Chapter Summaries

Zhang Xuezhou reunited with Zou Bugui in the Exalted One’s secret place, where Zou was refining Longevity Pills and teaching him. As Demon King Luli arrived seeking a pill for the dying Tiger Strength Demon King, Zou Bugui also began passing on the secret place’s formation knowledge to Zhang Xuezhou.

• Zhang Xuezhou arrived in the Exalted One’s secret place and embraced Zou Bugui, who warned him not to use the taboo word “death.”
• Zou Bugui explained that he was refining tens of thousands of Longevity Pills and demonstrated the process to Zhang Xuezhou.
• Zhang Xuezhou told Zou Bugui that Governor Li Guang had shot Tiger Strength Demon King, and Zou predicted that Demon King Luli would soon come for a Longevity Pill.
• Goat Strength Demon King and Demon King Luli pleaded outside while Tiger Strength Demon King breathed faintly, and Zou Bugui explained the secret place’s sound-transmitting tube to Zhang Xuezhou.
• Zou Bugui pointed out flaws in the secret place’s formations and resolved to pass on everything he knew about the Yin-Yang School to Zhang Xuezhou.

Demon King Luli sought Longevity Pills for the dying Tiger Strength Demon King, but Zou Bugui gave him only one, prioritizing His Excellency's needs. Zhang Xuezhou reported Emperor Jing's death and Liu Che's succession, leaving His Excellency weighing whether the news was true and considering the dangers and opportunities surrounding the Han Dynasty and Emperor Qin's rumored secret treasure trove.

• Demon King Luli asked Zou Bugui for many Longevity Pills, but Zou Bugui gave him one to test because he could not judge how many the Tiger Strength Demon King needed.
• His Excellency said Zou Bugui had been stingy, but accepted his argument that the pill would also preserve His Excellency's life.
• His Excellency kept Zhang Xuezhou in the secret place to help Zou Bugui with alchemy and asked whether Emperor Jing had gone mad.
• Zhang Xuezhou told His Excellency that Emperor Jing had died and Liu Che had ascended the throne as the new emperor.
• His Excellency questioned whether Emperor Jing's death was genuine and considered the Han Dynasty's vulnerability, Li Guang's uncertain allegiance, and the possibility of finding Emperor Qin's secret treasure trove.

His Lordship weighed the danger of Li Guang and decided to focus first on preventing him from reaching the Sacred Land. Meanwhile, Zou Bugui realized Jin Chang had survived and warned Zhang Xuezhou about the threat he posed, leaving Zhang with a clearer idea of the Yin-Yang School’s Human Pill technique.

• His Lordship considered the risks surrounding Li Guang, the Emperor Sword, and his plans, then ordered Zou Bugui to refine plenty of pills while prioritizing the danger of Li Guang reaching the Sacred Land.
• Zou Bugui noticed Zhang Xuezhou’s unusual seven-days-awake, seven-days-asleep condition and warned that it could leave him vulnerable to enemies.
• Zou Bugui suspected Jin Chang had faked his death, and Zhang Xuezhou admitted that Jin Chang was alive and explained how they had cooperated.
• Zou Bugui advised Zhang Xuezhou to stall Jin Chang and warned that Jin Chang might recover his cultivation and turn Zhang and his disciples into Human Pills.
• Zou Bugui described Human Pills as a process involving physical contact and a yin-yang Realm Technique that could convert another person’s cultivation for the user, easing Zhang Xuezhou’s fear of the unknown.

Zhang Xuezhou considered how he could survive Jin Chang’s dangerous Yin-Yang School technique, while Zou Bugui taught him the school’s inheritance. After learning that the inheritance jades could track each other, Zhang decided to get Jin Chang’s jade instead of waiting until he could safely open his own.

• Zou Bugui warned Zhang Xuezhou that Jin Chang could drain his internal force, but Zhang listed ways to counter him and remained confident.
• Zou Bugui recognized Zhang’s resourcefulness and began teaching him more Realm Techniques, hoping he might challenge Jin Chang.
• Zhang asked whether the Yin-Yang School had an inheritance jade, and Zou Bugui showed him the school’s white jade.
• Zou Bugui explained that activating one inheritance jade made the other heat up and reveal its location through its master’s Law Power.
• Zhang concluded that he could obtain Jin Chang’s inheritance jade and hold both, rather than waiting until his strength surpassed Jin Chang’s.

Zhang Xuezhou reassured Zou Bugui that they had a plan to protect the inheritance jade and discussed ways to ease Zou Bugui’s endless pill-refining burden. Zou Bugui began experimenting with a giant Longevity Pill, using the Tiger Strength Demon King as a possible test subject.

• Zhang Xuezhou reflected on his plan with Dong Zhongshu to obtain Jin Chang’s inheritance jade and considered Wu Chao a future ally.
• Zhang Xuezhou’s confidence eased Zou Bugui’s worries, and they discussed pill refinement.
• Zhang Xuezhou suggested combining the effects of many pills into one great pill to reduce Zou Bugui’s workload.
• Zou Bugui decided to test a giant Longevity Pill, expecting the Tiger Strength Demon King might need another dose.
• Zou Bugui used Zhang Xuezhou’s Balance to measure ten portions of medicinal paste and began forming the great pill in his Yin Yang Water Fire Pill Furnace.

Zou Bugui proposed testing a specially made Longevity Pill, ten times the usual size, on the injured Tiger Strength Demon King. The venerable one sent Zou Bugui and Zhang Xuezhou outside the secret realm to test it, where they saw the severity of the demon king’s wound.

• The venerable one asked Zou Bugui how many Longevity Pills might keep the Tiger Strength Demon King alive, and Zou Bugui explained that the pills could not cure his injuries.
• Zou Bugui offered a fist-sized Longevity Pill for the Tiger Strength Demon King, explaining that its medicinal effect might differ from an ordinary pill’s.
• The venerable one approved the test and ordered Zou Bugui to take the pill outside the secret realm and report what he learned.
• Zou Bugui left the secret realm with Zhang Xuezhou and rose from the lake toward Demon King Luli and the injured Tiger Strength Demon King.
• Zou Bugui saw the bowl-sized hole in the Tiger Strength Demon King’s chest, while Zhang Xuezhou recognized the destructive force of Li Guang’s arrow.

Zou Bugui delivered a fist-sized Longevity Pill for the gravely wounded Tiger Strength Demon King, and Demon King Luli reluctantly forced it down with help from Goat Strength Demon King and Zhang Xuezhou. After the pill finally reached Tiger Strength Demon King’s stomach, the brothers waited to see whether it would work, while Zhang Xuezhou learned that Goat Strength Demon King’s Cloud Soaring Technique was a human flying technique.

• Zou Bugui told Demon King Luli to make Tiger Strength Demon King swallow the oversized Longevity Pill, and Luli accepted the risk because his brother would otherwise die.
• Goat Strength Demon King and Demon King Luli forced the pill toward Tiger Strength Demon King’s throat while the lesser demons cheered.
• Zhang Xuezhou suggested using oil to help the pill slide down, and Goat Strength Demon King flew to the palace using his Cloud Soaring Technique to fetch lamp oil.
• Goat Strength Demon King poured the oil into Tiger Strength Demon King’s mouth, and Demon King Luli finally got the pill down.
• Demon King Luli warned Goat Strength Demon King that they still did not know whether the medicine would help.

In the Xieluosi River Holy Land, Zou Bugui’s Longevity Pill kept the gravely wounded Tiger Strength Demon King alive, but Demon King Luli’s painful treatment made him beg for death. The Goat Strength Demon King finally asked Zou Bugui to save his brother.

• The Tiger Strength Demon King swallowed Zou Bugui’s oversized pill while Demon King Luli threatened Zou Bugui if it failed.
• Demon King Luli repeatedly sprinkled bleeding-staunching powder onto the Tiger Strength Demon King, causing him to scream and faint, while Zou Bugui called Luli a quack.
• Zhang Xuezhou questioned whether the Tiger Strength Demon King wanted Luli to stop, and the Goat Strength Demon King agreed to wait for his brother to speak.
• When the Tiger Strength Demon King woke, he begged his brothers to give him a quick death and pleaded not to receive more powder.
• The Goat Strength Demon King bowed to Zou Bugui and asked him to save the Tiger Strength Demon King.

Zou Bugui said Tiger Strength Demon King’s fatal injuries required rare ingredients, while Zhang Xuezhou offered to heal him with a technique if Goat Strength Demon King helped him reach the Body Integration Realm. Goat Strength Demon King agreed to provide the resources, and promised Zhang Xuezhou their friendship if he saved his third brother.

• Zou Bugui said he lacked the ingredients to heal Tiger Strength Demon King and recommended Demon King Luli’s velvet-antler blood for a blood pill.
• Goat Strength Demon King refused Zhang Xuezhou’s initial request to discuss the Cloud Soaring Technique, then offered to teach it if Zhang saved his third brother.
• Zhang Xuezhou demonstrated a healing technique that rapidly closed Tiger Strength Demon King’s external wounds, but said he needed a cultivation breakthrough to heal internal damage.
• Zou Bugui supported Zhang Xuezhou’s claim that combining his technique with pills could save Tiger Strength Demon King.
• Zhang Xuezhou persuaded Goat Strength Demon King to provide treasures and help push his cultivation into the Body Integration Realm.
• Goat Strength Demon King agreed and promised Zhang Xuezhou their friendship if he brought Tiger Strength Demon King back to life.

His Excellency observed Zhang Xuezhou’s growing influence among the demons and planned to reward him, while preparing to meet the Holy Land’s visiting masters. The Dao Lord and Nine Spirits Primal Sage arrived, and the chapter ended with the Tiger Strength Demon King still alive but desperate to escape his pain as treatment continued.

• His Excellency watched the demons’ efforts to save the Tiger Strength Demon King and judged Zhang Xuezhou’s spying and social skills valuable.
• His Excellency considered rewarding Zhang Xuezhou and Zou Bugui, then sent his Dharma Body to meet the arriving Dao Lord and Nine Spirits Primal Sage.
• The Nine Spirits Primal Sage landed in the lake, soaked the bird demons, and complained to the Five Lakes’ Dragon Kings before entering the secret grounds.
• The Goat Strength Demon King picked up the Tiger Strength Demon King and reassured him that Zou Bugui and Zhang Xuezhou would soon begin proper treatment.
• The Tiger Strength Demon King said he could no longer endure the suffering, while Zou Bugui held the medicinal blood and Zhang Xuezhou collected ingredients for his breakthrough.

Zou Bugui and the demons worked to force Zhang Xuezhou through his bottleneck, supplying increasingly potent medicine until his Law Power began transforming. The chapter left Zhang Xuezhou entering the Consciousness Creation Realm as Zou Bugui wondered which Technique would become his specialty.

• Zou Bugui gave Zhang Xuezhou a Deer Blood Pill after he struggled to break through the True Spirit Realm bottleneck.
• Demon King Luli fetched more potent medicine, while Feiyu offered black ginseng in exchange for the Bone-Dissolving Grass and asked Zou Bugui to make Lingyu a Transformation Pill.
• Feiyu warned that Zhang Xuezhou needed a large dose of medicine at once and that his reliance on pills could make reaching the Body Transformation Realm harder.
• Zou Bugui refined twelve powerful Spirit-Forging Pills and forced them down Zhang Xuezhou's throat with water and oil.
• Zhang Xuezhou's Law Power began transforming, marking his breakthrough into the Consciousness Creation Realm.

Zhang Xuezhou struggled to break through from the peak of the True Spirit Realm despite taking a large quantity of Spirit-Forging Pills, while Zou Bugui helped protect his body with a Deer Blood Pill. The luck Emperor Jing had given him transformed his Law Power and carried him into the Consciousness Creation Realm with an unusually smooth breakthrough, leaving him to wonder whether he would need to seize more imperial luck for future advances.

• Zhang Xuezhou worried that his cultivation was being held back by an unexplained balance and that repeated medicinal breakthroughs could injure his body.
• Zou Bugui gave Zhang Xuezhou a Deer Blood Pill to strengthen his body against the effects of the Spirit-Forging Pills.
• Zhang Xuezhou swallowed twelve Spirit-Forging Pills with difficulty as the demon kings watched and offered help.
• The luck Emperor Jing had given Zhang Xuezhou transformed his Law Power and pushed him into the Consciousness Creation Realm.
• Zhang Xuezhou confirmed that his new Law Power was stable and powerful, then wondered whether he would need to seize emperors' or vassal kings' luck to advance again.

The Venerable One tried to persuade the Dao Lord and Nine Spirits Primal Sage to operate the Hundred Thousand Great Mountains' grand formation, but they kept dodging the request while watching Zhang Xuezhou’s breakthrough. He revealed that his apparent body was created through Yang Corporeal Soul Transformation and offered to teach them the technique if they helped him.

• The Dao Lord and Nine Spirits Primal Sage avoided agreeing to operate the grand formation and chatted about Zhang Xuezhou instead.
• The Dao Lord observed Zhang Xuezhou breaking through to the Consciousness Creation Realm and marveled at his luck and control of Law Power.
• The Venerable One urged the Dao Lord and Nine Spirits Primal Sage to examine his body, and they realized it was his Yang Corporeal Soul transformed body.
• The Venerable One offered to teach Yang Corporeal Soul Transformation if the two helped him move the formation.
• The Venerable One explained that the technique let its user fight without risking their physical body, and Nine Spirits Primal Sage and the Dao Lord eagerly wanted to learn it.

His Eminence tried to persuade the Dao Lord and Nine Spirits Primal Sage to help alter the Hundred Thousand Great Mountains by offering them the Dharma Body technique, but they distrusted his motives and its possible control backdoor. When he offered Longevity Pills instead, Nine Spirits Primal Sage eagerly swallowed one, leaving the negotiations unresolved.

• His Eminence revealed the Dharma Body technique and proposed using it to win the Dao Lord and Nine Spirits Primal Sage's help with changing the Hundred Thousand Great Mountains.
• The Dao Lord and Nine Spirits Primal Sage questioned whether the technique contained a control backdoor and demanded to know why His Eminence wanted to move the mountains.
• His Eminence struggled to prove his sincerity, while the Dao Lord and Nine Spirits Primal Sage prepared to leave without accepting his offer.
• His Eminence offered them Longevity Pills, and the Dao Lord explained that needing more of the pills could itself give His Eminence leverage over them.
• Nine Spirits Primal Sage insisted he would not take the pills, but swallowed one when Zou Bugui brought them and immediately felt relaxed.

Zou Bugui advised His Eminence on his predicament, and Zhang Xuezhou suggested a mutual exchange of treasures to build trust with the Dao Lord and Nine Spirits Primal Sage. The Dao Lord and Nine Spirits Primal Sage offered valuable items as collateral, leaving the three masters considering an arrangement of mutual restraint.

• Zou Bugui whispered a suggestion to His Eminence, who praised Zhang Xuezhou's cleverness.
• Zhang Xuezhou treated the Tiger Strength Demon King's injuries with a Technique Method while Huli, Luli, and Yangli urged him to continue.
• His Eminence summoned Zhang Xuezhou and asked how he could gain the trust of the Dao Lord and Nine Spirits Primal Sage.
• Zhang Xuezhou proposed exchanging His Eminence's Yin and Yang Eyes for treasures from the other two masters, so none of them would need to fear betrayal.
• The Dao Lord offered his flying blade and book of curses, while Nine Spirits Primal Sage offered his Heaven and Earth Pouch; the Dao Lord explained that his book could not kill Li Guang or Emperor Jing.

The Exalted One, Dao Lord, and Nine Spirits Primal Sage exchanged treasures to keep one another in check while preparing to move the formation in the Hundred Thousand Great Mountains. After settling their dispute, they turned their attention to Zhang Xuezhou and his knowledge of the Acupoint-Fixing Technique.

• The Exalted One, Dao Lord, and Nine Spirits Primal Sage described the treasures they had taken from one another and agreed to return them after moving the formation and passing on the Exalted One's method.
• The Exalted One explained that he feared Li Guang could attack him if the formation remained unchanged, and considered the trouble in the Sacred Land largely the result of problems among his own people.
• The Dao Lord stopped Zhang Xuezhou from leaving and asked about his use of the Fuxi Physiognomy School's Acupoint-Fixing Technique.
• The Dao Lord revealed that Hongku knew only the Star-Fixing Technique and had physical problems, so he could not rely on him to use the Acupoint-Fixing Technique.
• The Dao Lord, Exalted One, and Nine Spirits Primal Sage concluded that Zhang Xuezhou was their best available option, while lamenting that Emperor Qin had wiped out the physiognomists of the Southern Jambudvipa Continent.

The Exalted One recruited Zhang Xuezhou and Zou Bugui to help the three Sacred Land lords alter the formation around the Hundred Thousand Great Mountains, warning them that the work carried both danger and benefits. The Exalted One revealed that Li Guang had shot at the secret realm, and the Dao Lord led them to open its cavern.

• Zhang Xuezhou hesitantly agreed to consider helping after the Exalted One explained that useful helpers would be needed for the dangerous task.
• Zou Bugui volunteered his formation skills, and the Dao Lord and Nine Spirits Primal Sage explained that the formation work could benefit their cultivation and longevity.
• The Exalted One revealed that Li Guang had come through the Hundred Thousand Great Mountains and shot an arrow at the secret realm's gate.
• The Nine Spirits Primal Sage and Dao Lord worried about Li Guang's Heaven-Shaking Arrow and agreed to block it off by cutting through the great formation.
• The Exalted One asked which Sacred Land school Li Guang belonged to, but the Dao Lord instead led the group toward the pillar of fire to open the secret realm's cavern.

Zhang Xuezhou and Zou Bugui followed the Venerable One, the Dao Lord, and the Nine Spirits Primal Sage through the Venerable One’s secret realm to its reverse side. There, the three Sacred Land lords drew two other secret realms toward the formation’s power source and asked Zhang Xuezhou to use his Acupoint-Fixing Technique to interrupt it.

• The Venerable One led the group down through a passage of subterranean fire while keeping Zhang Xuezhou and Zou Bugui safe.
• The group emerged beneath the Geomagnetic Primal Light, and Zou Bugui recognized the place as the reverse side of a secret realm.
• The Venerable One, the Dao Lord, and the Nine Spirits Primal Sage used their secret-realm treasures and incantations to draw two distant secret realms closer.
• Zhang Xuezhou saw that one approaching secret realm held silent palaces and the other held lionesses and cubs.
• The Venerable One explained how the three secret realms powered the Hundred Thousand Great Mountains formation and asked Zhang Xuezhou to use his Acupoint-Fixing Technique to cut off the Primordial Chaos Limitless Formation briefly.

Zhang Xuezhou used the three sacred treasures to perceive the Primordial Chaos Limitless Formation and locate its major acupoint. He left knowing where the formation’s core lay, but wary of the dangers and the three lords who needed his help.

• The Dao Lord, the Honored One, and the Nine Spirits Primal Sage explained that Zhang Xuezhou had to enter the formation and block its acupoints, while warning him of the geomagnetic primal light and promising abundant Spiritual Qi.
• Zou Bugui offered to learn the Acupoint-Fixing Technique and take Zhang Xuezhou’s place, but the Dao Lord and the Honored One explained why Zhang Xuezhou’s past experience sealing a major acupoint qualified him for the task.
• Zhang Xuezhou dripped his Essence Blood onto the colored glass, bluestone, and precious pearl, allowing the three lords to reveal the formation’s inscriptions to him.
• Zhang Xuezhou used the Honored One’s colored glass to perceive how the hidden realms and the three hundred and sixty extraordinary peaks shaped the Hundred Thousand Great Mountains’ formation.
• Zhang Xuezhou sensed that the formation’s major acupoint lay at the center of the triangle formed by the three hidden realms, then tried to hide his unease from the three lords.

Zhang Xuezhou used Nine Spirits Primal Sage’s hair to measure the distance between secret locations and flew out to locate the Primordial Chaos Limitless Formation’s eye. The others waited uncertainly as he attempted the dangerous task.

• Zhang Xuezhou asked the Exalted One for the distance between inscriptions and proposed using Nine Spirits Primal Sage’s hair as a measuring rope.
• Nine Spirits Primal Sage plucked out 1,632 hairs, which the Exalted One and Dao Lord joined into a rope and sent between secret locations.
• Zhang Xuezhou measured a section of the rope, gave it to Zou Bugui, and flew toward the formation’s center with the remaining rope.
• Nine Spirits Primal Sage worried Zhang Xuezhou was being rash, while Dao Lord said success would prove he was a formation genius.
• The Exalted One expressed confidence in Zhang Xuezhou and hoped he would survive.