Chapter Summaries

Zhang Xuezhou and Li Shaojun led the jianghu heroes through the Beast Taming Sect’s traps and into its grounds, where a soldier killed Li Shaojun with a shot. As Zhang Xuezhou hid with the others, Jin Chang recognized something familiar about him and asked whether they had met before.

• Li Shaojun agreed to lead the attack with Zhang Xuezhou and Rong Tianding, hoping to push the arguing heroes into action.
• Li Shaojun guided nearly a hundred people safely through the Hundred Beasts Forest and up to the Beast Taming Sect’s mountain gate.
• Su Fei told the group that the secret vault lay inside the sect’s great ancestral hall, and Lei Bao warned them about the skilled marksman Shi Fu.
• A black streak struck Li Shaojun, who pretended to die, while the crowd scattered or rushed toward the ancestral hall.
• Zhang Xuezhou and Rong Tianding carried Li Shaojun’s body into hiding, where Jin Chang asked Zhang Xuezhou if they had met before.

Jin Chang searched the Beast Taming Sect for a way to exchange its inheritance for access to the Literary Excellence Pavilion’s Tomb Scripture, while trying to identify Zhang Xuezhou beneath his disguise. After realizing who Zhang Xuezhou was, Jin Chang returned to the woods and discovered that Li Shaojun had faked his death again.

• Jin Chang recalled nearly being killed by Senior Brother Rulai and sought the Beast Taming Sect’s inheritance to trade for a chance to study the Tomb Scripture.
• Lei Bei questioned Zhang Xuezhou, and Jin Chang pinched his face before deciding he was an old man rather than someone he remembered.
• Zhang Xuezhou and Rong Tianding carried Li Shaojun’s supposedly dead body into the woods, while Jin Chang went to watch Su Fei.
• Jin Chang recognized the Yin-Yang School’s Qi in Zhang Xuezhou and deduced his identity, then returned to the woods to seek his help.
• Jin Chang found Zhang Xuezhou and the others watching the commotion while Li Shaojun was alive, and recognized Li Shaojun.

Li Shaojun, Zhang Xuezhou, and Rong Tianding planned to gather valuables after the Beast Taming Sect's defenders and intruders fought, but Jin Chang appeared and proposed joining forces to obtain the sect's inheritance. Jin Chang revealed his pursuit of the Tomb Scripture in Room A, unaware that Zhang Xuezhou already knew about it and that its promised effects had apparently been secured.

• Li Shaojun explained his plan to loot valuables left behind when people fled the Beast Taming Sect and advised Zhang Xuezhou to avoid the horse-taming technique and seek less obvious treasures.
• Zhang Xuezhou and Li Shaojun agreed to divide their spoils by taking money and bone implements, respectively.
• Jin Chang emerged from the woods, recognized Zhang Xuezhou despite his disguise, and revealed his identity.
• Jin Chang said he wanted the Beast Taming Sect's inheritance manual to enter Room A and offered to cooperate with Zhang Xuezhou and the others.
• Jin Chang revealed that he had heard the Tomb Scripture in Room A could dispel bad luck and fulfill wishes, and offered to share it if they helped him.
• Zhang Xuezhou realized Jin Chang was behind on the Tomb Scripture's secret, since Dong Zhongshu's people had apparently already secured its effects.

Zhang Xuezhou agreed to accompany Jin Chang toward the Beast Taming Sect’s secret vault while asking him to protect Zhang Cigong, who held its key. As Jin Chang scouted the sect, Zhang Xuezhou considered how to secure an easy but influential court position and decided to seek Dong Zhongshu’s advice in Shouchun City.

• Zhang Xuezhou told Jin Chang that Zhang Cigong, a former Beast Taming Sect disciple, had the key to the sect’s secret vault, and Jin Chang agreed to help him.
• Jin Chang slipped away to scout the Beast Taming Sect, while Zhang Xuezhou, Rong Tianding, and Li Shaojun waited outside the fighting.
• Rong Tianding asked whether Zhang Xuezhou would be in danger as an official, and Zhang Xuezhou said he would avoid a dangerous post.
• Zhang Xuezhou decided to visit Dong Zhongshu in Shouchun City before returning to Chang'an City and ask him how to pursue a suitable official career.
• Li Shaojun warned that Zhang Xuezhou’s lack of ambition could make the court suspect him of being an Immortal Court spy.

Zhang Xuezhou took Li Shaojun’s advice to show the emperor some manageable weakness, then waited with Li Shaojun, Rong Tianding, and Jin Chang near the secret vault. Su Fei’s group triggered the ancestral hall’s traps, leaving Jin Chang’s party to wait for their chance to approach the lock.

• Li Shaojun advised Zhang Xuezhou that officials needed to give the emperor some leverage over them, and Zhang Xuezhou accepted the lesson.
• Jin Chang revealed that he had found Zhang Cigong by calling out Zhang Xuezhou’s name and watching for a reaction.
• Jin Chang explained that Su Fei could force the secret vault open without a key, though doing so risked triggering its mechanisms.
• Su Fei’s group set off a mechanism in the ancestral hall, which shook as crossbow bolts fired and people shouted and fought.
• Jin Chang said his group would approach once Su Fei’s party gave up trying to pry open the lock.

Su Fei lured the jianghu fighters into the Beast Taming Sect's trapped great hall, then sealed them inside after the mechanisms and poisonous smoke struck. Outside, he tried to persuade the Four Heroes of Qingzhou to help him claim the sect's hidden treasures.

• The jianghu fighters crowded around the secret vault entrance, ignoring Su Fei as they tried to force it open.
• The Yellow Dragon Island Lord pushed into the crowd, while the Four Heroes of Qingzhou stayed back and planned to steal from whoever found the treasures.
• When Su Fei reached the hall's threshold, a mechanism fired crossbow bolts and released poisonous smoke into the room.
• Su Fei shut the great hall's doors, leaving the trapped fighters to weaken from the Soft Tendon Powder and the smoke.
• Su Fei called on the Four Heroes of Qingzhou to help seal the hall and claim the treasures, and said they could blame the imperial court for the deaths.

Su Fei and the Four Heroes of Qingzhou killed the poisoned and wounded martial heroes outside the great shrine before Jin Chang and his companions confronted them. Zhang Xuezhou revealed they had the secret vault key, and Su Fei opened the shrine so they could search for the key-holder and enter the vault.

• Su Fei, his hunting dogs, and the Four Heroes of Qingzhou killed the Yellow Dragon Island Lord and other survivors who had escaped the great shrine.
• Jin Chang, Zhang Xuezhou, and their companions revealed themselves, and Su Fei agreed to cooperate in opening the secret vault.
• Zhang Xuezhou told Su Fei that their group had the vault key, and Su Fei agreed not to use the shrine's mechanisms against them.
• Su Fei removed the iron bars and reopened the great shrine's doors as Zhang Xuezhou called for Ruan Qigong.
• Jin Chang entered the smoke-filled shrine and found the crossbow-wounded Zhang Cigong.

Su Fei opened the Beast Taming Sect’s secret vault, and the group descended through a deep passage toward the treasures. A hidden falling-rock mechanism then struck as they moved through a narrow corridor, forcing them to retreat.

• Zhang Xuezhou left the injured Zhang Cigong in Rong Tianding’s care and followed Jin Chang as Su Fei opened the vault with the dragon-shaped jade key.
• Su Fei led the group down a deep, well-ventilated passage, while Zhang Xuezhou and Jin Chang exchanged complaints and kept wary of each other.
• Jin Chang urged everyone to stay close as Su Fei led them farther down a narrow passage toward the treasure vault.
• Wenren Dong triggered a hidden mechanism, and falling rocks struck him and Wenren Xi.
• Lei Bei called for a retreat and backed through the cramped passage, aggravating Jin Chang’s injuries as Zhang Xuezhou hurried behind them.

Zhang Xuezhou survived the passage’s traps alongside Lei Bei, Jin Chang, and the apparently dead Li Shaojun, then reached the Beast Taming Sect’s underground refuge. There, the sect’s giant ape spirit beast seized Lei Bei in the pool while Jin Chang attacked Su Fei.

• Zhang Xuezhou used the Stone Transformation Technique to survive falling rocks, and Lei Bei’s sword attack drove Su Fei fleeing through the passage.
• Jin Chang pursued Su Fei while Lei Bei and Zhang Xuezhou continued onward, leaving Li Shaojun’s body behind until his resurrection interval passed.
• Zhang Xuezhou reached a ventilated cavern containing storage chambers and the Jade Water Pool, where Su Fei faced Jin Chang with an empty crossbow.
• A giant water hand struck Lei Bei, and a water ring dragged him into the pool after Jin Chang warned him not to let the water touch him.
• Su Fei celebrated the return of the Beast Taming Sect’s Great Sage, a chained giant ape, but Jin Chang stabbed him through the body with transparent threads.
• The giant ape stopped fighting as Jin Chang’s attack revealed that he, not Lei Bei, controlled the situation.

Jin Chang tried to bargain with Great Sage Water Ape while holding Su Fei hostage, but Great Sage Water Ape captured him with the water of the Jade Water Pool. Great Sage Water Ape recognized the Golden Crow Great Emperor’s feather Zhang Xuezhou carried and invited him back, leaving Zhang Xuezhou relieved that the token had earned the water god’s courtesy.

• Jin Chang threatened Su Fei and tried to negotiate with Great Sage Water Ape, who gave him ten breaths to release the hostage.
• Jin Chang fled through the shadows, but Great Sage Water Ape flooded the underground space, dragged him into the Jade Water Pool, and knocked him unconscious.
• Great Sage Water Ape noticed Zhang Xuezhou retreating through the passage and invited him in after recognizing the Golden Crow Great Emperor’s feather.
• Zhang Xuezhou returned to the Jade Water Pool and recognized Great Sage Water Ape, who asked after Golden Crow Great Emperor and politely identified himself as the water god of the Huai River.

Zhang Xuezhou learned about Great Sage Water Ape’s long, isolated life and promised to ask the Heavenly Court about transferring him. He then considered how to keep Jin Chang alive while obtaining the Nine People Sect’s technique without making him an enemy.

• Great Sage Water Ape recounted how he learned of the world’s changes decades late and spent centuries wandering before settling with the Beast Taming Sect.
• Zhang Xuezhou shared what little he knew of the Heavenly Court, leaving Great Sage Water Ape shocked by how much time had passed and how its gods had declined.
• Great Sage Water Ape explained that water sustained his unusual longevity, but his inability to leave it and ignorance of the world had made his long life empty.
• Zhang Xuezhou promised to ask the Heavenly Court about Great Sage Water Ape’s transfer and then asked whether Jin Chang and Lei Bei were dead.
• Great Sage Water Ape offered to kill Jin Chang, but Zhang Xuezhou refused because he wanted Jin Chang’s Nine People Sect technique and weighed the risk of making him an enemy.

Great Sage Water Ape tortured Jin Chang and Zhang Xuezhou to force them to reveal their cultivation secrets. Jin Chang began sharing the Yin-Yang School’s Realm Technique and agreed that he and Zhang Xuezhou would cooperate, hoping they would both be released.

• Jin Chang woke to find Great Sage Water Ape threatening Zhang Xuezhou for the Yin-Yang School’s cultivation secrets.
• Great Sage Water Ape alternated between drowning Jin Chang and Zhang Xuezhou to pressure them into talking.
• Jin Chang began reciting the Yin Yang Nine People Sect’s Realm Technique while Zhang Xuezhou was held underwater.
• Great Sage Water Ape threatened to drown Jin Chang instead when he hesitated, and Zhang Xuezhou protested on his behalf.
• Jin Chang realized Zhang Xuezhou might know advanced cultivation teachings and offered to cooperate with him in revealing everything.

Li Shaojun was captured by the Great Sage Water Ape, who held the intruders in the Beast Taming Sect’s secret vault while Zhang Xuezhou and Jin Chang negotiated over the Yin-Yang School’s Realm Technique. After Jin Chang and Lei Bei were sent away, Senior Brother Rulai arrived and demanded the complete Yin Yang Nine People Great Joy Incantation, leaving Zhang Xuezhou facing another threat.

• Li Shaojun retreated from the secret vault but was dragged into the Jade Water Pool by the Great Sage Water Ape.
• The Great Sage Water Ape kept Zhang Xuezhou in the pool while Jin Chang recited the Yin-Yang School’s Realm Technique and Lei Bei remained unconscious.
• Su Fei stayed in the inner chamber and recognized that he had gained the Beast Taming Sect’s remaining inheritance and a chance to advance.
• The Great Sage Water Ape dismissed Jin Chang and Lei Bei, and Jin Chang warned that a Sacred Land’s Seven Birds Five Fires Fan could threaten him.
• The Great Sage Water Ape flooded Li Shaojun’s openings and stuffed him into the pool, then warned Zhang Xuezhou to beware of Jin Chang’s Realm Technique.
• Senior Brother Rulai called from the passage and demanded that Zhang Xuezhou hand over the complete Yin Yang Nine People Great Joy Incantation.

Jin Chang fled toward Great Sage Water Ape while Senior Brother Rulai pursued them, seeking the Yin-Yang School's Realm Techniques. Great Sage Water Ape fought Rulai, but the confrontation paused when Rulai recognized Zhang Xuezhou, who was still being held hostage.

• Jin Chang dragged the unconscious Lei Bei toward Great Sage Water Ape, hoping to escape Senior Brother Rulai and Great Sage Water Ape's pursuit.
• Zhang Xuezhou warned Great Sage Water Ape that Rulai was a powerful Sole Self Realm cultivator who could resist weapons and techniques.
• Jin Chang revealed that Great Sage Water Ape also knew the Yin-Yang School's Realm Techniques, drawing Rulai's attention to him.
• Senior Brother Rulai entered the pool chamber and declared that he would capture Great Sage Water Ape as a guardian spirit beast.
• Great Sage Water Ape attacked Rulai with waves and heavy water, but Rulai's golden light stopped the attacks, and he caught a massive stone the Water Ape hurled at him.
• Zhang Xuezhou warned Rulai that he and the others were hostages, and Rulai recognized him and asked how he had ended up in Great Sage Water Ape's hands.

Zhang Xuezhou led the group to flee through an underground river as Rulai and Great Sage Water Ape fought above them. Su Fei guided Zhang Xuezhou through the passage, while Li Shaojun, Jin Chang, and Lei Bei struggled to survive the current and lack of air.

• A surge from Jade Water Pool swept Zhang Xuezhou into a stone chamber, where he disarmed Su Fei and urged him to flee the battle between Rulai and Great Sage Water Ape.
• Su Fei revealed an underground river beneath the pool, swallowed a pill, and leaped in with Zhang Xuezhou; Jin Chang carried Lei Bei into the water.
• Li Shaojun followed them into the underground river but could not hold his breath and let the current carry him onward after he began to suffocate.
• Jin Chang entered turtle breathing to preserve himself as the group was battered through the passage, while Zhang Xuezhou used the Golden Crow Great Emperor's feather to follow Su Fei.
• Su Fei admitted he could not shake Zhang Xuezhou and agreed to lead him through the underground river.

Zhang Xuezhou and the others escaped the Beast Taming Sect's hidden vault without treasure, then rescued their companions while Wu Chao caught up with them. Zhang Xuezhou told Wu Chao how to use the Great Han Dynasty's help to escape Senior Brother Rulai, leaving Wu Chao hopeful of freedom.

• Zhang Xuezhou chased Su Fei out of the water and threatened him into helping rescue the others.
• Zhang Xuezhou pulled Jin Chang, Lei Bei, and Li Shaojun ashore, then broke Jin Chang's breastbone while trying to revive him.
• Wu Chao arrived and told Jin Chang not to save him, but asked Zhang Xuezhou whether Senior Brother Rulai was still alive.
• Zhang Xuezhou explained that Senior Brother Rulai was fighting Great Sage Water Ape and whispered a plan to help Wu Chao escape his control.
• Wu Chao realized he could cooperate with Zhang Qian and use his tracking techniques to avoid Senior Brother Rulai, and he celebrated his coming freedom.

Wu Chao negotiated with Jin Chang and Zhang Xuezhou for cultivation techniques and a chance to regain control of his life within the Western Sect. Su Fei watched their tangled arrangements unfold, then chose to stay out of their affairs.

• Wu Chao told Jin Chang he wanted to avoid becoming a monk or dying in the Western Sect, and Jin Chang offered to teach him the Nine People Sect's Divine Ability Realm technique in exchange for Zhang Xuezhou's Nine Heavens Sect technique.
• Zhang Xuezhou warned that giving up his technique could put him at risk, and Wu Chao agreed to return to the Western Sect and help him in return for the Following Like a Shadow Technique.
• Jin Chang accepted Wu Chao's terms and received treatment with the Supreme Purity True Technique.
• Su Fei struggled to understand the relationships among Wu Chao, Zhang Xuezhou, and Jin Chang while treating Lei Bei.
• Su Fei decided not to interfere, noting that the others no longer treated him as an enemy who had to be killed.

Zhang Xuezhou, Jin Chang, and Wu Chao formed a temporary alliance, and Su Fei joined them by handing over the Beast Taming Sect's inheritance jade. The group headed for Shouchun City to escape Senior Brother Rulai, while Li Shaojun recovered after being left behind.

• Jin Chang demanded that Su Fei hand over the Beast Taming Sect's inheritance so they could seek permission to enter the A-class room, and Su Fei agreed to join them.
• Jin Chang gave the inheritance jade to Zhang Xuezhou to memorize and copy, promising that they would return the jade to Su Fei afterward.
• Jin Chang urged the group to hurry back to Shouchun City before Senior Brother Rulai could reach them.
• Jin Chang promised Wu Chao the Yin Yang Great Joy Nine People Incantation methods and the Following Like a Shadow Technique, and Wu Chao agreed to let the group go.
• After Zhang Xuezhou and the others left, Wu Chao noticed Li Shaojun had been left behind, and Li Shaojun spat out water and cursed.

Li Shaojun learned that Zhang Xuezhou belonged to the declining Yin Yang Nine Heavens Sect and headed back toward Ox Head Mountain. There, Senior Brother Rulai returned with Great Sage Water Ape captured, proudly revealing a Divine Ability that could shrink and confine its target, while mistaking the Beast Taming Sect for the Yin-Yang School.

• Li Shaojun connected Zhang Xuezhou’s sect and the Cauldron Technique to a possible conflict with Jin Chang, then set out for Ox Head Mountain.
• Wu Chao waited at the underground river outlet and watched Senior Brother Rulai emerge with the injured Great Sage Water Ape in his grasp.
• Senior Brother Rulai explained that his newly completed body cultivation had awakened a Divine Ability that suppressed, captured, and shrank Great Sage Water Ape.
• Senior Brother Rulai transferred the tiny, bound demon into his alms bowl and said the sect leader could control its soul and tame it.
• Senior Brother Rulai identified Great Sage Water Ape as the Yin-Yang School’s guardian spirit beast, while Wu Chao suspected he had mistaken the Beast Taming Sect for the Yin-Yang School.

Senior Brother Rulai captured Great Sage Water Ape and prepared to return to the Western Sect, while Wu Chao used a promise to Rong Tianding to find an excuse to continue toward Shouchun City. The group left the Beast Taming Sect, and Li Shaojun realized how formidable Senior Brother Rulai was.

• Senior Brother Rulai chose to take Great Sage Water Ape back to the sect instead of pursuing Jin Chang, and Wu Chao worried that this would disrupt his plan.
• Wu Chao told Senior Brother Rulai he had promised to help a passerby find his cousin, and Senior Brother Rulai agreed to let him search before they returned west.
• At the Beast Taming Sect, Wu Chao reminded Rong Tianding that he had agreed to help find his cousin, and Rong Tianding confirmed the request.
• Wu Chao planned to use the search for Zhang Xuezhou to return to Shouchun City, while warning Li Shaojun with a threatening smile to stay out of his way.
• Li Shaojun recognized Great Sage Water Ape inside Senior Brother Rulai's alms bowl and feared that Rulai could become one of the Three Realms' greatest powers.