Chapter Summaries

Daoist Black Shoes prepared Kang Dabao for the Mountain-Viewing Cave expedition and urged him to help the Shan Household by accepting its promising disciple. After three months of cultivation, Kang Dabao investigated the black bone’s connection to mountain barbarians and considered seeking their remains from the Two Instruments Sect, before turning his thoughts to the coming expedition.

• Daoist Black Shoes told Kang Dabao that they and Brother Qing would ally with Chu Yanran and his spouse in Mountain-Viewing Cave, warned him about rival clans, and gave him Three Mysteries True Dew to heal his eyes.
• Daoist Black Shoes ordered Kang Dabao to accept the Shan Household’s promising seedling as an inner disciple, explaining that he intended to obtain Lord Shan’s remaining Lifespan Pill from Shan Sheng.
• Kang Dabao sent messages to Fei Shuhe and Duan Anle, then cultivated at the Chongming Sect while considering the cost of improving Little Ring Mountain’s Spirit Vein.
• After three months, Kang Dabao found that Three Mysteries True Dew had healed most of his eye injuries and that his cultivation and mastery of his techniques had advanced.
• Kang Dabao noticed that the black bone had drained the essence of several people surnamed Wu and wondered whether it responded to mountain barbarian blood.
• Kang Dabao considered visiting the Two Instruments Sect to find barbarian cultivator remains for the black bone, then decided the matter required careful thought as he prepared for Mountain-Viewing Cave.

Buse refused Tie Liuyun’s efforts to rally opposition against the Chongming Sect and its allies, while Kang Dabao turned down Tie’s offer to buy the verdant stone vein. Fei Nanying gave Kang Dabao Phoenix Spirit Liquid to nurture his Immortal Game Disc and relayed Kuang Liuting’s warning to preserve his life; meanwhile, Yuan Xiyue learned that Yuan Feng had found a man with a Clear Spirit Physique.

• Buse rejected Tie Liuyun’s proposal to move against the Ming and Kuai Households, warning him that the Hongyi Sect’s defeat showed the danger of provoking the Sima Office and Chongming Sect.
• Tie Liuyun confronted Kang Dabao and again demanded to buy the verdant stone vein, but Kang Dabao remained silent rather than accept his offer.
• Fei Nanying praised Kang Dabao for refusing Tie Liuyun’s offer and gave him Second-Tier Upper-Grade Phoenix Spirit Liquid and instructions to nurture the Immortal Game Disc.
• Fei Nanying told Kang Dabao that Kuang Liuting had postponed seeing him until after Mountain-Viewing Cave and had ordered him to preserve his life.
• Yuan Feng told Yuan Xiyue that he had found a man with a Clear Spirit Physique, and she demanded to be taken to him at once.

Kang Dabao and the other Bright Moon Token holders gathered in Pu Prefecture to open Mountain-Viewing Cave, where rival factions and old grudges threatened their alliance. As they entered the mirror passage, Kang Dabao recognized the veiled woman accompanying Yuan Feng as someone from the Jingnan Yuan Household.

• Yue Lan rebuked Yuan Feng and Yuan Xiyue for killing cultivators and mortals, but Lang Yi smoothed over the dispute.
• Madam Qi urged the Bright Moon Token holders to open Mountain-Viewing Cave before the Stone Mountain Sect noticed them, and she rejected Yue Lan's jealous warning about her husband, Qi Buxiu.
• Kang Dabao assessed the dangerous rivalries among the gathered cultivators, including Yuan Xiyue's hostility and the veiled woman's fixed attention on him.
• The token holders assembled the silver mirror, and Lang Yi entered the whirlpool first, followed by Madam Qi and Yue Lan.
• Yuan Feng took Yuan Xiyue and the veiled woman into the mirror passage, and Kang Dabao recognized the veiled woman's six-leaf azure lotus Dao seal as belonging to someone from the Jingnan Yuan Household.

Inside Mountain-Viewing Cave, Jiang Qing rescued Qi Buxiu from a Yaksha attack and followed Six-Leaf Tendril Orchids to a lake filled with Jade Crocodiles. After investigating the lake’s beasts, Jiang Qing began calculating a way across, but the chapter ended before he revealed his plan.

• Kang Dabao recognized the blue-robed cultivator as the escaped cauldron wanted by Yuan Feng and wondered whether she had been asking him for help.
• Daoist Black Shoes warned the group about Yuan Feng, Yue Lan, and Lang Yi before leading them through the mirror into Mountain-Viewing Cave.
• Qi Buxiu killed a Yaksha with a Sharp Metal Moon Spear Talisman, and Jiang Qing arrived, cleared away the remaining Yakshas, and offered to travel with him.
• Qi Buxiu told Jiang Qing to follow Six-Leaf Tendril Orchids north, and the two followed them to a lake where Jiang Qing identified the aquatic beasts as Jade Crocodiles.
• Qi Buxiu used a Buddhist bowl to learn that the lake held hundreds of Jade Crocodiles, including several Second-Tier beasts, and Jiang Qing studied a captured crocodile before calculating how to cross.

Kang Dabao encountered Yuan Xiyue in Mountain-Viewing Cave and fought her after resisting her Wisdom Consort Form. He subdued her just as Yuan Feng arrived, leaving their confrontation unresolved.

• Kang Dabao found Yuan Xiyue resting among the Six-Winged Flying Dog carcasses and attacked her after resisting her bewitching technique.
• Yuan Xiyue used her prayer bead and silver drum to disrupt Kang Dabao, but he recovered and pressed his attack.
• Yuan Xiyue fled, and Kang Dabao pursued her with his Lion Insects until she exhausted her defenses and detonated her prayer bead.
• Yuan Xiyue unleashed a powerful saber talisman, but Kang Dabao blocked it with the Immortal Game Disc and continued fighting.
• Kang Dabao seized Yuan Xiyue by the neck just as Yuan Feng arrived and addressed him.

Jiang Qing and Qi Buxiu accepted a veiled woman’s help to cross the lake, but an intelligent Jade Crocodile exposed their disguise and sent the beasts attacking. Elsewhere, Daoist Black Shoes and Lang Yi headed for Moonlight Palace in search of rare treasures, where they found two figures already fighting.

• Jiang Qing admitted he could not safely cross the lake with Qi Buxiu, and they were unable to contact their companions.
• A veiled woman offered to help them cross in exchange for their protection; Jiang Qing learned her transformation incantation, while she stored Qi Buxiu in a mustard-seed Spirit Artifact.
• Jiang Qing and the veiled woman disguised themselves as Jade Crocodiles and entered the lake, but an intelligent Jade Crocodile recognized Jiang Qing and summoned other beasts to attack them.
• The veiled woman escaped a Jade Crocodile’s strike by sending it through a gate of light, which brought it face-to-face with Qi Buxiu inside the Spirit Artifact.
• Daoist Black Shoes and Lang Yi discussed the Life-Giving Longevity Pill and Evergreen Vine as they traveled toward Moonlight Palace, where they found two figures fighting.

Chu Yanran fought Yuan Feng over his interference, but Yue Lan arrived and used his Fire-Phase Half-Chi to counter her lantern. When the Moonlit Bell rang, the cultivators abandoned their standoff and raced toward Moonlight Palace.

• Chu Yanran used her six-sided lantern to overwhelm Yuan Feng, destroying several of his artifacts and forcing him to defend himself with his cloak’s Golden Light chain.
• Yue Lan arrived and joined forces with Yuan Feng, while his Fire-Phase Half-Chi swallowed most of Chu Yanran’s lantern flames.
• Daoist Black Shoes moved to Chu Yanran’s side as Lang Yi stayed out of the conflict, and the four cultivators held their positions in a tense standoff.
• The Moonlit Bell sounded, and Chu Yanran, Yuan Feng, Yue Lan, and Daoist Black Shoes raced toward Moonlight Palace.

Kang Dabao used Yuan Xiyue as a shield while Yuan Feng fought Xu Liuxian, then escaped toward the Bright Moon Palace as Chu Yanran blocked Yuan Feng and demanded that Kang find Qi Buxiu. A sudden collapse in a cavern carried Kang Dabao and Yuan Xiyue into an unfamiliar stone chamber.

• Yuan Feng offered Kang Dabao rewards and influence in exchange for surrendering Feng Wan, but a hidden Xu Liuxian ambushed Yuan Feng with a wave of fire.
• Yuan Feng broke through Xu Liuxian's attacks and pursued Kang Dabao, who fled with Yuan Xiyue as a hostage.
• Kang Dabao called out to Chu Yanran, who stopped Yuan Feng and ordered Kang to find her husband, Qi Buxiu.
• Kang Dabao used Yuan Xiyue to prevent Yuan Feng from striking him, then fled into an unfamiliar part of the Mountain-Viewing Cave.
• Cloud mist filled Kang Dabao's resting cavern, which shook and split apart, leaving him and Yuan Xiyue inside a stone chamber.

Kang Dabao bound Yuan Xiyue with a blood incantation and made her open the rooms of a hidden cave abode, where they found little until a powerful White-Armored Land Tortoise attacked. After killing it, Kang Dabao discovered a spiritual spring, and Little Qi immediately swam into it.

• Kang Dabao placed the Yang Blood Heart-Locking Incantation on Yuan Xiyue, restraining her and making her help explore the stone chamber.
• Yuan Xiyue opened the rooms while Kang Dabao collected bottles and a Spirit Artifact, but most chambers were empty.
• A White-Armored Land Tortoise burst from a room and attacked Yuan Xiyue, and Kang Dabao fought it with his Immortal Game Disc, Golden Light, and Ink Abyss Flag.
• Kang Dabao broke through the tortoise's defenses and killed it with his great banner after the beast charged him.
• Kang Dabao found a clear spiritual spring in the final room, and Little Qi slipped from his Storage Bag and swam into it.

Kang Dabao explored a spirit spring chamber, learned about True Person Xinyuan, and watched Little Qi undergo a rapid transformation before preparing to open the final stone door with Yuan Xiyue. The chapter ended when Jiang Qing and others emerged from the spring, prompting Kang Dabao to charge at the Jade Crocodile behind his junior brother.

• Kang Dabao collected the White-Armored Land Tortoise's shell and let Little Qi swim in the spirit spring, where it grew and advanced to First-Tier Supreme-Grade.
• Yuan Xiyue explained that the chamber murals depicted True Person Xinyuan and his Star-Patterned Jade Spirit Turtle, and shared rumors about Xinyuan's fate and Exalted Cultivator Guanyu's inheritance.
• Little Qi returned to its spirit beast bag as it appeared close to advancing, while the Lion Insects showed little interest in the spring.
• Kang Dabao filled fifteen containers with spring water, took Yuan Xiyue's Water-Swallowing Pearl, and had her help collect more water with it.
• Kang Dabao and Yuan Xiyue struggled to decipher the final stone door's restrictions before a muddy current entered the spring and several figures emerged.
• Kang Dabao recognized Jiang Qing and charged at the Jade Crocodile behind him.

Yuan Feng, Yue Lan, Chu Yanran, Daoist Black Shoes, and Lang Yi entered Moonlight Palace and crossed its dangerous Puppet Covered Bridge together. After Chu Yanran explained that the bridge’s puppets would return when the cave abode reopened, Yue Lan secretly formed an incantation seal, and Chu Yanran felt something strange in her body.

• Lang Yi used a puppet to open Moonlight Palace’s gates, and the five cultivators entered before the doors slammed shut behind them.
• The five agreed to postpone their disputes and follow Lang Yi across the Puppet Covered Bridge, where he swiftly destroyed a corundum puppet to demonstrate his strength.
• A swarm of corundum puppets attacked as the ruined Li Fire Heaven-Burning Formation unleashed flames, but Chu Yanran’s palace lantern swallowed the fire while the group fought off the puppets.
• The five crossed the bridge with only minor injuries, and Chu Yanran told Daoist Black Shoes that the puppets would be restored before the cave abode opened again.
• Yue Lan secretly formed an incantation seal as the group continued, and Chu Yanran then felt something strange in her body.

Yuan Feng and Yue Lan privately plotted to exploit Chu Yanran and pursue their ambitions while Qi Buxiu fought a giant softshell turtle in a sealed chamber. Kang Da and Jiang Qing rescued Qi Buxiu, and the veiled cultivator revealed herself as Zhang and reunited with Sect Leader Kang after nearly twenty years.

• Yuan Feng took the lead through the Dao Soldier Hall while resenting Yue Lan, Lang Yi, and Daoist Black Shoes, and plotting to claim Chu Yanran for himself.
• Yue Lan followed behind Yuan Feng, brooding over Chu Yanran and vowing to kill Qi Buxiu.
• Qi Buxiu exhausted his talismans and defenses battling the giant softshell turtle, which fatally wounded him before the fight shifted elsewhere.
• Kang Da and Jiang Qing killed the giant softshell turtle, and Kang Da treated the gravely injured Qi Buxiu.
• Jiang Qing dissected the dead Jade Crocodiles while Kang Da asked the veiled cultivator whether she had come looking for the Chongming Sect.
• The veiled cultivator removed her veil, identified herself as Zhang, and told Sect Leader Kang that they had finally met again after nearly twenty years.

Kang Dabao met Zhang Qingran, a cultivator from the ruined Fenli Zhang Household who had been held by Yuan Feng, and bargained to rescue her in exchange for the whereabouts of Moon Fern. The group remained in Mountain-Viewing Cave as Qi Buxiu recovered and Yuan Xiyue moved toward the last stone door.

• Yuan Xiyue recognized Zhang Qingran as the woman Yuan Feng had kept captive and realized she was connected to Kang Dabao.
• Zhang Qingran explained that both False Core ancestors of the Fenli Zhang Household had vanished and the Household had fallen after its ancestral array was overwhelmed.
• Zhang Qingran pleaded with Kang Dabao to save her from Yuan Feng, but he demanded a reason to help and she offered Moon Fern's whereabouts in exchange for her freedom.
• Kang Dabao agreed to help Zhang Qingran, refusing her offer of a favor and asking only for the location of Moon Fern.
• Qi Buxiu woke after being treated, and Kang Dabao asked Zhang Qingran to tend to him.
• Kang Dabao's Yang Blood Heart-Locking Incantation caused Yuan Xiyue pain, and she walked toward the last stone door.

Kang Dabao’s group explored the spirit spring and found that several powerful restrictions blocked its underwater routes. They chose to return to the emerald lake and join forces to break the restriction leading there, while Zhang Qingran secretly plotted against Yuan Xiyue.

• After failing to open the stone door, Kang Dabao agreed to send Yuan Xiyue into the spirit spring to scout its waterways.
• Yuan Xiyue reported that the spring had four exits, each blocked by a powerful restriction, and that one led to the emerald lake.
• Qi Buxiu urged the group to wait for the cave abode to close, but Kang Dabao decided they would return to the emerald lake; Zhang Qingran took Qi Buxiu into her Spirit Artifact.
• Kang Dabao, Jiang Qing, Zhang Qingran, and Yuan Xiyue traveled through the spring, fought several aquatic beasts, and reached the restriction to the emerald lake.
• Jiang Qing struck the restriction with his White Dew Sword, and Zhang Qingran urged everyone to attack together while secretly plotting to capture Yuan Xiyue.

Kang Dabao’s party encountered E Yuan, the awakened leader of the Jade Lake Lineage, who explained the lineage’s imprisonment and proposed an alliance. They agreed to seek a key at Moonlight Palace so Zhang Qingran could help unlock the Body-Cleansing Formation Plate, though both sides secretly planned to betray and kill the other.

• Kang Dabao’s group failed to break the restriction between the underground river and the stone chamber, then prepared to fight E Yuan and his water beasts.
• E Yuan introduced himself and explained that Mountain-Viewing Cave had been a portable treasure used by Xinyuan Guangzhi for a Star-Patterned Jade Spirit Turtle, while Guanyu later controlled the Jade Lake Lineage.
• E Yuan revealed that Guanyu had confined the Jade Lake Lineage and asked Kang Dabao’s group to help use a Second-Tier Body-Cleansing Formation Plate to free them in exchange for access to hidden treasures.
• Zhang Qingran said she could handle the formation plate, and Kang Dabao agreed to cooperate while privately planning to kill E Yuan after obtaining the treasures.
• E Yuan and Kang Dabao’s group agreed to travel through the waterways to Moonlight Palace and retrieve the key to a stone door concealing the formation plate and greater treasures.

Kang Dabao and the others joined E Yuan’s water beasts in breaking into Moonlight Palace, where Zhang Qingran’s hidden connection to Yuan Feng triggered a confrontation. Yuan Xiyue agreed to break Zhang Qingran’s chastity mark in exchange for freedom from Kang Dabao’s incantation, while Yuan Feng discovered the mark had been destroyed and headed toward the Ice-Drinking Chamber with the others.

• E Yuan’s water beasts and Kang Dabao’s group broke the Moonlight Palace restriction, sent beasts ahead to scout, and entered the palace after learning the hall was safe.
• E Yuan’s group reacted to Zhang Qingran’s glowing mark, and Yuan Xiyue revealed it was a chastity mark placed by Yuan Feng.
• Kang Dabao restrained Yuan Xiyue with the Yang Blood Heart-Locking Incantation, but agreed to release her if she broke Zhang Qingran’s mark.
• Yuan Xiyue identified the mark’s construction and asked Kang Dabao for what she needed to remove it; half an hour later, Yuan Feng’s red cord burned apart.
• Chu Yanran urged the recovered group to proceed to the Ice-Drinking Chamber, and Yuan Feng privately resolved to use Chu Yanran and his elder sister if he could not find Zhang Qingran.

The five cultivators reached the Ice-Drinking Chamber and agreed to search for its treasures separately rather than fight before finding anything. Daoist Black Shoes entered a sealed room and discovered its formation was far stronger than expected, leaving him concerned that escaping could take two days.

• On the way to the Ice-Drinking Chamber, Chu Yanran asked Daoist Black Shoes to remember their arrangement, and he agreed to protect the Evergreen Vine for her.
• Lang Yi proposed that the group postpone any conflict until after searching the chamber, and Daoist Black Shoes and the others accepted.
• The five entered the Ice-Drinking Chamber, where each room admitted only one person and the shifting layout made old maps unreliable.
• Chu Yanran warned Daoist Black Shoes about dangers in the chamber, then went to search for treasure herself.
• Daoist Black Shoes entered a room that sealed itself behind him and found its formation much stronger than expected, estimating that escaping might take two days.

Yuan Feng failed to find anything in several rooms and clashed with Lang Yi over Toad Dew and Osmanthus Fragrance before agreeing to consider a trade. In the Ice-Drinking Chamber, Kang Dabao’s group confronted Yue Lan over the treasure he had taken from a room, and the battle left Yue Lan and the Half-Chi surrounded as Yuan Xiyue’s Wisdom Consort Form disrupted him.

• Daoist Black Shoes found a bare stone table in his room, stored it away, and welcomed the chance to test his sword against the room’s formation methods.
• Yuan Feng wasted a Second-Tier Formation-Breaking Pearl escaping an empty room, then attacked Lang Yi after seeing the Toad Dew and Osmanthus Fragrance he had found.
• Lang Yi offered to trade the incense for Evergreen Vine and Life-Giving Longevity Pills, and Yuan Feng put away his weapon rather than risk fighting him.
• Zhang Qingran broke Yuan Feng’s chastity mark with talisman water, but Yuan Xiyue placed a Wisdom Consort Seal on her as a safeguard of her own.
• Kang Dabao’s group reached the Ice-Drinking Chamber with E Yuan and the water beasts, where they found Yue Lan emerging from the room that held the key to the Spirit Turtle Stone Chamber.
• E Yuan, Kang Dabao, and their allies fought Yue Lan and the Half-Chi, and Yuan Xiyue’s Wisdom Consort Form briefly distracted Yue Lan as he struggled against the surrounding attackers.

Yue Lan and his Half-Chi fought Kang Dabao’s group and E Yuan’s water beasts, but were forced to retreat into a chamber after Yue Lan used a silver bell talisman treasure to survive. E Yuan entered the room to investigate, and Yuan Feng emerged from another chamber, leaving the wounded Kang Dabao to decide whether to fight him.

• E Yuan withdrew the Serrated Teeth Grand Formation and joined Kang Dabao’s group in their assault on Yue Lan, who wounded Jiang Qing, Yuan Xiyue, Zhang Qingran, and several water beasts with the Cold Moon Sword.
• E Yuan’s water arrow nearly killed Yue Lan, but the Half-Chi broke away from the water beasts and vaporized it with a powerful flame, weakening himself in the process.
• Yue Lan retrieved the Half-Chi into a spirit beast bag and fought on alone, then used a silver bell talisman treasure to withstand the combined attacks and escape into a chamber.
• E Yuan borrowed Yuan Xiyue’s Second-Tier Formation-Breaking Pearl and entered the chamber to investigate while Kang Dabao’s group tended their injuries.
• Yuan Feng emerged from a distant chamber and greeted Yuan Xiyue and Zhang Qingran, forcing the wounded Kang Dabao to consider whether to fight him.

Yuan Feng attacked Kang Dabao, Zhang Qingran, and the water beasts to seize Zhang Qingran, but Chu Yanran emerged and turned the battle against him. She gave Qi Buxiu an Evergreen Vine root, restoring his youth, just as another cultivator came out of a room and approached.

• Yuan Xiyue hid in a room while Yuan Feng confronted Zhang Qingran and moved to seize her.
• Kang Dabao and the Purple-Whiskered King Tuna fought Yuan Feng, who gravely wounded the Six-Eyed Sage Widower and killed several water beasts despite Kang Dabao unleashing his Yin Lightning.
• Chu Yanran emerged from a room and attacked Yuan Feng with her lantern and lightning swords, allowing Jiang Qing and the water beasts to wound him.
• Zhang Qingran released Qi Buxiu from her mustard-seed Spirit Artifact, and Chu Yanran gave him the Evergreen Vine root, which restored his youth.
• Chu Yanran shattered Yuan Feng's gold ring Spirit Artifact, and another gaunt old cultivator emerged and approached Qi Buxiu.