Chapter Summaries

Zhou Wuji and Wuzheng attacked Xue Feihua and Xue Feixia’s courtyard, where the sisters had set a ghost formation and gathered their disciples. Zhou Wuji broke through the formation and killed the defenders, leaving the sisters trapped in the main house with only their Ghost Soldier as they weighed fighting him or fleeing.

• Zhou Wuji spotted the courtyard’s ghostly formation and alerted the others, prompting a Ghost Soldier to emerge and pass through the gate.
• Wuzheng struck the Ghost Soldier with Northern Pole Sect Yin Thunder, then blasted open a fissure in the formation and injured the sisters’ disciples.
• Zhou Wuji entered the courtyard, killed three attackers with White Eyebrow Needles, destroyed the ghosts they became with his Seven Star Sword, and advanced toward the main house.
• When the sisters rang their bells and sent their disciples charging, Zhou Wuji suppressed the mental attack and cut down the disciples, their ghosts, and the formation’s banners.
• Xue Feihua recognized Zhou Wuji and, with Xue Feixia, considered whether to fight him and his companions or flee.

Zhou Wuji pursued Xue Feihua and Xue Feixia after they unleashed their Ghost Soldier and Soul-Burning Lamp, then exposed and killed them when they tried to escape. He seized their belongings and began destroying the remaining Yin Spirits in their soul-summoning banners.

• Xue Feihua and Xue Feixia empowered their Ghost Soldier with Essence Blood, but Zhou Wuji pierced its head and severed their control.
• The sisters triggered the Soul-Burning Lamp, and Zhou Wuji deflected the emerald ghost fire before pursuing them as they fled through the rear wall.
• Xue Feihua and Xue Feixia used Ghost Shadow Escape, but Zhou Wuji followed their Yin Qi trail and revealed them with the Golden Light Incantation.
• The sisters attacked with the Seven Yin Soul-Seizing Spear, but Zhou Wuji shattered their ghost illusions with Heart Tiger Thunder Sound and beheaded them with his sword.
• Zhou Wuji searched the sisters’ belongings, found banknotes, an ancient book, and a yellow jade gourd, then destroyed the remnants of their Ghost Soldier.

After Zhou Wuji and his allies killed the Heavenly Ghost Sect Devil Cultivators, they quietly handled the aftermath to avoid retaliation from the Five Dragons Gang. Zhou Wuji found clues to the Heavenly Mystery Divine Lord’s cave abode and gained valuable treasures and Origin Xuan, leaving him eager to investigate the cave and advance his cultivation.

• Zhou Wuji credited Wuzheng and Yang Shuling for helping defeat the Devil Cultivators, while Yang Tie Ying became eager to take Zhou Wuji as his master.
• Wuzheng, Yang Shuling, and Zhou Wuji agreed to dispose of the dead Five Dragons Gang members quietly rather than involve the authorities and risk the gang’s retaliation.
• Zhou Wuji read the damaged notebook of the Heavenly Mystery Divine Lord and learned that its owner had built a cave abode, then studied maps left by the two female Devil Cultivators.
• Zhou Wuji connected the maps and the Heavenly Puppet’s discovery to the cave on Lingming Peak, suspecting it was the Heavenly Mystery Divine Lord’s abode.
• Zhou Wuji inspected a yellow jade gourd and found that it contained a stream of pure Yin Qi, then stored it away for later study.
• Zhou Wuji converted the Devil Cultivators’ Origin Xuan, raising his total Qi to seven hundred and forty points, and considered using his stored Origin Xuan to reach the Sixth Rank.

After sensing a dangerous evil presence inside the Lingming Peak cave, Zhou Wuji abandoned his search and returned to Hidden Dragon Temple. Yang Tie Ying became Zhou Wuji’s registered disciple, while Zhiyuan arranged to secure Zhou Wuji’s official Daoist status as tensions with the Five Dragons Gang grew.

• Zhou Wuji explored the collapsed cave on Lingming Peak with his Heavenly Puppet, sensed a vast evil presence within a black stone stele, and fled without investigating further.
• Zhou Wuji returned to Hidden Dragon Temple, where Yang Tie Ying sought him as a master and received the Daoist name Shangbing.
• Yang Shuling gave Zhou Wuji two thousand taels as an apprenticeship gift and said he planned to return to his hometown temporarily.
• Zhiyuan and Yizhen discussed the Five Dragons Gang’s conflict with the lower monastery and decided to arrange Zhou Wuji’s ordination and official registration as soon as possible.
• Zhiyuan prepared to write to Chen Dalu and warned that the lower monastery would fight if the Five Dragons Gang refused to relent.

Zhou Wuji returned to the Cloud Dragon Lower Court with Yizhen to prepare for ordination after opening all seven apertures, and he secured Li Ruyi a place as Yizhen’s disciple. At Flying Profound Hall, he told Yiping about his recent exploits, and Yiping warned him that the abbot might intend to use him as a sword.

• Yizhen praised Zhou Wuji’s bearing and agreed to conduct his ordination and confer his register.
• Zhou Wuji asked Yizhen to assess Li Ruyi, and Yizhen accepted her as his disciple.
• Li Cheng'an thanked Zhou Wuji with a hundred taels of gold, and Zhou Wuji gave Shangxin pills as a parting gift.
• Zhou Wuji traveled with Yizhen and Yang Tie Ying to the Cloud Dragon Lower Court, while Li Ruyi went with Yizhen.
• Zhou Wuji reunited with Yiping at Flying Profound Hall and recounted his recent experiences.
• Yiping praised Zhou Wuji’s decisiveness but warned him to judge the limits of the abbot’s plans carefully.

Zhou Wuji studied the Green Satchel Scripture, deepened his understanding of cultivation, and advanced the Northern Dipper Tianshu Scripture to the transformation realm. After the upper court approved his Seventh Rank initiation, he learned that Abbot Zhiyuan had also exempted him from the Ten Thousand Ghosts Grotto trial, thwarting his plan to gather origin profundity there.

• Zhou Wuji counted his wealth, decided to invest in himself, and gave a True Yang Pearl to Martial Uncle Yiping before asking about acquiring a high-grade sword and studying medicine.
• Yiping advised Zhou Wuji to apply to study the Green Satchel Scripture, and Yizhen accepted Zhou Wuji's True Yang Pearl and Red Flower Honey as thanks before writing him permission to read it.
• Zhou Wuji borrowed and studied the Green Satchel Scripture, using fate profiles to master its thirty volumes and develop a coherent understanding of cultivation.
• Zhou Wuji's Northern Dipper Tianshu Scripture advanced from great accomplishment to the transformation realm, increasing the purity of his True Qi and raising its total to one thousand.
• Yizhen told Zhou Wuji that the upper court had approved his Seventh Rank initiation and register bestowal, scheduled for the hour of the Rat on the fifth day of the third month.
• Yizhen informed Zhou Wuji that Zhiyuan had exempted him from the Ten Thousand Ghosts Grotto trial; Zhou Wuji concealed his disappointment and thanked the abbot.

Zhou Wuji underwent the Northern Pole Sect’s initiation and register-bestowal ceremony, receiving permission to use the Heavenly Emperor’s Thunder Method. His rite triggered a striking resonance with heaven and earth, leaving the observers astonished and his standing in the lower abbey strengthened.

• Yizhen conducted Zhou Wuji’s initiation ceremony while Zhiyuan, Yiding, Yiping, and other Daoists watched.
• Zhou Wuji repeated the Ultimate Perfection Precepts, and Yizhen bestowed the Northern Pole Heavenly Pivot Divine Thunder Scripture Register upon him.
• As the register merged with Zhou Wuji’s Heavenly Pivot True Qi, he sensed a connection to the stars and the Northern Emperor’s statue and reaffirmed his understanding of the Dao.
• Zhou Wuji converted the two sixth-rank Ghost Soldiers and the Heavenly Puppet’s evil spirit into origin xuan while immersed in unity with heaven and man.
• The Heavenly Pivot Star manifested and spiritual power surged through the hall, shocking the spectators and benefiting Yizhen as officiant.
• Zhiyuan recognized the resonance as a major boon for Zhou Wuji, while Yiding grew more wary of the talent rising within Yizhen’s faction.

Zhou Wuji used Origin Xuan and the Seven Stars Demon-Slaying Sword to open his Heavenly Gate and advance to the Sixth Rank. After the ceremony, he was appointed steward of Flying Profound Hall and learned he still needed to pass the Heavenly Master's Manor assessment for his ordination certificate.

• Zhou Wuji used Origin Xuan to resonate with heaven and earth and tried to open the Baihui Heavenly Gate, but his True Qi alone could not break through.
• Zhou Wuji invested Wu Di's and the Azure Dragon Envoy's fate in the Seven Stars Demon-Slaying Sword, raising it to transformative mastery so it could guide his attack in harmony with Polaris.
• Zhou Wuji wielded the Seven Star Sword through his seven apertures, opened the Heavenly Gate, and advanced to the Sixth Rank as his Divine Sense rose above the nine heavens.
• Zhiyuan crowned Zhou Wuji and appointed him a steward of Flying Profound Hall, then warned him to focus on the Heavenly Master's Manor assessment and obtain his Seventh Rank ordination certificate.
• Zhou Wuji sensed malice from Yiding as the master of discipline departed, then exchanged congratulations with Wuming while Yang Tie Ying struggled to join their conversation.

After advancing to the Sixth Rank, Zhou Wuji tested the power of his transcendent Seven Stars Demon-Slaying Sword and selected three high-level Law Techniques to learn. He returned to Flying Profound Hall with the Northern Dipper Heavenly Pivot Yin Thunder Method memorized and began learning its ritual requirements from Daoist Yiping.

• Yang Tie Ying and Shangxing congratulated Zhou Wuji, and he promised to take Shangxing into the city and teach Yang Tie Ying swordsmanship.
• Zhou Wuji cultivated after opening the Heavenly Gate and found that his True Qi circulation had become far faster and more effective.
• Zhou Wuji tested the Seven Stars Demon-Slaying Sword, confirmed its hundred-pace range, and discovered he could control multiple swords or combine them into a larger blade.
• Daoist Yizhen gave Zhou Wuji permission to choose high-level Law Techniques, and Zhou Wuji bought the Northern Dipper Heavenly Pivot Yin Thunder Method, the Big Dipper Heavenly Gang Divine Incantation, and the Divine Body-Cleansing Incantation.
• Daoist Yiping explained that casting the Northern Dipper Heavenly Pivot Yin Thunder Method normally required communicating with Marshal Tianpeng and establishing an altar, procedures Zhou Wuji could bypass with the Northern Emperor's Book of Heavenly Punishment.

Zhou Wuji advanced his Yin Thunder and Big Dipper Heavenly Gang Divine Incantation, then learned from Daoist Yiping about the Northern Pole Sect’s bitter lineage divisions. When a Yuheng Lineage expert arrived to assess Zhou Wuji for his ordination certificate, Daoist Yiping feared the rivalry could put the assessment in jeopardy.

• Zhou Wuji used fates from the Northern Emperor's Book of Heavenly Punishment to raise the Yin Thunder Method to proficiency and the Big Dipper Heavenly Gang Divine Incantation to major accomplishment.
• Zhou Wuji showed Daoist Yiping that he could cast the Big Dipper Heavenly Gang Divine Incantation in ten breaths, and Daoist Yiping warned him to keep his abilities hidden.
• Zhou Wuji asked to learn talisman-making, and Daoist Yiping explained that the Kaiyang Lineage guarded its secrets and that the seven lineages competed fiercely.
• Daoist Yiping warned Zhou Wuji that Daoist Yiding and the Yuheng Lineage resented the Heavenly Pivot Lineage, so Zhou Wuji stayed quietly in Flying Profound Hall.
• Daoist Yiping returned from outside and told Zhou Wuji that Zhishan, an inspector from the Heavenly Master's Manor, had arrived to assess ordination candidates.
• Daoist Yiping revealed that Zhishan belonged to the Yuheng Lineage and worried that Yiding might use the assessment to cause trouble for Zhou Wuji.

Zhou Wuji arrived at Yuheng Hall for his seventh-rank ordination assessment, where Zhishan assigned him a dangerous task at Nine Spirits Lake. As the assessment began, Wuai challenged Zhou Wuji to a sword contest, and Zhou Wuji accepted.

• Zhou Wuji climbed to Yuheng Hall and was escorted inside to meet Zhishan and Yiding.
• Yiding urged Zhishan to handle Zhou Wuji's assessment impartially while secretly hoping he would make it difficult and delay Zhou Wuji's eligibility for advanced study.
• Wuai asked to test Zhou Wuji's swordsmanship, and Zhishan persuaded Yiding to let the challenge proceed.
• Zhishan assigned Zhou Wuji three months to deal with the evil entities on Lake Heart Island at Nine Spirits Lake.
• Wuai challenged Zhou Wuji to a sword contest, and Zhou Wuji accepted.

Zhou Wuji exchanged sword skills with Wuai, revealing swordsmanship far superior to the Yuheng disciple’s despite admiring the Northern Dipper Seven Star Sword. Zhishan set Zhou Wuji’s assessment at Nine Spirits Lake, while he and Daoist Yiding later wondered whether Zhou Wuji could join the Yuheng Lineage.

• Wuai challenged Zhou Wuji to a sword exchange, and Zhishan ordered them to stop at a touch and avoid injury.
• Wuai attacked with the Northern Dipper Seven Star Sword, but Zhou Wuji split his Sword Qi and pressed him with a rapid series of thrusts.
• Zhou Wuji ended the exchange before Wuai could counterattack, and Zhishan praised both swordsmen.
• Zhishan told Zhou Wuji to defeat the evil entity at Nine Spirits Lake within three months without help to pass his assessment.
• After Zhou Wuji left, Zhishan asked Daoist Yiding whether Zhou Wuji could transfer to Yuheng, but Daoist Yiding believed Zhou Wuji would remain loyal to Yizhen.

Zhou Wuji discussed his ordination assessment, advanced training, and search for a good sword with Daoist Yizhen before visiting Tianji Hall with Wuming. He bought supplies for his journey to Nine Spirits Lake and left after sharing a tender farewell with Wuming.

• Daoist Yizhen told Zhou Wuji that evil entities on Lake Heart Island had vanished when he investigated and warned him to prioritize his life over passing the assessment for a place in advanced training.
• Zhou Wuji assured Daoist Yizhen he would pass the assessment and asked where he could find a good sword, but learned the lower academy had none.
• Wuming met Zhou Wuji outside Heavenly Pivot Hall, led him toward Tianji Hall, and held his hand as they shared their feelings and talked about her interests.
• Zhou Wuji visited Tianji Hall with Wuming, bought two boxes of White Eyebrow Needles, a belt, and a python-hide sleeping bag, but found no high-grade swords.
• Wuming wished Zhou Wuji success on his journey to Nine Spirits Lake and watched him leave.

Zhou Wuji traveled to Lake Heart Island to investigate the evil presence driving thousands of people from their homes. After searching the island for several nights, he discovered an illusion concealing a crude platform piled with severed human heads.

• Zhou Wuji prepared supplies and a bamboo-laminated iron staff, then met Li Xin, Li Qiang, and the fishermen Lao San and Lao Wu at the dock.
• Lao San and Lao Wu described the deaths and displacement on Lake Heart Island, and Zhou Wuji promised to do his duty and paid them for guiding him.
• After three days, Zhou Wuji reached the island, explored Nine Spirits Mountain and Dragon Eye Spring, and settled in an abandoned village.
• Zhou Wuji searched the island at night for several days but found nothing until the seventh night, when he noticed human tracks ending at an unmoving osmanthus tree.
• Zhou Wuji sent his Heavenly Puppet through the tree’s illusion and saw a crude platform with a heap of severed human heads, which filled him with rage.

Zhou Wuji discovered the Five Dragons Gang’s secret realm and learned that Chen Yong was sacrificing hundreds of Lake Heart Island refugees to nourish a flood dragon’s remnant soul. After entering the realm under concealment, Zhou Wuji attacked Chen Yong with his Northern Dipper Seven Star Sword, leaving the fight about to begin.

• Chen Yong checked the altar and its guards, found no disturbance, and returned to his tent while Zhou Wuji’s Heavenly Puppet slipped out unseen.
• Zhou Wuji recognized the gang members’ blood sacrifice and resolved to kill them, then planned his approach to the secret realm.
• Zhou Wuji concealed his vitality with the Five Yin Pouch and entered the secret realm without alerting the guards.
• Zhou Wuji identified Chen Yong with his Six Yang Dharma Eye and launched the Northern Dipper Seven Star Sword at him.
• Chen Yong sensed the attack, reached for his saber, and recognized the incoming azure light as a Daoist flying sword Law Technique.

Zhou Wuji killed Chen Yong, but Chen Yong’s Gu technique merged his soul and the mother Black Dragon Gu with a flood dragon’s remnant soul, which attacked the Five Dragons Gang. Zhou Wuji destroyed the soul-nurturing jar and used his Law Techniques to eliminate the remnant soul, then found it had become a fifth-rank entry in the Northern Emperor's Book of Heavenly Punishment.

• Chen Yong failed to break Zhou Wuji’s Seven Stars Demon-Slaying Sword and died when it pierced his heart and severed his head.
• The wounded mother Black Dragon Gu escaped Chen Yong’s body, but Zhou Wuji’s swords caught and destroyed it.
• Crimson flames formed a flood dragon on the altar, and the remnant soul killed more than twenty Five Dragons Gang members to strengthen itself.
• Zhou Wuji used Northern Dipper Heavenly Pivot Yin Thunder to damage the flood dragon, then traced its power to a jar hidden inside the altar.
• Zhou Wuji shattered the jar and destroyed the flood dragon’s remnant soul with his swords and Yin Thunder.
• The Northern Emperor's Book of Heavenly Punishment recorded the flood dragon Gu master as worth five taels of Origin Profound Spirit, and Zhou Wuji looked over the dead before composing himself.

After defeating the Five Dragons Gang’s Gu master and clearing the secret realm, Zhou Wuji reported the scale of the massacre to himself as a matter that still required the gang’s destruction. He used the flood dragon’s remnant soul’s fate weight to perfect the Northern Dipper Tianshu Scripture, gaining a mind mirror and a stronger foundation, then waited for his companions while guarding the evidence.

• Zhou Wuji searched the filthy secret realm, left its valuables untouched, and went outside to review his battle against the flood dragon’s remnant soul.
• Zhou Wuji considered spending five taels of fate weight on several techniques but chose the Northern Dipper Tianshu Scripture over the Northern Dipper Heavenly Pivot Yin Thunder, Five Tigers Fist, Heavenly Puppet Technique, and Xiaoxiang Sword.
• Zhou Wuji perfected the Northern Dipper Tianshu Scripture, formed a mind mirror that monitored his true Qi and protected his consciousness, and strengthened his nine apertures and cultivation foundation.
• Zhou Wuji realized he needed to complete the sixth-rank transmission rite to obtain the higher-level scripture before advancing to the fifth rank, and he thought about learning Wuai’s Northern Dipper Seven Star Sword.
• Zhou Wuji reached the island’s southern shore and decided to wait for Li Xin and the others, fearing the Five Dragons Gang might return to destroy the bodies and evidence.

Zhou Wuji exposed the Five Dragons Gang’s mass blood sacrifice to Cloud Dragon Lower Court, and Daoist Yizhen and Zhishan gathered evidence in the secret realm. Zhiyuan accepted Zhou Wuji’s plan to lure the gang leader, Chen Dalu, away from Old Dragon Island and prepared to act against the gang.

• Zhou Wuji sent Li Xin and Li Qiang to Cloud Dragon Lower Court with a letter and his Heavenly Pivot Token for Daoist Yizhen.
• Daoist Yizhen informed Abbot Zhiyuan, who sent Zhishan to investigate the Five Dragons Gang’s alleged blood sacrifice.
• Daoist Yizhen and Zhishan reached Lake Heart Island, confirmed the atrocities, and Zhishan recorded evidence with the Water Mirror Technique.
• Zhou Wuji proposed inviting Chen Dalu to a meeting so Cloud Dragon Lower Court could draw him away from Old Dragon Island and strike at him.
• Zhishan agreed to Zhou Wuji’s plan and returned with him to Cloud Dragon Lower Court, where Zhiyuan considered the risks.
• Zhou Wuji urged Zhiyuan to act decisively, and Zhiyuan sent an invitation to Old Dragon Island and told Zhou Wuji to accompany him to Cloud River Tower the next day.

Zhang Shiheng hosted a banquet at Cloud River Tower for Abbot Zhiyuan and Chen Dalu, while Zhou Wuji worried that the Pacification Office commander might obstruct the lower monastery’s plans against the Five Dragons Gang. The gathering turned hostile when Chen Dalu singled Zhou Wuji out and ordered his subordinate Chen Hao to challenge him.

• Zhang Shiheng reserved Cloud River Tower and welcomed Zhiyuan, Zhishan, and the lower monastery’s Daoists to the banquet.
• Zhou Wuji studied Zhang Shiheng, withstood the commander’s probing gaze, and lowered his eyes to avoid provoking him.
• Li Fei brought Chen Dalu and Zhang Yunfeng to the third floor, where Zhang Shiheng offered Chen Dalu a seat beside him.
• Chen Dalu traded insults with Zhiyuan, then recognized Zhou Wuji and demanded to know if he was the swordsman he had heard about.
• Chen Dalu sent Chen Hao to challenge Zhou Wuji, and Chen Hao stepped forward with his sword and called him out.

Zhou Wuji accepted Chen Hao’s challenge at Cloud River Tower and fought the Scarlet Dragon Envoy, who used medicine and the Red Dragon Gu to amplify his Qi and Blood. Zhou Wuji outmaneuvered him and killed him with a swift series of sword strikes, leaving the Lower Court’s prestige strengthened and the conflict with the Five Dragons Gang unresolved.

• Zhou Wuji agreed to face Chen Hao in a public sword contest after Zhiyuan weighed the risk and the chance to raise the Lower Court’s standing.
• Chen Hao stimulated his Red Dragon Gu with spirit medicine, increasing his strength and turning his skin scarlet.
• Chen Hao attacked with the Great River Sword while Zhou Wuji evaded and parried, concealing his advantage beneath an apparently defensive fight.
• Chen Hao prepared to unleash blood and Gu insects, but Zhou Wuji detected the opening and struck him repeatedly with the Night Rain Sword.
• Zhou Wuji drove his sword through Chen Hao’s throat and severed his head with a turn of the blade.