed the Construction Hall’s approval and soul crystals to build there. After securing permission, he returned with Xi Bazì to find five people confronting Sweet Potato Boy, leaving their intentions unknown.

• Mu Bai practiced the Flying Immortal Scripture in his residence and found that the essence of heaven and earth flowed through him more strongly.
• Mu Bai avoided his concubines, then asked Xi Bazì and Sweet Potato Boy to show him where elders made cave abodes on Hundred Flowers Peak.
• Mu Bai chose a spot for his cave, but Xi Bazì explained that construction required approval and a payment of two thousand soul crystals.
• Mu Bai traded pills with Xi Bazì and Sweet Potato Boy for the required soul crystals, then obtained permission from the Construction Hall.
• Mu Bai and Xi Bazì returned to find five people surrounding Sweet Potato Boy, who had activated his soul spirit and stood ready to fight.

Mu Bai yielded a cave-abode site to Zhou Dekai, learned about the Sect Scions’ rivalry, and discovered the Crow Cauldron consumed Soul Crystals to restore the Artifact Spirit Ancestor. The Sect Master appointed him Deputy Hall Master of the Pill Hall, where he arrived to a chilly reception that he turned into laughter before Zhu Da welcomed him and introduced the Alchemists.

• Zhou Dekai visited Mu Bai’s chosen cave-abode site, and Mu Bai yielded it to him after Xi Bazì explained the Sect Scions’ competition for Heir to the Sect.
• Mu Bai tested the Crow Cauldron and found that it had absorbed ten Soul Crystals, resolving to obtain more for the Artifact Spirit Ancestor’s restoration.
• Two sect members delivered the Sect Master’s appointment naming Mu Bai Pill Hall Deputy Hall Master and ordered him to assume office that day.
• Mu Bai arrived at the Pill Hall and found Zhu Da and ninety-eight Alchemists gathered in the central hall, where they initially ignored him.
• Mu Bai pretended to be a mute, making the gathered Alchemists laugh and easing his awkward reception.
• Zhu Da welcomed Mu Bai with a speech and introduced him to the Pill Hall’s Alchemists.

Mu Bai struggled to meet the Pill Hall’s demanding monthly quota while learning to use its unfamiliar Pill Furnace, and the work threatened to consume the time and resources he needed for cultivation. After improving his success rate to around fifty percent, he was still far short of the quota with more than half the month gone.

• Zhu Da assigned Mu Bai a monthly quota of one hundred Soul-Returning Pills and one hundred Soul-Nurturing Pills, warning that he would be responsible if he fell short.
• Mu Bai began practicing with the Pill Hall’s ancient Pill Furnace, ruined several herbs, and eventually produced three Soul-Returning Pills and three Soul-Nurturing Pills after working until midnight.
• Mu Bai returned to Hundred Flowers Peak exhausted, fed twenty soul crystals to the Crow Cauldron, and worried that the work would derail his cultivation and his plans to avenge his clan elder and tribe.
• Mu Bai resumed refining at the Pill Hall, while Zhu Da inspected the chambers and left him with brief encouragement.
• Mu Bai’s persistent efforts brought his success rate to around fifty percent, but he had made fewer than fifty of each pill with more than half the month already passed.

Mu Bai visited Qing Mao’s family before going to the Pill Hall, where he encountered rival Sect Heirs Zhou Dekai and Zhou Dechen. After Zhou Dechen dismissed him as a low-ranking practitioner, Mu Bai’s friendly ties with Zhou Dekai led Wang Chong to mistake him for an ally of the third Sect Heir and offer him pills in exchange for an introduction.

• Mu Bai visited Qing Mao’s residence, comforted the women, and gave Soul-Nurturing Pills to Qing Ping and Qing Dai.
• At the Pill Hall, Mu Bai saw Zhou Dekai and Zhou Dechen selecting pills for the grand competition, while Zeng Yuan ingratiated himself with Zhou Dechen.
• Zhou Dechen belittled Mu Bai as a second-level miscellaneous practitioner, and Mu Bai nevertheless bowed and praised him before he left with Zeng Yuan.
• Zhou Dekai invited Mu Bai to his residence for drinks, and Mu Bai accepted.
• Wang Chong offered Mu Bai fifty pills in exchange for an introduction to the third Sect Heir, assuming Mu Bai was connected to that faction.
• Mu Bai accepted the pills to meet his monthly quota and planned to mention Wang Chong to Zhou Dekai.

Mu Bai helped Zhou Dekai meet Su He and examined her sick father, Uncle Su, at Flower Ravine Creek. After returning with a medicinal pill and treating Uncle Su, Mu Bai found Zhou Dekai and Su He growing closer and left them together.

• Zhou Dekai asked Mu Bai to recommend an Alchemist, and Mu Bai recommended Wang Chong while firmly refusing Zhou Dekai's offer of two thousand soul crystals.
• Zhou Dekai told Mu Bai about Su He and her father's illness, so they flew to Flower Ravine Creek to examine Uncle Su.
• Mu Bai diagnosed Uncle Su with liver heat and promised to find a treatment, then returned to the Spirit Taming Sect while Zhou Dekai stayed to comfort Su He.
• The next morning, Zhou Dekai and Su He embraced and spoke of staying together in Flower Ravine Creek Valley.
• Mu Bai returned with a medicinal pill, gave it to Uncle Su, asked Zhou Dekai about Su He's background, and left for the sect.

Mu Bai returned to Qing Mao Residence to retrieve his white wolf hide coat, hoping to sell it for soul crystals, but the women offered him their savings and two protective Jade Talismans instead. He refused their money and left resolved to grow strong and provide for Qing Mao’s family.

• Mu Bai worried that his soul crystals were running low and decided to retrieve his white wolf hide coat from Qing Mao Residence to sell it.
• Mu Bai found Qing Ping and Qing Dai with Third Madam, gave the children Paper Kites, and recovered his neatly kept coat from his old room.
• First Madam and the other women pooled their saved soul crystals and offered them to Mu Bai, who refused to accept their money.
• First Madam gave Mu Bai two Jade Talismans left by Qing Mao, and Mu Bai accepted them as a means of saving his life.
• Mu Bai promised to bring the women and children wealth and strength, then left the residence resolved to shoulder responsibility for them.

Mu Bai turned a death match at the combat grounds into a chance to sell pills, earning Soul Crystals while keeping both fighters alive. After the Enforcement Hall shut down the resulting crowd of peddlers, he realized he needed a different plan and went to find Xi Bazì and Sweet Potato Boy.

• Mu Bai watched Senior Brother Chen and Senior Brother Zhang fight over a junior sister in yellow, then asked her which one she wanted to survive; she said their duel had nothing to do with her.
• As the wounded fighters resumed their death match, Mu Bai sold Senior Brother Zhang Soul-Returning Pills and Senior Brother Chen Healing Pills, earning roughly fourteen hundred Soul Crystals.
• The revived fighters fought on until both collapsed, prompting other disciples to rush the platform and sell pills themselves.
• The Enforcement Hall broke up the pill-selling chaos and let Mu Bai go after learning he was an elder of the Pill Hall.
• Mu Bai left the combat grounds, decided the trick would only work once, and went to find Xi Bazì and Sweet Potato Boy.

Mu Bai traveled toward Spirit Command City with Xi Bazì and Sweet Potato Boy, but agreed to help Jia Yi and Jia Bing refine a rare flower and discovered they had lured them into an ambush. After the brothers were defeated with the help of a Jungle Dire Wolf, Mu Bai took the flower and ingredients, refined three Giant God Pills, and spared them.

• Mu Bai left the Spirit Taming Sect with Xi Bazì and Sweet Potato Boy, then agreed to accompany Jia Yi and Jia Bing to Fuhu Mountain to refine an instant-bloom flower.
• At the mountain, Mu Bai realized Jia Yi and Jia Bing had planned the trip regardless of his answer and accused them of luring the group there to steal their treasures.
• Jia Yi and Jia Bing attacked Mu Bai and his companions, but Mu Bai fled and used Divine Crow Flame to draw a Jungle Dire Wolf into the pursuit.
• Jia Yi and Jia Bing used their combined Golden Light Broad Sword to kill the Jungle Dire Wolf, then Xi Bazì and Sweet Potato Boy subdued the exhausted brothers.
• Mu Bai took the Beast Core, wolf claws, instant-bloom flower, and ingredients, refined three Giant God Pills, and gave one each to Xi Bazì and Sweet Potato Boy.
• Mu Bai spared Jia Yi and Jia Bing and warned them to abandon their evil intentions.