Chapter Summaries

Guo Changying spared Zhou Ning and the others because she needed her Restriction-Breaking Talismans to seize red iron bamboo, while Zhou Ning later attacked the Guo Household siege and plundered their Storage Bags. He escaped back behind the courtyard array as Guo Changying arrived, and she withdrew her cultivators rather than waste time trying to break through.

• Guo Changying chose not to use a Restriction-Breaking Talisman on the courtyard array after a Guo Household man warned her that the red iron bamboo was the priority, and she left with a threat.
• Zhou Ning confirmed that Guo Changying had gone toward the back mountain, then flew out to attack the Guo Household cultivators besieging Steward Su’s residence.
• Zhou Ning used repeated Great Water Dragon Talismans to overwhelm the attackers, causing a Flame Explosion Talisman to erupt among them and killing several cultivators.
• Zhou Ning collected several Storage Bags and fled when Guo Changying approached, narrowly reaching the courtyard before her spear light struck the array.
• Guo Changying attacked the array in anger, then ordered the Guo Household cultivators to retreat.

Zhou Ning divided the spoils from the Guo Household’s surprise attack, then reported the incident to Su Yuanye and received the items Su Wen had brought him. Su Yuanye ordered Steward Su to leave Zhou Ning alone, while Zhou Ning planned to strengthen the island’s defenses and seek an opportunity in the Land of Wei.

• Zhou Ning inspected the Guo Household’s Storage Bags, claimed a superior-grade shield and other loot, and gave talismans to Old Jia, Xu Qinghou, and Jia Tingwan.
• Su Wen and Su Yuanye arrived, and Zhou Ning recounted how he had ambushed and killed the attackers.
• Su Wen gave Zhou Ning a cloud-patterned Pill Furnace and second-tier spiritual jade before following Su Yuanye away.
• Zhou Ning resolved to strengthen Bamboo Creek Island’s defenses and enter the Land of Wei to seek a fortuitous opportunity.
• Steward Su accused Zhou Ning of interfering and revealed his suspicions about Zhou Ning’s abilities, but Su Yuanye ordered him not to meddle and put Su Wen in charge of Zhou Ning.

Su Yuanye dismissed concerns about Zhou Ning while Lin Qing learned of the attack on Bamboo Creek Island, and Guo Changying encountered a mysterious Daoist Mu. After preparing for another journey to the Land of Wei, Zhou Ning activated the black jade stone and set off.

• Su Yuanye told Su Wen that Zhou Ning posed no threat to the Su Household and asked her to report Su Changhe's strangeness to Junsong.
• Lin Qing received news that Bamboo Creek Island had been attacked and its Red Iron Bamboo seized, and he noted Zhou Ning's role in the fighting.
• Guo Changying reflected on the Guo Household's precarious position and its plans for the Azure Ruins Secret Realm before confronting Daoist Mu, who asked for Red Iron Bamboo.
• Zhou Ning finished charging the jade stone, reinforced his preparations, and planned to seek pill formulas, supplies, and information about Su Changhe in the Land of Wei.
• Zhou Ning overheard Old Jia urging Jia Tingwan to practice alchemy, withdrew his Divine Sense, and entered the pitch-black jade stone.

Zhou Ning returned to Gazing Immortal Port, where True Person Lu mistook him for the reincarnated Ji Wumian and failed to search his soul. The chapter ended with Zhou Ning claiming he had come to the world to go on a killing spree, convincing True Person Lu that he had found the person he was waiting for.

• Zhou Ning returned to Gazing Immortal Port and found it bustling with cultivators again.
• Zhou Ning went to the market square, where True Person Lu isolated him from the crowd and called him Ji Wumian.
• True Person Lu tried to search Zhou Ning's soul, but the attempt failed and injured his cultivation.
• Zhou Ning returned to his false body and asked why True Person Lu had called him Ji Wumian.
• Zhou Ning told True Person Lu that his name was Zhou Ning and that he had come to the world to go on a killing spree.
• True Person Lu decided Zhou Ning was Ji Wumian and declared that he had found the one he was waiting for.

True Person Lu found Zhou Ning and recruited him to retrieve the Earth Marrow Withered Wood Heart from the Withered Wood Grotto-Heaven, while giving him a protective Divine Ability. Lu was blocked from reaching Gazing Immortal Port, where Ji Wumian reincarnated as a baby and realized he could not restore his cultivation.

• True Person Lu found Zhou Ning at Gazing Immortal Port, recognized his Yang Metal Qi, and asked him to cooperate in retrieving the Earth Marrow Withered Wood Heart.
• True Person Lu gave Zhou Ning the cultivation experience for Fiery Eyes and Golden Pupils and protected him with the Divine Ability Immovable Mountain.
• True Person Lu sent Zhou Ning toward the withered tree in the Withered Wood Grotto-Heaven and promised to exchange an item for the Earth Marrow Withered Wood Heart.
• True Person Lu set out for Gazing Immortal Port but was stopped by True Person Huajing, who invoked Li Fire True Lord's decree.
• Ji Wumian awoke as a newborn in Gazing Immortal Port, remembered his past and his plan to revive the Bright Radiance Immortal Sect, then lost consciousness when he could only wail like an infant.

Zhou Ning entered the Withered Wood Grotto-Heaven and encountered He Zhuoran, an old acquaintance who had survived in the form of black smoke. They traded cultivation knowledge and pills, then He Zhuoran led Zhou Ning toward Calamity-Severing Grass.

• Zhou Ning entered the Withered Wood Grotto-Heaven through a black hole in a dead tree and narrowly escaped an exploding, poisonous Fire Furuncle Fruit.
• Zhou Ning recognized He Zhuoran, whose Vast Righteous Qi Instruction had transformed him into black smoke, and the two exchanged surprised greetings.
• He Zhuoran asked Zhou Ning for Void Wind Qi-Unifying Instruction cultivation experience, while Zhou Ning requested a Sea-Filling Pill or Calamity-Severing Grass and a stronger Qi Refining pill.
• Zhou Ning traded his Foundation Establishment experience for He Zhuoran's Greater Ginseng-Nurturing Pill Formula, and both men agreed to the exchange.
• He Zhuoran harvested the Fire Furuncle Fruits and gave fifteen to Zhou Ning, then used a cyan compass to lead him toward Calamity-Severing Grass.

Zhou Ning and He Zhuoran encountered Little Sister Li gathering Rotten Soil Earth Breath Qi over a dangerous marsh. After Zhou Ning claimed a flying boat from her, he exposed a hidden Ni Marsh Python by tossing it a spirit fish, leaving both companions startled by his discovery.

• Zhou Ning traveled with He Zhuoran, whose black-smoke appearance made other cultivators mistake him for a Devil Cultivator.
• He Zhuoran led Zhou Ning around a marsh that burned away Divine Sense, where Little Sister Li was gathering Rotten Soil Earth Breath Qi.
• Little Sister Li revealed that He Zhuoran's flying boat had cost her the jade lotus platform her mother had planned to commission, explaining why she had grown distant from him.
• Zhou Ning falsely claimed the flying boat had been meant for him, and Little Sister Li returned it to him.
• Zhou Ning suspected something was hidden in the marsh and threw in a spirit fish, revealing a Ni Marsh Python that startled He Zhuoran and Little Sister Li.

Zhou Ning, He Zhuoran, and Little Sister Li hunted Ni Marsh Pythons and traded the spoils for Jade Graceful Branch blossoms and a secret net technique. As Zhou Ning and He Zhuoran traveled toward the Calamity-Severing Grass, Zhou Ning realized that powerful figures might be invisible to others and wondered whether his jade hid him from the world's influence.

• Zhou Ning and He Zhuoran baited Ni Marsh Pythons with Fire Furuncle Fruit and killed them with explosions, while Little Sister Li used a spiritual net to retrieve and skin the beasts.
• After they hunted five pythons, Zhou Ning received two Jade Graceful Branch blossoms and a jade slip containing the Profound Water Spirit-Binding Net technique in exchange for his share of the hides.
• Little Sister Li left to seek Shen Huaizhen of Divine Craft Peak and ask him to craft an artifact.
• Zhou Ning asked He Zhuoran about two figures he had seen near the Withered Wood Grotto-Heaven, but He Zhuoran did not know whom he meant.
• Zhou Ning recalled the madness and slaughter in Gazing Immortal Port and suspected his jade had hidden him from the world's influence and powerful cultivators.

Zhou Ning disguised himself and He Zhuoran as a Buddhist holy man and his golden light to approach the cultivators at Dead Wood Ridge. He was welcomed as a Buddha’s son and blessed Wu Daoqi, who believed the blessing could reverse his bad luck.

• He Zhuoran told Zhou Ning that cultivators were gathering at Dead Wood Ridge to enter a True Person’s cave abode, and Zhou Ning persuaded him to conceal his Devil Cultivator appearance.
• Zhou Ning dressed in a Buddhist robe and fashioned a monk’s staff and alms bowl, while He Zhuoran concealed Zhou Ning’s cultivation realm.
• At Dead Wood Ridge, Shi Shuiyue challenged Boming after he mocked her, but a man breaking the formation ordered everyone to wait until they entered the ridge before fighting.
• Zhou Ning arrived with He Zhuoran shining as golden Buddha light and introduced himself as a holy man from Little Western Heaven, earning respectful greetings from the gathered cultivators.
• Wu Daoqi offered Zhou Ning a Spirit Stone and asked for a blessing, and Zhou Ning let He Zhuoran’s light touch him while promising that he would turn danger into good fortune.

Zhou Ning posed as a Buddha son and collected Spirit Stones before joining He Zhuoran in a fight against the monk Boming, until Li Chonglou intervened with an embryonic spirit treasure. Li Chonglou then broke the formation guarding Dead Wood Ridge, and the cultivators rushed inside, unaware that he expected the Purple Mansion cultivators to claim the best treasures later.

• Shi Shuiyue paid Zhou Ning for a blessing, and other cultivators followed, allowing him to collect twenty or thirty Spirit Stones.
• Boming challenged Zhou Ning, who claimed to be a Vajra Arhat Buddha son and attacked with a Flame Explosion Talisman while He Zhuoran’s golden light injured Boming.
• Li Chonglou used his Two Modes Primal Union Disc to slow Zhou Ning and Boming, then identified himself as a member of the Firmament Treasure Sect.
• He Zhuoran explained why Qi Refining cultivators could enter the Withered Wood Grotto-Heaven while stronger cultivators could not, and Zhou Ning understood why True Person Lu had chosen him.
• Li Chonglou broke the formation at the cave entrance, and a hundred cultivators hurried toward Dead Wood Ridge as he expected the Purple Mansion cultivators to take the best treasures.

Zhou Ning and He Zhuoran discovered a pool of Earth Spirit Milk guarded by a Spirit-Dwelling Flood Dragon and began secretly extracting the precious substance. When four cultivators found their hidden cave, He Zhuoran disguised himself as the entrance barrier to hold them off while Zhou Ning continued collecting the milk.

• Zhou Ning followed He Zhuoran's Spirit-Seeking Compass through Dead Wood Ridge and found a cavern containing Earth Spirit Milk.
• He Zhuoran reached for the milk, but a Spirit-Dwelling Flood Dragon emerged and corroded his golden body with gray liquid.
• He Zhuoran taught Zhou Ning the Earth Marrow Fluid-Drawing Instruction, and they collected drops of milk from the stalactites without provoking the flood dragon.
• Zhou Ning noticed four cultivators trying to enter, so He Zhuoran disguised himself as the cave's barrier while Zhou Ning continued extracting the milk.
• Wu Daoqi drove his Splitting-Fang Nail Seal into the barrier and began tearing at He Zhuoran's disguise.

Zhou Ning used his Immovable Mountain Divine Ability to protect the cave while He Zhuoran collected Earth Spirit Milk, as cultivators outside failed to break the barrier and left. After He Zhuoran filled ten jade bottles, Mei Ying tried to claim the treasure with a Restriction-Breaking Talisman, but Zhou Ning tricked her into colliding with a second barrier and sent her away empty-handed.

• Zhou Ning finished extracting some Earth Spirit Milk while He Zhuoran endured the formation attacks and asked him for help restoring his strength.
• Zhou Ning activated his Immovable Mountain Divine Ability and took over guarding the cave entrance, allowing He Zhuoran to resume collecting the fluid.
• Yang Gu and Wu Daoqi gave up trying to break the formation, and their group departed without entering the cave.
• He Zhuoran filled ten jade bottles with Earth Spirit Milk while Zhou Ning guarded the entrance and considered his other goals in the Land of Wei.
• Mei Ying used a Restriction-Breaking Talisman on the barrier, and Zhou Ning pretended it had opened a way inside.
• Mei Ying rushed forward, struck Zhou Ning's hidden second barrier, failed to break it with her Law Artifact, and stormed off.

Zhou Ning searched the cave abode for Calamity-Severing Grass, evaded dangerous plants and creatures, and traded eel blood with Shi Shuiyue for more of the rare herb. After learning that the demon monk Boming had entered a chamber of sealed demon souls, Zhou Ning agreed to confront him.

• Zhou Ning and He Zhuoran reached Soul-Sealing Cliff, where Zhou Ning narrowly escaped giant toads and a patch of grass that sliced apart a thrown rock.
• Zhou Ning found and carefully picked several Calamity-Severing Grass plants near a wall carved with chained demon patterns.
• Zhou Ning met Shi Shuiyue, a Ren Water cultivator, and sold her eel blood for Spirit Stones before trading more eel blood for ten Calamity-Severing flowers.
• Shi Shuiyue told Zhou Ning that Boming had entered a chamber containing sealed demon souls, and He Zhuoran urged Zhou Ning to pursue the valuable treasures there.
• Zhou Ning turned back and declared that subduing demons and vanquishing devils was the duty of Buddhists.

Zhou Ning, He Zhuoran, and Shi Shuiyue confronted Boming in the Demon Soul Grotto after discovering he was refining demon souls. They killed Boming with a feigned weakness and a surprise attack, leaving Shi Shuiyue shaken by Zhou Ning’s strange powers.

• Zhou Ning and Shi Shuiyue agreed that Boming was a dangerous enemy, then Zhou Ning led the group to the hidden chamber in Soul-Sealing Cliff.
• Zhou Ning and He Zhuoran attacked Boming after finding him drawing demon souls from their stone seats, while Shi Shuiyue joined the fight.
• Boming used a Corpse Saliva Bottle, a soul-attacking bone flute, and a demon-subduing vajra to counter their attacks and injure Shi Shuiyue.
• Zhou Ning’s Fire Furuncle Fruit destroyed Boming’s kapala bowl, and He Zhuoran’s Buddha Light appeared to be corrupted by the black oil.
• The corrupted Buddha Light unexpectedly struck Boming and turned his upper body and two wisdom consorts to ash; Zhou Ning burned the remains, and Shi Shuiyue questioned whether he was truly a Buddha’s child.

After killing Boming, Zhou Ning and He Zhuoran collected demon souls and divided the spoils, while Shi Shuiyue learned their secret and was given a Forget-Worry Pill. They reached the central hall of Dead Wood Ridge, where cultivators were attacking a Yimu Restriction Array surrounding eight treasures.

• Boming's shattered kapala released Dharma Master Joy, but He Zhuoran quickly destroyed the apparition.
• He Zhuoran collected the demon souls and traded Zhou Ning five ginseng roots plus one extra for Boming's bone flute.
• Zhou Ning took twenty-three Spirit Stones from Boming's Storage Bag, while He Zhuoran kept the bag and its remaining contents.
• Shi Shuiyue feared the two would kill her, but they gave her a Forget-Worry Pill and Zhou Ning buried her beneath concealment talismans.
• A day later, Zhou Ning and He Zhuoran reached the central hall and found cultivators attacking a Yimu Restriction Array around eight treasures.

Zhou Ning teamed up with Ma Huangshan to seize treasures from the Yimu Restriction Array, using Zhou Ning’s Buddha light shield and Ma’s mountain-moving technique. After the cultivators weakened the array, Zhou Ning broke it with a Great Fire Dragon Talisman, sending the treasures flying into the crowd.

• He Zhuoran identified Ma Huangshan of the Coiling Mountain Sect and the Ma Household as a powerful potential ally for Zhou Ning.
• Ma Huangshan proposed using his mountain-moving technique to draw the array’s treasures to himself while Zhou Ning protected them with his All-Illuminating Buddha Light Shield.
• Ma Huangshan explained that he could escape through an earth aperture beneath a pillar, but needed Zhou Ning’s help to withstand the other cultivators.
• The cultivators agreed to break the Yimu Restriction Array before the Treasure Sect arrived, and they attacked it with Law Artifacts and talismans.
• Ma Huangshan chanted over the treasures while Zhou Ning struck the weakened array with a Great Fire Dragon Talisman, shattering it and sending the treasures flying.

Zhou Ning seized the treasures in the great hall and escaped through an earth aperture with Ma Huangshan. Yang Gu recognized Zhou Ning as the one who had fooled the cultivators earlier, but Zhou Ning took his Thunderfire Awl and disappeared underground.

• Yang Gu lured cultivators into the air to grab the scattered treasures, then attacked them from below and stole their Storage Bags.
• Zhou Ning used Ma Huangshan’s chanting to draw the treasures toward him and drove off most of the pursuing cultivators with Spark Talismans and Fire Furuncle Fruits.
• Zhou Ning captured the four remaining treasures with his Mighty Dragon Claw and made Ma Huangshan guide him to the earth aperture.
• Yang Gu recognized Zhou Ning as the one behind the earlier cave trick and attacked him with the Thunderfire Awl, but He Zhuoran restrained it and Zhou Ning took it into his Jade Space.
• Ma Huangshan connected the spiritual essence to the earth aperture, and Zhou Ning sank into the ground as the cultivators cursed above.

Zhou Ning and his companions discovered a powerful straw puppet guarding a medicinal garden, then divided the treasures they had found. After learning the Yi Wood Puppet-Planting Technique could help him search souls, Zhou Ning stayed behind to try to claim the puppet.

• The straw puppet attacked Zhou Ning with tremendous force, but his turtle-shell Divine Ability protected him from serious harm.
• Zhou Ning, He Zhuoran, and Ma Huangshan retreated and divided their treasures: He Zhuoran took the azure fan, Ma Huangshan took the Mountain-Embracing Photinia, and Zhou Ning took the soulwood pendant, the Yi Wood Puppet-Planting Technique, and three Vine Puppet Seeds.
• He Zhuoran explained that the technique could control an unconscious cultivator if the user's Divine Sense surpassed theirs, and Zhou Ning recognized it as a way to interrogate Su Changhe.
• Zhou Ning declined to explore with He Zhuoran and Ma Huangshan, choosing instead to try to take the straw puppet for himself.
• He Zhuoran and Ma Huangshan departed together, while Zhou Ning took out the azure book and prepared to study how to claim the puppet.

Zhou Ning mastered the Yi Wood Puppet-Planting Technique, took Chen Earth from the medicine garden, and encountered Ziwan and Li Qinglang. After Li Qinglang revealed that He Zhuoran was trapped in the Mountains and Rivers State Diagram, Zhou Ning disowned him and fled.

• Zhou Ning used a vine puppet seed to take control of the medicine garden’s scarecrow and stored it in his Jade Space.
• Zhou Ning found two Thousand-Knot Flowers and seven Black Essence Ginseng plants, then filled Storage Bags with Chen Earth and placed them in his Jade Space.
• Ziwan and Li Qinglang arrived in the sky, recognized Zhou Ning as He Zhuoran’s associate, and prepared to capture him.
• Li Qinglang summoned He Zhuoran from the Mountains and Rivers State Diagram, where He Zhuoran called Li Qinglang his master and urged Zhou Ning to join him.
• Zhou Ning declared that he had severed ties with He Zhuoran and fled using his Divine Ability.

Zhou Ning was killed by Ziwan and Li Qinglang in the Withered Wood Grotto-Heaven, while He Zhuoran survived through Patriarch He’s intervention. Back at Cuiwei Lake, Zhou Ning vowed revenge and opened letters from the Azure Mystic Sect and the Su Household, beginning with a message thanking him for pills.

• Li Qinglang trapped Zhou Ning and stripped away his Divine Ability, while Ziwan redirected his attacks and pinned him with her sword.
• Zhou Ning ignited three Fire Furuncle Fruits to injure Ziwan, but he was left charred and dead as she and Li Qinglang discussed his background.
• Patriarch He used gathered incense smoke to awaken He Zhuoran, examined his new Wind-Contemplating Prelude, and set off to recover He Zhuoran’s Storage Bag and Earth Spirit Milk from the Panshan Sect.
• Zhou Ning awoke at Bamboo Creek Island, remembered his defeat by the Firmament Treasure Sect disciples, and vowed to repay them after establishing his Immortal Foundation.
• Zhou Ning found letters from the Azure Mystic Sect and the Su Household beneath his door and opened the Azure Mystic Sect’s letter, which thanked him for the pills he had sent.