Chapter Summaries

Chen Shuangbai successfully refined three Aging-Delay Pills for Bai Nianyuan and received the promised silver-leaf page. White Feather Cave later rewarded him with a three-hundred-year-old Sea Heart Jade Marrow Ganoderma and asked him to keep the pill refinement secret.

• Chen Shuangbai gave Bai Nianyuan one standard-quality and two fine-quality Aging-Delay Pills, and Bai praised his achievement.
• Bai Nianyuan paid Chen Shuangbai with the silver-leaf page and offered White Feather Cave’s support at the Swan Immortal Market.
• Chen Shuangbai reflected that Bai Nianyuan might have made the pills for White Feather Cave’s cave master.
• Bai Nianyuan returned and presented Chen Shuangbai with a mature Sea Heart Jade Marrow Ganoderma as a reward from his elder.
• Bai Nianyuan asked Chen Shuangbai to keep the pill refinement secret, and Chen agreed.

Chen Shuangbai secretly examined the silver-foil page after leaving Swan Immortal Market and used the Great Yin Dao Fruit to transform its dangerous soul attack into the Lesser Yin Spirit-Slashing Saber. He stayed on a deserted island to begin cultivating its saber intent, emerging from contemplation with a faint crescent flashing in his eyes.

• Chen Shuangbai concealed his examination of the silver-foil page at Swan Immortal Market, then departed after buying local specialties and six transport sea beasts.
• After leaving the market’s territory, Chen Shuangbai hid on a deserted island and used the Great Yin Dao Fruit to read the page’s Profound Yin Soul-Slaying Thorn technique.
• Chen Shuangbai prayed for the Great Yin Dao Fruit to evolve the technique, and it created the Lesser Yin Spirit-Slashing Saber, a soul-targeting attack suited to his cultivation.
• Chen Shuangbai visualized a cold crescent moon on the island and accumulated an invisible saber intent until a faint phantom crescent flashed in his eyes.

Chen Shuangbai returned from his sea travels to the Floating Light Sect, visited his family and paid his respects to Yi Chongyue and Peng Yu. He left his master the Sea Heart Jade Marrow Ganoderma and Aging-Delay Pill Formula before returning to Verdant Hills Stream.

• Zhang Xian welcomed Chen Shuangbai to Great Arrival Island and told him that True Person Mei had returned to the sect and wanted him to follow soon.
• Chen Shuangbai crossed to the mainland, visited his family in White Water County, and continued on to Sunken Jade Valley.
• Chen Shuangbai paid his respects to Yi Chongyue and Peng Yu, who praised his prospects and received gifts from his sea travels.
• Chen Shuangbai gave Yi Chongyue the Sea Heart Jade Marrow Ganoderma and Aging-Delay Pill Formula, then hurried back to Verdant Hills Stream.

After returning from his sea voyage, Chen Shuangbai settled into cultivation and was summoned to receive his sect duties. He accepted appointments as deputy hall master of the Evil Hunting Hall and assistant lecturer in alchemy, then arrived at the hall to meet its master.

• Chen Shuangbai gave sea pearls and other maritime gifts to friends and acquaintances, then stocked a seawater pool in his cave abode and resumed cultivation and study.
• True Person Bo summoned Chen Shuangbai to Deer Deep Waters Peak and praised his foundation and contribution of the Aging-Delay Pill formula.
• True Person Bo announced that Chen Shuangbai would serve as deputy hall master of the Evil Hunting Hall and assistant lecturer in the Dao of Alchemy at the Scripture Transmission Hall.
• Chen Shuangbai accepted the sect's appointment, and Yi Chongyue remarked that his disciple now wielded considerable authority within the sect.
• The next day, Chen Shuangbai arrived at the Evil Hunting Hall and was escorted to the Evil Severing Hall to meet the hall master.

Chen Shuangbai took up his post as Hall Master of the Evil Hunting Hall and learned that Luo Tao expected him to carry out the hall’s field assignments. After meeting his colleagues, Chen Shuangbai chose to personally handle the three difficult cases Luo Tao had given him.

• Chen Shuangbai paid his respects to Luo Tao, who praised his talent and explained that Chen would handle the Evil Hunting Hall’s field operations.
• A Daoist attendant led Chen Shuangbai to the Suspended Sword Hall, where he met the demon retainers Bai Jin and Lü Zhang.
• Chen Shuangbai summoned the heads of the hall’s four divisions and reunited with Yan Qi, now one of his subordinates.
• Chen Shuangbai reviewed three assignments involving a dispute between cultivation lineages, a ghost harming people, and a sect elder who had wronged people in his hometown.
• Chen Shuangbai ordered a carriage and horses prepared so he could personally handle the assignments.

Chen Shuangbai traveled to Cloud Flow Mountain to address a violent dispute between the Azure Cliff Monastery and the Green Pine Sect over a Spirit Stone vein. He declared both lineages guilty of breaking sect rules and told them they must accept punishment.

• Chen Shuangbai set out for Cloud Flow Mountain in a flood dragon carriage with a Daoist boy.
• The Daoist boy explained that the Azure Cliff Monastery and Green Pine Sect had clashed over the vein and already held an old grudge over a talented child.
• Chen Shuangbai arrived and identified himself as the Evil Hunting Hall's deputy hall master, then refused the lineages' offer to rest before resolving the matter.
• Chen Shuangbai challenged the two leaders over their conduct, silenced their blame-shifting, and ruled that both lineages had violated sect laws.
• The leaders admitted their guilt, and Chen Shuangbai told them they must accept punishment.

Chen Shuangbai punished two cultivation branches for their conflict over a mineral vein, then used a wind technique to dispel the Yin Qi behind a county’s rampaging Yin ghosts. He reviewed the Jade Spring Sect’s reports on the Mo Household’s abuses and began forming a plan to uphold the sect’s laws.

• Chen Shuangbai threatened the leaders of Azure Cliff Monastery and Green Pine Sect with the loss of their cultivation, then offered them a chance to redeem themselves through service.
• Chen Shuangbai punished the branches’ offending disciples, barred them from seeking instruction at the main sect for three years, and placed the miniature mineral vein under sect ownership with extraction overseen by a new office.
• Chen Shuangbai arranged preferential purchasing contracts for the two branches, and departed after an Expenditure Hall representative arrived to take over the matter.
• Chen Shuangbai used his Spirit-Appraising Pupil to locate a buildup of Yin Qi, then sent a wind dragon into the subterranean hollow to dispel it and weaken the Yin ghosts.
• Chen Shuangbai reviewed reports that Mo Yun’s household had seized resources, harmed residents, and suppressed the local cultivation market, then began devising a plan.

Chen Shuangbai disguised himself and his attendant as a scholar from the Huang Household and challenged the Mo Household over its seizure of their residence. After the county magistrate refused to hear the case, the Mo Household plotted to kill the scholar with a curse.

• Chen Shuangbai and his attendant entered Clear Creek County disguised as a frail scholar and his servant.
• Mo Household servants drove the scholar from the Huang Household residence, claiming it had been seized to settle a debt.
• The scholar beat the grievance drum, but the magistrate pretended to be ill rather than confront the Mo Household.
• The scholar gathered evidence and contacted people connected to the Huang Household while his attendant wondered whether the Mo Household would take the bait.
• The Mo Household head and his stewards discussed how to silence the scholar and settled on killing him with a curse.

Mo Ling cast a curse and sent a Yin Ghost after the scholar, but the scholar captured it and set out to confront the Mo Household. The scholar and his Daoist boy appeared before the household, whose head found the estate sealed by moonlight and mist.

• The head of the Mo Household ordered Mo Ling to curse a member of the Huang Household discreetly.
• Mo Ling used the scholar’s birth details and a black jar to cast a curse, then summoned a Yin Ghost to seize the scholar’s soul.
• The scholar concealed the ghost fire rising from his body and said the curse was still not enough.
• The Yin Ghost entered the inn, but the scholar’s companion captured it and turned it into a black pellet.
• Mo Ling lost the Yin Ghost and collapsed, then warned the head of the Mo Household that disaster was coming.
• The scholar and Daoist boy appeared at the Mo Household as moonlight and mist sealed the estate, and the scholar asked the household head where he intended to flee.

Chen Shuangbai confronted Daoist Mo Yun with evidence of the Mo Household’s crimes and demanded that he submit to the sect’s laws. Daoist Mo Yun attacked, but Chen Shuangbai’s attendant used two Spirit Artifacts to immobilize him.

• Daoist Mo Yun arrived at the Mo Household and greeted Chen Shuangbai after recognizing his sect status and credentials.
• Chen Shuangbai revealed the yin ghost and accused Mo Ling of practicing evil methods, killing people, and secretly raising a ghost.
• Daoist Mo Yun kicked Mo Ling away and offered to let the sect punish him, but Chen Shuangbai exposed the broader charges against the Mo Household.
• Daoist Mo Yun rejected the accusations, revealed his evil methods, and attacked Chen Shuangbai with his Foundation Establishment Middle Stage power.
• At Chen Shuangbai’s command, his young Daoist attendant used the Turning Heart Ruyi Cord and Chongming River-Stilling Bell to restrain Daoist Mo Yun.

Chen Shuangbai captured Daoist Mo Yun and brought him before Luo Tao, who obtained a confession and left his punishment to the sect’s laws. After Chen established himself as an impartial deputy hall master, a new lead revealed that the Transformation Sect of the Xu Kingdom was also targeting the Jade Spring Sect.

• Chen Shuangbai subdued Daoist Mo Yun with two Spirit Artifacts and ordered a Daoist boy to report the Mo Household to the sect.
• Chen Shuangbai brought Daoist Mo Yun to Luo Tao, who questioned him until he confessed and arranged for him to be held pending the Abyss Suppression Hall’s investigation.
• Luo Tao praised Chen Shuangbai’s handling of the case and advised him to delegate routine work so he could focus on cultivation.
• News of Chen Shuangbai’s actions spread through Sunken Jade Valley, drawing widespread discussion among the Jade Spring Sect.
• The Abyss Suppression Hall traced Daoist Mo Yun’s Evil Method to the Transformation Sect of the Xu Kingdom, revealing another force involved in targeting the Jade Spring Sect.

Chen Shuangbai learned that the East Mountain Cheng Lineage had openly rebelled against the Jade Spring Sect, prompting True Person Bo to gather the sect’s Foundation Establishment cultivators. As the hall debated the uprising, Cheng Yi pleaded for a chance to investigate, and Luo Tao asked that he be confined until the facts became clear.

• The sect learned that the Cheng Lineage had killed the commandery governor, seized cities, slaughtered members of the lower academy and fellow disciples, and colluded with an unknown force.
• Chen Shuangbai arrived at the Abyss Suppression Hall, where True Person Bo declared that the rebellious Cheng Lineage must be eliminated.
• Ding Chengyu privately told Chen Shuangbai that the gathering included Cheng Yi and other cultivators connected to the Cheng Lineage through family ties.
• Luo Tao called for the Cheng Lineage to be annihilated, while Cheng Yi knelt and pleaded that Cheng Yin could not have betrayed the sect.
• Luo Tao told Cheng Yi to recuse himself and asked True Person Bo to confine him until the situation was investigated and judged.

The Jade Spring Sect mobilized an armed force to suppress the East Mountain Cheng Lineage’s rebellion, while Cheng Yin’s elders argued over whether the Transformation Sect could protect them. The black-robed envoy promised to oppose True Person Bo and offered to heal Cheng Yin’s son, leaving the Cheng elders tempted by the alliance.

• Ding Chengyu and Chen Shuangbai discussed their sect duties, and Ding privately marveled at Chen’s cultivation and abilities.
• The Jade Spring Sect dispatched a fleet carrying hundreds of Evil Hunting Hall and Jade Guarding Hall disciples, overseen by six Foundation Establishment cultivators, toward East Mountain Commandery.
• Cheng Yu warned Cheng Yin that the Cheng Lineage could not withstand the Jade Spring Sect, but Cheng Biao insisted the Transformation Sect’s support made victory possible.
• Cheng Yin struck Cheng Yu for questioning the rebellion, and Cheng Yu urged him not to endanger the whole lineage over resentment about Cheng Yulang.
• The black-robed envoy promised that the Transformation Sect would handle True Person Bo and offered to treat Cheng Yulang and help him form a Golden Core, stirring the elders’ interest.

The Jade Spring Sect’s fleet fought through the Cheng Lineage’s insect and beast defenses, with Exalted Cultivator Li, Ren Zisu, and Fang Huan swiftly clearing the way. The fleet reached the East Mountain Cheng Lineage’s ancestral grounds and found the commandery city enclosed by a great demonic formation.

• Cheng Yin imprisoned the Cheng Lineage elders who still supported the Jade Spring Sect while preparing to face its approaching army.
• The Cheng Lineage attacked the Jade Spring Sect’s flying boat armada with black fireballs, but the White Jade Cranes destroyed them.
• A vast swarm of insects and beasts surrounded the fleet, but its boats joined their defenses into a formation that held the swarm back.
• Exalted Cultivator Li unleashed Sword Essence to wipe out much of the swarm, and Ren Zisu used her Shaman Incantation to destroy most of what remained.
• The fleet reached the East Mountain Cheng Lineage’s ancestral grounds and saw a demonic formation covering the Heavenly Capital Peak area.

True Person Mei shattered part of the Cheng Lineage’s demonic formation and ordered the Jade Spring Sect to wipe out the East Mountain Cheng Lineage. The Transformation Sect’s envoy revealed an Earth Vein Demonic Seed, threatening to ruin East Mountain Commandery.

• Ding Chengyu and Chen Shuangbai examined the vast demonic formation and realized it had been prepared long in advance.
• Cheng Yin confronted Exalted Cultivator Li and denounced the Jade Spring Sect, while the Transformation Sect’s exalted envoy appeared and exerted Golden Core-level spiritual pressure.
• True Person Mei arrived and used a plum-blossom sword strike to break a corner of the formation, causing Demonic Qi to spill out and buildings to collapse.
• True Person Mei told the Transformation Sect envoy that the Jade Spring Sect would fight to the end and ordered the East Mountain Cheng Lineage wiped out.
• The Transformation Sect envoy produced an Earth Vein Demonic Seed and threatened to destroy East Mountain Commandery.

The Transformation Sect envoy forced the Jade Spring Sect into a temporary truce by threatening to detonate the Earth Vein Demonic Seed, while secretly pushing Cheng Yin toward horrific sacrifices to cure his son. Aboard the Flowing Light Flying Boat, the Jade Spring Sect’s cultivators debated how to respond, and True Person Mei had yet to give her decision.

• The Transformation Sect envoy threatened to destroy East Mountain Commandery unless the Jade Spring Sect recognized the East Mountain Cheng Lineage’s independence, and the two sides agreed to a temporary truce.
• Cheng Yin asked the envoy to cure his son Yulang, and the envoy demanded a Jade Spring Sect Foundation Establishment cultivator’s heart and Essence Blood as ingredients.
• The envoy also demanded thirty-six virgin boys and girls, and Cheng Yin agreed to provide everything needed to save Yulang.
• Aboard the Flowing Light Flying Boat, Fang Huan lamented the danger to the commandery’s people, while Li Changfeng considered seizing the Demonic Seed at the cost of his life.
• Ren Zisu rejected sacrificing a fellow disciple and suggested letting the Demonic Seed explode, while True Person Mei remained silent as the others awaited her decision.

Chen Shuangbai and the Jade Spring Sect elders devised a plan to seize the Earth Vein Demonic Seed using his soul-attacking Law Technique and Ding Chengyu’s Essence-Sealing Box. A message from the Cheng Lineage offered a chance to get Chen Shuangbai close to the Transformation Sect envoy.

• Chen Shuangbai offered to use his silent soul-attacking Law Technique to stun the Transformation Sect Golden Core, but the elders worried he might not affect him and that the demonic seed could still be detonated remotely.
• Ding Chengyu revealed his Essence-Sealing Box, which could block the connection to the Earth Vein Demonic Seed for three breaths, though it had only one use left and was difficult to unseal.
• True Person Mei and the others agreed that the plan could work if they coordinated, but they still needed a way to bring Chen Shuangbai close to the envoy without arousing suspicion.
• A disciple delivered a message from the Cheng Lineage demanding a Foundation Establishment cultivator in exchange for saving East Mountain Commandery.
• Li Changfeng recognized the demand as an opportunity and laughed with the other elders.

He Chong demanded that Jade Spring Sect hand over a Foundation Establishment cultivator in exchange for allowing East Mountain Commandery's common people to evacuate, and threatened to unleash the Earth Vein Demonic Seed. Chen Shuangbai volunteered to be handed over, and True Person Mei appeared to accept He Chong's terms.

• He Chong confronted True Person Mei and demanded a Jade Spring Sect Foundation Establishment cultivator as a hostage, offering to let some common people evacuate East Mountain Commandery.
• Li Changfeng feigned outrage, while Chen Shuangbai identified He Chong as a former beggar and provoked his fury.
• True Person Mei shielded Chen Shuangbai from He Chong's Demonic Qi as He Chong threatened to detonate the Earth Vein Demonic Seed and destroy the region.
• Chen Shuangbai pretended to sacrifice himself for the common people, and Li Changfeng, Ren Zisu, and the others acted reluctant to let him go.
• True Person Mei told He Chong that he could go, leaving the Jade Spring Sect members apparently stricken and Cheng Yin relieved.

Chen Shuangbai feigned surrender to get close to He Chong, then used the Lesser Yin Spirit-Slashing Saber while True Person Mei severed He Chong’s hand and Ding Chengyu sealed the Earth Vein Demonic Seed. He Chong recovered and attacked True Person Mei, leaving the two Golden Core cultivators locked in battle as the Jade Spring Sect retreated.

• True Person Mei agreed to hand Chen Shuangbai over in exchange for He Chong delaying the demonic seed’s detonation and pursuit for six hours.
• Chen Shuangbai walked up to He Chong and struck his soul with the Lesser Yin Spirit-Slashing Saber.
• True Person Mei severed He Chong’s left hand, and Ding Chengyu sealed the Earth Vein Demonic Seed inside a wooden box.
• He Chong recovered and erupted with demonic flames, while True Person Mei blocked the blast with her winter plum Sword Essence.
• He Chong summoned phantoms of suffering souls to attack True Person Mei as the Jade Spring Sect cultivators retreated.

The Jade Spring Sect attacked the East Mountain Commandery Cheng Household while True Person Mei kept He Chong trapped in the sky. Chen Shuangbai gained a sudden insight into sword essence, and the chapter ended with He Chong deciding to flee before he was killed.

• He Chong realized the Earth Vein Demonic Seed no longer restrained True Person Mei, and her sword essence forced him onto the defensive as the wound from Chen Shuangbai's Lesser Yin Spirit-Slashing Saber weakened him.
• Li Changfeng, Fang Huan, Ren Zisu, and Yan Heng attacked the demonic formation from the Flowing Light Flying Boat while Ding Chengyu protected the Essence-Sealing Box and Chen Shuangbai watched the fight.
• Chen Shuangbai comprehended True Person Mei's sword essence, and his spirit sword Foot-Long Silk began to radiate frost and snow as he approached a breakthrough.
• The Jade Spring Sect's cultivators broke the formation and purged the East Mountain Commandery Cheng Household, killing those who resisted and binding the survivors for judgment.
• True Person Mei's sword net continued to injure He Chong until he feared for his life and declared that he would remember the Jade Spring Sect's attack.