Chapter Summaries

On New Year's Eve, Great Zhen launched a surprise assault on Zuyue forces while Daoist Qing Song's formation obscured heavenly signs. Bai Ruo intercepted powerful cultivators at Yongding Pass, and the chapter left Zuyue reinforcements facing the Mountain God of Tingqiu Mountain.

• Daoist Qing Song established a formation that disrupted heavenly timing, allowing Great Zhen forces to advance under cover of mist.
• Great Zhen troops attacked Zuyue camps from within and without as its main cavalry charged through Qilin Pass.
• Bai Ruo intercepted the Two Elders of Spirit Valley near Yongding Pass and fought them with her Dragon-Serpent Sword Momentum.
• Bai Ruo's opponents called for aid, and several cultivators detoured around her toward Qi Province while others kept her occupied.
• The fleeing cultivators crossed Tingqiu Mountain, where its Mountain God hurled a storm of boulders at them and declared they could not pass.

Hong Shengtin destroyed five Zuyue Kingdom demons who entered Tingqiu Mountain, then praised Lady Bai’s strength. Outside Yongding Pass, Bai Ruo drove off four opponents and regrouped with Qiao'er, while Hong'er went west to investigate the disturbance.

• Hong Shengtin used boulders and a stone barrier to kill five demons from the Zuyue Kingdom with his technique, Heavenly Burial.
• Bai Ruo fought the two elders of Lin Valley and their two companions until they retreated, then ended her Dragon-Serpent Sword Momentum.
• Bai Ruo judged that driving her opponents away had been wiser than risking a costly fight, and noted that the battle in Qi Province seemed to have produced fruitful results.
• Qiao'er brought Bai Ruo a meditation cushion, tea table, and cloak, and told her that Hong'er had gone west to investigate a huge disturbance.
• Bai Ruo looked toward Tingqiu Mountain, where Hong Shengtin had just vanished into the earth.

After Great Zhen’s surprise attack shattered the Zuyue camps, the army pressed its advantage and reclaimed much of Qizhou. When news of the victory reached the capital, Ji Yuan reassured Yan Chang that Great Zhen would ultimately prevail, then set out to visit Tingqiu Mountain’s Mountain God.

• Yin Chong inspected the devastated Zuyue camps, learned his forces had suffered roughly eight hundred casualties, and ordered preparations for a feast for the soldiers.
• News spread that five Zuyue Celestial Masters had vanished while crossing Tingqiu Mountain, and Yin Chong urged Mei She to continue the offensive while the enemy feared what had happened.
• Great Zhen launched another attack with surrendered Zuyue laborers and auxiliary soldiers, and over the following half month recovered half of Qizhou and reclaimed its provincial capital.
• Riders delivered news of Great Zhen’s victory to Jingji Prefecture, where citizens, the emperor, and the ministers celebrated.
• Yan Chang told Ji Yuan about the victory and asked whether Great Zhen could carry its offensive into Zuyue; Ji Yuan said Great Zhen would ultimately prevail.
• Ji Yuan reassured Yan Chang that he was only going to visit Tingqiu Mountain’s Mountain God, then disappeared from the Archive Room.

Ji Yuan watched newly appointed Celestial Masters struggle to ascend the Capital City Grand Altar, then met Tingqiu Mountain’s Mountain God, Hong Shengtin, and discussed the war between Great Zhen and the Song Clan Emperor. Ji Yuan planned to confront the demons and goblins leaving Zuyue Land to support Great Zhen’s enemies.

• Ji Yuan wandered through the capital and watched sixteen new Celestial Masters attempt the Dharma Platform’s ascent, where thirteen reached the top and three were stopped or rolled back by its power.
• Ji Yuan saw the Celestial Masters complete their formal ceremony and concluded that even those who struggled were genuine cultivators.
• Ji Yuan traveled to Tingqiu Mountain and met its Mountain God, Hong Shengtin, who said he had killed scoundrels on his mountain and opposed the disorder caused by demons and goblins aiding the Song Clan Emperor.
• Ji Yuan told Hong Shengtin that Great Zhen could not lose the Battle of the Southern Reach and that he would act against powerful demons supporting its enemy.
• Ji Yuan said he would spare those seeking secluded cultivation but purge the demons and goblins openly joining the conflict.

Ji Yuan confirmed that Great Zhen’s fortunes depended on the Battle of the Southern Reach, then traveled to Boundless Ghost City and examined Zuyue’s golden imperial edict. After Xin Wuya named those he wished to protect, the city’s Ghost Generals led a vast force of Yin Soldiers out to hunt down demons and other wicked beings across Zuyue.

• Ji Yuan asked Hong Shengtin to consider allowing Great Zhen’s emperor to perform the Feng and Shan rites on Tingqiu Mountain, but Hong Shengtin resisted because the mountain also bordered Tingliang Kingdom.
• Ji Yuan left for Zuyue while Bai Ruo continued cultivating near Yongning Pass and dismissed the swift figure crossing the sky as no threat to her group.
• At Boundless Ghost City, Xin Wuya gave Ji Yuan a sealed box containing a golden imperial edict that promised allies of Zuyue opportunities for the Dao and divine positions.
• Ji Yuan asked Xin Wuya whom he wished to protect, and Xin Wuya named several Demon Cultivators, ghost cultivators, and spirit monsters without especially heinous deeds.
• That night, Ghost Generals led a huge army of Ghost Soldiers out of Boundless Ghost City to sweep across Zuyue, while an Exorcist Master and his disciple saw the force pass and decided not to confront it.

Boundless Ghost City's armies swept through the Zuyue Kingdom to destroy wicked demons and cultivators, with Ji Yuan accompanying Xin Wuya's force. After a night of devastating raids and dozens of Golden Paper Edicts collected, Ji Yuan ordered the campaign to end, leaving even appointed Celestial Masters alarmed by the ghost army's strength.

• Demons feasting at Yadang Mountain spotted the approaching Ghost Soldiers, and the Wolf Demon confronted Old Ghost Boundless.
• Ji Yuan drew the Green Vine Sword and killed the Wolf Demon and nearby demons with a single strike, then the ghost army stormed Yadang Mountain.
• Boundless Ghost City's forces attacked evil across the Zuyue Kingdom while Ji Yuan supported the campaign with Immobilization Techniques and Golden Armored Divine Generals.
• A ghost rider warned the Demon Cultivators of Ring Valley Forest not to join the Zuyue Song Clan, and they assured him they had no such intention.
• The ghost armies killed at least a hundred demons, monsters, and wicked Daoist cultivators and gathered dozens of Golden Paper Edicts before Ji Yuan ordered them back to camp.

Ji Yuan studied the Golden Paper Edicts and discovered he could erase and rewrite one by drawing on their divine intent, producing a convincing imitation. After nine days and ten nights of meditation, he emerged to find Xin Wuya waiting outside, while a Little Paper Crane had unsettled him by animating the Golden Armored Strongman.

• Ji Yuan tested the Golden Paper Edicts, finding that ordinary methods could not damage them, though his sword qi could split one and Samadhi True Fire could destroy one completely.
• Ji Yuan suspected the Gold Scripts could become genuine conferment documents if written in the proper format and empowered with the Imperial Decree Method.
• After nine days and ten nights, Ji Yuan erased one edict and rewrote its contents, creating an imitation whose divine intent resembled the original by about sixty percent.
• Xin Wuya waited outside Ji Yuan's meditation chamber and read another stack of Golden Paper Edicts while a Paper Bird hovered above him.
• The Paper Bird landed on the Golden Armored Strongman's head, and Ji Yuan emerged as the Little Paper Crane flew to his shoulder and pointed a wing at Xin Wuya.

Ji Yuan explained how Boundless City could develop beyond a ghost army into an Underworld Main Hall that helped govern the underworld. Xin Wuya swore to uphold the righteous path and protect the principles of Yin and Yang, and the heavens responded to his oath with a brief disturbance.

• Ji Yuan introduced the Little Paper Crane as Crane Child, and Xin Wuya apologized to it before presenting Ji Yuan with Golden Paper Edicts.
• Ji Yuan warned Xin Wuya against letting Boundless City's ghosts overindulge in vital essence and told him to lead the city with integrity.
• Ji Yuan gathered Boundless City's officials and outlined plans for civil underworld offices alongside its military forces.
• Ji Yuan proposed that the Underworld Main Hall appoint ghost cultivators who could become City Gods and eventually govern Yin and Yang beyond territorial boundaries.
• Xin Wuya knelt and swore an oath to uphold the righteous path and protect the principles of Yin and Yang, prompting dark clouds and lightning over Boundless City.

Ji Yuan discovered that the Xiezhi Scroll had awakened and made Xin Wuya swear a second oath under the divine beast’s witness. After arranging for Boundless Ghost City’s ghost cultivators to receive Underworld Official Positions, Ji Yuan left the city and followed the smell of roasting wild boar to three strangers by a river.

• The Xiezhi spoke from Ji Yuan’s sleeve and challenged Xin Wuya to swear an oath before it.
• Ji Yuan revealed the Xiezhi in the painting, and it explained that it had awakened and offered to ensure Xin Wuya kept his vow.
• Xin Wuya swore a second oath, agreeing to be devoured by Xiezhi if he broke it, and the Xiezhi absorbed the oath’s written light.
• Ji Yuan told Xin Wuya to oversee the city’s ghost cultivators as they prepared to receive Underworld Official Positions.
• At daybreak, Ji Yuan left Boundless Ghost City and followed the aroma of roasted wild boar to three men, who invited him to share their meal.

Ji Yuan shared a roasted wild boar with three wary Zuyue men, winning their trust with his appetite and his analysis of the war. He predicted Zuyue would lose and reassured them that Great Zhen would not ravage their land, then left them astonished by how much pork he had eaten.

• Ji Yuan showed the three men his empty food cloth and discussed why Zuyue's people had been misled about Great Zhen's prosperity.
• The men shared roasted wild boar with Ji Yuan, who added chili powder and ate far more than they expected.
• Ji Yuan predicted that Zuyue would lose because its army was divided and Great Zhen could exploit internal rivalries.
• When asked whether Great Zhen would burn and plunder Zuyue, Ji Yuan described Yin Zhaoxian's position and influence as reasons it would not.
• Ji Yuan finished the rack of ribs, leaving a towering pile of bones and little meat as the three men stared at his appetite.

Ji Yuan shared a meal and wine with three hunters, then advised them to abandon their plans to join the Zuyue Army and warned them about dangerous routes. After parting from them, he reflected that the encounter had helped him understand the concerns of ordinary people in the Zuyue Kingdom.

• Ji Yuan ate most of the hunters’ roasted wild boar, declined their offer of more meat, and gave them Great Cellar Wine in exchange for the meal.
• The hunters realized Ji Yuan was no ordinary man after recalling that he had pointed out stars in broad daylight, and they drank with him.
• When the oldest hunter asked for guidance, Ji Yuan advised the three hunters to go home instead of joining the Zuyue Army.
• Ji Yuan warned the hunters about demonfolk in a southwestern gorge and sinister beings on the southern plains, then accepted a parcel of pork and gave each hunter a jujube.
• After leaving the hunters, Ji Yuan considered how the meal had helped him learn about the common people of the Zuyue Kingdom.

Ji Yuan brought the newly awakened Golden Armored Strongman out into the wilderness, named him Golden Armor, and patiently tried to teach him how to change forms and behave like a human. After Golden Armor struggled to learn, they reached the hill near Nandao County Town and settled there for the night.

• Ji Yuan summoned the Golden Armored Strongman, named him Golden Armor, and named the Little Paper Crane Crane Child.
• Ji Yuan changed Golden Armor into a red-faced man in hemp clothes and repeatedly tried to teach him to transform back, but Golden Armor failed to remember the method.
• Ji Yuan tucked the Little Paper Crane into his Brocade Pouch and traveled northeast with Golden Armor toward Nandao County Town.
• Ji Yuan recognized the hill where he had once met the Brute Ox and decided to rest there rather than enter town at night.
• Ji Yuan told Golden Armor to learn to rest, and Golden Armor sat cross-legged with his eyes open while the Little Paper Crane flew off into the distance.

Little Paper Crane watched a family in Nandao County Town secretly haul stolen treasure from an underground tunnel and learned that their soldiers were withdrawing amid an unfavorable war. After the group left the ancestral hall, Little Paper Crane chased down and trapped a tiny black, writhing creature.

• Ji Yuan fell asleep beneath the falling snow while Little Paper Crane flew toward Nandao County Town.
• A family gathered in its ancestral hall, opened a hidden tunnel, and hauled up a chest of stolen valuables.
• The men from the tunnel said the war was going badly and that others were secretly moving possessions to the rear; several also complained of intense itching.
• The family sealed the tunnel, put the treasure away, and left the ancestral hall to prepare food and drink.
• Little Paper Crane followed a thin black thread into a dark corner and pinned a tiny writhing creature beneath its wings.

The Little Paper Crane watched the Li Family’s gathering, then followed armed men who broke into Nandao County’s prison to rescue their Eldest Brother. It brought Ji Yuan a Strange Worm from the prisoner, leaving him grave after the crane showed it could make a sound.

• The Little Paper Crane crushed a flea-like Strange Worm in the courtyard, then secretly watched Old Man Li and the others discuss the war and fearsome Immortal Masters over dinner.
• The Little Paper Crane followed a silent armed group to Nandao County’s prison, where they killed two Official Runners and forced a jailer to unlock a cell.
• The rescued Eldest Brother warned his men not to enter because something was drilling into his organs, but they carried him out of the prison.
• The Little Paper Crane followed the group for a while, then flew out of the city to find the sleeping Ji Yuan.
• The Little Paper Crane woke Ji Yuan, made a crane’s cry, and spat out a tiny worm, causing his pleased expression to turn grave.

Ji Yuan found a prisoner infected with a supernatural worm plague and learned that it had spread through the Zuyue Army, apparently through its so-called Immortal Masters. After extracting the worms from two men, he heard Xu Niu’s account and realized the plague had a separate source and purpose.

• The Little Paper Crane led Ji Yuan and Jin Jia to Nandao County Town after Ji discovered a strange worm.
• Ji Yuan confronted armed men fleeing with their infected leader, Xu Niu, and explained that worms had afflicted him and the two men carrying him.
• Ji Yuan woke Xu Niu, removed the worms from his two brothers, and burned the extracted mass.
• Xu Niu said he had served as a rear Military Sima in the Zuyue Army and had watched an illness spread while the Immortal Masters failed to help the sick.
• Xu Niu accused the Immortal Masters of using evil arts and begged Ji Yuan to burn him before the plague spread further.
• Ji Yuan determined that the worms were connected to the Zuyue Army’s Immortal Masters but had little connection to the Conflict of Human Dao.

Ji Yuan traced the insect plague to two cultivators raising insect soldiers for Zuyue and pursued them after learning they had given the Insect Emperor to the Song Clan Emperor. He caught the Senior Brother after the Junior Brother fled, but the old man escaped Ji Yuan’s first sword strike with a Substitute Item.

• Ji Yuan removed insects from plague victims and searched Zuyue’s camps for the caster, realizing that killing the caster or destroying the source could stop the swarm.
• At the allied forces’ central camp, the two old men explained how infected soldiers bred Insect Kings and claimed an Insect Emperor could threaten Great Zhen’s army.
• The old men sensed danger and fled the camp, but Ji Yuan pursued them through the sky using his sword and dream techniques.
• The Junior Brother stayed behind to delay Ji Yuan while the Senior Brother escaped, and the old man revealed that the Insect Emperor had merged with the Song Clan Emperor.
• Ji Yuan attacked the Senior Brother, who survived by using a Substitute Item, and Ji Yuan immediately continued the pursuit.

Ji Yuan captured the fleeing Junior Brother and used Samadhi True Fire to burn through the Senior Brother’s Immortal Insect swarm, but a powerful man rescued the survivors and fled. Ji Yuan pursued him with the Green Vine Sword and struck again as the man raised mountains to defend himself.

• The Junior Brother tried to escape through the Skywind Layer, but Ji Yuan’s Immortal Binding Rope bound him and carried him back.
• Ji Yuan unleashed Samadhi True Fire against the Senior Brother’s Immortal Insects, burning most of the swarm as the Senior Brother fled with his Junior Brother.
• A powerful man arrived amid thunder and rain, used a jade bottle’s green liquid to protect the surviving insects, and escaped with them.
• Ji Yuan pursued the man and struck with the Green Vine Sword, but the man diverted the sword light with a mirror-like shield.
• The man raised a vast mountain range to block Ji Yuan’s next slash, and Ji Yuan sent a Sword Dragon of shattered trees and flowers after him.

Ji Yuan broke through the middle-aged man's defenses with the hidden killing move of Roaming Dragon Sending Flowers and pursued him across the sky. The man escaped by destroying himself and fleeing as Blood Mist, leaving Ji Yuan unable to find his trail.

• The middle-aged man endured Ji Yuan's Roaming Dragon Sending Flowers with the Moon Azure Mirror and prepared to escape with Blood Escape.
• Ji Yuan struck the Green Vine Sword with his palm, sending it through the Wandering Dragon to shatter the man's remaining Wheel Mirrors and injure him.
• The man fled east, but Ji Yuan used Sword Escape to catch up and struck him with the Green Vine Sword.
• Ji Yuan threw the Immortal Binding Rope at the man, who destroyed himself and vanished into Blood Mist before it could bind him.
• The Immortal Binding Rope returned to Ji Yuan, who searched for the man's escape trail, found none, and left.

The two surviving senior and junior brothers escaped Ji Yuan after suffering severe injuries from his sword and Samadhi True Fire, while their other junior brother was likely captured. Ji Yuan carried the burned junior brother toward Zuyue Capital and offered to spare him if he revealed how to remove the Insect Technique.

• The middle-aged man escaped to an island, sealed his sword wounds with leaves, and reunited with his burned Junior Brother.
• The middle-aged man said their other Junior Brother had likely been captured by Ji Yuan, then the two men fled together.
• Ji Yuan awakened the burned old man on his cloud and said his Senior Brother had survived, though badly injured.
• Ji Yuan offered the old man death or the loss of his cultivation in exchange for removing the Insect Technique.
• The old man agreed to explain how to remove the technique but refused to do it himself, and Ji Yuan continued toward Zuyue Capital.

Ji Yuan entered Datong Capital with Min Xian and Jin Jia and confronted the Zuyue Emperor in the Golden Hall. He extracted a strange worm from the emperor and held it in his hand.

• Ji Yuan showed Min Xian a gold script ordering a demon to report to Datong Capital, and Min Xian identified it as the work of his Senior Disciple Brother.
• Ji Yuan and his companions entered the palace as the Zuyue Emperor selected twenty Showgirls, while Liu Xianhu challenged the emperor’s neglect of state affairs and accused a Celestial Master of being a demon.
• Ji Yuan entered the Golden Hall and told the Zuyue Emperor he had come to reclaim the worms inside his body.
• Ji Yuan restrained the emperor and drew a four-winged, six-legged worm from him as the Immortal Masters were held back by the Green Vine Sword.