Chapter Summaries

At Ethereal Peak, Shen Ji knelt before Elder Ning and offered to give his Spirit Root to Ling'er, a mortal woman he had rescued. Qiaoqiao arrived with A Xue and wondered whether Shen Ji was being punished for slacking off.

• Shen Ji knelt in the snow and asked Elder Ning to grant his wish to give Ling'er his Spirit Root.
• Elder Ning rebuked Shen Ji as disciples gathered to watch and speculated about Ling'er.
• Qiaoqiao and A Xue approached the crowd after hearing that there was gossip ahead.
• The disciples greeted A Xue as Crane True Lord while Qiaoqiao recognized Shen Ji and wondered why he was kneeling.
• Elder Ning heard Qiaoqiao's thought and silently dismissed her guess that Shen Ji had slacked off during cultivation.

Qiaoqiao recognized Ziling as the Devil Cloud Sect’s Purple Baleful Intent Devil Woman and revealed that Shen Ji’s devotion would lead him to betray Ethereal Peak and die. As Elder Ning challenged Ziling’s motives, Shen Ji struggled to process the fate he had heard.

• Qiaoqiao’s inner thoughts identified Ziling as the Purple Baleful Intent Devil Woman, startling Elder Ning, Xiao Tingyu, and Shen Ji.
• Ziling tried to leave Ethereal Peak, but Shen Ji begged Elder Ning to let her stay and offered to give her his spirit root.
• Qiaoqiao’s thoughts revealed that Ziling planned to steal the Flowing Cloud Divine Lamp, abandon Shen Ji, and use him as a shield before he died in battle.
• Elder Ning, Xiao Tingyu, Shen Ji, and the crane heard Qiaoqiao’s revelations, while the other disciples showed no reaction.
• Elder Ning challenged Ziling to explain how accepting Shen Ji’s sacrifice could be in his best interests.

Elder Ning challenged Shen Ji’s decision to keep Ziling at Ethereal Peak, while Qiaoqiao’s inner voice warned that Ziling planned to drug him and steal his primal yang that night. Elder Ning confined Shen Ji and placed Ziling in a guest room as she prepared to inform the Peak Master, leaving Shen Ji anxious about defending Ziling’s chance to cultivate.

• Shen Ji recalled how he had recognized Ziling as the woman who had once saved him and resolved to give her his Spirit Root.
• Elder Ning questioned Shen Ji’s trust in Ziling, and Qiaoqiao’s inner voice suggested Ziling had stayed young through an illicit cultivation method and planned to drug Shen Ji.
• Ziling claimed she had obtained a Youth-Preserving Pill by chance and pleaded to remain beside Shen Ji.
• Elder Ning decided to test Qiaoqiao’s warning, confined Shen Ji to his room, and ordered Ziling to wait in a guest room for the Peak Master’s decision.
• Shen Ji accepted that his master would learn of the matter and worried about persuading him to let Ziling cultivate.

Elder Ning planned to watch Shen Ji’s courtyard that night after suspecting the woman with him had hidden motives, while Qiaoqiao’s inner thoughts hinted that she knew more from her strange dreams. The chapter ended with Qiaoqiao asking A Xue why she had started dreaming about her eldest senior brother and the devil woman.

• Ziling reassured Shen Ji that Immortal Venerable Wanghan would judge their case fairly, while Elder Ning watched them part with suspicion.
• Elder Ning summoned Qiaoqiao and Xiao Tingyu to discuss keeping watch on Shen Ji’s courtyard that night, and realized an unseen force prevented her from asking Qiaoqiao about her inner voice.
• Qiaoqiao agreed to join the watch, while her inner thoughts revealed she expected the woman to be exposed and fantasized about eating her devil heart.
• Xiao Tingyu offered to prepare a devil-trapping formation, and Elder Ning planned to use a devil-sealing stone as its core.
• Qiaoqiao suggested adding Mind-Clearing Incense to torment the devil woman, surprising Elder Ning and making Xiao Tingyu laugh.
• Qiaoqiao returned to her courtyard with A Xue and asked why she had been having strange, fragmented dreams about Shen Ji and the devil woman.

Ziling sneaked into Shen Ji’s room to implant a Mind-Bewitching Gu and steal his primordial yang, but discovered that Ethereal Peak had set a trap for her. The real Shen Ji confronted her, and she was left trying to explain herself as he silently sided with Elder Ning.

• Ziling slipped into Shen Ji’s room, intending to use the Mind-Bewitching Gu to control him and take his primordial yang.
• Ziling put the Gu into the sleeping figure’s mouth, but it vomited the worm and transformed into a golden toad.
• Elder Ning, Xiao Tingyu, and Qiaoqiao entered as Ziling tried to flee, and the real Shen Ji emerged from the shadows.
• Ziling claimed she had acted because she wanted to be with Shen Ji, but he handed her clothes and went to stand beside Elder Ning.

Shen Ji and the others exposed Ziling as a devil woman who had planted a gu in him, and Shen Ji discovered she had killed the mortal girl he believed had saved him. He held his sword to Ziling’s throat after she failed to answer his question about the city where they had met.

• Ning Shuang captured the fleeing gu worm, and Elder Ning questioned Ziling about her ties to the Devil Realm.
• Ziling tried to flee, but Shen Ji blocked her with his sword while Second Senior Sister activated a sealing formation and revealed Ziling’s devil form.
• Elder Ning ordered Shen Ji to kill Ziling, but he hesitated when Ziling pleaded that she had once saved him.
• Qiaoqiao revealed that Ziling had killed the mortal girl and taken her memories, then suggested Shen Ji ask where they had met.
• Ziling could not name the city, and Shen Ji realized she had impersonated his benefactor and pressed his sword to her throat.

Ziling took Qiaoqiao hostage, but Qiaoqiao’s hidden sword protection wounded the devil woman and forced her to flee. After returning home, Qiaoqiao dreamed of her seniors’ tragic fates and decided the Heavenly Dao had chosen her to stop them from blackening, so she set out to practice her sword.

• Ziling used Qiaoqiao as a hostage and demanded that Xiao Tingyu undo the formation.
• When Ziling attacked Qiaoqiao, sword shadows erupted around Qiaoqiao and wounded the Purple Baleful Intent Devil Woman, who escaped using her bonded Law Treasure.
• Elder Ning explained that the devil woman’s Body-Protecting Purple Lotus could conceal her for an hour, and Ning Shuang sent the disciples to rest while arranging a search.
• Qiaoqiao dreamed of Second Senior Sister and Third Senior Sister meeting tragic fates, then woke in tears at her courtyard.
• Qiaoqiao told A Xue that the Heavenly Dao had chosen her to save Ethereal Peak from blackening, and she hurried to practice her sword instead of eating lamb buns.

Shen Ji taught Qiaoqiao the High Antiquity sword move “Slay the Star River,” and she unexpectedly unleashed its immense power. After days of practice, Qiaoqiao used the move when Ziling ambushed her, wounding the Devil Woman and driving her out of hiding.

• Shen Ji taught Qiaoqiao “Slay the Star River,” explaining that even a beginner could learn the move and use it against Devil Cultivators.
• Qiaoqiao attempted the move and leveled a large swath of woods with a sudden surge of Sword Qi.
• Shen Ji praised Qiaoqiao’s comprehension, while she imagined using her skill to treat A Xue to a Devil Heart feast.
• Qiaoqiao diligently practiced “Slay the Star River” over the next few days and improved her understanding of the Ethereal Sword Technique.
• Ziling ambushed Qiaoqiao at Breaking Pear Courtyard, but Qiaoqiao’s practiced strike split the black mist and wounded Ziling’s arm.

Qiaoqiao and Shen Ji killed the Devil Cultivator Ziling, and Shen Ji noticed a Darkening Value above Qiaoqiao that suggested she might become a devil. They went to meet their master, Bai Fu, where Shen Ji confessed his mistake and asked to be punished.

• Qiaoqiao and Shen Ji combined their Slay the Star River sword moves and killed Ziling.
• Qiaoqiao considered digging out Ziling's Devil Heart and sending it to her father, prompting a Darkening Value to appear above her head.
• Shen Ji saw Qiaoqiao's Darkening Value rise to 10 and worried that she might become a Devil Cultivator.
• A Xue offered to deal with Ziling's corpse, and Shen Ji and Qiaoqiao went to greet Bai Fu, who had ended his seclusion.
• Shen Ji knelt before Bai Fu, admitted he had mistakenly trusted Ziling, and asked his master to punish him.

After Bai Fu returned from seclusion, he spoke warmly with Qiaoqiao and gave her a branch of white plum blossoms in place of the spirit sword she requested. Qiaoqiao then encountered Elder Chen, who began imposing deductions on Ethereal Peak’s monthly allowance, and Ning Shuang challenged him over the cuts.

• Bai Fu sentenced Shen Ji to twenty lashes and asked Qiaoqiao whether she had been cultivating diligently.
• Bai Fu gave Qiaoqiao a branch of white plum blossoms after she asked for one instead of a sword.
• Bai Fu reflected that he had returned to a time when his disciples were well and Ethereal Peak had not yet declined.
• Elder Chen accused Qiaoqiao of disrespect and deducted part of her allowance before Ning Shuang led him into the Service Hall.
• Elder Chen announced that Ethereal Peak’s allowance would be reduced by thirty percent, and Ning Shuang demanded to know his reason.

Elder Chen insulted Ethereal Peak and its disciples, while Qiaoqiao’s inner thoughts exposed his embezzlement and bizarre hair-growth remedy. Ning Shuang and the others learned he had stolen a fortune, but Elder Chen turned his anger toward Qiaoqiao before they could act.

• Elder Chen mocked Ethereal Peak’s low contributions and called Qiaoqiao a trash disciple, while Ning Shuang defended her peak.
• Shen Ji and Xiao Tingyu arrived and heard Elder Chen ridicule Shen Ji for wearing the same patched uniform for ten years.
• Qiaoqiao’s inner thoughts revealed that Elder Chen had embezzled eighty million Spirit Stones over a century and hidden them in a cave near Hidden Plum Peak.
• Qiaoqiao recalled that Elder Chen used three-hundred-year-old garlic juice mixed with swamp eel slime on his hair, prompting Ning Shuang, Shen Ji, and Xiao Tingyu to retreat from him.
• Elder Chen noticed Qiaoqiao staring at his bald crown and angrily said he still had accounts to settle with her.

Qiaoqiao used her knowledge of Elder Chen’s hidden Spirit Stones to pressure him into compensating Ethereal Peak for its withheld allowance. Just as Ning Shuang demanded the full amount, Elder Chen’s son arrived claiming someone had bullied him.

• Elder Chen berated Qiaoqiao, but Ning Shuang defended her and rebuked him for interfering with Ethereal Peak.
• Qiaoqiao hinted that A Xue had found Elder Chen’s secret cave of Spirit Stones, making him fear his savings would be discovered.
• Qiaoqiao said the disciples planned to gather mushrooms near the cave, so Elder Chen gave her ten thousand Spirit Stones and begged her not to go.
• Ning Shuang pointed out Elder Chen had withheld at least a hundred thousand Spirit Stones from Ethereal Peak and threatened to take the disciples mushroom hunting if he refused to repay them.
• A youth in green robes rushed in, showed Elder Chen a scratch, and said someone had bullied him; Elder Chen anxiously asked who had hurt Qian'er.

Elder Chen accused Ning Shuang’s cat, Jade Ball, of injuring his son and demanded the cat be handed over, but Qiaoqiao’s inner voice revealed that Chen Wanqian was not Elder Chen’s biological child. When Jade Ball appeared and Chen Wanqian threatened Qiaoqiao, he struck at her with a palm meant to cripple her.

• Chen Wanqian accused Jade Ball of scratching him, and Elder Chen demanded Ning Shuang hand over the cat or face his wrath.
• Qiaoqiao revealed that Madam Chen had secretly borne her sworn enemy’s child and that Elder Chen’s curse had left him unable to have children.
• Ning Shuang learned from Shen Ji that Immortal Venerable Wanghan had emerged from seclusion and refused to yield to Elder Chen.
• Jade Ball entered the Duties Hall, climbed onto Qiaoqiao’s shoulder, and ignored Chen Wanqian’s accusations.
• Chen Wanqian demanded the cat, then attacked Qiaoqiao with a palm strike intended to cripple her.

Qiaoqiao unexpectedly wounded Chen Wanqian with a plum petal, prompting Elder Chen to threaten Ethereal Peak and seek the sect master’s judgment. As Mu Liuyun arrived, Qiaoqiao recalled that Chen Youqian would later kill Jade Ball, and Ning Shuang began to consider killing him first.

• Qiaoqiao struck Chen Wanqian with a plum petal, badly injuring him and stunning everyone present.
• Elder Chen rushed to attack Qiaoqiao, but Ning Shuang, Shen Ji, and Xiao Tingyu shielded her; after seeing his son’s injuries, Elder Chen fed him a spirit pill and suspected Immortal Venerable Wanghan had emerged from seclusion.
• Elder Chen threatened to report Qiaoqiao to the sect master, while Qiaoqiao remembered that Chen Youqian had stolen Jade Ball’s fish and would later kill Jade Ball.
• Ning Shuang silently considered killing Elder Chen after hearing Qiaoqiao’s memories, while Shen Ji grew furious at Elder Chen’s schemes against Ethereal Peak.
• Mu Liuyun arrived at the Service Hall, avoided Elder Chen’s unpleasant smell, and listened as he complained about Ethereal Peak.

Qiaoqiao faced punishment for injuring Chen Wanqian, but A Xue revealed a hidden cave full of Spirit Stones and exposed Elder Chen’s desperate attempt to conceal them. The Spirit Stones’ ownership remained unresolved as A Xue added that someone had sealed the cave entrance.

• Mu Liuyun asked Qiaoqiao whether she had injured Chen Wanqian, and Qiaoqiao admitted it.
• Elder Chen demanded that Qiaoqiao be whipped, crippled, and expelled under sect rules.
• A Xue announced that it had found a cave full of Spirit Stones on Hidden Plum Peak.
• Elder Chen panicked when Qiaoqiao suggested the Spirit Stones might belong to him, and he could neither claim nor deny them before Mu Liuyun.
• Elder Chen pleaded that no one touch the Spirit Stones, and A Xue revealed that someone had sealed the cave entrance.

The immortal crane revealed that Elder Chen had hidden eighty million high-grade Spirit Stones, and Chen Wanqian accidentally exposed the seal as his father’s. Qiaoqiao’s recording helped Mu Liuyun confront Elder Chen, who then noticed Chen Wanqian had the distinctive mole of his longtime mortal enemy.

• The immortal crane described finding a sealed cave, and Chen Wanqian recognized the mark as his father’s private seal.
• The immortal crane said the cave held eighty million high-grade Spirit Stones, prompting Mu Liuyun to question Elder Chen about his wealth.
• Ning Shuang accused Elder Chen of withholding the sect’s funds, and Mu Liuyun pinned him down with her Mahayana pressure.
• Qiaoqiao played a Sound-Recording Stone that captured Elder Chen ordering Ethereal Peak’s allowance cut, leaving him unable to deny the evidence.
• Qiaoqiao pointed out Chen Wanqian’s red mole, and Elder Chen realized it matched the mark of his mortal enemy.

Qiaoqiao learned that she had to pass the upcoming secret realm trial or be demoted from the inner sect, despite her wish to remain on Ethereal Peak. She went to seek Bai Fu’s help and overheard him thanking Sect Master Mu for securing her another chance.

• Elder Chen and Chen Wanqian were punished for their crimes, while Qiaoqiao received thirty thousand Spirit Stones for exposing Elder Chen.
• Elder Ning warned Qiaoqiao that she had six absences and four failures and could be expelled if she failed the next trial.
• The new administrative elder decided Qiaoqiao would be demoted to the outer sect if she failed the trial, and Elder Ning advised her to ask her master for help.
• Qiaoqiao went to the white plum grove and overheard Sect Master Mu tell Bai Fu that he had persuaded Elder Yan to give her another chance.
• Bai Fu thanked Mu Liuyun, who was surprised, then told him to leave.

Qiaoqiao sought reassurance from Bai Fu about the sect trial, then encountered Wen Zhi and Fairy Peilan and exposed Peilan’s secret profiteering through her thoughts. Wen Zhi began to realize that her trusted friend had been deceiving her, while Qiaoqiao lamented how poorly off she and Wen Zhi were.

• Mu Liuyun saw Qiaoqiao with Bai Fu, understood why he wanted her gone, and vanished into the plum grove.
• Qiaoqiao told Bai Fu she did not want to be expelled, and he promised to attend the trial before sending her to Wen Zhi for advice.
• Qiaoqiao met Wen Zhi and Fairy Peilan, then recognized Peilan from the dream she remembered.
• Qiaoqiao’s thoughts revealed that Peilan had secretly resold Wen Zhi’s pills at a huge markup while pretending they were worthless.
• Wen Zhi realized Peilan might have been exploiting her, as Qiaoqiao thought about their poverty and Peilan’s lavish spending.

Wen Zhi confronted Fairy Peilan about secretly reselling her Clear Void Pills for a huge profit and lying about it. After Qiaoqiao helped her see through Peilan’s attempts to undermine her, Wen Zhi prepared to test her friend with a Truth Pill disguised as a Beauty Nourishing Pill.

• Wen Zhi asked Peilan whether she had sold the Clear Void Pills, and Peilan claimed she had received only a hundred Spirit Stones for them.
• Qiaoqiao revealed that Peilan had sold the pills to Immortal Venerable Changyun for a hundred thousand Spirit Stones and had falsely claimed their Alchemist was dead.
• Wen Zhi questioned Peilan about Changyun’s purchase, but Peilan denied wrongdoing and urged Wen Zhi to make more pills for her to sell.
• Peilan disparaged Qiaoqiao’s aptitude, and Wen Zhi defended her junior sister.
• After Qiaoqiao suggested using the Truth Pill to discover whether Peilan was lying, Wen Zhi told Peilan she had refined a Beauty Nourishing Pill especially for her.

Wen Zhi and Qiaoqiao exposed Fairy Peilan’s long-running fraud with a Truth Pill and forced her to return the Spirit Stones and confess publicly. Wen Zhi ended their friendship, then thanked Qiaoqiao with a bottle of high-grade Spirit Recovery Pills.

• Qiaoqiao’s Truth Pill made Peilan reveal that she had deceived Wen Zhi for a hundred years and profited from selling her pills.
• Qiaoqiao offered Peilan poisoned water, then demanded that she return the stolen Spirit Stones and confess on the sect forum in exchange for an antidote.
• Wen Zhi said she had prepared the poison and warned Peilan that her golden core would be destroyed if she did not comply within an incense stick’s time.
• Peilan returned her remaining valuables and published a confession, then learned the water had contained no poison and the Truth Pill had worn off.
• Wen Zhi told Peilan they were no longer friends, and Peilan collapsed, regretting what she had lost.
• At the courtyard gate, Wen Zhi thanked Qiaoqiao and gave her a bottle of high-grade Spirit Recovery Pills.