Chapter Summaries

The Seated Ming King Incarnation fought Lord Lu, suppressing him with a summoned mountain until Ji Yuan intervened. Ji Yuan broke the mountain, persuaded the Ming King to withdraw, and promised Daming Temple’s monks would remain safe.

• The Seated Ming King Incarnation attacked Lord Lu with Buddhist palms and chants, driving him from Daming Temple’s mountain and injuring him.
• Lord Lu resisted the Ming King’s mountain-suppression spells, while the Ming King declared he would suppress the demon to prevent future harm.
• Two Golden Armored Strongmen appeared and helped Lord Lu hold up the summoned mountain, revealing that Ji Yuan was nearby.
• Ji Yuan’s Green Vine Sword split the demon-suppressing mountain, and the Golden Armored Strongmen shattered it.
• Ji Yuan asked the Ming King not to interfere and promised to protect Daming Temple’s monks, so the Ming King accepted and his incarnation crumbled back into clay.

Ji Yuan and Lord Lu ended the confrontation at Daming Temple after the Ming King Statue vanished, and Jueming asked Lord Lu to grant him death. Lord Lu swallowed Jueming and departed after compensating the temple, while Ji Yuan left to attend to other matters.

• The Ming King Statue dissipated, and Ji Yuan reassured Daming Temple’s monks that they would remain unharmed.
• Lord Lu returned to human form and reported to Ji Yuan, who told her to treat his presence as though he had not been there.
• Jueming stopped chanting, admitted his failures to Lord Lu, and asked her to grant him death; Lord Lu swallowed him.
• Ji Yuan offered his Golden Armored Strongmen to help repair Daming Temple, but the abbot declined, and Ji Yuan departed after accepting Lord Lu’s packet of goji berries.
• Lord Lu gave the abbot silver as compensation, then flew away from Small Amount Mountain.

After freeing Jueming, Lord Lu told him what had become of several of the Nine Heroes, while Ji Yuan watched Jueming seek out the Underworld Bureau. Lord Lu and Ji Yuan later visited Bao Dong, and Lord Lu discovered Dong Bicheng had died, leaving him to plan a trip to the Underworld Bureau.

• Lord Lu released Jueming from servitude, warned him about the dangers facing ghosts, and answered his questions about the Nine Heroes.
• Jueming visited his family, then asked two Night Patrols to take him to the Underworld Bureau so he could meet wrongfully departed souls.
• Ji Yuan and Lord Lu watched Jueming enter the Underworld Bureau, while Ji Yuan wondered whether Lord Lu’s actions had harmed or benefited Buddhist Dharma.
• Lord Lu found Bao Dong in Youzhou, then Ji Yuan spoke with Bao Dong about his life and faded ambitions.
• Lord Lu found Dong Bicheng’s tomb in Laoyang Prefecture and realized he would have to enter the Underworld Bureau to find him.

Ji Yuan visited a paper effigy shop in Laoyang Prefecture to learn how funeral offerings reached the netherworld, then used his knowledge and magical skill to turn paper money into dharma money. He left with a usable stack to take to Dong Bicheng, while considering how the currency might circulate in the netherworld.

• Ji Yuan left Dong Bicheng's grave and went to Laoyang Prefecture, where he bought flatbreads and entered a paper effigy shop.
• The shopkeeper explained that offerings needed sincere intent or a master's ritual to reach the netherworld, and described the shop's paper money as Yin-Yang Coins.
• Ji Yuan bought a stack of paper money for two coins after declining the shopkeeper's suggestions for additional funeral goods.
• In an empty alley, Ji Yuan infused the paper money with void qi and, after several failed attempts, transformed it into bronze-gold dharma money.
• Ji Yuan examined the finished currency and considered its potential use and value in the netherworld.

Ji Yuan tested the limits of his magical Yin-Yang Coins and considered the danger of giving them to Dong Bicheng. Meanwhile, Lord Lu devised a way to enter the ghost city by using Lan Ningke to get himself carried into the Underworld Bureau.

• Ji Yuan made weighty Yin-Yang Coins that could channel his magical power and spiritual qi into powerful effects, then destroyed one while testing it.
• Ji Yuan worried the coins could cause trouble if Dong Bicheng used them recklessly and sensed that Lord Lu was preparing to act.
• Lord Lu ate at the Lifu Grand Wine House with Lan Ningke, who served him and later enjoyed the remaining food.
• Lord Lu told Lan Ningke to help him infiltrate the ghost city by pretending to be captured and taken to the Underworld Bureau of Laoyang Prefecture.
• Lan Ningke agreed despite fearing the Bureau's tortures, and Lord Lu explained his plan to hide his Demon Soul inside Lan Ningke.

Lord Lu arranged for Lan Ningke to be captured and processed by the Underworld Bureau so he could observe its defenses while its attention was divided by a distinguished guest. After enduring six prison whippings and being dumped in a ghost city, Lan Ningke was ordered to find his old friend Dong Bicheng.

• Lord Lu had Lan Ningke lure a sleeping man's soul outside Laoyang Prefecture so Yin Chas would catch him, and the soul returned to its body when it panicked.
• Two Yin Chas captured Lan Ningke after he tried to flee, then took him through Ghost Gate Pass to face the Civil Judge.
• The Civil Judge classified Lan Ningke as a Lone Soul and Wild Ghost and sentenced him to six prison whipping punishments.
• Lord Lu overheard that a distinguished guest had drawn the Lord City God's attention, and he hoped the distraction would help his plans.
• Lan Ningke survived all six lashes and was cast into a ghost city, where Lord Lu told him to find Dong Bicheng near the southern center.

Lan Ningke found Dong Bicheng in Laoyang Ghost City, where Lord Lu fulfilled his old agreement with one of the Nine Heroes. After they left, Ji Yuan visited Dong Bicheng and gave him dharma coins, then continued on, with Yan Fei the only one of the nine still to meet.

• Lan Ningke searched Laoyang Ghost City and learned that Dong Bicheng lived in a residence in Yinwood Forest.
• Dong Bicheng welcomed Lan Ningke and told him that he had died pursuing the thief Grass Skimmer and had spent nearly ten years in the ghost city.
• Lord Lu revealed himself and reminded Dong Bicheng of their agreement, then discussed the other heroes while avoiding Lan Ningke's affairs.
• Lan Ningke and Lord Lu left, and Dong Bicheng chose not to report their unusual visit to the Yin Cha.
• Ji Yuan arrived, offered Dong Bicheng a recommendation to the Underworld Bureau and gifted him dharma coins, then departed, noting that only Yan Fei remained.

Lord Lu escaped the Underworld Bureau with Lan Ningke, while the Dong Family learned Grass Skimmer had been killed and Dong Bicheng encountered him in the Underworld. In Luocheng, Lord Lu arrived at Yan Fei and Niu Batian’s manor and revealed himself as the tiger demon who had promised to visit.

• Lord Lu arranged for Lan Ningke to receive offerings on Ghost Festival, allowing her to leave Ghost Gate Pass, then devoured her Underworld Talisman and evaded the Bureau’s search.
• The Dong Family visited Dong Bicheng’s grave and told him by burning a notice that Grass Skimmer had been identified and killed.
• Dong Bicheng, now a reserve Yin Cha, encountered Grass Skimmer at the Underworld Bureau as soon as the criminal died.
• Lord Lu traveled north after collecting the reward for killing Grass Skimmer, while Yan Fei and Niu Batian continued living near Luocheng.
• Niu Batian’s eyelid twitched, and he sensed a nonhuman presence approaching the manor.
• Lord Lu reached the fence, identified himself to Yan Fei, and said he had come to visit as promised; Niu Batian recognized him as the tiger demon.

Niu Batian tried to assert dominance over Lord Lu while defending Yan Fei, but Lord Lu turned hostile and the two demons began a destructive battle. After Niu Batian seemed to gain the upper hand, Lord Lu began revealing a terrifying true form, leaving Niu Batian stunned by the sight.

• Niu Batian confronted Lord Lu and made clear that Yan Fei was his brother, while Lord Lu questioned Yan Fei about the deaths caused by his martial contests.
• Niu Batian said demons thought little of eating people, prompting Lord Lu to declare that he intended to kill both him and Yan Fei.
• Lord Lu struck Niu Batian with a claw, and Niu Batian carried Yan Fei out of danger before the demons began fighting across the manor grounds.
• Niu Batian battered Lord Lu with a persimmon tree and repeated Hoof Stomp Collapse attacks, sending him crashing through trees and into the ground.
• Niu Batian boasted that Lord Lu was no match for him, but Lord Lu began revealing a colossal true form, leaving Niu Batian questioning whether the beast was really a tiger.

Yan Fei watched from cover as Niu Batian and Lord Lu fought a devastating battle outside Luocheng. Niu Batian drove Lord Lu north with a powerful charge but stopped before they reached the city, and both demons remained badly wounded as the fight continued.

• Lord Lu revealed his towering Demonic Body True Form, and Niu Batian told Yan Fei to flee before confronting him.
• Niu Batian and Lord Lu clashed outside Luocheng, raising a sandstorm that shook the city and prompted the gates to close.
• Yan Fei took shelter in a depression as debris and Niu Batian's blood fell around him during the battle.
• Lord Lu slashed Niu Batian and sent him flying, but Niu Batian unleashed Overlord Bull Charge and gored Lord Lu through the left limb.
• Niu Batian drove Lord Lu more than ten li toward Luocheng, then flung him away to avoid carrying the fight into the city.
• Niu Batian collapsed to his knees, wounded and exhausted, while Lord Lu stood again with his demonic aura still strong.

Lord Lu and Niu Batian fought fiercely outside Luocheng City, and Lord Lu eventually seized Niu Batian and carried him into the sky. Ji Yuan stopped the battle with an Immobilization Technique and ordered the two demons not to fight again.

• Lord Lu and Niu Batian stood injured amid the storm and taunted each other before resuming their fight.
• Lord Lu revealed another tail and took the battle into the sky, while Niu Batian stayed on the ground and hurled rocks and trees at him.
• Lord Lu vanished inside a demonic cloud, then ambushed Niu Batian from above and carried him off while biting into his body.
• Yan Fei called out to Lord Lu, offering himself in Niu Batian's place, but the storm swallowed his cries.
• Ji Yuan immobilized both demons, let them descend, and ordered them to end the fight.

Ji Yuan stopped Lord Lu and Niu Batian’s battle, then learned that the Sword Intent Scroll’s characters had mysteriously vanished. Lord Lu revealed that his Heart-Intimidation ability had secretly weakened Niu Batian, leaving the two demons to face the truth of their fight.

• Lord Lu transformed into human form and bowed to Ji Yuan, while Niu Batian complained that Ji Yuan had let the fight continue before stopping it.
• Yan Fei helped Niu Batian stand and lent him clothes, and Ji Yuan questioned Lord Lu about whether he had intended to kill Niu Batian.
• Lord Lu explained that he had attacked Niu Batian’s dharma form with his fangs and had believed Niu Batian did not care about eating people.
• Yan Fei fetched the Sword Intent Scroll, and Ji Yuan found it blank after hearing that its characters had flown away in Yan Fei’s dream.
• Lord Lu apologized to Yan Fei and Niu Batian, while Ji Yuan said Lord Lu still had to judge Yan Fei’s conduct for himself.
• Lord Lu revealed that his Heart-Intimidation ability had bewitched Niu Batian from the start, prompting Niu Batian to curse in anger.

Lord Lu learned from Ji Yuan that her reborn demonic body was the divine beast Lu Wu, while Ji Yuan reassured Luocheng’s ghosts and gods that the city was safe. Back at the ruined manor, Niu Batian seized on Lord Lu’s offer to compensate for the damage and claimed her silver for rebuilding.

• Lord Lu explained how she had exploited Niu Batian’s anger and impaired senses to defeat him, then asked Ji Yuan what her demonic body had become.
• Ji Yuan identified Lord Lu as Lu Wu, the divine beast, and told her to cultivate without seeking out others of her kind.
• Ji Yuan flew to Luocheng City and reassured the City God and gathered ghosts and gods that the battle would not harm the residents.
• When Ji Yuan returned to the ruined manor, he found Niu Batian serving tea to Lord Lu and Yan Fei while lamenting the destroyed building and its memories.
• Lord Lu offered to pay for the manor’s reconstruction, and Niu Batian praised her as straightforward before demanding her roughly two thousand taels of silver.

Ji Yuan warned Lord Lu about the dangers of the Black Wasteland and asked him to build influence among demons so he could help when needed. After Ji Yuan advised Yan Fei on martial cultivation, he left before dawn, and Niu Batian realized too late that he had missed Old Ox’s Immortal’s Guidance.

• Lord Lu told Ji Yuan that Niu Batian’s dharma form had immense power, and Ji Yuan warned him about the fox demon Tu Siyan of Jade Fox Cave Heaven.
• Ji Yuan put Yan Fei to sleep and showed Lord Lu a wooden plaque depicting the cruelty of demons in the Black Wasteland.
• Ji Yuan asked Lord Lu to make a place for himself among the Demon Race so he could assist him in the future, and Lord Lu pledged his support.
• Ji Yuan woke Yan Fei and answered his questions about the martial path through the night.
• Niu Batian returned at dawn to find Ji Yuan gone and realized he had missed Old Ox’s Immortal’s Guidance.

Ji Yuan visited Cloud Mountain to see Qin Zizhou and ask Daoist Qing Song to divine the whereabouts of the words that had vanished from the Sword Intent Scroll. After meeting the temple’s curious animal visitors, Ji Yuan explained how Qing Song should treat the scroll as a dwelling and its words as residents.

• Ji Yuan decided to travel to Cloud Mountain and consult Daoist Qing Song about the missing words on the Sword Intent Scroll while checking on Qin Zizhou.
• Qin Zizhou met Ji Yuan atop Misty Peak and said he was enjoying his quiet cultivation at Cloud Mountain Temple.
• Qin Zizhou told Ji Yuan that two little martens visited the temple daily and left dead animals, insects, and occasional berries as gifts.
• Ji Yuan and Qin Zizhou watched the martens before joining Daoist Qing Song and Qi Wen at the temple.
• Ji Yuan asked Daoist Qing Song to divine the scroll’s missing words by treating the paper as their residence and the words as its residents.

Ji Yuan had Daoist Qing Song divine the Sword Intent Scroll’s location, and Qing Song calculated that it lay tens of thousands of li northwest. After discussing Cloud Mountain Temple’s future with Qin Zizhou, Ji Yuan began enhancing its star banner by Drawing the Banner and Dotting the Stars.

• Ji Yuan assured Daoist Qing Song that divining the Sword Intent Scroll posed no danger, and Qing Song began casting a hexagram.
• Daoist Qing Song calculated the scroll’s distant northwest location and described features of its surroundings, giving Ji Yuan enough information to search for it.
• Ji Yuan thanked Daoist Qing Song, then sat with Qin Zizhou while Qi Wen and Qing Song prepared a meal.
• Ji Yuan and Qin Zizhou discussed Cloud Mountain Temple’s future and counted two gray martens among the temple’s potential company.
• Ji Yuan entered the main hall, rose before the star banner, and began painting interwoven gold and silver strokes across it as Qing Song, Qi Wen, and the martens watched.

Ji Yuan and Qin Zizhou shaped a new star-based cultivation method for Cloud Mountain Temple and guided Qi Xuan and Qi Wen into cultivation. The chapter left the temple’s two Spirit Martens with a cultivation method of their own and Qin Zizhou pledged to carry out his duty to aid all living beings.

• Ji Yuan reassured Daoist Qing Song and Qi Wen that the Star Banner remained Cloud Mountain Temple’s and that its cultivation path would honor the stars and Heaven and Earth.
• Ji Yuan fed cooked food to the two Spirit Martens, who cautiously came down from the wall and ate for the first time.
• Ji Yuan and Qin Zizhou explained their new Heaven and Earth Transformation method to Qi Xuan and Qi Wen, combining star visualization with cultivation and guiding the Daoists into their first step.
• Qi Xuan and Qi Wen quickly entered cultivation as Spiritual Qi gathered around Cloud Mountain Temple and the Star Banner glimmered in answer to the stars.
• Ji Yuan gave Qin Zizhou a jade slip containing guidance and an Initial Transformation Method for the Spirit Martens, then asked him to take on more responsibility.
• Qin Zizhou affirmed that he would uphold his promise to aid the people, spirits, and all living beings beneath Heaven.

After Ji Yuan helped Qin Zizhou establish Cloud Mountain Temple’s cultivation path, he left to seek the characters indicated by his divination. He reached Moyuan County in Tingliang Kingdom and spotted a Local Earth God investigating the riverbank.

• Ji Yuan gave Qin Zizhou four books and discussed the future of Cloud Mountain Temple with him.
• Qi Xuan and Qi Wen awoke from their first cultivation session, described the visions they had seen, and received Ji Yuan’s guidance about their progress.
• Ji Yuan declined Qi Xuan’s offer of a master-disciple title, then departed with Qin Zizhou, Qi Xuan, and Qi Wen seeing him off.
• After Ji Yuan left, Qi Xuan spent three days painting portraits of Ji Yuan and Qin Zizhou, then named them Cloud Mountain Temple’s Founding Ancestors of the Dharma.
• Ji Yuan traveled to Moyuan County while following the Sword Intent Scroll and encountered a Local Earth God searching along a riverbank.

Ji Yuan followed an Earth God to a Source Ink workshop, where the god investigated missing top-grade Ink Sticks and uncovered a noisy group of spirit monsters hiding in a drying room. The Earth God threatened them with fire, and the chapter ended with the spirits panicking and shouting while Ji Yuan watched from outside.

• Ji Yuan secretly followed the Earth God as he searched ink-stained water and traveled upstream to a Source Ink workshop.
• The Earth God inspected a heavily insulated drying room and found traces of ink near its door.
• Two workers discovered that many top-grade Ink Sticks had vanished and hurried off to alert the Owner.
• The Earth God emerged inside the room, sealed it with his power, and demanded that the thieves reveal themselves.
• A crowd of spirit monsters shouted threats and argued noisily about where their Great Master had gone.
• The Earth God shook the room and raised a flame on his walking stick, sending the spirits into an even louder panic.

Ji Yuan discovered that the spirit monsters stealing Source Ink were characters from the Sword Intent Scroll, and the Earth God, Huang Qiu, agreed to help make amends. The chapter ended with Ji Yuan offering Huang Qiu a golden Dharma coin in exchange for fine ink.

• The Earth God tried to burn the hidden spirit monsters out of the Ink Workshop, but his flames mysteriously went out.
• Ji Yuan appeared, and the characters recognized him as their Great Master before emerging from the walls and corners.
• Huang Qiu apologized to Ji Yuan and explained that the characters had been stealing Source Ink from local Ink Workshops.
• Ji Yuan left with Huang Qiu and the characters, then chastised the scroll spirits for taking ink without permission.
• Huang Qiu offered to reassure the Ink Workshop Owners and obtain fine ink for Ji Yuan, who showed him a golden Dharma coin.