Chapter Summaries

Hongku learned that his son’s careless remark had sparked the venerables’ suspicion and resolved to retaliate against them, then joined Jin Chang in moving against Venerable Yun. As Jin Chang entered the formation to lure Venerable Yun, Hongku revealed his life-bound Heart-Piercing Nail, while Wu Chao began to feel his restraints lifting.

• Jin Chang admitted he could not heal Wu Chao and urged Zhang Xuezhou to help him advance so Jin Chang could learn the corresponding cultivation technique.
• Venerable Wenhuang told Hongku that his son’s remark about wanting a spacious palace had spread among the venerables and made them wary of Hongku’s ambition.
• Hongku regretted his earlier words, decided to hunt down the venerables he believed were targeting him, and chose to rely on Jin Chang’s strength despite his weakness.
• Jin Chang entered Venerable Yun’s formation while controlling Venerable Wenhuang to call for help, as Hongku prepared to kill Venerable Yun himself.
• Hongku showed Zhang Xuezhou his life-refined Heart-Piercing Nail, and Wu Chao sensed his heart’s shackles loosening as Zhang Xuezhou healed him.

Hongku defeated four venerables in the Five Ghost Yin Wind Sword Formation, killing three and forcing Venerable Wenhuang to surrender. He emerged as the victor and rose to power under the Sacred Land’s rules.

• Venerable Yun learned from Venerable Wenhuang that Hongku had defeated Venerable Sanxiao and Venerable Daode, leaving the four attackers badly outmatched.
• Venerable Wenhuang collapsed after speaking, and Venerable Yun tried to negotiate with Hongku while preparing to attack if he appeared.
• Hongku appeared with the Heart-Piercing Nail as Venerable Wenhuang secretly restrained Venerable Yun’s vital acupoints.
• Hongku used the Heart-Piercing Nail and two Yin ghosts’ bone swords to kill Venerable Yun and two others, while Venerable Wenhuang survived.
• Venerable Wenhuang conceded defeat, and the assembled venerables and mages recognized Hongku as the victor in the one-against-four contest.

Hongku became a Venerable after the Dao Lord’s decision, despite Venerable Yinghua’s objections. Hongku then offered to expel Zhang Xuezhou and Wu Chao, while Jin Chang warned them that Hongku was dangerous.

• Venerable Yinghua challenged Hongku’s claim to a Venerable’s position and proposed that he duel another Venerable.
• The Dao Lord’s dislike of the number nine forced Hongku to spare Venerable Wenhuang, leaving ten Venerables and securing Hongku’s new position.
• Venerable Yinghua questioned Hongku about the deaths of his students and the alleged Substitute Death Incantations.
• Hongku offered to expel Zhang Xuezhou and Wu Chao, take no more students, and send Wu Jin to study at the Vermilion Clouds Palace.
• Jin Chang warned Zhang Xuezhou and Wu Chao that Hongku was dangerous, while Wu Chao privately recognized that Jin Chang was dangerous too.

The Exalted One visited the Dao Lord, asked for help and for Venerable Wenhuang, then left after confirming that Zhang Xuezhou had survived the crisis. Watching him depart, the Dao Lord reflected on his own approaching death and considered how far he might go before the end.

• The Dao Lord refused the Exalted One’s request to curse the Golden Crow Great Emperor, Emperor Jing, Li Guang, Haotian, and the Queen Mother.
• The Exalted One revealed that he had watched Zhang Xuezhou and the others survive their fight with Hongku, and said Zhang had passed his test.
• The Exalted One asked for Venerable Wenhuang, but then said he wanted to beat her to death; the Dao Lord’s response about the number nine made him abandon killing Jin Chang for now.
• The Exalted One departed in his dragon carriage, and the Dao Lord suspected that the aging, desperate man had come for more than he admitted.
• The Dao Lord considered his own mortality, studied a flying blade that reflected several powerful figures, and carved a stone image of Hongku while contemplating his cultivation limits and possible final actions.

Hongku lifted the Substitute Death Incantation from Wu Chao and negotiated with Jin Chang over removing the Puppet Technique and cooperating against the venerables. Jin Chang asked Hongku to raise Zhang Xuezhou’s cultivation to at least the Body Transformation Realm, and Hongku was pleased to gain a powerful ally for his revenge.

• Hongku broke the guiding jade and confirmed that Wu Chao’s Substitute Death Incantation had been lifted, but Wu Chao refused to learn the dangerous technique.
• Jin Chang and Zhang Xuezhou also refused to examine Hongku’s Incantation Technique, wary of its risks and weaknesses.
• Jin Chang pulled puppet thread from Hongku and agreed to undo the Puppet Technique, though neither man could be sure the other had not tampered with their technique.
• Hongku proposed cooperating with Jin Chang to track and kill the venerables, but Jin Chang said he wanted the Nine Heavens Sect’s inheritance and had little need for Hongku’s help.
• Jin Chang asked Hongku to raise Zhang Xuezhou’s cultivation to at least the Body Transformation Realm, and Hongku welcomed the prospect of Jin Chang’s help in his revenge.

Hongku persuaded Zhang Xuezhou to visit Vermilion Clouds Palace and learn the Technique Within the Clouds from Venerable Lei, while asking him to bring back a medium for the Star-Fixing Technique if he could. Zhang Xuezhou arrived to find Venerable Lei lecturing on the very Technique he had come to study.

• Hongku urged Zhang Xuezhou to seize the chance to learn the Technique Within the Clouds, warning that its power to fly could save his life.
• Hongku placed a Technique on Zhang Xuezhou and gave him a storage pouch, explaining how to bind it to his own Law Power and asking him to collect a medium if the opportunity arose.
• Zhang Xuezhou filled the pouch with his belongings and set off for Vermilion Clouds Palace, while Wu Chao wondered what more he might gain from their failed assassination attempt.
• Zhang Xuezhou reached Vermilion Clouds Palace and found Venerable Lei lecturing a few servants on the Technique Within the Clouds.

Venerable Lei taught Zhang Xuezhou the Technique Within the Clouds, repeating the lecture three times before demonstrating its flight technique. After Lei vanished, the gathered venerables questioned Zhang Xuezhou about Hongku, hoping to learn how to guard against him.

• Venerable Lei taught Zhang Xuezhou advanced material on flight techniques, wing refinement, and spatial leaps at the Vermilion Clouds Palace.
• Five venerables arrived and discussed how Venerable Lei was severing his bond with Hongku, while Zhang Xuezhou focused on memorizing the lesson.
• Venerable Lei repeated his explanation twice, helping Zhang Xuezhou fill gaps in his memory of the Technique Within the Clouds.
• Venerable Lei finished the lesson and demonstrated the technique with enormous feathered wings before vanishing in a burst of thunder.
• An elderly venerable asked Zhang Xuezhou to share what he knew about Hongku so they could guard against him.

Zhang Xuezhou tried to use tea and fruit to help Hongku mark the Venerables, but he ate poisonous fruit and was caught in their scheme to keep him in the Sacred Land. After the Venerables discussed Hongku, Venerable Lei gathered the teacups with Hongku’s hidden strand of hair and flew to the Ostentatious Palace.

• Zhang Xuezhou served the Venerables tea and fruit, then ate a Thunderclap Fruit and suffered from its extreme sourness and poison.
• The Venerables revealed that stealing Venerable Lei’s fruit could earn Zhang Xuezhou a long punishment, and they blocked him from leaving.
• Venerable Black Mountain confirmed that Zhang Xuezhou had eaten poisonous fruit, while Venerable White Bone eased his trembling with a wave of his fan.
• After Zhang Xuezhou left, the Venerables discussed Hongku’s Substitute Death Incantation, divination, and alliance with Wenhuang.
• A strand of Hongku’s hair listened beneath Zhang Xuezhou’s meditation cushion, then bound the teacups together for Venerable Lei.
• Venerable Lei took the teacups and flew to the Ostentatious Palace.

Wu Chao weighed his uncertain future and decided to preserve his alliance with Zhang Xuezhou, while Jin Chang and Hongku argued over how to raise Zhang Xuezhou’s cultivation. The chapter ended with Jin Chang limiting their deal to advancing Zhang Xuezhou three levels within the Body Transformation Realm in exchange for killing three venerables.

• Wu Chao worried that Jin Chang’s disguise as Venerable Wenhuang would be exposed and considered the dangers of his own future paths.
• Wu Chao recognized Zhang Xuezhou as a reliable ally and resolved to repay him and maintain their relationship.
• Jin Chang warned Wu Chao that Zhang Xuezhou had likely eaten a Heavenly Thunder Fruit, making the Life-Sustaining Pill ineffective.
• Hongku explained that Venerable Lei had given Zhang Xuezhou the fruit, which could strengthen his wind and thunder powers and help him break through lower cultivation realms.
• Jin Chang forbade Hongku from forcibly raising Zhang Xuezhou’s cultivation and agreed to kill three venerables if Hongku advanced Zhang Xuezhou three levels step by step within the Body Transformation Realm.

After the Heavenly Thunder Fruit left Zhang Xuezhou unable to feel his teeth, Hongku and Wu Chao explained its effects and offered advice. Wu Chao offered Zhang Xuezhou one last batch of cultivation materials, and Zhang Xuezhou resolved to keep improving as he prepared a long list.

• Zhang Xuezhou checked his appearance and teeth after recovering, while Wu Chao reassured him that the numbness from the Heavenly Thunder Fruit would pass.
• Hongku advised Zhang Xuezhou to cultivate the Technique Within the Clouds to help his body recover, and Jin Chang explained that the fruit helped great demons withstand heavenly lightning.
• Wu Chao offered to provide Zhang Xuezhou with one last batch of cultivation materials before their cooperation ended.
• Zhang Xuezhou reconsidered his cultivation goals, deciding that becoming stronger would help him maintain an equal footing with Wu Chao.
• Zhang Xuezhou wrote down more than a hundred materials for the Technique Within the Clouds, while Jin Chang compared Wu Chao's generosity with Zou Bugui's stinginess.

After being expelled from the Yedie River Holy Land, Wu Chao and Zhang Xuezhou lived in a slave tent and faced mockery from apprentices. Wu Chao turned the tables on Wu Ming and, inspired by Zhang Xuezhou, decided to seek farewell gifts from his junior brothers before leaving the mountain.

• Apprentices learned that Wu Chao and Zhang Xuezhou had been expelled and gathered outside their tent to mock them.
• Wu Chao explained to Zhang Xuezhou that Wu Ming, the third son of the Abusi Tribe chief, had enough status to provoke him despite his fall from favor.
• Wu Ming challenged Wu Chao, who trapped him with the Snake Head Incantation and threatened to kill anyone who intervened.
• Zhang Xuezhou urged the watching apprentices to bring gifts if they wanted Wu Chao to spare Wu Ming.
• Wu Chao demanded Heavenly Silkworm Silk from Wu Ming and decided to visit his junior brothers to collect farewell gifts.

Wu Chao and Zhang Xuezhou finished looting the apprentices of the Yedie River Holy Land and decided to leave before trouble found them. As their carriages departed, Hongku sent Jin Chang, disguised as Venerable Wenhuang, to follow them and prepare to strike.

• Dharma Master Hongyi and the other Dharma Masters discussed Hongku's expulsion of Wu Chao and Wu Jin while the bruised apprentices prepared to send Wu Chao and Zhang Xuezhou off the mountain.
• Wu Chao and Zhang Xuezhou collected more than eighty portions of materials from the apprentices, and Zhang Xuezhou learned from Wu Chao that storage bags were scarce and difficult for outsiders to obtain.
• Zhang Xuezhou felt his Demon Power growing and worried about its effects, so he urged Wu Chao to leave the Yedie River Holy Land and look for the Xiong State royal family's supply caravan.
• Wu Chao and Zhang Xuezhou packed their belongings, summoned several slaves, and departed the Holy Land in two horse-drawn carriages.
• Hongku told Jin Chang, disguised as Venerable Wenhuang, that a Venerable would likely follow Wu Chao and Wu Jin, then ordered him to choose a moment to strike.

Venerable Black Mountain and Venerable White Bone speculated about Venerable Wenhuang and Hongku’s alliance as Venerable Yufeng pursued his own course. Meanwhile, Zhang Xuezhou and Wu Chao left the Sacred Land together, but their journey stopped when Yufeng descended and called out for Wenhuang.

• Venerable Black Mountain and Venerable White Bone discussed Wenhuang’s closeness to Hongku and watched Venerable Yufeng leave the Sacred Land.
• Zhang Xuezhou and Wu Chao left the Sacred Land, shared plans to combine their sect legacies, and decided to camp rather than travel through the night.
• Venerable Yufeng descended from the sky near their camp, ignored Wu Chao’s greeting, and called out, “Wenhuang!”

Venerable Yufeng attacked Wu Chao and Zhang Xuezhou while searching for Venerable Wenhuang, but Jin Chang’s ambush left Yufeng holding Wenhuang’s poisoned head. As Jin Chang weakened and Wenhuang begged for a new body, Yufeng threatened to use his strength to claim a vessel.

• Venerable Yufeng searched the carriages for Venerable Wenhuang and destroyed them, killing the horses and enslaved drivers.
• Venerable Yufeng’s oppressive force made Wu Chao and Zhang Xuezhou bleed and plunged Zhang Xuezhou into a terrifying vision.
• Jin Chang urged Zhang Xuezhou and Wu Chao to attack after he ambushed Venerable Yufeng, who ended up holding Venerable Wenhuang’s head.
• Jin Chang revealed that his strength was declining and tried to persuade Venerable Wenhuang to kill Yufeng in exchange for a new body.
• Venerable Wenhuang pleaded for revenge against Jin Chang, while Venerable Yufeng considered using his own body or the bodies of Wu Chao and Zhang Xuezhou as vessels.

Venerable Yufeng formed a wind blade to kill the group and preserve their bodies, but Wu Chao and Zhang Xuezhou seized the chance to kill him first. Yufeng’s exploding technique stripped the flesh from him and Venerable Wenhuang, leaving both dead as bones.

• Venerable Yufeng began forming a razor-sharp wind blade, and Zhang Xuezhou and Wu Chao realized he intended to take their bodies.
• Jin Chang ordered the others to kill Yufeng, while Zhang Xuezhou ran to give Wu Chao room to use the Great Wilderness Creation Scripture.
• Wu Chao sent his Snake Head Incantation at Yufeng, and the venomous python bit into his groin but could not penetrate his defenses.
• Zhang Xuezhou turned back and used Venerable Lei’s “Technique Within the Clouds” to behead Yufeng with the blade that had killed Hongku.
• Yufeng’s unfinished wind blade exploded, stripping the flesh from Venerable Wenhuang’s head and then Yufeng’s body until both were reduced to bones.

Zhang Xuezhou survived Venerable Yufeng’s storm because his wings shielded him, though the gale left him badly cut and his clothes shredded. He treated Wu Chao while Jin Chang begged for help, and Zhang and Wu recognized that Jin Chang’s poisoned, weakened state offered a chance to kill him.

• Zhang Xuezhou, Wu Chao, and Jin Chang were battered by Venerable Yufeng’s storm, but Zhang’s wings protected his body while Zou Bugui’s pill rapidly lost its power.
• Jin Chang noticed that Zhang’s wings had formed wind vortices and deduced that Venerable Lei’s fruit was protecting him.
• Jin Chang begged Zhang Xuezhou to save him as the Golden Toad Poison worsened his condition, but Zhang initially remained overwhelmed by pain.
• After Wu Chao called out about a great treasure, Zhang Xuezhou recovered his wits, treated himself with the Supreme Purity True Technique, and then began healing Wu Chao.
• Zhang Xuezhou considered leaving Jin Chang to die, while Wu Chao recognized that Jin Chang’s helplessness presented an opportunity to kill him.

Zhang Xuezhou agreed to save Jin Chang after Jin Chang warned that Hongku had arranged the operation to kill them all. Jin Chang swore a Heart Demon Oath to protect Zhang Xuezhou and diligently train Wu Chao, while Zhang fell asleep from exhaustion and the survivors faced the journey ahead.

• Jin Chang begged Zhang Xuezhou to save him, warning that Hongku had planned for all five of them to die and could still be a threat.
• Zhang Xuezhou demanded that Jin Chang swear a Heart Demon Oath to protect him and properly train Wu Chao, and Jin Chang agreed.
• Wu Chao recovered enough to stand and realized he would have to travel a long distance on foot toward Xiong State's capital.
• Jin Chang noticed that Zhang Xuezhou had fallen asleep from exhaustion and concluded they would have to protect him until he could heal them again.
• Jin Chang suspected Hongku had outmaneuvered him and wondered how they had survived the scheme.

Wu Chao sought reassurance that Hongku’s Substitute Death Incantation had been lifted, and Zhang Xuezhou and Jin Chang explained why he was likely safe if he stayed away from Hongku. Jin Chang reflected on Zhang Xuezhou’s knack for profiting from dangerous schemes, then turned to investigate why his own cultivation was declining.

• Wu Chao asked Zhang Xuezhou whether the Substitute Death Incantation had been completely lifted, and Zhang Xuezhou said Hongku probably would not have risked leaving it in place.
• Jin Chang explained that Hongku’s death-substitution technique likely depended on proximity and told Wu Chao not to blame every former student’s death on Hongku.
• Jin Chang warned that he had planted a hidden measure in Hongku and said he would kill him with a curse if Hongku failed to give a satisfactory answer.
• Wu Chao asked Jin Chang to keep him far away when he went to confront Hongku, and Jin Chang reflected on how Zhang Xuezhou had disrupted the scheme and escaped with the Heavenly Thunder Fruit.
• Jin Chang judged that Zhang Xuezhou’s limited cultivation aptitude would make it difficult for him to reach the top, then focused on discovering why his own cultivation had declined.

As the group traveled through the wilderness, Jin Chang taught Wu Chao the Yin Yang Nine People Sect’s cultivation methods while Zhang Xuezhou listened and weighed the cost of learning a second inheritance. Jin Chang revealed that the Golden Toad Poison and his expensive battles had left him weak and nearly bankrupt, leaving Wu Chao without the support he had hoped for.

• Jin Chang taught Wu Chao the Yin Yang Nine People Sect’s methods while Zhang Xuezhou memorized the lessons and declined to cultivate a second inheritance.
• Jin Chang explained that advancing through both the Nine Heavens Sect and Nine People Sect required great difficulty and additional cultivation resources.
• Jin Chang described how cultivation changed upon reaching the Divine Ability Realm and suggested Wu Chao might develop a technique based on his Snake Head Incantation.
• Jin Chang revealed that his battles had depleted his resources and that the Golden Toad Poison had weakened him, warning Zhang Xuezhou and Wu Chao not to cause trouble.
• Zhang Xuezhou realized Jin Chang could not help Wu Chao secure a position in the imperial family, leaving Wu Chao grim-faced.

Jin Chang, Zhang Xuezhou, and Wu Chao traveled through the wilderness after Jin Chang lost part of his cultivation. Venerable Black Mountain and Venerable White Bone found Zhang Xuezhou and Wu Chao while investigating Venerable Wenhuang and Venerable Yufeng’s deaths, and the chapter left the two former students facing questions based on a mistaken assumption about what happened.

• Jin Chang brooded over his lost cultivation until a warning made him hide in the grass with his puppet strings.
• Zhang Xuezhou and Wu Chao pretended to be injured, destitute travelers when they heard horses approaching.
• Venerable Black Mountain recognized Zhang Xuezhou and Wu Chao, and Venerable White Bone turned back after hearing who they were.
• Venerable Black Mountain and Venerable White Bone were surprised the pair had survived the fight between Venerable Wenhuang and Venerable Yufeng without serious injuries.
• Venerable White Bone asked Zhang Xuezhou and Wu Chao how Venerable Wenhuang and Venerable Yufeng had fought and died, assuming they had killed each other.