Chapter Summaries

Zong Qian won the trade route contest for the Silver Sword Firm, drawing attention to his mysterious origins and stirring resentment among the other cultivators. Bai Qingqian recognized him as Senior Brother Hou and decided she and Xiangfei Bamboo would wait for him to approach them.

• After no other cultivator challenged Zong Qian, Xiang Anshi announced that the Silver Sword Firm would lead the Yingtai trade route, with five other firms following.
• Cultivators crowded around the Silver Sword Firm to learn more about Zong Qian, while two sisters insulted Guan Ruyu and praised the Sword Cultivator.
• Bai Qingqian defended Guan Ruyu, then told Xiangfei Bamboo that Zong Qian was Senior Brother Hou and had acted to keep the Bai Firm from leading the route.
• Xiangfei Bamboo and Bai Qingqian agreed not to acknowledge Senior Brother Hou yet and to wait for him to approach them.
• The Sea Whale Game ended after opening the sea route to Yingtai and creating new opportunities for the firms.

Hou Niao attended the gathering under the false name Zong Qian and met Xiang Anshi of Yingtai Immortal Island. The two recognized each other as kindred fighters, then parted without arranging another meeting.

• Hou Niao explained that he had disguised himself as Zong Qian to avoid drawing attention to his notorious reputation while supporting the Silver Sword Firm.
• Xiang Anshi approached Hou Niao and praised him as the first true hero he had met on the mainland.
• Hou Niao admitted he was using a false name and said he wanted to avoid spoiling the gathering for others.
• Xiang Anshi and Hou Niao bonded over their strength and their willingness to fight, then ended their brief conversation and parted.
• Nie Yingnan and Chen Zhaodi questioned Xiang Anshi about the meeting, and he called Hou Niao an interesting friend and hoped to test their abilities against each other.

Hou Niao arranged for Xiangfei Bamboo to study with the Chu Sect and told Bai Qingqian they would leave Mirage Tower to travel together. He planned to take them first to Danyang Mountain, then continue traveling and eventually settle in the Jade Capital or Jincheng.

• Hou Niao explained that his conflicts with most Daoist Sects made finding a place for Xiangfei Bamboo difficult.
• Hou Niao offered to introduce Xiangfei Bamboo to Yuan True Person of the Chu Sect as a nominal disciple, and she accepted.
• Hou Niao told Xiangfei Bamboo to prepare to leave with him for Danyang Mountain in a few days.
• Hou Niao told Bai Qingqian to settle her affairs in Mirage Tower and said they would travel together because the city was vulnerable to danger from his enemies.
• Bai Qingqian eagerly began preparing to leave, while Hou Niao stayed behind to handle another matter.

Guan Ruyu weighed the danger of pursuing his scheme involving Mistress Bai against the chance to advance his standing in the Weiliao Kingdom. Two women arrived to collect the item he had promised them, and he agreed to take them to it that night.

• Guan Ruyu reflected on his rivalry with his senior brother and the deal he had made with an important figure from the Wu Sect to gain help securing the senior True Disciple position.
• Guan Ruyu recalled that the Wu Sect figure had asked him to gain control of Mistress Bai, and that he had struggled for two months to approach her before meeting her at the Sea God Festival.
• Guan Ruyu felt torn between his unease about Zong Qian, the Sword Cultivator, and his confidence that he could complete his task with Mistress Bai.
• Two women confronted Guan Ruyu over his scheme involving Mistress Bai and asked him to fulfill his promise to them.
• Guan Ruyu agreed to take the sisters to the item outside the city, and they said they had no intention of making an enemy of Quanzhen.

Guan Ruyu killed the two women who had helped him in Mirage Tower City and was preparing to flee when Hou Niao confronted him. With visitors from Yingtai arriving, Guan Ruyu confessed that Tang Yan had sent him to exploit Hou Niao’s dao companion, then defended the methods he had used.

• Guan Ruyu lured the two women outside the city, killed them, and stored their bodies to erase evidence.
• As Guan Ruyu prepared to leave for the sea, Hou Niao appeared and confronted him about his actions.
• Xiang Anshi and two other visitors from Yingtai arrived, giving Guan Ruyu hope that Hou Niao would not attack him immediately.
• Guan Ruyu admitted that Tang Yan had sent him to find Hou Niao’s weakness through his dao companion.
• Guan Ruyu accepted blame for his motives but insisted that he had sought contact through open, nonviolent means in accordance with Weiliao’s Dao.

Hou Niao gave Guan Ruyu a chance to flee before striking him, but his flying sword overwhelmed Guan Ruyu’s defenses. Guan Ruyu disappeared in the final clash, leaving Hou Niao standing alone.

• Hou Niao ordered Guan Ruyu to run a hundred zhang before he unleashed a sword strike, and Guan Ruyu believed he could survive it.
• Nie Yingnan, Chen Zhaodi, and Xiang Anshi watched as Guan Ruyu fled and discussed whether he should be punished or killed.
• Guan Ruyu summoned a black stork, a treasure seal, and a restraining talisman, but Hou Niao’s flying sword destroyed or overcame them.
• Guan Ruyu used his White Tiger Descends Southern Mountain and Black Tiger Lazily Braces the Mountain stances, but the flying sword grew stronger with each collision.
• Guan Ruyu poured all his magical power into a cloud tiger, and the clash ended with him gone and Hou Niao standing in the sky.

Hou Niao explained why he had killed Guan Bai Ruyu after revealing two female corpses among the spoils, silencing Nie Yingnan's objections. He and Xiang Anshi agreed to travel together, leaving the story with the two cultivators preparing to build ties while exploring the continent.

• Xiang Anshi and his junior sisters approached Hou Niao and discussed his killing of Guan Bai Ruyu, while Nie Yingnan argued that he should have been given a chance.
• Hou Niao revealed two female corpses from Guan Bai Ruyu's spoils and said their deaths showed the danger Guan Bai Ruyu had concealed; Nie Yingnan fell silent.
• Xiang Anshi invited Hou Niao to travel with him and his junior sisters, and Hou Niao agreed while warning that his enemies might make the journey dangerous.
• Xiang Anshi welcomed the prospect of fighting along the way, and the two arranged to travel together and exchange knowledge while testing one another's intentions.

Hou Niao led Bai Qingqian, Xiangfei Bamboo, and the Yingtai trio north on a leisurely journey that would take them to the Taihao Sect, the Binxu Desert, and eventually Three Realms Mountain. The group paused often to explore, delaying Xiang Anshi’s planned visit to Li Sicheng.

• Bai Qingqian finished settling Mirage Tower’s affairs, and Hou Niao led her and Xiangfei Bamboo to meet Xiang Anshi, Nie Yingnan, and Chen Zhaodi outside the city.
• Hou Niao proposed visiting a junior at the Taihao Sect, traveling west to see the planted forests in the Binxu Desert, and then heading north toward a young friend among the Winged People.
• Xiang Anshi said he was traveling to Three Realms Mountain to visit Li Sicheng and strengthen ties between Yingtai Immortal Island and the Northern Heavenly Gate.
• Hou Niao said several Daoist powers, including Qi Zhou Guo and Wei Liao, had barred him from their skies, and he planned to visit Yingtai after settling his status.
• The six traveled north, but the four women’s frequent stops at scenic places, cities, and food streets slowed their progress and frustrated Xiang Anshi.

Hou Niao and Xiang Anshi traveled with their companions to Taihao, where they reached Red Leaf City during its Autumn Appreciation gathering. Zhao Xintong, a popular instructor at Red Leaf Daoist Academy, faced mounting pressure amid the struggle over who would succeed the aging academy head.

• Xiangfei Bamboo questioned Xiang Anshi about the Dao, while Nie Yingnan asked Hou Niao about arguments and male cultivators’ affairs.
• The travelers arrived in Taihao and saw Red Leaf City hosting its Autumn Appreciation gathering.
• Zhao Xintong attended as a beloved instructor whose mysticism and divination lessons had made her popular with the academy’s students.
• As the aging academy head prepared to retire, factions at Red Leaf Daoist Academy maneuvered over his successor, though Zhao Xintong neither sought the position nor believed she was suited for it.
• Despite her wish to stay clear of worldly disputes, Zhao Xintong felt an unnamed force pushing her toward them.

Zhao Xintong watched the Red Leaf Daoist Academy’s candidates compete for support, then reluctantly joined their debate on scenes drawn from ordinary life. Her sharp replies silenced the gathering, and the chapter ended with her responding to a rooster’s crow.

• Zhao Xintong weighed her distaste for the academy’s infighting against the resources it offered her cultivation.
• The two leading candidates gathered influential cultivators at the Autumn Appreciation Convention, while Zhao Xintong made no effort to build a network.
• The academy head presented a dead stranger in a ruined shrine as the first debate topic, and the black-bearded and white-robed Daoists offered opposing interpretations.
• Zhao Xintong said the true tragedy was that nobody cared the dead person had ever lived, bringing the first debate to an end.
• The academy head showed a rooster crowing, and after the other candidates interpreted its call, Zhao Xintong said every rooster thought it had called up the sun.

During the Autumn Appreciation Convention’s final debate round, Daoist Tong used stories and poetry to expose the power struggle surrounding her and reject the pretense of harmony. The chapter ended with a vast Sea Realm appearing above the Dao Academy and revealing a birthday message for Xintong.

• The Former Academy Head’s formation unexpectedly showed the raised platform and the four people standing on it.
• The Black-Bearded Daoist and White-Robed Daoist responded with verses that presented their rivalry as friendly dao companionship.
• Daoist Tong told a fable about a sheep invited to a barbecue by a lion, tiger, and wolf, prompting the crowd to suspect the Former Academy Head had manipulated events to keep his position.
• The Black-Bearded Daoist, White-Robed Daoist, and Former Academy Head challenged Daoist Tong, who answered with a poem about freedom and distant companions before falling silent.
• A vast Sea Realm appeared over the convention, then vanished into enormous words wishing Xintong a happy birthday.

Zhao Xintong reunited with Hou Niao and his companions, who appeared at Red Leaf Daoist Academy to celebrate her birthday. After they left her to face the academy dispute on her own, Xiang Anshi praised her childlike heart and promising future.

• Xiang Anshi revealed himself as a Constellation True Disciple of Yingtai and invited Zhao Xintong into the clouds to meet him and his companions.
• The old academy head offered to recommend Zhao Xintong as his successor, and the black-bearded and white-robed Daoists accepted.
• Zhao Xintong reunited with Hou Niao, met Xiang Anshi and Bai Qingqian, and learned they had staged the seascape after hearing her poem.
• Hou Niao offered to settle the dispute for Zhao Xintong, but she insisted she would handle it herself and told him to leave.
• Xiang Anshi praised Zhao Xintong's childlike heart, while Hou Niao and the others agreed that she should face her own challenges at Red Leaf Daoist Academy.

Hou Niao led his companions through the Northwest desert, where they saw the Protective Forest Belt and fought a small group of Undead. They reached the rapidly developing Loulan New City, where Hou Niao planned to introduce them to trusted friends.

• Hou Niao and his companions crossed the barren Northwest and endured a severe sandstorm for half a month.
• The group saw the immense green Protective Forest Belt and spotted people fighting Undead nearby.
• Xiang Anshi, Nie Yingnan, Chen Zhaodi, and Xiangfei Bamboo rushed to fight the Undead while Hou Niao comforted Bai Qingqian and stayed with her.
• The companions returned disappointed by the small, weak force of Undead, and Hou Niao explained that larger battles came with the Undead Legion.
• Hou Niao led the group toward Loulan New City, where merchants and explorers had helped the settlement grow and pushed its frontier beyond the Protective Forest.

Hou Niao traveled beneath the desert to study the Water Spirit Pearl’s influence on the underground river and test his Five Elements Mystic Light. The river had become a gathering place for human cultivators and water demons, and he settled in to put his understanding of its power into practice.

• Xiang Anshi and the others split up in the Northwest to pursue their own work and interests.
• Hou Niao burrowed beneath the sand and entered the underground river, where the Water Element power had grown stronger since the Water Spirit Pearl arrived.
• Hou Niao realized the Water Spirit Pearl had dispersed into the river as a force of Principle, though its influence remained uneven across different stretches.
• Hou Niao reached the densely populated hundred-li stretch favored by cultivators and great water demons, whose shared interests helped protect the river from the Undead.
• Hou Niao found a quiet place and began studying the water of the Five Elements so he could test his blue Profound Light.

After completing his Water Element verification, Hou Niao met Yu Zhengxing, who claimed he had compensation for him but revealed it lay far out in the desert. Yu Zhengxing then explained that the undead attacks in the Binxu Desert had taken a shocking turn and might be connected to the sandstorm.

• Hou Niao emerged from the underground river with his Water Element Profound Light strengthened and found Loulan New City still recovering from the sandstorm.
• A cultivator summoned Hou Niao to meet Yu Zhengxing, who said he wanted to compensate him for his earlier service.
• Hou Niao tried to leave when he suspected Yu Zhengxing was setting him up, but Yu Zhengxing stopped him and said the promised reward was two or three thousand li away.
• Hou Niao guessed the reward lay in the desert, and Yu Zhengxing revealed that new developments in the undead attacks there were alarming.
• Hou Niao asked whether the sandstorm had been deliberately caused by the undead, and Yu Zhengxing said they might be able to control wind and sand.

Yu Zhengxing explained that abnormal sandstorms from Xunfeng Valley threatened the Northwest protective forest belt and asked Hou Niao to investigate their cause. Hou Niao learned that political constraints barred powerful cultivators from entering the valley, and he questioned why the Daoist and Buddhist Sects had not responded to the threat.

• Yu Zhengxing told Hou Niao that reconnaissance traced the abnormal sandstorms to Xunfeng Valley, where the Undead might have made special arrangements.
• Yu Zhengxing offered Hou Niao any treasure he found if he uncovered the cause, and Hou Niao demanded answers before accepting the assignment.
• Yu Zhengxing explained that longstanding agreements forbade Golden Core and other powerful cultivators from entering the Binxu Desert’s sensitive territories because such incursions could trigger retaliation and all-out war.
• Hou Niao asked whether human cultivators had caused the sandstorms, and Yu Zhengxing denied any human involvement and said the Daoist Sect had withdrawn from earlier interference.
• Hou Niao pointed out that the sandstorms threatened forest belts in every direction and asked how the Daoist and Buddhist Sects were responding.

Hou Niao discussed the Northwest crisis and Shanmen Quanzhen’s failures with Yu Zhengxing, then decided to enter the Binxu Desert on his own terms. Before leaving, he told Bai Qingqian to stay behind and planned to part from the three Yingtai fellow disciples.

• Yu Zhengxing told Hou Niao that the Daoist and Buddhist Sects were mobilizing True Disciples, while requests for Shanmen Quanzhen experts had gone unanswered.
• Hou Niao criticized Shanmen Quanzhen’s systemic problems, and Yu Zhengxing promised that his colleagues would support him.
• Hou Niao refused to accept Yu Zhengxing’s orders and said his desert expedition would be his personal choice.
• Hou Niao told Bai Qingqian he planned to enter the Binxu Desert, and she questioned whether Yu Zhengxing had assigned him a mission.
• Hou Niao decided not to tell the three Yingtai fellow disciples about his departure and said they could choose whether to stay or leave.

Hou Niao prepared to infiltrate Xunfeng Valley and was joined by Xiang Anshi, who insisted on helping despite the desert weakening his water-based techniques. As they debated their approach, they agreed to compete to see who could enter the valley more discreetly.

• Hou Niao gathered maps and information about the Binxu Desert before quietly leaving the city.
• Xiang Anshi caught up with Hou Niao and refused to be dissuaded from joining his mission.
• Hou Niao explained the dangers and lack of a reliable plan, and the two set off together toward Xunfeng Valley.
• Hou Niao and Xiang Anshi weighed possible routes, including approaching from the front, flanks, or rear, and discussed the risks of traveling underground.
• Xiang Anshi proposed that they compete to enter Xunfeng Valley discreetly, with the loser turning back, and Hou Niao accepted.

The Daoist Sect sent a covert force led by Han Tiangang to investigate and destroy the Undead’s stronghold in Xunfeng Valley. The elites followed a group of rogue cultivators recruited as bait, waiting for them to draw the Undead out.

• Hou Niao and his companion traveled west toward Xunfeng Valley as human cultivators grew scarce and the Undead became more numerous.
• The Daoist Sect deployed Han Tiangang, Huai Liangyou, and Lou Yue, whose earth-focused arts suited the desert, to lead the operation.
• Dai Xun recruited more than thirty rogue cultivators by spreading word of a precious mineral deposit near Xunfeng Valley.
• Huai Liangyou reported that Dai Xun’s group had come within a hundred li of the valley, but Han Tiangang ordered the flying boat to slow down and remain concealed.
• The Daoist elites monitored the advance party from high above, intending to use its encounter with the Undead as cover for their infiltration.

While the cultivators waited to draw the Undead toward Xunfeng Valley, Han Tiangang, Huai Liangyou, and Lou Yue discussed the vacant Constellation True Disciple position and the risks of suppressing their cultivation. Their conversation ended when spiritual energy fluctuations signaled that the advance party had begun acting.

• Lou Yue asked Han Tiangang about Tang Yan’s sudden advancement, and Han said the vacant Constellation True Disciple position would require strength and guidance from the Heavenly Dao to fill.
• Han Tiangang and Huai Liangyou speculated that the Quanzhen Demonic Sect had contributed to Tang Yan’s cultivation trouble, while Lou Yue asked whether other Constellation True Disciples faced similar risks.
• Huai Liangyou revealed that many True Disciples were suppressing their cultivation to seek extraterrestrial spirit green and time their advancement with a coming transformation of heaven and earth.
• Han Tiangang boasted that his Guo Sect Thunder Technique would protect him from the fate that had befallen Tang Yan, and Huai Liangyou praised him while Lou Yue privately mistrusted Huai.
• Han Tiangang noticed distant spiritual energy fluctuations and told the others that the advance party had begun.