Chapter Summaries

Mu Bai and his companions visited the Blue Flower Pavilion, where a dispute with Third Master Liu and his men turned into a fight after they insulted Mu Bai and injured his Golden Roc. Mu Bai defeated all five, but Liu San secretly called for help from his powerful ancestor, leaving Mu Bai and Xi Bazì expecting trouble.

• Mu Bai, Xi Bazì, and Sweet Potato Boy traveled to Spirit Command City and went to the Blue Flower Pavilion to meet Mu Lan.
• Third Master Liu and his companions insulted Mu Bai and challenged him, so Sweet Potato Boy struck one of the men.
• Third Master Liu's green ox Soul Spirit and the other men attacked the Golden Roc, prompting Xi Bazì and Sweet Potato Boy to defend it.
• Mu Bai fought back and knocked all five men down, then refused to be intimidated when Liu San claimed his ancestor was powerful.
• Xi Bazì warned Mu Bai that Ancestor Liu Zhen was a peak Third-Level Soul Cultivator, while Liu San secretly sent him a plea for help.
• Liu San and his companions regained their bravado as Mu Bai realized Ancestor Liu Zhen was likely already on his way.

Mu Bai humiliated Liu San at the Blue Flower Pavilion, then used the Spirit Taming Sect’s Elder Token to stop Ancestor Liu Zhen’s attack. Liu Zhen knelt and apologized before taking his injured son away, leaving Mu Bai to reflect on the elder’s willingness to sacrifice his dignity to protect his clan.

• Liu San’s companions blocked the Blue Flower Pavilion’s exits as they waited for Ancestor Liu Zhen, while Xi Bazì and Golden Roc competed to fawn over Mu Bai.
• Liu San taunted Mu Bai and challenged him to crawl between his legs, but Mu Bai tripped him and made him fall painfully into the splits.
• Ancestor Liu Zhen’s shout unsettled the crowd, and he appeared and attacked Mu Bai with a finger strike.
• Mu Bai displayed the Spirit Taming Sect’s Elder Token, forcing Liu Zhen to halt his attack and kneel in apology.
• When Liu San questioned his father, Liu Zhen shattered his kneecaps with pressure, then gathered him up and departed.
• Mu Bai helped Liu Zhen up and declined to escalate the conflict, then reflected on how the elder had protected his clan at the cost of his dignity.

Mu Bai comforted Mu Lan after she learned that Dao Zun Zhou Qichang had forgotten her, then entrusted her with pills to sell in Spirit Command City. After leaving Golden Roc at the Blue Flower Pavilion and sending Xi Bazì and Sweet Potato Boy back to the sect, Mu Bai headed into the city and entered a pawnshop.

• Mu Bai drank with Mu Lan, Xi Bazì, Sweet Potato Boy, and Golden Roc before Xi Bazì and Sweet Potato Boy left them alone.
• Mu Bai told Mu Lan that the Spirit Taming Sect Master had rejected her hopes of returning, and she wept over Zhou Qichang's indifference.
• Mu Bai offered Mu Lan a way to earn a living by selling a hundred Soul-Returning Pills and a hundred Soul-Nurturing Pills within five days.
• Mu Lan accepted the pills and agreed to give Mu Bai twenty-eight thousand Soul Crystals after five days, while keeping half the profit.
• Mu Bai left Golden Roc at the Blue Flower Pavilion, sent Xi Bazì and Sweet Potato Boy back to the sect, and entered a pawnshop in Spirit Command City.

Mu Bai tried to pawn a Moon-Howling White Wolf hide coat in Spirit Command City, but after turning the shopkeeper’s low offer into a public bidding contest, he gave the coat to an old Divine Cultivator instead. He left the crowd in tears, then renewed his resolve to make his own way in life.

• Mu Bai took his Moon-Howling White Wolf hide coat to a pawnshop, where the shopkeeper offered him only one hundred Soul Crystals.
• Mu Bai called out to passersby and sparked a bidding contest that raised the offer to twenty-five hundred Soul Crystals.
• The winning bidder tried to take the coat, but Mu Bai refused to sell it and exchanged a punch with him.
• Mu Bai gave the coat to the old Divine Cultivator, calling him Grandpa Clan Patriarch, and walked away.
• Mu Bai wiped his tears and vowed to keep walking his own road toward a brilliant life.

Mu Bai was ambushed by Mo Deqian and Mo Dekun on his way back to the Spirit Taming Sect, but an old Divine Cultivator intervened and helped him fight them. After the old man sacrificed himself to destroy Lin Chuan, Mu Bai mourned him and continued toward the sect.

• Mo Dekun attacked Mu Bai with Soul Arrows, but Mu Bai blocked them with the Three-Legged Crow Cauldron and wounded him.
• The old Divine Cultivator saved Mu Bai from Mo Deqian’s sword, and Mu Bai killed Mo Dekun before the old man and Mu Bai gravely wounded Mo Deqian.
• Lin Chuan appeared and attacked Mu Bai, but Mu Bai used the Red-Gold Divine Crow to break Mo Deqian’s barrier and kill him, then blasted half of Lin Chuan’s face with a brilliant streak.
• Lin Chuan cast a great net over Mu Bai, and the old Divine Cultivator sacrificed himself by detonating his spirit palace, killing Lin Chuan as well.
• Mu Bai mourned the old Divine Cultivator, gathered a white feather, and set off toward the Spirit Taming Sect.

Mu Bai was arrested by the Enforcement Hall after witnesses and physical evidence linked him to the deaths of Mo Deqian and Mo Dekun. After being whipped and sentenced to death, he insisted he had no family to summon and faced his fate in despair.

• Xiong Ji investigated Lin Chuan's death, and Jia Yi and Jia Bing's testimony led the Enforcement Hall to suspect Mu Bai.
• Enforcement Hall disciples stormed the Alchemy Chamber, disarmed Mu Bai, bound him, and seized his Soul Soldier shortsword as evidence.
• Mu Bai was taken to prison, where his arrest caused an uproar in the Pill Hall and many sect members gloated over his misfortune.
• Xiong Ji had Mu Bai whipped and told him he would be executed for killing Mo Deqian, offering to summon any relatives he wished to see.
• Mu Bai said he had no family, questioned why he was punished for defending himself against an ambush, and cried out that he had no one in the sect to rely on.

Mu Bai faced execution while his household and Xi Bazì and Sweet Potato Boy came to the prison and claimed loyalty to him. After they suspected Zhou Detai was behind the case, Mu Bai sent the two disciples to seek help from Zhou Dekai and resolved to fight for his life.

• First Madam and the women of the Qing Mao Residence argued that they were Mu Bai’s family and came to see him in prison.
• Xi Bazì and Sweet Potato Boy confessed that their actions had led to the deaths and offered to die in Mu Bai’s place.
• Xiong Ji said they would be punished too, then left the prisoners together and postponed the execution date.
• First Madam and Xi Bazì suspected Zhou Detai had pressured Xiong Ji to condemn Mu Bai.
• Mu Bai sent Xi Bazì and Sweet Potato Boy to ask Zhou Dekai for help, while the women planned to protest at the Spirit Command Hall.
• Mu Bai regained his determination to fight for his survival and protect those around him.

Xi Bazì and Sweet Potato Boy raced toward Flower Ravine Creek Valley to rescue Mu Bai, but Lin Chuan's two disciples intercepted them and tried to hold them captive. Enforcement Hall disciples arrived and arrested the pursuers, leaving Xi Bazì and Sweet Potato Boy free to continue their journey.

• Xi Bazì and Sweet Potato Boy left the prison and hurried toward Flower Ravine Creek Valley to reach Mu Bai in time.
• Lin Chuan's two disciples caught up with them and demanded they come along, but Xi Bazì and Sweet Potato Boy refused.
• Sweet Potato Boy attacked the pursuers to let Xi Bazì escape, but both were beaten down.
• Sweet Potato Boy struck one disciple in the crotch and nearly landed a lethal blow before the disciple kicked him down and raised his sword.
• Four Enforcement Hall disciples arrived, restrained Lin Chuan's two disciples with Spirit-Binding Ropes, and escorted them back to the sect.

Zhou Dekai returned to the sect after learning Mu Bai was imprisoned and facing execution, while Xiong Ji delayed the sentence under pressure from Zhou Detai. Zhou Dekai pleaded with Zhou Detai, who agreed to spare Mu Bai, revealing that Zhou Dekai was secretly serving as a spy against Zhou Deqi.

• Xi Bazì and Sweet Potato Boy told Zhou Dekai that Mu Bai had been imprisoned after killing Lin Chuan, and Zhou Dekai agreed to return and help.
• Zhou Detai sent Elder Yang to urge Xiong Ji to execute Mu Bai, but Xiong Ji delayed the execution by arranging visits from Mu Bai’s two hundred-odd family members.
• Mu Bai waited in prison as members of Qing Mao Residence visited in groups to bid him farewell.
• Zhou Dekai arrived at Zhou Detai’s residence and pleaded for Mu Bai, offering a million Soul Crystals to compensate Lin Chuan’s family.
• Zhou Detai agreed to spare Mu Bai, and the chapter revealed that Zhou Dekai had been placed beside Zhou Deqi as Zhou Detai’s hidden agent.

After his release from the Enforcement Hall, Mu Bai celebrated with the Qing Mao Residence and reflected on the bonds of family and friends. He learned that Zhou Dekai had paid his monthly quota and given him extra soul crystals, easing his immediate worries but leaving him wary of the struggle between Sect Heirs.

• Mu Bai thanked Zhou Dekai for helping secure his release, and the Qing Mao Residence's wives, children, and grandchildren overwhelmed Zhou Dekai, Xi Bazì, and Sweet Potato Boy with toasts.
• Mu Bai told Third Madam he was nearly out of soul crystals, but she said the women’s pooled funds were with First Madam; Mu Bai insisted he would soon obtain more.
• Xi Bazì and Sweet Potato Boy told Mu Bai that Zhou Dekai had paid his twenty-six-thousand-soul-crystal quota and given him another ten thousand for daily expenses.
• Mu Bai decided he had to return Zhou Dekai’s soul crystals, but Xi Bazì and Sweet Potato Boy convinced him that refusing them would not erase his debt.
• Mu Bai warned Xi Bazì and Sweet Potato Boy that getting involved in the Sect Heirs’ conflict was dangerous, then chose to focus on cultivating instead of joining their romantic outing.

Mu Bai focused on cultivating his Inner Core while Mu Lan found a way to sell his pills through a counter at the Blue Flower Pavilion. Her sales flourished, and an expert from the Sun Tang Aristocratic Clan bought all the remaining pills.

• Mu Bai placed ten Soul Crystals in the Crow Cauldron, then spent several days drawing in essence and practicing the Flying Immortal Scripture.
• Mu Bai visited the Qing Mao Residence to spend time with Qing Ping, Qing Dai, and the women in the household as part of his reflections on cultivation.
• Mu Lan decided to rent a counter in the Blue Flower Pavilion, using its clientele and the Spirit Taming Sect's protection to sell Soul-Returning Pills and Soul-Nurturing Pills.
• Mu Lan opened the Mu Lan Pavilion counter, and her acquaintances helped attract buyers until more than half the Soul-Returning Pills had sold within three days.
• Mu Lan raised the price to a hundred and sixty Soul Crystals per pill, and the sales frenzy continued.
• An expert from the Sun Tang Aristocratic Clan arrived with a group of men and bought every pill Mu Lan had left.

Mu Bai built a profitable pill-selling operation with Mu Lan, Xi Bazì, and Sweet Potato Boy, while using the proceeds to support his family and advance his alchemy. After months of cultivation and refining every second-level pill, he worried that pills alone could not make him a true powerhouse and decided he needed a cultivation method.

• Mu Bai enlisted Xi Bazì and Sweet Potato Boy to help buy and deliver pills, while he handled sect relations and shared the profits with his partners.
• Mu Bai cultivated in his cave abode, refined every second-level pill in the Compendium of Pills and Herbs, and improved his alchemy success rate to eighty or ninety percent.
• Mu Lan expanded Mu Lan Pavilion’s stock, and the Hundred Flowers Pill became a citywide sensation as female cultivators and their male companions rushed to buy it.
• Mu Bai gave soul crystals to the people of Qing Mao Residence, while Golden Roc helped Mu Lan manage customers and Xi Bazì and Sweet Potato Boy deterred troublemakers.
• After more than half a year of pill-supported cultivation, Mu Bai recognized that his combat skills were limited and resolved to find a cultivation method.

Mu Bai visited the Spirit Taming Sect’s Repository of Cultivation Techniques and searched its collections for powerful arts. He left with Thousand Divine Herb Formulas after finding that the available cultivation arts did not meet his needs.

• Mu Bai flew to the Repository of Cultivation Techniques and used his Elder Token to enter after teasing the guardian about a bribe.
• Mu Bai overheard Zhou Dechen pressure Zeng Yuan to produce fifty thousand Soul-Nurturing Pills in three months and threaten him with the consequences of refusing.
• Mu Bai hid in a technique room while Zhou Dechen and Zeng Yuan left, then browsed the repository’s metal-, wood-, and earth-attribute arts.
• Mu Bai found that the cultivation arts he examined did not surpass the fourth level, but discovered a copy of Thousand Divine Herb Formulas.
• Mu Bai took Thousand Divine Herb Formulas, paid the required soul crystals, and left the repository.

Mu Bai helped Zhou Dekai expose a plot by the Fifth Sect Heir to frame him for raping Su He. Zhou Dekai was cleared and spared Su He and her father, but they were murdered after leaving the sect, while Zhou Dekai retreated into his cave with his faith in love shaken.

• Mu Bai learned that Su He and her father had accused Zhou Dekai of rape and warned him that someone was directing their actions.
• Mu Bai gave Zhou Dekai a jade slip recording Su He's father meeting with a Spirit Taming Sect disciple and discussing the plot.
• Zhou Qichang ordered Zhou Dekai whipped in Spirit Command Hall, but Zhou Dekai produced the jade slip and exposed the Fifth Sect Heir's role in the scheme.
• Zhou Dekai forgave Su He and her father and refused to pursue the matter against his fifth brother, prompting Zhou Qichang to end the proceedings.
• Su He and her father left the sect after Zhou Qichang pardoned them, but they were murdered nearby, while Zhou Dekai withdrew into his cave.

Mu Bai went to the Crane Soul Tribe seeking the Crane Feather Tribe, but was mistaken for a spy and captured after revealing his Spirit Taming Sect Elder Token. He learned the two tribes shared a common origin, then discovered You Cang had drugged him and marched out to attack the Crane Feather Tribe; Mu Bai woke in the dungeon and threatened the guards to free himself.

• Mu Bai traveled toward the Crane Feather Tribe to repay the people whose elderly divine cultivator had saved his life, but Crane Soul Tribe sentries mistook him for a scout and shot him with Soul Arrows.
• Mu Bai showed his Spirit Taming Sect Elder Token, and Clan Patriarch You Cang identified himself and the tribe as the Crane Soul Tribe, which shared its origins with the Crane Feather Tribe.
• You Cang invited Mu Bai to stay, then drugged him at a feast while You Feng held a saber to his neck and the tribe prepared to attack the Crane Feather Tribe.
• You Cang led the Crane Soul Tribe's fighters toward the Crane Feather Tribe under cover of darkness, leaving Mu Bai locked in the dungeon.
• Mu Bai woke, summoned two Spirit Light Swords to the guards' heads, and demanded that they release him.

You Cang’s attempt to seize the Crane Blood Stone failed after Mu Bai sabotaged the Crane Soul Tribe and led him away from the Crane Feather Tribe. As the Crane Feather Tribe fled toward the Spirit Taming Sect, Zuo Changxiong and Zuo Si died holding off their pursuers, while Zuo Lin arrived with reinforcements; Mu Bai reached Spirit Command City after taking a detour.

• You Cang found the Crane Feather Tribe’s settlement deserted and lost clansfolk to its traps while searching for the Crane Blood Stone.
• Mu Bai destroyed the Crane Soul Tribe’s ancestral hall, altar, and statue, took a blood-red stone, and escaped, prompting You Cang to chase him in the wrong direction.
• Mu Bai returned to the deserted Crane Feather Tribe settlement, realized You Cang had failed to get the stone, and headed south toward Spirit Command City.
• You Feng’s cultivators caught up with the fleeing Crane Feather Tribe, and Zuo Changxiong and Zuo Si turned back with their companions to hold them off.
• Zuo Si and his companions died fighting, and Zuo Changxiong and You Feng killed each other before Zuo Lin arrived with Spirit Taming Sect cultivators.
• Mu Bai avoided the battle and reached Spirit Command City after nearly five days.

Mu Bai evaded Zhou Dechen in Spirit Command City, then discovered that three black-clad men had followed him and intended to kill him before he reached the sect. He killed two pursuers and fought the last, whose head was suddenly severed by an unseen attacker as Mu Bai sensed the hawklike gaze again.

• Mu Bai encountered Zhou Dechen and Jiang Xiao Qian at a restaurant, then slipped away from the city while a hawklike gaze followed him.
• Mu Bai realized his tea had been tampered with and hid in the woods as three black-clad pursuers searched for him.
• Mu Bai lured Sixth Brother into striking at false targets, then killed him from a tree hollow.
• Mu Bai used Sixth Brother's body parts to draw the remaining pursuers into an ambush and killed one of them.
• Mu Bai fought the thin man, who revealed his undying bird and healed wound, but an unseen attacker severed the man's head.

Mu Bai fought You Bingcheng, a Crane Soul Tribe warrior from the Spirit Taming Sect's War Hall, after You Bingcheng demanded the Crane Blood Stone. Mu Bai killed him before he could detonate his Divine Palace, but was left gravely wounded.

• You Bingcheng confronted Mu Bai and demanded the Crane Blood Stone, which Mu Bai threw away before fleeing and fighting back.
• You Bingcheng wounded Mu Bai and drove him into the forest, where Mu Bai used arrows and a surprise attack to injure him.
• Mu Bai and You Bingcheng exchanged grave wounds, then resumed fighting after swallowing medicinal pills.
• Mu Bai used his Divine Crow Soul Spirit and sword to cripple You Bingcheng's Soul Spirits and break his arm.
• You Bingcheng charged Mu Bai and began detonating his Divine Palace, but Mu Bai's Spirit Light Sword pierced it and killed him.

After surviving his fight with You Bingcheng, Mu Bai recovered at Qing Mao Residence and returned to his cave abode, still searching for cultivation methods. Zhou Dekai brought him two sect inheritance methods and a Bone-Shattering Pill, and Mu Bai accepted them as a sign of friendship.

• Mu Bai collapsed from his wounds at Qing Mao Residence, where First Madam and Third Madam cared for him and he carved wooden puppets for Qing Ping and Qing Dai.
• After more than ten days of recovery, Mu Bai returned to his cave abode and tended his overgrown herb field, discovering that the medicinal plants had grown quickly from the abundant essence of heaven and earth.
• Zhou Dekai visited Mu Bai and explained that the Repository of Cultivation Techniques held little suitable for him.
• Zhou Dekai presented Mu Bai with the Green Duckweed Sword Art, the True Method of Controlling Thunder, and a Bone-Shattering Pill.
• Mu Bai accepted the gifts and told Zhou Dekai he would remember their friendship.

Mu Bai left the Spirit Taming Sect to practice the True Method of Controlling Thunder on Biyou Peak, where he survived a deadly strike from Yin Thunder and absorbed its power. He emerged stronger, with mid Second Level Soul Power and thunder coursing through his body, and stood ready to pursue the Golden-Foil Book’s next revelation.

• Mu Bai left the Spirit Taming Sect on a rainy night to cultivate the True Method of Controlling Thunder at Biyou Peak.
• Mu Bai rode the Divine Crow toward the Yin Thunder, then entered the dark clouds after sending his Soul Spirit back.
• Mu Bai took Life-Restoring Pills and a Bone-Shattering Pill as Yin Thunder ravaged his body, but a lightning bolt blasted him into charcoal.
• Mu Bai revived as the Bone-Shattering Pill’s power restored his vitality, and he endured another lightning strike that settled in his Dantian.
• Mu Bai unleashed thunder through his palms and summoned a Divine Crow with bones and flesh, reaching mid Second Level Soul Power.
• Mu Bai saw signs that the Golden-Foil Book’s third page was emerging as he contemplated his newfound strength and future cultivation.