Chapter Summaries

Nine Spirits Primal Sage attacked the Palace of Peace and Happiness, demanding to play with the Nine Dragons Cauldron, while the palace guards and officials struggled to pin him down. Li Shaojun’s voice suddenly came from the rear hall, where he ordered Qingfeng and Mingyue to teach the intruder a lesson.

• Nine Spirits Primal Sage descended on the palace in black clouds, and Li Guang shot arrows while Cheng Bushi organized the guards into a Fish Scale Formation.
• The new emperor and the Empress Dowager prepared to defend the hall, but Nine Spirits Primal Sage questioned whether the Grand Empress Dowager was dead and demanded the Nine Dragons Cauldron.
• The Empress Dowager sent a suanni after Nine Spirits Primal Sage, while Fu Yan and Gongsun He attacked him with Law Treasures that failed to hit him.
• Zhuang Qingdi tried to lure Nine Spirits Primal Sage into the Thousand-Li Rivers and Mountains Painting, but Nine Spirits Primal Sage stayed on the roof and evaded the attacks.
• Cheng Bushi ordered the guards to loose a volley of arrows, and Nine Spirits Primal Sage continued asking where the rear hall was.
• Li Shaojun cried out from the rear hall after a roof beam cracked, then ordered Qingfeng and Mingyue to teach Nine Spirits Primal Sage a lesson.

Li Shaojun’s pill refinement was interrupted when the Nine Spirits Primal Sage attacked the Nine Dragons Cauldron, but Divine Lord Zhenyuan and Li Guang drove the demon off. The Nine Spirits Primal Sage fled in confusion, while Li Shaojun was left buried in the demon’s foul vomit.

• Li Shaojun poured his Law Power into the Nine Dragons Cauldron until falling roof debris forced him to stop refining the Eight-Step Immortal Ascension Pill.
• The Nine Spirits Primal Sage broke through the roof and attacked, while Divine Lord Zhenyuan swept aside his black wind with his sleeve.
• The Nine Spirits Primal Sage lunged at the cauldron and was caught in a gray haze, where an unseen opponent battered him and sent him tumbling back outside.
• The Nine Spirits Primal Sage vomited, then fled from the cauldron’s purple flames and Li Guang’s arrows while shouting threats.
• Li Shaojun remained trapped beneath the cauldron, drenched and partly buried in the demon’s vomit.

After the Nine Spirits Primal Sage was beaten at the Palace of Peace and Happiness, Zhang Xuezhou considered the political fallout and resumed searching Qilin Pavilion for useful cultivation texts. He found a trove of Yin-Yang School offshoot writings, leaving him eager to study their accumulated insights.

• Sima Tan praised the beating of the Nine Spirits Primal Sage and regretted that the Great Han Dynasty could not pursue him to the Western Regions.
• Zhang Xuezhou wondered how the Nine Spirits Primal Sage learned that Li Guang had lost the Heaven-Shaking Arrow and assessed the consequences for Li Guang and His Majesty.
• Zhang Xuezhou considered why the Immortal Court and the Northern Kuru Continent’s sacred lands were pursuing the Nine Cauldrons, but could not determine whether His Excellency and the Immortal Court had joined forces.
• Zhang Xuezhou searched Qilin Pavilion for cultivation texts suited to his Divine Ability Realm and discovered the Yin-Yang Sorrow and Joy Incantation among materials from Yin-Yang School offshoots.
• Zhang Xuezhou found nearly a thousand related scrolls left by earlier cultivators and welcomed the chance to learn from their accumulated experience.

As Zhang Xuezhou studied in the Qilin Pavilion, officials investigated strange rain that had fallen over Chang'an for days and suspected a water god was behind it. Sima Tan discovered aquatic beings were fighting near the Jing and Wei Rivers, and the resulting floods could reach Zhang Xuezhou’s neighborhood.

• Officials in the Qilin Pavilion found the rain smelled of river or sea water and debated how to identify its source.
• Sima Tan and the other historians considered whether a water god was searching for the Nine Dragons Cauldron, while Zhang Xuezhou suspected Ao Li might be involved because he had ruined Ao Li’s Dragon Pearl.
• Zhang Xuezhou set the matter aside and continued studying, planning to return to the real world and work with An Ran on cultivation research.
• Sima Tan announced that aquatic beings were fighting near the Jing and Wei Rivers, with demon corpses and officials swept into floodwaters.
• Zhang Xuezhou realized the flooding could reach the East and West Markets and possibly the area where he lived.

Zhuang Qingdi and Xu Chang struggled to defend the Palace of Peace and Happiness during the grand empress dowager’s mourning, then learned that water demons were flooding Chang’an and feared the crisis was a ploy to draw away their forces. Zhuang Qingdi asked Li Shaojun to help hold the palace if another attack came, but Li Shaojun doubted he could rely on Divine Lord Zhenyuan.

• Zhuang Qingdi and Xu Chang strengthened the Palace of Peace and Happiness’s defenses after the Nine Spirits Primal Sage attacked.
• The grand astrologers reported that water demons were fighting in the Jing River and Wei River, sending floodwater toward Chang’an.
• Zhuang Qingdi and Xu Chang worried that the disaster was meant to lure their defenders away, and Xu Chang went to ask General Li Guang for help.
• Zhuang Qingdi went to the rear hall and found Li Shaojun struggling to make pills beside the Nine Dragons Cauldron.
• Zhuang Qingdi warned Li Shaojun that enemies might attack the palace while their forces handled the flood, and asked him to help defend it.
• Li Shaojun doubted Divine Lord Zhenyuan would be able to help and felt uneasy about holding the palace.

After finding little useful knowledge in Qilin Pavilion, Zhang Xuezhou left the palace and encountered Chancellor Xu in the rain. Xu gave him the Flowing Wind Pendant and asked him to help investigate water demons blamed for flooding in Jing and Huai.

• Zhang Xuezhou left Qilin Pavilion and used a wind technique to travel through the rain after he could not find a carriage.
• Xu Chang recognized Zhang Xuezhou and praised his flying and leaping technique.
• Xu Chang offered Zhang Xuezhou the Flowing Wind Pendant, which strengthened his ability to fly and leap.
• Xu Chang explained that water demons were causing the persistent rain and asked Zhang Xuezhou to help investigate them in the flooded lands of Jing and Huai.
• Xu Chang urged Zhang Xuezhou to accept the pendant and help prevent further flooding despite their past grievances.

Zhang Xuezhou accepted Xu Chang’s Flowing Wind Pendant for Rong Tianding and joined the search for the demons causing the flood. The search party split into three routes, and Li Guang warned Zhang Xuezhou to keep his distance from any water demons.

• Zhang Xuezhou accepted Xu Chang’s offer of the Flowing Wind Pendant, intending to give it to Rong Tianding.
• Zhang Tang took Zhang Xuezhou on horseback, then switched places with him after Zhang Xuezhou criticized his riding.
• Zhang Tang explained that the rain smelled of river water and that an imperial decree could authorize troops to attack demons breaking the realm’s laws.
• Xu Chang led the party through floodwater beyond Chang’an City and ordered them to search for the demons near the Jing and Wei Rivers.
• Lu Bode headed toward the Jing River, Zhang Xuezhou set out toward the Wei River, and the rest went toward the riverbank.
• Li Guang warned Zhang Xuezhou to observe water demons from afar while the empress dowager and His Majesty prepared Chang’an City’s tower-ship forces.

Zhang Xuezhou found a water centipede used as an Incantation Technique medium clinging to Tian Fen’s Heaven-Riding Shuttle and killed it, freeing the Law Treasure from being dragged underwater. Worried that someone had cursed him, Tian Fen persuaded Zhang Xuezhou to ride with him as they flew off to patrol the Wei River.

• Zhang Xuezhou approached Tian Fen, whose Heaven-Riding Shuttle was being pulled into the water by an unseen force.
• Zhang Xuezhou used the Water Avoidance Instruction to inspect the boat and found a ritually raised water centipede attached to its underside.
• Zhang Xuezhou killed the water centipede, allowing Tian Fen to rise into the sky with his Law Treasure.
• Tian Fen searched himself for signs of a curse, discarded his outer robe, and urged Zhang Xuezhou to travel with him for protection.
• Zhang Xuezhou joined Tian Fen aboard the Heaven-Riding Shuttle, and Tian Fen flew toward the Wei River to patrol.

Zhang Xuezhou and Tian Fen searched the Wei River for water demons and discussed the cause of the prolonged rain, but a swarm of flying insects ambushed them. Their Heaven-Riding Shuttle crashed into the river, where water monkeys dragged Tian Fen underwater.

• Zhang Xuezhou took control of the Heaven-Riding Shuttle while Tian Fen recovered his Law Power and searched the Wei River.
• Tian Fen concluded that the aquatic beings' supreme inherited treasure had likely been stolen and that conspirators were diverting the resulting calamity to Chang'an City.
• Zhang Xuezhou turned the shuttle to search the area where Ao Li had fallen into the water.
• A swarm of black flying insects appeared on the shuttle and bit Zhang Xuezhou and Tian Fen.
• Tian Fen activated a protective technique, but the shuttle crashed into the river and four water monkeys dragged him underwater.

Zhang Xuezhou survived an ambush by curse masters and rescued Tian Fen, bringing him to Zheng Wukong for treatment. Tian Fen awoke furious and called for Chang'an's gates to be sealed so the attackers could be hunted down.

• Zhang Xuezhou played dead in the river while water monkeys dragged him and Tian Fen underwater, then recognized Dharma Master Hongyi and Dharma Master Hongye searching for the Heaven-Riding Shuttle.
• Zhang Xuezhou destroyed Hongyi and Hongye's Yang Corporeal Soul Incarnations with an intimidating attack and watched their true bodies flee toward Chang'an City.
• Zhang Xuezhou recovered the Heaven-Riding Shuttle, pulled Tian Fen from the water, and flew with him to Zheng Wukong and Chunyu Tiying in Old Tree Alley.
• Zheng Wukong used two needles to make Tian Fen expel the water and regain consciousness.
• Zhang Xuezhou praised Tian Fen for supposedly routing the curse masters and bringing them to safety, and Tian Fen demanded that Chang'an's gates be sealed to capture the curse masters from Xiong State's Sacred Land.

Zhang Xuezhou and Rong Tianding searched for the source of the rain and found Xu Chang injured beside the Jing River, where a demon dragon was summoning water from the clouds. Xu Chang revealed that Li Guang had killed a Xiong State technique user, but a curse still afflicted him, leaving Zhang Xuezhou to consider using Rong Tianding’s Southern Brightness Fire to break it.

• After Tian Fen left to investigate the attacks, Zhang Xuezhou recruited Rong Tianding and gave him the Flowing Wind Pendant before they headed toward the Jing River.
• Chang'an City’s gates were closed by imperial order as Zhang Xuezhou and Rong Tianding flew beyond the city to investigate the flooding rain.
• At the Jing River, Zhang Xuezhou found Xu Chang unconscious and helped him expel the water he had swallowed.
• Xu Chang identified a demon dragon in the clouds as the source of the rain and said Li Guang had killed a Xiong State technique user who had attacked them.
• Xu Chang revealed that an Incantation Technique still afflicted him, and Zhang Xuezhou offered to have Rong Tianding use Southern Brightness Fire to break the curse.

Rong Tianding used Southern Brightness Fire to free Xu Chang from a Snake Head Incantation, while Li Guang fought concealed attackers along the Jing River. Zhang Xuezhou and Rong Tianding were poisoned by a venomous toad, and Li Guang faced a swarm of mayflies as the hidden enemies continued their assault.

• Rong Tianding used Southern Brightness Fire to burn away the incantation binding Xu Chang, restoring his bodily cultivation but damaging his spirit.
• Xu Chang launched the Tongtian Crown toward the demon dragon to try to stop the rain.
• Li Guang shot an indistinct figure rising from the river, while Zhang Xuezhou seized a venomous toad and collapsed from its poison.
• Rong Tianding examined Zhang Xuezhou, was poisoned by the toad, and fell unconscious or dead beside him.
• Li Guang crushed a venomous scorpion beneath his foot and heard a concealed opponent challenge him in the name of the Flying General.
• The hidden enemies sent countless mayflies from the Jing River, covering the riverbank and crawling over everyone.

Li Guang, Lu Bode, and Xu Chang battled the flood dragon amid a swarm of mayflies, and Xu Chang's Tongtian Crown forced it down. The dragon's hidden protection stopped their attacks, revealing it belonged to a Heavenly Venerable of the Immortal Court.

• Li Guang struggled to aim through the mayflies and ordered Lu Bode to guard Xu Chang as he raised the Tongtian Crown.
• Lu Bode reported that the river's sealed water residence offered no obvious hiding place, while Li Guang said Lord Dongfang was unlikely to survive the poison toad's venom.
• Li Guang shot at an attacker concealed among the mayflies, then dodged two venomous snakes that struck at Lu Bode and Xu Chang.
• Xu Chang was bitten, but he summoned the Tongtian Crown's power and suppressed the flood dragon, while a streak of purple light fled and Li Guang pursued it with an arrow.
• Xu Chang, Zhang Xuezhou, and Rong Tianding cleared the falling flood dragon, and Li Guang and Lu Bode attacked it on the riverbank.
• A multicolored cloud and golden treasures blocked their attacks, and Li Guang recognized the flood dragon as a servant of a Heavenly Venerable of the Immortal Court.

Zhang Xuezhou and the others subdued Ao Sheng, who had been making rain on the Jing River, but Xu Chang’s Snake Head Incantation poison left them unable to hold him for long. Ao Li appeared and revealed that Ao Ye had already defeated him and taken the Dragon Pearl, redirecting Ao Sheng’s challenge.

• Xu Chang used the Tongtian Crown to suppress Ao Sheng, while Zhang Xuezhou recognized him as the flood dragon from the Mohists' Mechanism City.
• Zhang Xuezhou told Xu Chang that the Incantation poison could not safely be burned away, and Xu Chang struggled to maintain the suppression.
• Li Guang and the others considered how to restrain Ao Sheng until the Tower Ship Army arrived, but Ao Sheng boasted that he would escape and make it rain again.
• Zhang Xuezhou called for Ao Li and warned that the flooding could reach the imperial palace, prompting Ao Li to emerge from the Jing River.
• Ao Sheng demanded a fight with Ao Li for the Dragon Pearl, but Ao Li told him that Ao Ye had already defeated him and taken it.

Ao Li and Ao Sheng traded accusations while the injured group debated whether to pursue Ao Sheng after the battle. Ao Sheng drifted down the Jing River, and Xu Chang hesitated between chasing him and returning to Chang'an City.

• Ao Li denied having the Dragon Pearl and argued with Ao Sheng, who blamed him for losing his chance to obtain True Person Huanglong's inheritance.
• Xu Chang withdrew the Tongtian Crown's suppression, and Ao Sheng rose despite Li Guang keeping his bow trained on him.
• Ao Sheng accused the dynasty of usurping the Qin Dynasty and warned that Emperor Qin would return at the hundred-year mark.
• Ao Sheng threatened to visit Ao Li's water palace, then entered the Jing River and drifted downstream.
• Xu Chang warned Li Guang that an incantation master might still be nearby, and he chose not to pursue Ao Sheng.

Zhuang Qingdi and Li Shaojun dealt with attackers using seemingly expendable External Incarnations as Venerable White Bone nearly took control of the grand empress dowager. The palace remained in chaos when the Nine Dragons Cauldron exploded, and Divine Lord Zhenyuan wondered who had triggered it.

• Zhuang Qingdi beheaded Venerable White Bone, but the old man's body and head turned into purple light and escaped.
• Zhuang Qingdi found the grand empress dowager being controlled by Venerable White Bone's Incantation Technique and saw more purple lights fleeing the palace.
• Li Shaojun explained that the attackers were External Incarnations, which could vanish without their original bodies being harmed.
• Zhuang Qingdi ordered the imperial guards to keep watch while he considered how to handle the attackers and the threat to the palace.
• A blast from the rear hall shook the Palace of Peace and Happiness, and Li Shaojun identified the explosion as coming from the Nine Dragons Cauldron.
• Divine Lord Zhenyuan suspected Outer Core residue had caused the explosion and wondered who had activated the cauldron.

Zhang Xuezhou returned to Chang'an after the failed attempt to capture Ao Sheng, while Xu Chang worried about the consequences of letting the dragon escape. Li Guang exposed a hidden Snake Head Incantation but failed to find its caster, and Zhang Xuezhou discovered that Hongku had followed him home.

• Xu Chang asked Zhang Xuezhou to support him when the court questioned him, but Zhang Xuezhou warned that his illness would soon leave him incapacitated.
• Xu Chang's carriage headed for the Imperial Medical Hall, while Zhang Xuezhou returned his horse to Zhang Tang and went toward Old Tree Alley with Rong Tianding.
• Li Guang shot down a Snake Head Incantation disguised as a venomous snake, then continued toward the imperial palace without identifying its caster.
• Zhang Xuezhou confronted the unseen Hongku in his study and told him that his illness was worsening and he would soon fall into a coma.
• Hongku emerged in the study and asked whether Zhang Xuezhou's illness had become worse.

Hongku visited Zhang Xuezhou and learned that he was waiting for an appointment at the low-status Eunuch Office, then questioned him about Rong Tianding’s Fire Technique and its ability to counter Yang Corporeal Soul Incarnations. Zhang Xuezhou offered to let Hongku try cultivating the technique, leaving Hongku wary of a trap but eager to obtain it.

• Hongku judged Zhang Xuezhou’s circumstances harshly after learning he had no post and was awaiting appointment at the Eunuch Office.
• Zhang Xuezhou explained that he hoped to earn a recommendation and gain access to cultivation resources, while Hongku doubted his efforts would bring promotion.
• Hongku revealed that he had come to obtain Rong Tianding’s Fire Technique and asked whether it could counter Yang Corporeal Soul Incarnations.
• Zhang Xuezhou offered to have Rong Tianding cooperate in testing the technique and said Hongku could try cultivating it himself.
• Hongku suspected Zhang Xuezhou was leading him into a pitfall but asked what price he would have to pay for the original text.

Zhang Xuezhou negotiated with Hongku to trade Southern Brightness Fire, then fell unconscious and was carried away by Rong Tianding. Hongku joined the Yedie River Holy Land’s gathered venerables and dharma masters, where they reviewed the losses from their attack on Chang'an and Hongku concealed what he knew about Wu Tu’s injury.

• Hongku offered Zhang Xuezhou Blood Essence, then ten roots of three-hundred-year-old iron-sinew ginseng, three Fortune Pills, and ten Spirit-Forging Pills for Southern Brightness Fire, and Zhang Xuezhou agreed.
• Zhang Xuezhou fell unconscious, and Rong Tianding told Hongku he expected him to wake in about twelve days before taking him away for treatment.
• Hongku left Chang'an in his Yang Corporeal Soul form and traveled to a desolate mountain, where gathered venerables and dharma masters awaited him.
• Venerable Black Mountain listed the casualties from the test attack, including slain or dispersed incarnations and Wu Tu’s injured physical body.
• Venerable Weaver Emperor and Dharma Master Hongnong said Li Guang had forced them to retreat, while Hongku claimed Wu Tu was likely countered when he tried to curse Xu Chang.

After their assault on Chang'an, the Yedie River Holy Land group regrouped in the mountains, where Dao Lord treated Wu Tu and discovered that an unknown incantation had crippled him. The group withdrew, wary of the Great Han court and the Immortal Court, while Hongku became fascinated by Rong Tianding’s fire technique.

• The Yedie River Holy Land group waited in the mountains after their attack, discussing another assault and examining the unconscious Wu Tu.
• Dao Lord arrived, treated Wu Tu, and learned that Xu Chang had traced Wu Tu’s Snake Head Incantation Poison back to him.
• Dao Lord used a spell to sever the poison’s connection, but found that Wu Tu’s acupoints and cultivation had been destroyed by another incantation.
• Dao Lord ordered the group to return to the Sacred Land, warning that the Immortal Court might be waiting to take advantage of the conflict.
• The venerables discussed Li Shaojun’s strength and left the Han Kingdom, while Hongku reflected on how Rong Tianding’s fire technique had overpowered Wu Tu.