Chapter Summaries

Qin Yan shared the fish demon’s meat with the people who helped defeat it, strengthening his standing in Qinghe Town. Wen Qinsi recognized that Qin Yan’s influence had grown beyond his control and began to fear him.

• Lu Wanqiu thanked Qin Yan for selling the fish demon’s flesh and bones to the Rising Cloud Medicine Shop, and revealed she was the third legitimate daughter of the Lu Lineage.
• Qin Yan ordered Qin Xiaoyi to send some fish demon meat to the county yamen and distribute the rest among his men and everyone who had helped.
• Qin An gave each helper at least one jin of meat, and merchants quickly offered them silver to buy it.
• People in Qinghe Town praised Qin Yan’s generosity, while local powerful families complained that he had given away valuable demon beast meat.
• Wen Qinsi saw that Qin Yan had become widely respected and realized that the local officials, military officers, and powerful families were aligned with or deferential to him.

Qin Yan returned the Bloodthirsty Spear to Red Star Daoist, discussed the dangers and inevitability of the Ghost Dao, and continued building his influence in Qinghe Town. The chapter left him supporting Huang Chao’s studies and watching his companions grow stronger.

• Wen Qinsi realized Qin Yan’s influence over Qinghe Town made opposing him risky, though he still wanted to profit.
• Qin Yan returned the Bloodthirsty Spear to Red Star Daoist, who praised his strength and urged him to keep his cultivation secret and safeguard the fish demon’s inner core.
• Qin Yan told Red Star Daoist that the Ghost Dao’s emergence was inevitable, but warned that its practitioners could become corrupted and prey on the living.
• Huang Chao thanked Qin Yan for his support and said he planned to attend an academy in Youshan Prefecture after taking the autumn provincial examination.
• Qin Yan recruited accountants and distributed fish demon meat, while Zong Xiaoshan and the others grew stronger; Zong Xiaoshan was expected to reach the Qi Origin Realm within a month or two.

Qin Yan was sent to Youshan Prefecture to help handle its growing demon crisis and learned he had been promoted to Commandant Patrol Envoy. Zhao Zhen also arranged rare materials for Qin Yan’s commissioned bow, and Qin Yan was left preparing to work with master smith Ou Lie.

• Zhao Zhen told Qin Yan to seek out master smith Ou Lie and said Qin Yan would be temporarily transferred to Youshan Prefecture because the Demon-Suppressing Bureau lacked personnel.
• Qin Yan reviewed his growing strength, left Zong Xiaoshan, Qin Xiaoyi, and Di Feng in charge of Qinghe Town, and ran to Youshan Prefecture.
• Zhao Zhen appointed Qin Yan acting Commandant Patrol Envoy, a sixth-rank official, citing his strength and accumulated merits.
• Zhao Zhen explained that Youshan Prefecture faced frequent dangerous incidents and had lost two members of the Demon-Suppressing Bureau.
• Zhao Zhen gave Qin Yan rare ink gold for his bow and confirmed that Qin Yan had brought the fish demon’s sinew for its bowstring.

Qin Yan traveled to Ten Thousand Weapons Manor and encountered An Wuxia, a wanted murderer whom the Imperial City Bureau had been tracking. Qin Yan stopped An Wuxia’s surprise attack and struck him down in front of the gathered crowd.

• Qin Yan and Ma Futong arrived at Ten Thousand Weapons Manor, where merchants and jianghu fighters had gathered for a weapons sale.
• Wang Gui of the Imperial City Bureau told Qin Yan that the wanted criminal An Wuxia was in the crowd and was believed to be at the peak of the Qi Origin Realm.
• Qin Yan learned that An Wuxia had slaughtered a merchant’s family and committed other murders, then went to confront him without waiting for reinforcements.
• An Wuxia attacked Qin Yan with quick, ruthless strikes, but Qin Yan easily stopped him.
• An Wuxia tried another low blow, and Qin Yan thrust two fingers into his eye sockets and kicked him between the legs, leaving him helpless.

Qin Yan subdued An Wuxia and revealed his rank as a Commandant Inspector of the Demon-Suppressing Bureau, forcing Third Master Ou to back down. At the Ten Thousand Weapons Manor, Qin Yan met Old Manor Lord Ou to commission a bow, and the old smith recognized the demon materials Qin Yan had brought.

• Wang Gui explained that Qin Yan was arresting a notorious bandit, but Third Master Ou objected to Qin Yan's harsh methods until Ma Futong revealed Qin Yan's rank.
• Third Master Ou apologized, and Qin Yan left Wang Gui to arrest and bind An Wuxia.
• Qin Yan and Ma Futong followed the steward into the manor, where Ma Futong revealed that Qin Yan had crippled a peak Qi Origin Realm expert in a few moves.
• Old Manor Lord Ou apologized for Third Master Ou's rudeness, then asked Qin Yan what materials he had brought to make a bow.
• Old Manor Lord Ou recognized the fish demon sinew as the main spinal sinew of a Grandmaster-level demon and eagerly prepared to begin work.

Qin Yan arranged for Old Master Ou to forge a divine bow, then visited Cloud Glow Temple and grew suspicious of its strange statue. He planned to return that night to investigate.

• Old Master Ou agreed to forge Qin Yan a divine bow and use the demon’s teeth to make arrowheads.
• Old Master Ou scolded Third Master Ou for provoking Qin Yan and ordered him to hand over his businesses and work on his temper.
• Qin Yan visited temples in Youshan Prefecture and secretly absorbed their incense wish power with his jade turtle.
• Qin Yan visited Cloud Glow Temple, where a young Daoist identified its unfamiliar statue as Yuan You True Lord, a deity governing life, death, and reincarnation.
• Qin Yan found no incense wish power around the statue and, suspecting something was wrong, decided to return that night to investigate.

Qin Yan investigated the strange Cloud Glow Temple and discovered that its Yuan You True Lord statue housed a Wild God feeding on incense offerings. After breaking the deity’s manifestation, he fought Old Daoist Yuanhai, who was left badly injured and unable to resist Qin Yan’s speed.

• Qin Yan entered Cloud Glow Temple at night and noticed the statue’s unnatural gaze and divine glow.
• Yuan You True Lord trapped Qin Yan in a purgatory-like space and attacked him, but Qin Yan broke its manifestation with his domain and a punch.
• Qin Yan recognized Yuan You True Lord as a Wild God stealing incense offerings, and the deity called for Yuanhai.
• Old Daoist Yuanhai arrived and attacked Qin Yan, who struck him through the statue and temple building.
• Qin Yan broke Yuanhai’s leg and left him shocked by the gap between their abilities.

Qin Yan subdued Yuanhai and Yuan You True Lord at Cloud Glow Temple, uncovered the brothers’ evil god-making scheme, and retrieved a jade slip containing the Ghost-Taming technique. After destroying Yuan Zhen, he left the story with Zheshen absorbing a streak of golden light from the Yin Soul.

• Qin Yan used God-Driving to seize Yuan You True Lord, while Yuanhai killed himself by disintegrating his own divine soul.
• Yuan You True Lord revealed that Yuanhai had hidden the treasure inside a stone statue outside the prefectural capital, and Qin Yan found Yuanhai Notes and learned how the brothers created their false god.
• Qin Yan told Zhao Zhen that Cloud Glow Temple had been creating Yin Souls and purged the temple with the Imperial City Bureau’s help.
• Qin Yan forced Yuan Zhen to lead him to the statue, smashed it, and found the jade slip called Ghost-Taming.
• Qin Yan scattered Yuan Zhen’s soul with a blood-Sha attack, and Zheshen absorbed the remains, including a streak of golden light.

After the Zheshen Ghost reached Ghost Spirit Level and demonstrated his new soul-targeting ability, Qin Yan studied the divine ability God-Driving and used it to summon a vengeful ghost. Hua Zhen told him that the merchant Cao Zhizhang had abducted and killed her, and Qin Yan promised to seek justice for her.

• The Zheshen Ghost absorbed Qin Yan’s Blood Qi, broke through to Ghost Spirit Level, and showed that his new Fold-Life Hell could attack souls.
• Qin Yan broke free of Fold-Life Hell and judged that the Zheshen Ghost’s ability could threaten people with weak resolve.
• Back in the prefectural city, Qin Yan studied God-Driving and used its Ghost-Taming ability to summon a vengeful ghost.
• The ghost identified herself as Hua Zhen and said Cao Zhizhang had abducted and violated her before killing her and dumping her body in a well.
• Qin Yan promised Hua Zhen he would seek justice and asked her to explain what had happened.

Qin Yan persuaded Tao Wang to help bring down Cao Zhizhang by exposing the women and bodies hidden at his residence, while arranging a share of the seized fortune. The chapter ended with constables raiding Cao Zhizhang’s home and Cao Zhizhang collapsing after his crimes were revealed.

• Qin Yan met Tao Wang at the Drunken Immortal Tower and told him that Cao Zhizhang was responsible for murder and the imprisonment and abuse of women.
• Qin Yan showed Tao Wang Hua Zhen and described the secret chamber and other evidence he had uncovered at the Cao residence.
• Tao Wang agreed to help and proposed involving the assistant prefect, dividing Cao Zhizhang’s assets among them and other officials.
• Qin Yan sent the Zheshen Ghost to follow Tao Wang and kill him if he proved disloyal.
• The next morning, Tao Wang led constables to surround the Cao residence, where they found imprisoned women and bodies in a sealed well.
• Cao Zhizhang collapsed as Qin Yan watched the raid unfold.

After Cao Zhizhang’s arrest, Tao Wang shared the spoils with Qin Yan, who used a five-hundred-year-old White Jade Ginseng to strengthen himself. The case’s surviving conspirators later silenced Cao Zhizhang in prison, disguising his murder as suicide.

• Tao Wang and the Youshan Prefecture judicial commissioner arrested Cao Zhizhang and exposed members of Liu Polu’s faction through the victims’ testimony.
• Tao Wang gave Qin Yan 190,000 taels, a thirty-percent stake in an iron mine, and a five-hundred-year-old White Jade Ginseng from Cao Zhizhang’s treasury.
• Qin Yan told Hua Zhen that Cao Zhizhang had received the death penalty, and her lingering obsession vanished as her soul returned to heaven.
• Qin Yan swallowed the White Jade Ginseng and cultivated the Great Five-Viscera Immortal Abode, raising his strength to 757 and further improving his physique and magnetic-field control.
• Tao Wang reported that Cao Zhizhang had supposedly strangled himself in prison, and Qin Yan concluded that his higher-ups had killed him to silence him.

After Cao Zhizhang was captured for torment, Qin Yan received a new assignment to investigate a man-eating demon in Wuan County. He traveled there after claiming a fire-resistant martial robe and checking on his allies, and found signs of the demon’s attacks in Huang Family Village.

• Qin Yan seized Cao Zhizhang's soul and ordered the Zheshen Ghost to torment him until he revealed the locations of his private storehouse and iron mine.
• Qin Yan received court rewards, a residence, and a chance to choose a Grade B treasure, then accepted Zhao Zhen's assignment to deal with the man-eating demon in Wuan County.
• Elder Yang helped Qin Yan select the Blood Cloud Martial Robe, which was resistant to fire, water, grime, and wear.
• Qin Yan visited Qinghe Town, confirmed Zong Xiaoshan had reached the Qi Origin Realm and the Infinite Martial Arts School was expanding, then continued to Wuan County.
• Qin Yan saw refugees fleeing Wuan County and found human bones with small tooth marks in Huang Family Village, suspecting the huge man-eating mountain demon.

Qin Yan arrived at Wuan County and learned that a Shanxiao tribe had besieged the county after one of its members was wounded, causing many deaths. After meeting the injured Xu Hanwu, Qin Yan revealed that another dangerous evil entity might also be lurking nearby, leaving the county facing two threats.

• Qin Yan reached Wuan County, where Lei Gan told him that a horde of Shanxiao had attacked after Xu Hanwu wounded one of their kin.
• Lei Gan and Kou Jin led Qin Yan to the clinic, where Qin Yan learned the Shanxiao had killed hundreds and cut off the county's escape routes.
• Qin Yan met the one-armed Xu Hanwu, who warned that the Shanxiao tribe's enormous red-faced leader might defeat even Commandant Zhao.
• Qin Yan told Xu Hanwu that he had found evidence of another dangerous evil entity in Wuan County, deepening the group's alarm.

Qin Yan killed a walking corpse that had risen in broad daylight, then searched villages around Wuan County and rescued a mother and daughter. He found evidence that rats were exploiting Shanxiao’s attacks, while a watcher in the crowd slipped away.

• A constable told Lei Gan that a corpse had risen in the north of town, and Qin Yan hurried to deal with it.
• Qin Yan defeated the walking corpse with one punch and ordered Lei Gan to investigate who it had been in life.
• A figure in the crowd watched Qin Yan before disappearing among the people.
• Qin Yan searched a devastated village and found a mother and daughter hiding in a cellar after a small monster killed the woman’s husband.
• Qin Yan escorted the survivors to the county town and discovered that rats were hiding in the shadows and taking advantage of Shanxiao’s rampage.

Qin Yan brutally defeated four giant mandrills, using their strength to improve his Unlimited Combat proficiency. He left two half-dead mandrills hanging upside down from a tree, wailing in pain.

• A giant mandrill charged Qin Yan, but he incapacitated it with a Groin-Raking Kick and frightened it with his killing intent.
• When three mandrills approached, Qin Yan grabbed the first mandrill and hurled it into its companions, killing it and smashing another mandrill to pieces.
• Qin Yan fought the remaining two mandrills, killing one with the mangled corpse and breaking the other's arm and ribs.
• Qin Yan received a notification that defeating four giant mandrills had increased his Unlimited Combat proficiency by 1%.
• Qin Yan tied the two surviving mandrills up and hung them upside down from an ancient tree.

Qin Yan used Electric Current Propulsion to slaughter the Shanxiao tribe and free the civilians they had captured. He killed the Red-Faced Shanxiao after testing and refining his control over the power.

• Qin Yan rushed to the forest edge and used Electric Current Propulsion to kill several Shanxiao, discovering that magnetism deflected the blood from his body.
• Qin Yan followed a fleeing Shanxiao to the tribe’s mountain gorge, where he found captured civilians and the Red-Faced Shanxiao king.
• Qin Yan provoked the tribe and charged into the attacking Shanxiao, killing them with Mountain-Shaking Charge and Sonic Punch while the Red-Faced Shanxiao struggled to catch him.
• The Red-Faced Shanxiao grew larger and attacked Qin Yan, but Qin Yan used Electric Current Propulsion: Sonic Punch to blast him apart and destroy his inner core.

Qin Yan exterminated the Shanxiao, rescued captives, and used Magnetic Field Healing to restore Xu Hanwu and other patients. He warned Xu Hanwu about a corpse transformation and hidden evil cultivators, while beneath an ancient tree a figure fed on a Shanxiao corpse.

• Qin Yan killed the Shanxiao in the valley, captured three cubs, and rescued the people they had held captive.
• Qin Yan returned to Wuan County with the survivors and had Lei Gan arrange shelter for them.
• Qin Yan used Magnetic Field Healing to cure Xu Hanwu's injuries and stabilize other patients.
• Qin Yan told Xu Hanwu about the corpse transformation and suspected evil cultivators, and Xu Hanwu agreed to investigate.
• Beneath a centuries-old tree, a figure greedily fed a Shanxiao corpse to its grandson.

Qin Yan and Xu Hanwu investigated Hu Li’s family and were ambushed by eight powerful Green-Clothed Walking Corpses in the coffin shop. After defeating them, Qin Yan learned that the mandrill corpses had been eaten and suspected their enemy had been tracking their movements.

• Lei Gan told Qin Yan that the resurrected corpse was Hu Li, whose uncle Hu Weimin had worked as a corpse carrier.
• Qin Yan, Xu Hanwu, and Lei Gan entered Hu Li’s coffin shop and found two people dead, apparently frightened to death by an evil entity.
• Eight Green-Clothed Walking Corpses attacked Qin Yan and Xu Hanwu, and Qin Yan defeated them despite their unusually tough bodies.
• Qin Yan asked Xu Hanwu to inform the Demon-Suppressing Bureau and investigate Hu Weimin.
• Kou Jin reported that the mandrill corpses had vanished, leaving blood, scraps of flesh and bone, and footprints from a woman and a child.
• Qin Yan recognized the bone fragments as remains of the mandrills he had killed and concluded that the enemy had eaten them all.

Qin Yan investigated reports of a bride in red haunting the Xi Family in Chenfang Town and learned that the Xi Family's second young master had been involved in the death of a pregnant merchant's daughter. The case appeared connected to a corpse Qin Yan had encountered in Qinghe Town, but Shopkeeper Xu claimed his daughter had been buried long ago.

• Kou Jin told Qin Yan that the Xi Family had been plagued by a bride in red and that several people hired to deal with her had died.
• Qin Yan carried Kou Jin to Chenfang Town and asked Demon-Searching Guard Jiang Fan about the Xi Family.
• Jiang Fan said the Xi Family's second young master had allegedly gotten a merchant's daughter pregnant, and she had later drowned herself.
• Qin Yan revealed that he had encountered a pregnant corpse in red in Qinghe Town and suspected the Yinluo Way was involved.
• Qin Yan questioned Shopkeeper Xu, who said his daughter had been found and buried after her death.

Qin Yan and the others discovered that Xu Xing'e's corpse had escaped from a grave in a site that gathered Yin Sha, leaving a hole that might connect to the Underworld. They returned to Chenfang Town, where Qin Yan went with the Xi Family to question them about the matter.

• Qin Yan confirmed that Shopkeeper Xu's daughter, Xu Xing'e, was the red-clad corpse he had encountered, and Shopkeeper Xu led the group to her grave.
• Kou Jin identified the burial site as Four Yin Gathering Sha, and Qin Yan ordered the village head to have Xu Xing'e's grave opened.
• Qin Yan found Xu Xing'e's corpse missing and determined that a hole had been dug outward from inside the coffin.
• Qin Yan used the Qi-Reading Technique and concluded that the hole might lead to the Underworld, where Xu Xing'e's corpse had fallen.
• Qin Yan told Shopkeeper Xu that Xu Xing'e harbored immense resentment and would take revenge on those who wronged her, leaving Shopkeeper Xu devastated.
• Back in Chenfang Town, Xi Wen'an invited Qin Yan and the others to the Xi Family residence, and Qin Yan agreed, saying he had questions for the family.