As the northern emperor Fu Jian prepares to march on the south with an army of the undead, Chen Xing and his ragtag team of exorcists make one final, desperate attempt to convince him to reconsider. But even if Fu Jian abandons his unwitting alliance with the forces of darkness, that will only delay the plans of the Demon God Chiyou, not bring them to an end--and Chen Xing is no closer to solving the mystery of the Dinghai Pearl and releasing the Spiritual Qi of the Heavens and Earth, without which he knows they have no chance of defeating their ultimate foe. Xiang Shu, meanwhile, makes a drastic decision to solve what to him is the more pressing problem: Chen Xing's imminent, fated death. Other forces are at work here, though, than the exorcists and their enemies, and when the pivotal moment arrives, nothing goes as either Xiang Shu or Chen Xing could possibly have planned...