Chapter Summaries

Qi Mo struggled through writing lessons and watched Lin Qingyang nap before accompanying him to Heavenly Strategy Hall. There, the elders raised security and medical expenses, and Jin Buhuan revealed that the Nine Skies Sect had run out of money.

• Qi Mo tried to break his last brush to avoid studying, but Lin Qingyang warned him that they would study mathematics instead.
• Qi Mo finished writing his name, then stared at Lin Qingyang as he napped until Feng Shu arrived with a summons.
• Qi Mo straightened Lin Qingyang's collar before Lin Qingyang went to Heavenly Strategy Hall to meet Mo Yan, Xue Lanyuan, and Jin Buhuan.
• Mo Yan proposed spending twenty thousand Spirit Stones to improve security, while Xue Lanyuan estimated another thirty thousand for injured disciples and medicinal supplies.
• Jin Buhuan told Lin Qingyang that the Nine Skies Sect had no money left in its accounts.

Lin Qingyang learned that the Nine Skies Sect was deeply in debt and agreed to take a paid demon-hunting job at the Xuanhuang Sect. After dinner with Qi Mo, he prepared to leave for the Xuanhuang Sect, while Qi Mo offered to pack for him.

• Jin Buhuan and Mo Yan told Lin Qingyang that the Nine Skies Sect’s dwindling income had left it owing about 2.6 million spirit stones.
• Jin Buhuan revealed that Cen Ru'an had offered 500,000 spirit stones for Lin Qingyang to eliminate a powerful demon at the Xuanhuang Sect, and Lin Qingyang accepted the job.
• Lin Yao explained the major sects’ businesses and said the original story had the Xuanhuang Sect destroyed by Cang Mo, who freed demon slaves from their Demon-Locking Rings.
• Lin Qingyang told Feng Shu and Feng Yi to cultivate diligently while he was away, then returned to find Qi Mo had prepared dinner.
• Lin Qingyang told Qi Mo he was going to the Xuanhuang Sect, and Qi Mo offered to help pack for him.

Lin Qingyang agreed to take Qi Mo with him to the Xuanhuang Sect after teasing him into wagging his tail, while Mo Yan joined them to keep Lin Qingyang out of trouble. They arrived in Wasteland Town, where Lin Qingyang was surprised to find a bustling shopping district and a tour group.

• Lin Qingyang told Qi Mo to wag his tail if he wanted to come along, and Qi Mo reluctantly wagged it before Lin Qingyang agreed to take him.
• Lin Qingyang explained to Lin Yao that he wanted to keep Qi Mo close because Qi Mo might cause trouble and was still in danger from Chimei's unknown master.
• Lin Qingyang and Qi Mo met Mo Yan at the teleportation entrance, where Mo Yan said Jin Buhuan had sent him to keep an eye on Lin Qingyang.
• The three traveled through the Ten-Thousand-Li Tianyan Array to Wasteland Town instead of teleporting directly into the Xuanhuang Sect.
• A tour guide gathered newly arrived travelers and led them toward a jade shop, leaving Lin Qingyang amazed by Wasteland Town's busy shopping street.

Lin Qingyang explored Wasteland Town with Qi Mo and Mo Yan, claiming his shopping was research into the Xuanhuang Sect’s business success. After following the Xuanhuang Sect’s young master into a suggestive shop, the group heard a scream from inside.

• Lin Qingyang browsed Wasteland Town’s shops and bought goods while Qi Mo carried them and Mo Yan grew impatient.
• A vendor tried to sell Lin Qingyang a Demon-Locking Ring, but warned him that the one he picked was defective.
• Lin Qingyang persuaded Mo Yan that shopping counted as research into how the Xuanhuang Sect made money.
• Lin Qingyang, Qi Mo, and Mo Yan followed Cen Yue and his companions into the Pleasure Pavilion and discovered it sold sex toys.
• The shopkeeper admired Qi Mo, and Lin Qingyang teased him by asking whether he wanted anything before a scream rang out.

Lin Qingyang and Mo Yan confronted Cen Yue after seeing him abuse a fox demon, and the dispute escalated into a fight with Cen Yue and Xuanhuang Sect disciples. When Hua Jin arrived to protect Cen Yue, Lin Qingyang learned he was the Xuanhuang Sect leader’s son and jokingly called him his nephew.

• Lin Qingyang and Mo Yan saw Cen Yue brand a fox demon and noticed the injured demon was forced to follow him.
• Cen Yue tried to trade the fox demon for Qi Mo, but Lin Qingyang refused and mocked him; Cen Yue ordered his disciples to seize Qi Mo.
• Lin Qingyang threw Cen Yue and his two disciples out of the Pleasure Pavilion, then beat them again when they threatened him.
• More than a dozen Xuanhuang Sect disciples surrounded the group, and Mo Yan used his Thunderclap Mace to send them flying with lightning.
• Hua Jin intervened with her Bone Whip, identified Cen Yue as the Xuanhuang Sect leader’s son, and Lin Qingyang jokingly called him his nephew.

Lin Qingyang and his companions reached Wasteland Town to help the Xuanhuang Sect investigate a demon killing its Peak Masters. After learning that four Peak Masters had died, Lin Qingyang suspected the sect was hiding something, while Qi Mo was left confused and disappointed by Lin Qingyang’s apparent lack of romantic interest.

• Lin Qingyang defused the confrontation with Cen Yue and Hua Jin, who arranged rooms for the group at an inn in Wasteland Town.
• Hua Jin left in haste after receiving troubling news, and Lin Qingyang learned from two locals that Peak Master Zhao had died, bringing the death toll to four.
• Lin Qingyang suspected the Xuanhuang Sect either faced an unusually strange demon or was concealing information about it.
• With only two rooms available, Lin Qingyang and Qi Mo shared one while Mo Yan took the other.
• Qi Mo misread Lin Qingyang’s invitation to the bed as suggestive, then realized Lin Qingyang had meant for him to sleep on the couch and felt disappointed.

Lin Qingyang followed Qi Mo through Wasteland Town at night and ended up at the legendary Jin Yao Workshop, a lavish market selling demon slaves. He searched the workshop’s increasingly exclusive floors but did not find Qi Mo, and the chapter left him learning that some of its attendants were human.

• Qi Mo slipped out of the inn after midnight, and Lin Qingyang followed him with the Windflower Sword.
• Lin Qingyang tracked Qi Mo to a crowded street where demon slaves were sold and mistreated, but lost sight of him in the crowd.
• Lin Qingyang entered Jin Yao Workshop, where a peacock demon attendant recognized him and escorted him inside.
• Lin Qingyang saw demon slaves displayed for sale on the first and second floors, including rarer species in the upper-level cabinets.
• Lin Qingyang reached the third floor and learned from the peacock demon that the attendants there were of the Human Clan.

Lin Qingyang followed Qi Mo through the Jin Yao Workshop, where Qi Mo broke into an archive room searching for A Chou’s record. Lin Qingyang found the booklet first and revealed himself to Qi Mo.

• Lin Qingyang toured the workshop’s Demon Slave displays, declined expensive refreshments, and used the Demon-Locking Ring to locate Qi Mo.
• Lin Qingyang followed Qi Mo upstairs as he distracted two guards with a mouse and picked the lock on an archive room.
• Qi Mo searched records from ten years earlier while Lin Qingyang watched unseen from a shelf above him.
• Lin Qingyang recalled teaching Qi Mo to write and realized Qi Mo’s old question about “Chou” had been an innocent attempt to find A Chou’s name.
• Lin Qingyang made A Chou’s booklet float from the shelf and told the startled Qi Mo that he had found the record.

Lin Qingyang discovered that Qi Mo had sneaked into the Archives Room to search for his older sister, A Chou, who had been sent to the Underground Palace. Lin Qingyang agreed to help Qi Mo find her, and they slipped away after overhearing Hua Jin speak with a mysterious man in black.

• Lin Qingyang confronted Qi Mo in the Archives Room and learned that Qi Mo had hidden his identity and come to Wasteland Town to look for his older sister, A Chou.
• Lin Qingyang found in A Chou’s booklet that she had been sent to the Underground Palace two years earlier, and Qi Mo explained that it was used to breed demon slaves.
• Qi Mo insisted on finding A Chou, and Lin Qingyang agreed to go with him.
• Qi Mo used a mouse to lure away the guards, then warned Lin Qingyang when Hua Jin approached with a pale man dressed in black.
• Lin Qingyang and Qi Mo overheard Hua Jin urge the man to act before everyone in the Xuanhuang Sect died, but they left before learning what he planned.
• As they headed downstairs, Qi Mo admitted he had planned to memorize the booklet and ask Lin Qingyang about its characters, and Lin Qingyang scolded him for not asking for help.

Lin Qingyang and Qi Mo infiltrated the Underground Palace and discovered imprisoned female demons and their cubs. They captured the hyena overseer One-Ear and held him at swordpoint.

• Lin Qingyang knocked out the guards while Qi Mo unlocked the entrance to the Underground Palace.
• Qi Mo frightened away the chained black dog, and the pair followed an Earth Bull through the underground prison.
• Lin Qingyang and Qi Mo saw pregnant and nursing female demons imprisoned in cells, along with cubs kept in barred rooms.
• The pair found the hyena overseer One-Ear and quietly dragged him into an empty cell.
• Qi Mo held One-Ear at swordpoint as he stared at them in terror.

Lin Qingyang and Qi Mo followed One-Ear through the Underground Palace in search of A Chou, witnessing the brutal treatment of demon prisoners along the way. One-Ear lured them into a dark cave where he revealed himself as a hyena and trapped them with his pack.

• One-Ear confirmed that A Chou, a scarred Wolf Demon, had been taken to Ding District, and led Lin Qingyang and Qi Mo there.
• Lin Qingyang and Qi Mo saw Earth Bulls discard an injured deer demon and her apparently dead cub through a hatch.
• One-Ear led them through the iron door into a dark cave, where Qi Mo realized the scent did not belong to A Chou.
• One-Ear vanished and revealed his true hyena form, while another hyena attacked Lin Qingyang and more than a dozen hyenas surrounded them.
• With the entrance shut and the pack closing in, Lin Qingyang told Qi Mo to hold tight to him, and two hyenas collided as they lunged.

Lin Qingyang and Qi Mo fell into a fog-shrouded valley filled with demonic qi and discovered a mountain of bones beneath Wasteland Town. As Qi Mo confronted the likely fate of A Chou and his people, Lin Qingyang weakened from the demonic qi, and the two began climbing toward an exit before something caught his leg.

• Qi Mo revealed his claws and fangs to protect Lin Qingyang from One-Ear, but a hyena bit Lin Qingyang and sent him over the edge; Qi Mo jumped after him.
• Qi Mo cushioned Lin Qingyang’s fall, and Lin Qingyang killed the hyena that attacked them at the bottom of the valley.
• Qi Mo bandaged Lin Qingyang’s badly bitten leg, and they discovered that they had landed on a vast pile of bones beneath Wasteland Town.
• Lin Qingyang and Qi Mo saw the deer demon’s remains atop Bone Mountain, and Qi Mo asked whether A Chou was there too.
• Lin Yao warned that the dense demonic qi was poisoning Lin Qingyang, so Qi Mo helped him climb toward the shaft that led outside.
• As they climbed over the bones, something caught Lin Qingyang’s leg and moved.

Lin Qingyang and Qi Mo rescued a dying red-furred Fire Spirit Fox from a valley beneath the Jin Yao Workshop and escaped by luring a pack of hyenas into the lobby. Back at the inn, Lin Qingyang persuaded Mo Yan to use Spiritual Power to save the fox by claiming it could fetch fifty thousand Spirit Stones.

• Lin Qingyang and Lin Yao hid while Qi Mo searched a moving pile of bones and found a wounded red-furred Fox Demon with a lotus-shaped mark.
• Qi Mo carried the fox out with Lin Qingyang, and the two escaped a hyena pack by knocking over an Earth Bull and using a bloodied rat to draw the hyenas away.
• The hyenas rampaged through the Jin Yao Workshop lobby as Lin Qingyang and Qi Mo fled, leaving Hua Jin roaring behind them.
• Lin Qingyang asked Mo Yan to save the fox, and Mo Yan refused until Lin Qingyang claimed it was a rare Fire Spirit Fox worth fifty thousand Spirit Stones.
• Mo Yan agreed to leave the fox with him, and after Lin Qingyang and Qi Mo left, he curiously examined the fox.

After Qi Mo comforted Lin Qingyang through the night, Lin Qingyang told him he could leave if he wished, but Qi Mo could not answer. Their conversation was interrupted by a commotion in Mo Yan’s room, where they found the Fox Demon injured and terrified.

• Qi Mo treated Lin Qingyang’s leg, then broke down as Lin Qingyang comforted him and apologized for his sister’s death.
• The next morning, Qi Mo apologized for getting Lin Qingyang hurt and promised not to hide anything from him again.
• Lin Qingyang guessed Qi Mo had planned to escape with A Chou and offered to remove his Demon-Locking Ring if he wanted to leave.
• Qi Mo could not bring himself to accept Lin Qingyang’s offer before a crash came from Mo Yan’s room.
• Lin Qingyang found the Fox Demon naked, injured, and smoking from an apparent shock, covered him with Mo Yan’s clothes, and asked why Mo Yan had shocked him.

Lin Qingyang rescued Hong Ling, a Fire Spirit Fox Demon Slave, and learned that Hong Ling had been abused at the Jin Yao Workshop and used Bewitchment on Mo Yan and Lin Qingyang. As Lin Qingyang debated what would become of the now-free fox, Hall Master Kong of the Jin Yao Workshop arrived to see him.

• Lin Qingyang took Hong Ling from Mo Yan's room and gave him food, while Qi Mo jealously ate the buns.
• Hong Ling introduced himself and explained that Cen Yue had beaten him after failing to obtain Lin Qingyang's companion.
• Hong Ling used Bewitchment on Lin Qingyang, but Qi Mo pulled him away and nearly strangled him before Lin Qingyang stopped him.
• Lin Qingyang told Hong Ling he was free to leave, but Hong Ling insisted he had nowhere to go and wanted to stay with them.
• A waiter announced that Hall Master Kong of the Jin Yao Workshop had come to see Lin Qingyang.

Lin Qingyang, Qi Mo, and Mo Yan accepted a carriage ride to the Xuanhuang Sect, but Kong Qin revealed that he was acting on orders to ambush them. The carriage carried them unconscious toward the sect.

• Kong Qin apologized on behalf of Hua Jin and offered Lin Qingyang and his companions a carriage to the Xuanhuang Sect.
• Qi Mo warned Hong Ling to stay away from Lin Qingyang, while Lin Qingyang later brought Hong Ling along in Mo Yan’s Qiankun Bag.
• Lin Qingyang, Qi Mo, and Mo Yan boarded Hua Jin’s flying carriage with Kong Qin and saw the Xuanhuang Sect’s seven peaks from above.
• Kong Qin revealed that he was a half-demon whose inherited skill let him fly with blue-feathered wings.
• Kong Qin admitted he was acting on orders, and the carriage’s gems released fragrant red smoke that knocked Qi Mo, Mo Yan, and Lin Qingyang unconscious.

Lin Qingyang woke imprisoned by the Xuanhuang Sect, with an Immortal-Locking Ring suppressing his spiritual power, and was brought to a banquet with Mo Yan. Sect Leader Cen Ru'an revealed he had a favor to ask, and Lin Qingyang guessed he wanted Lin Yao.

• Lin Qingyang woke in a lavish room and discovered an Immortal-Locking Ring around his neck that blocked his spiritual power.
• Lin Qingyang tried to cut off the ring, which tightened around his throat until it released him.
• Hua Jin and Kong Qin arrived, and Hua Jin explained that the ring punished attempts to break it by force.
• Lin Qingyang followed Hua Jin to a banquet, where he found Mo Yan restrained by a matching ring and met Lu Sanming.
• Cen Ru'an arrived with Wu Ze, greeted Lin Qingyang, and said he had a favor to ask.
• Lin Qingyang accused Cen Ru'an of wanting his demon slave, Lin Yao.

Lin Qingyang learned that A Chou had escaped and that the Xuanhuang Sect planned to use A-Qi as bait to lure her out. He agreed to hand A-Qi over in exchange for five hundred thousand Spirit Stones, but Wu Ze refused to release him and Mo Yan, keeping them detained at the sect.

• Hua Jin revealed that A Chou had escaped from Pill Spirit Peak after killing several people and had become powerful by consuming cultivation-enhancing pills.
• Lin Qingyang realized that the Xuanhuang Sect intended to use A-Qi as bait to draw out A Chou, his older sister.
• Lin Qingyang agreed to give A-Qi to Cen Ru'an and demanded five hundred thousand Spirit Stones as compensation, which Hua Jin paid.
• When Lin Qingyang asked for his and Mo Yan's Immortal-Locking Rings to be removed, Wu Ze argued that they should remain in the Xuanhuang Sect until A Chou was dealt with.
• Cen Ru'an left with Wu Ze, who ordered Lin Qingyang and Mo Yan escorted back and kept under guard.

Lin Qingyang and Mo Yan remained imprisoned by the Xuanhuang Sect and suspected the sect was hiding something about A Chou and Wu Ze. Hong Ling emerged from Lin Qingyang’s Qiankun Bag and revealed a transformation ability, leaving the group still trapped but with a possible new way to act.

• Mo Yan raged about the Xuanhuang Sect imprisoning him and Lin Qingyang, while Lin Qingyang wondered what was happening to A-Qi.
• Lin Qingyang suspected the Xuanhuang Sect had a secret reason for handling A Chou themselves and questioned Wu Ze’s behavior.
• Lin Qingyang opened his Qiankun Bag, and Hong Ling crawled out, gasping for air and drinking several cups of water.
• Lin Qingyang explained their situation and urged Hong Ling to escape after dark, but Hong Ling insisted he could help and transformed into a naked double of Mo Yan.
• Mo Yan yelled at Hong Ling, who changed back into a fox and admitted that using magic made him hungry.

Hua Jin grew frustrated with Cen Ru'an and agreed to drink privately with Lin Qingyang after he lured her in with his appearance and charm. Lin Qingyang shut Kong Qin out, leaving him jealous and resentful as the meeting began.

• Hua Jin complained that Cen Ru'an favored Wu Ze and took her frustration out on Kong Qin, then asked whether Lin Qingyang and the others had been settled in.
• Hua Jin agreed to visit Lin Qingyang after he sent word that he wanted to drink with her, while Kong Qin frowned at the invitation.
• Lin Qingyang dressed to charm Hua Jin and reminded Hong Ling of their plan while Mo Yan questioned whether the ploy would work.
• Hua Jin arrived at the courtyard with Kong Qin, and Lin Qingyang invited her inside for wine.
• Lin Qingyang asked Hua Jin to keep Kong Qin outside, then shut the door on Kong Qin, who glared at him in jealousy and resentment.