Chapter Summaries

Wang Chen set up a stall in Dongwu Stockade to sell talismans and find Vajra Butter for cultivating the Heavenly Dragon Vajra Righteous Dharma. After failing to attract a seller all day, he met a woman who offered to demonstrate a family-inherited Dragon Tiger Strength Soup Recipe instead.

• Wang Chen paid for a stall near the City Lord's Mansion and advertised his talismans while offering to buy Vajra Butter.
• A cultivator bought ten talismans, and Wang Chen's stall drew steady customers until he sold his entire stock.
• Wang Chen extended his stall hours, but no one offered Vajra Butter, leaving him worried that he could not continue body-refinement cultivation without a substitute.
• A burly woman approached Wang Chen and asked whether he sought Vajra Butter for the Heavenly Dragon Vajra Righteous Dharma.
• The woman said she had no Vajra Butter but offered to make Wang Chen a serving of her Dragon Tiger Strength Soup so he could test its effectiveness.

Wang Chen tested Dragon Tiger Spirit Strengthening Soup and planned the cultivation work ahead of him, then tried to settle his restless thoughts with tea and old notes. The next morning, Auntie Lu approached him with a marriage proposal, but Wang Chen refused.

• Wang Chen drank the soup and refined its medicinal power with the Heavenly Dragon Vajra Righteous Dharma.
• Wang Chen studied the eight soup recipes, memorized them, and burned the paper.
• Wang Chen reviewed his cultivation goals and worried about the dangers he would face on the path to the higher realm.
• Wang Chen could not sleep, so he drank Spiritual Tea and read his predecessors' notes until dawn.
• Auntie Lu offered to match Wang Chen with her cousin's daughter, but Wang Chen declined; she then suggested making the woman his concubine.

Wang Chen escaped the matchmaking attempts in Dongwu City Stronghold and used the Yunyang Ten Thousand Li Terrain Map to travel to Wind Thunder Valley to cultivate Five Suns Dry Thunder. When Five Peaks Mountain cultivators claimed the valley and tried to search him, Wang Chen struck first and beheaded one of them.

• Wang Chen refused several matchmaking offers from his neighbors and pretended to enter seclusion so he could leave the stronghold unnoticed.
• Wang Chen used the Yunyang Ten Thousand Li Terrain Map to choose Wind Thunder Valley and flew there on the Silver Spirit Shuttle.
• Two Five Peaks Mountain cultivators stopped Wang Chen and claimed that the valley had become their dojo.
• After Wang Chen began to retreat, the cultivators accused him of being a Yunyang remnant and demanded to inspect his Storage Bag.
• Wang Chen attacked the ninth-layer Qi Condensation cultivator with a pale-golden sword gleam and beheaded him.

Wang Chen fled after defeating two Five Peaks Mountain sentries, but a swift Sword Cultivator pursued him into the forest. He fought the woman in white at close range and shattered her Protection Shield with a Vajra Fist, leaving their duel unresolved.

• Wang Chen beheaded one Five Peaks Mountain cultivator, repelled the other with his Fire Crow Sword, took a Storage Bag, and fled southwest.
• A Five Peaks Mountain Sword Cultivator chased Wang Chen, forcing him to dive into a mountain forest and evade her attacks.
• Wang Chen hurled the Storage Bag away, and the woman in white destroyed it before confronting him.
• The woman in white attacked Wang Chen with her Flying Sword, damaging his Fire Crow Sword in their clash.
• Wang Chen closed in and struck the woman in white with his Vajra Fist, shattering her Protection Shield and sending her flying.

Wang Chen fought and killed a powerful Five Peaks Mountain prodigy, though her self-destruction left him injured and forced him to flee. A grieving middle-aged cultivator arrived at the scene as Wang Chen escaped deep into the mountains.

• Wang Chen pressed his close-range attack against the woman in white, but she stabbed him in the back with her Flying Sword.
• Wang Chen wounded the woman in white with Grand Completion level Gengjin Finger, and she exploded herself before he could finish her.
• Wang Chen took the Flying Sword, swallowed Healing Pills, used talismans to disrupt the Heavenly Secret, and fled through the mountain forest.
• A middle-aged cultivator arrived at the explosion site, recognized the woman as Yingxiu, and erupted in grief and fury.
• Wang Chen, already a hundred li away, looked back as the wound on his back throbbed.

After killing Liu Yingxiu, Wang Chen recovered from his injuries and learned that Five Peaks Mountain suspected Guiyuan Sect was responsible for her death. He prepared to conceal and suppress Liu Yingxiu’s spiritual flying sword, while worrying that Five Peaks Mountain might use the Heavenly Secret Art to find him.

• Wang Chen returned to Dongwu Stockade, removed his Thousand Transformations Mask, and spent three days recovering from his injuries.
• Wang Chen resumed his Wang Xiu identity and heard teahouse patrons discuss Liu Yingxiu’s death and Five Peaks Mountain’s suspicion of Guiyuan Sect.
• Wang Chen concluded that Five Peaks Mountain might issue a warrant and feared that its experts could trace him using the Heavenly Secret Art.
• Wang Chen restored his strength, drew several dozen Sealing Talismans, and took Liu Yingxiu’s flying sword from his Storage Bag.
• Liu Yingxiu’s flying sword hummed, showed flickers of lightning, and floated into the air without Wang Chen controlling it.

Wang Chen suppressed Liu Yingxiu’s spirit sword and began refining it, while Zhang Hongwen asked Li Xuanji to use Heavenly Secret divination to identify her killer. Li Xuanji died during the divination, leaving Zhang Hongwen terrified and without an answer.

• Wang Chen sealed Liu Yingxiu’s spirit sword with Talismans, blood-sacrificed it, and began refining it as a trump card.
• Zhang Hongwen knelt outside Xuanming Cave for three days, grieving Liu Yingxiu and seeking help to find her murderer.
• Li Xuanji agreed to perform Heavenly Secret divination using a bloodstained leaf from Liu Yingxiu’s death scene.
• Li Xuanji performed the divination, told Zhang Hongwen to let it go, and died in meditation.
• Zhang Hongwen stood stunned as an unseen force enveloped him and fear overwhelmed him.

After Li Xuanji died from calculating the killer of Liu Yingxiu, his disciple’s master concealed the incident and feared further turmoil for Five Peaks Mountain. Wang Chen suspected his Heavenly Merit had blocked another divination, then finished refining Liu Yingxiu’s Wind Thunder Sword and prepared to test it.

• Zhang Hongwen told his master how Li Xuanji had calculated the heavenly secrets and died, and she ordered him to keep silent while she informed the Sect Leader.
• The woman in rainbow-feather robes mourned Li Xuanji and feared the killer who had caused Liu Yingxiu’s death could bring further danger to Five Peaks Mountain.
• Wang Chen sneezed in his secret chamber and saw that he had lost 10 Heavenly Merit, leading him to suspect his Cultivation Panel had blocked a high-level cultivator’s divination.
• Wang Chen spent three days erasing Liu Yingxiu’s imprint from the flying sword and replacing it with his own.
• Wang Chen learned that the sword was the high-grade spirit artifact Wind Thunder Sword, suited to his Thunderclap Sword Technique, and wanted to test its power.

Wang Chen settled into life in Dongwu Stockade, laying low until the danger surrounding Liu Yingxiu’s death faded. He then tested the Wind Thunder Sword in the mountains and planned to perfect his Thunderclap Sword Technique before breaking through to Open the Mansion.

• Wang Chen followed a quiet routine, sold talismans at the Marketplace, and used his earnings to buy ingredients for Dragon Tiger Spirit Strengthening Soup.
• Wang Chen earned respect as a skilled Talisman Master, and Three Rivers Society cultivators who had once troubled him came to apologize with gifts.
• Wang Chen spent nearly half a year lying low as the turmoil over Liu Yingxiu’s death subsided and Five Peaks Mountain failed to find him.
• Wang Chen left Dongwu Stockade through a secret tunnel and tested his refined Wind Thunder Sword against a lizard on a cliff.
• Wang Chen practiced the Thunderclap Sword Technique until sunset and planned to reach great perfection before preparing to Open the Mansion.

After five days of seclusion, Wang Chen discovered that Dongwu Stockade had changed under the newly established Dongwu Guard Hall, which was exploiting residents and businesses. He learned that Venerable Xin Han had appointed her new Dao Companion’s brother, Jin Liancheng, as Guard Hall Master, and feared he might have to abandon his hard-won refuge.

• Wang Chen found that his Dragon Tiger Spirit Strengthening Soup had become ineffective and that better ingredients would be difficult to obtain in Dongwu Stockade.
• At breakfast, Wang Chen watched three arrogant cultivators wearing golden hooked emblems intimidate the stall owner and learned that food prices and City Lord’s Mansion fees had risen.
• Wang Chen gave the struggling stall owner extra Shattered Spirits, then went to a teahouse to learn what had happened during his seclusion.
• Wang Chen heard that Venerable Xin Han had taken a female cultivator into her household and established Dongwu Guard Hall the next day.
• Wang Chen learned that Xin Han’s new Dao Companion’s younger brother, Jin Liancheng, led the Guard Hall, whose cultivators collected double fees and took meals without paying.

Wang Chen witnessed a gambling gang demand that Zhu Xiaohu’s family repay his debt with their home, while the gang also threatened to settle an earlier account with Wang Chen. After returning home, Wang Chen removed his Thousand Transformations Mask and revealed his handsome true face.

• Wang Chen returned to his alley and found two men beating Zhu Xiaohu over a five-hundred-Spirit-Stone gambling debt.
• The gang demanded Zhu Xiaohu’s family hand over their house if they could not pay, and Aunt Zhu begged Wang Chen for help.
• Wang Chen refused to pay the debt, and the gang’s leader threatened to settle his account with Wang Chen before giving the Zhu family two days to move out.
• Chen Qi warned Wang Chen that the Three Rivers Society had gained powerful backing from Jin Liancheng, while the Zhu family retreated indoors in despair.
• Wang Chen returned home and removed his Thousand Transformations Mask, revealing his true appearance.

Wang Chen entered Changle Gambling House under the name Yan Qing and made an extravagant impression by tipping the dealer and placing a large wager. The dice round began with his fifty Spirit Stones bet on high, and the outcome remained unknown.

• Wang Chen arrived at Changle Gambling House and chose Zhang San to serve as his lackey.
• Wang Chen introduced himself to the dealer Jin Niang as Yan Qing and ordered Zhang San to give her ten Spirit Stones.
• Jin Niang explained the dice-game rules as Zhang San attended Wang Chen at the table.
• Wang Chen bet fifty Spirit Stones on high, far exceeding the other gamblers' wagers.
• Jin Niang called for bets to end and pulled the cord to begin revealing the dice result.

Wang Chen deliberately won fifty thousand Spirit Stones at Changle Gambling House, prompting its cultivators to accuse him of cheating and attack. He killed three black-robed cultivators, leaving the gambling hall in chaos.

• Wang Chen repeatedly doubled his bets on Big and lost, then wagered one thousand Spirit Stones on five of a kind.
• Jin Niang accidentally opened the dice cup early, revealing five sixes and giving Wang Chen a fifty-thousand-Spirit-Stone win.
• Wang Chen demanded payment, but a middle-aged cultivator accused him of cheating and ordered him outside.
• The middle-aged cultivator attacked Wang Chen, who shattered his arm with a punch.
• Wang Chen used Sword Light to kill the middle-aged cultivator and two other black-robed cultivators, sending the gambling hall into a panic.

Wang Chen slaughtered the Three Rivers Society cultivators at Changle Gambling House and collected their valuables. When the Society's main force and Dongwu Guard Hall cultivators arrived, he summoned a Heavy-Winged Fire Crow to attack them.

• Wang Chen used his Wind Thunder Sword to kill more than ten Three Rivers Society cultivators at Changle Gambling House.
• Wang Chen dodged the survivors’ attacks, killed more cultivators, and chased down those who fled with his flying sword.
• Jin Niang emerged from hiding and tried to deceive Wang Chen with an essence-blood talisman, but he killed her with a Gengjin Finger.
• Wang Chen collected the cultivators’ Storage Bags and all the Spirit Stones scattered through the gambling house.
• The Three Rivers Society’s main force and cultivators from Dongwu Guard Hall arrived, and Wang Chen sent a Heavy-Winged Fire Crow diving toward them.

After massacring the Three Rivers Society at Changle Gambling House, Wang Chen found his mind clear and went about his usual market-day routine amid fear and rising food prices in Dongwu Stockade. He returned home to learn that Uncle Zhu’s family had died by severing their own heart meridians the previous night.

• Wang Chen woke refreshed after earning 368 Heavenly Merit from his attack on Changle Gambling House and felt that Heavenly Merit helped purify his Dao heart.
• Wang Chen ate breakfast at an unusually empty stall and learned that Spirit Rice and beast meat prices had risen again.
• Wang Chen sold Talismans and bought a Golden Silk Silver Ring Snake at the Marketplace, where patrols had increased after the previous night’s violence.
• Wang Chen heard conflicting rumors about the attack and listened as teahouse patrons worried about rising rice prices.
• Chen Qi told Wang Chen that Uncle Zhu, Aunt Sun, and Zhu Xiaohu had died by severing their own heart meridians the previous night.

After the Zhu family died by suicide over their gambling debts, their friend Xiao Zhong learned that Changle Gambling House and the Three Rivers Society had been destroyed. Hou Zheng, who had helped draw Zhu Xiaohu into gambling, celebrated the news until Zhu Xiaohu’s spirit confronted him and took over his body.

• Xiao Zhong arrived to tell Zhu Xiaohu that Changle Gambling House had burned down and Old Fourth Duan and many Three Rivers Society members had died.
• The neighbors told Xiao Zhong that Zhu Xiaohu and his parents had severed their own meridians, and Xiao Zhong collapsed in grief.
• Hou Zheng returned to his rented room and celebrated the destruction of Changle Gambling House, which had left him deeply in debt.
• Zhu Xiaohu appeared outside Hou Zheng’s window, and Hou Zheng’s worn-out Storage Bag tore as he tried to find an Exorcism Talisman.
• Hou Zheng’s shadow twisted, and he convulsed on the floor before rising with an honest, guileless face.

Wang Chen confronted Zhu Xiaohu’s vengeful Evil Spirit, which had possessed Hou Zheng and came to accuse him of refusing to help the Zhu family. After destroying it, Wang Chen worried that Evil Spirit attacks would grow more frequent as the great calamity drew nearer and returned to cultivation.

• Hou Zheng visited Wang Chen and accused him of refusing to save Aunt Zhu’s family despite having Spirit Stones.
• Wang Chen said he had no duty to help and revealed that he knew Hou Zheng was an Evil Spirit.
• The Evil Spirit transformed into Zhu Xiaohu and attacked Wang Chen with Yin Sha energy.
• Wang Chen scattered the attack and trapped the Evil Spirit in an Evil-Exorcising Net, which drained its source power.
• Wang Chen burned the Evil Spirit’s corpse, cleaned away the ash, finished his dinner, and returned to the underground secret chamber to cultivate.

As grain prices rose and winter made survival difficult, Wang Chen lent his neighbor Chen Qi enough Spirit Grain to feed his family through the season. After Chen Qi left, Wang Chen headed to the Marketplace.

• A family led by a fifth-level Qi Condensation cultivator surnamed Duan moved into Old Zhu's house as winter arrived.
• Wang Chen stayed home cultivating while heavy snow made gathering and hunting difficult for the stockade's cultivators.
• Chen Qi visited Wang Chen and asked to borrow grain, offering his empty Storage Bag as collateral.
• Wang Chen gave Chen Qi three hundred catties of White Jade Rice, enough to help his family of four through winter.
• After seeing Chen Qi off, Wang Chen left for the Marketplace.

Chen Qi returned home with nearly three hundred jin of borrowed Spirit Grain, while Wang Chen learned that a worsening grain shortage and unrest were driving prices up and refugees into Dongwu Stockade. As security deteriorated, Xin Han entered seclusion and left the city’s affairs to her consort and Golden Snake Gentleman, leaving residents uneasy.

• Madam Chen inspected the grain Wang Chen had lent Chen Qi and resolved that the family must repay his kindness.
• Wang Chen discovered that Spirit Grain prices had soared and heard that falling harvests and dangerous roads had disrupted supplies.
• A broker tried to sell Wang Chen a young girl as a maid, but Wang Chen left without helping her.
• Wang Chen counted his stored grain and felt reassured that he had enough for himself, though he had no plans to sell it.
• More Rogue Cultivators flooded Dongwu Stockade, worsening public security beyond the Guard Hall’s ability to control.
• Xin Han entered seclusion and handed City Lord’s Mansion affairs to her consort and Golden Snake Gentleman.

During a brutal winter in Dongwu Stockade, Wang Chen faced rising poverty and disorder as he went to sell talismans at the Marketplace. A steward warned him that the City Lord's Mansion might soon recruit cultivators to build an estate for Hu Meiniang, hinting at a hidden agenda.

• Wang Chen broke a young thief's hand and drove off the group surrounding him.
• Wang Chen gave two Spirit Rice Balls to an elderly beggar for his starving grandson before entering the Marketplace.
• Wang Chen paid a Marketplace steward for a well-placed stall and set out his talismans.
• Wang Chen sold few talismans as cultivators held onto their Spirit Stones amid soaring grain prices.
• The steward warned Wang Chen that the City Lord's Mansion might recruit cultivators to build an estate for Hu Meiniang.