Chapter Summaries

On the first day of Winter Break, Bell and his Hogwarts companions traveled with Lü Feitian to spend Spring Festival at his home and learned that the celebration’s purpose was a closely guarded secret. Before leaving, Yomi released the Killing Stone’s power, leaving Hermione shaken as the group prepared to continue their journey.

• Bell complained that Lü Feitian had arrived late, and Lü apologized before leading Bell and the others out of the Academy.
• Lü Feitian explained that families were busy preparing for the Spring Festival Celebration and that older students usually returned home on their own.
• Bell questioned why the celebration was so important, but Lü said the adults refused to reveal what it involved.
• After Lü, Roy, and Bridget departed using Side-Along Apparition, Bell asked Yomi to release her power before the group left.
• Yomi released the Killing Stone’s power, which created terrifying illusions for the others, and Bell reassured Hermione before Yomi withdrew it.

Bell and his companions fled after Yomi caused a dangerous magical disturbance, then traveled with Lü Feitian to his family’s vast ancestral manor. As they explored the snowy mountains nearby, Bell considered a real estate venture and Shanna caught a rabbit to eat.

• Bell grabbed Hermione and Yomi and used Side-Along Apparition to reunite with the others, while Shanna confirmed that the disturbance had been dealt with.
• Bell and the group arrived at the Lü Family manor, where Lü Feitian explained that most of its rooms were empty and that he wished his family would move to the city.
• Bell realized that the Lü Family’s unused buildings inspired a possible real estate business for his family.
• Lü Feitian settled the visitors into guest rooms and said his family would return by dinner.
• Bell and the others explored the snowy forest near the manor, where Shanna caught a rabbit and Bell agreed to eat it.

Bell and his companions attended the Lu Family’s Spring Festival Celebration, where Lü Feitian explained its traditions and warned them to stay away from the Holy Mountain. They reached the ritual platform and saw nine immense bronze tripods arranged in a circle, guarded by elderly Cultivators, as the ceremony was about to begin.

• Lü Feitian’s family welcomed Bell and the others, and they spent a week visiting before the Spring Festival Celebration.
• Lü Feitian warned Bell and his companions not to approach the Holy Mountain, which the celebration’s elders revered and worshipped each year.
• Bell and his group met Ma Jingjing, who said she was preparing to perform a sword dance after the ceremony.
• A crowd of Middle Academy girls gathered around Shanna and asked about her experiences.
• Bell’s group reached the ritual platform and saw nine incense-filled bronze tripods surrounded by elderly Cultivators, with a powerful aura flickering across their patterns.

Bell and the Hogwarts group watched the Cultivator Alliance’s Sacrificial Ceremony, where the Nine Tripods released a powerful aura that swept away the crowd’s worries and left Bell alarmed by its influence. After the ceremony ended, Lü Feitian explained who had presided over it, while Bell considered the Alliance’s strength compared with the British Wizarding World.

• Bell and the Hogwarts students followed the crowd of more than ten thousand Cultivators to the altar.
• The Alliance Leader performed the rites and recited the Sacrificial Text as twenty-seven Alliance elders chanted around the Nine Tripods.
• The Nine Tripods blazed with light, drawing the crowd into a peaceful state that erased their worries and negative emotions.
• Bell recovered from the formation’s influence and suspected that powerful Cultivators avoided the ceremony because they feared its effects.
• Lü Feitian told Bell that the Alliance Leader and twenty-seven elders had led the ceremony, while the great families’ elders were near the Holy Mountain.
• Bell judged that the Alliance’s elders might overwhelm the British Wizarding World, though he excluded Dumbledore from that comparison.

Bell experimented with the Killing Stone during the Spring Festival celebration, but thick dark clouds suddenly covered the sky and gave him an ominous premonition. He contacted Shanna and ordered her to gather everyone and meet him immediately.

• Bell left the celebration grounds with Hermione and spent time with her on a hill.
• Bell grew inspired to study the Killing Stone and began testing a new idea with it.
• Hermione remembered the terrifying power Yomi had released and understood why Bell considered the Killing Stone dangerous.
• Bell noticed the starry sky had turned dark with suspicious clouds and warned Hermione that something bad might happen.
• Bell called Shanna and told her to bring everyone to where they had parted ways.
• Shanna immediately led the others toward Bell without asking questions.

After the Purification Ritual, vengeful spirits began rioting around the Holy Mountain, prompting Xu Shichang and the Cultivator Alliance Elders to mobilize. Bell sensed the Elders’ overwhelming killing intent and warned Hermione to stay close and use Ten Thousand Snakes if danger arose.

• Xu Shichang and the Cultivator Alliance Elders discovered that vengeful spirits were rioting despite the Purification Ritual’s apparent success.
• Xu Shichang ordered the guards to evacuate civilians, protect the Spirit-Rootless People, secure the area, and summon the Enforcement Team.
• Xu Shichang led the Elders toward the Holy Mountain, suspecting that someone might have caused the riot.
• Bell sensed the Elders’ bloodlust from afar and warned Hermione to stay near him and activate Ten Thousand Snakes if danger appeared.

Bell gathered Shanna and the children as an anomaly at Holy Mountain disrupted the ceremony, then helped guide them toward safety. A crimson beam revealed a Blood Moon and unleashed ferocious ghosts across the crowd, prompting the Cultivator Alliance to order their extermination.

• Bell reunited with Shanna, gathered the children, and warned them to stay close as unrest spread through the crowd.
• Bell placed four Stone Pillars to create a temporary Defense Barrier while the Cultivator Alliance began an orderly evacuation.
• A crimson beam burst from Holy Mountain and revealed a Blood Moon above the clouds.
• Shen Tao ordered Alliance staff to protect children and Spirit-Rootless Persons as twenty-eight spells struck the beam.
• The Alliance Leader ordered Cultivators to kill the ferocious ghosts, which fell from the sky as red-lit rain and terrified the crowd.

Bell realized that the blood moon and the attacking ferocious ghosts were connected to the Killing Stone he had activated, making him believe he had caused the disaster. As cultivators fought off the ghosts, Bell uncovered that the Spring Festival Celebration and the Nine Cauldrons Magic Array were meant to suppress the Holy Mountain’s yin energy, while a far greater threat still slept beneath it.

• Bell and Bridget fought the ferocious ghosts, and Bell found that many could dodge spells and withstand powerful attacks.
• Cultivators nearby joined the battle, easing the pressure on Bell and his group.
• Yomi noticed that the ghosts’ aura resembled the Killing Stone’s, and Bell stopped her from saying it aloud.
• Bell connected the blood moon and the ghosts to the Killing Stone he had activated and realized he was likely responsible.
• Bell inferred that the Spring Festival Celebration and the Nine Cauldrons Magic Array suppressed the Holy Mountain’s yin energy and ghosts.
• An even more dangerous being remained asleep within the Holy Mountain, and its awakening could threaten the world.

Bell feared that the Cultivators had discovered his secret, but Zhang Jinhe only wanted him to expand his protective array so more people could shelter inside. Bell eagerly deployed his supplies and bean soldiers to reinforce the array as vicious ghosts attacked.

• Yomi warned Bell to stay inside the barrier and avoid using more energy, but a Cultivator suddenly called out to the black-haired Wizard.
• Bell and Yomi prepared for the possibility of a fight until Zhang Jinhe asked whether Bell could expand the array behind him.
• Bell agreed to enlarge the array so Zhang Jinhe could bring children and Spirit-Rootless People inside, refusing any compensation.
• Bell emptied his supplies onto the ground and used Scattering Beans into Soldiers to summon bean soldiers.
• Bell ordered the bean soldiers to use the materials to set up the expanded array.

Bell helped expand the barrier to protect the children and Spirit-Rootless People, then fought alongside Hermione as fierce ghosts attacked. A High-Level Fierce Ghost emerged as a Stone Giant, was blasted apart by the cultivators, and then struck again from underground, revealing that the Stone Giant was not its true body.

• Bell expanded the barrier with help from his bean soldiers, and the children and Spirit-Rootless People entered it.
• Hermione called Bell to help fight the fierce ghosts while Yomi watched from inside the barrier and Shanna charged into the heaviest fighting.
• Bell pushed Hermione out of danger but was struck by a giant hand that hurled him into the ice barrier.
• Zhang Jinhe identified the attacker as a High-Level Fierce Ghost, and a Stone Giant emerged from underground and tried to smash the barrier.
• The gathered cultivators destroyed the Stone Giant with their spells, but another giant hand rose from underground and struck a cultivator.
• Yomi told Bell through their Shikigami contract that the Stone Giant was not the fierce ghost's true body.

Bell defeated the Fierce Ghost hidden inside the Stone Giant by lifting it away from the ground and destroying it. After the fighting ended, he waited with Shanna for the Cultivator Alliance’s arrangements, while Shanna grumbled that she had missed her chance to fight the giant.

• Bell used the Levitation Charm to separate the Stone Giant from the ground, then disintegrated parts of it to locate the Fierce Ghost.
• Bell electrocuted the Stone Giant and its rubble until the Fierce Ghost screamed and died.
• With no further incidents, Bell waited on a hillside and ate skewers while the Cultivator Alliance handled the aftermath.
• Shanna recalled treating the wounded with healing Potions after the battle and regretted that Bell had taken down the Stone Giant before she could fight it.

Shanna learned that the Enforcement Team had captured the truly powerful vicious ghosts while the group fought weaker ones, and Bell took Hermione, Shanna, and Yomi through a strange alley toward an undisclosed destination. The alley grew brighter and cleaner as they walked, but Bell still had not revealed where they were going.

• Shanna saw the Enforcement Team parade bound vicious ghosts and learned that it had stopped the strongest ghosts at the foot of Holy Mountain.
• Bell explained that the parade was meant to reassure the public and intimidate anyone plotting against the Alliance.
• After the festival attendees were questioned, Bell set out with Shanna, Hermione, and Yomi while the others rested at the Lu Family residence.
• Bell led the group into a dark alley, which widened and transformed into a clean, brightly lit path lined with flowers and greenery.

Bell brought Hermione, Shanna, and Yomi to a gathering of the Magic Path, where the grand venue and its respectable appearance surprised Hermione. After Bell used a subtle trick to get past the guards, the group entered the hall, where gang leaders had gathered for a meal.

• Bell reflected that the Magic Path's members and gathering place seemed more respectable than Diagon Alley's Dark Wizards and distinguished their practices from spells that sacrificed other people's lives.
• Bell showed the guards his unfamiliar personal emblem, and they hesitated to challenge him because of its craftsmanship and ominous power.
• Bell secretly used Magic Power on the guards, who let him and the three girls enter.
• Hermione asked what Bell had done, and Bell dismissed it as a little trick.
• Bell, Hermione, Shanna, and Yomi entered the decorated hall, where the gathered gang members briefly glanced at them and then returned to their conversations.

Bell and his group entered a gathering of Magic Path leaders, where Yomi’s show of force turned their visit into a tense standoff. Bell got Yomi to lower her blade and began negotiating with the leaders.

• Bell led his group toward the Head Table, drawing the attention of the Magic Path leaders gathered there.
• Bell dispelled the Illusion Magic hiding his group’s appearances and explained that he had come to see whether anything good was available.
• When a leader ordered his men to seize the group, Yomi swiftly held him at knifepoint, and the others stood up in alarm.
• Bell used Transfiguration to create chairs and sat down while explaining that Yomi was powerful enough to threaten the unarmed leaders.
• After one leader asked what Bell wanted, Bell repeated that he had come to look around and told Yomi to withdraw her blade.

Bell introduced himself as a Menethil and claimed he had come to spend his family’s vast fortune by buying the Magic Path gangs’ goods. The gangs welcomed him into their trade fair and began showing him rare treasures, including Spirit Ginseng.

• Bell introduced himself and his younger sisters to the Magic Path leaders after Yomi and the others sat down.
• Bell said he wanted help squandering his family’s Galleons, prompting the leaders to agree to let him join their trade fair and raise their prices.
• After dinner, the gang leaders brought out their goods and treated Bell as a wealthy, welcome guest.
• The Three Mountains Gang leader showed Bell a Spirit Ginseng, and Bell examined its rarity, earth-escaping ability, and medicinal effect that could give spiritual power to Spirit-Rootless People.

Bell bought Spirit Ginseng and other rare materials from the Three Mountains Gang, using Shanna’s savings to pay for the purchases. At the gathering afterward, Bell discussed bloodline fusion with Kun Ge and explained how European Wizards viewed it differently from Cultivators.

• Bell bought Spirit Ginseng for twenty thousand Galleons, intending to keep it in case a family descendant became a Squib.
• Bell purchased more rare materials while Shanna paid from her shoulder bag, which Bell believed held a fortune of collected goods.
• The Three Mountains Gang and their guests welcomed Bell and his companions into a lounge after the transactions.
• Kun Ge reacted with surprise when Bell said he was interested in bloodline fusion.
• Bell told Kun Ge that bloodline fusion was taboo among Cultivators but had long been studied by some European Wizards.

Bell examined Kun Ge’s two special products and discovered that one was a white-haired girl confined in a sealed iron cage. After learning she was a Contracted Demon whose spiritual energy had mutated under prolonged emotional suppression, Bell questioned why the Nine Provinces Guardian Array had failed to detect her.

• Kun Ge had two iron cages brought into the lounge, and Hermione objected when she saw the girl imprisoned in one of them.
• Bell calmed Hermione, examined the cage, and freed the girl after Kun Ge’s subordinate lifted its seal.
• Bell asked the girl her name, and she said her mother had told her she was unworthy of using her old name.
• Kun Ge explained that the girl was a Contracted Demon mistreated by her family and village.
• Kun Ge said some children with spiritual roots escaped detection because the Nine Provinces Guardian Array did not cover expanded regions as sensitively.

Bell met the malnourished eight-year-old girl the demonic-path group had rescued and learned she regarded them as good people despite their poor care. Bell offered to take her in, but she looked to Kun Ge for guidance because she trusted the uncles who had saved her.

• Bell asked the little girl whether she was scared, and she said she trusted the uncles because they were good people.
• The girl explained that the uncles had saved her from being burned, given her food and clothes, and provided straw to sleep on, embarrassing Kun Ge and the others.
• Kun Ge told Bell that Contracted Demons often died before ten and that the girl was eight and malnourished.
• Bell offered the girl better clothes, food, a bed, and a warm quilt if she came with him.
• The girl looked to Kun Ge for his opinion, still trusting the uncles and fearing she might hurt anyone who adopted her.

Bell welcomed the little girl, gave her the name Bei Ling'er, and enchanted a ribbon to keep her warm. Kun Ge then revealed the second caged being, whose howl startled Bell and made him check that Shanna had not released Fina.

• Bell reassured the little girl and braided her hair, but left it uncut when she protested that it kept her warm.
• Bell named the little girl Bei Ling'er and tied an enchanted blue ribbon into her braid, which warmed her and left her amazed by magic.
• Kun Ge urged Bell to inspect the second caged being, hoping Bell would buy both captives and spare him the risks of smuggling them.
• Kun Ge's men uncovered the cage, and its occupant howled; Bell turned to check that Shanna had not let Fina out.

Bell discovered a rare Wolf Child and immediately decided to buy him, hoping to study how he had gained the power of wolf-type demon beasts. Seeing Little Ling Er's bond with Kun Ge, Kun Ge let her leave with Bell so she could spend the rest of her life happily.

• Bell saw the Wolf Child calm down when Little Ling Er scolded him and learned that the two had spent several days talking through their cages.
• Kun Ge explained that Wolf Children were children raised by wolf-type demon beasts whose bodies eventually mutated into half-human, half-wolf forms.
• Bell decided to buy the Wolf Child so he could investigate the mutation and possibly help Wizards gain Magical Animal powers safely.
• Kun Ge let Bell take Little Ling Er with him, asking him to treat her well and give her a happy, worry-free life.