Chapter Summaries

Wang Chen learned that Zuo Xiaomo needed a Dao Guardian for the West Sea Sect’s assessment in the Nine Dragon Underground Palace and agreed to accompany him. Back at his residence, Wang Chen found a substantial deposit in Zuo Xiaomo’s Storage Bag and used Mana to investigate the ancient Sealed Jade that had stirred the Primordial Dao Stele.

• At Thousand Mountain Pavilion, Zuo Xiaomo explained that he had failed two Outer Sect assessments and needed a Dao Guardian for this year’s test in the Nine Dragon Underground Palace.
• Zuo Xiaomo asked Wang Chen to serve as his Dao Guardian, and Wang Chen agreed because Zuo Xiaomo had helped him before.
• Zuo Xiaomo gave Wang Chen a Storage Bag containing a deposit of one thousand Medium Spirit Stones.
• After returning to his residence, Wang Chen opened the Storage Bag and then took out the ancient Sealed Jade he had bought at the Immortal Market.
• Wang Chen infused the ancient Sealed Jade with Mana, and it cracked.

After uncovering the sealed Life-Giving Creation Cauldron, Wang Chen left it unused and devoted himself to studying and cultivating at West Sea Sect. When his Merit Points ran out and his rent deadline approached, he went to the Merit Department to find work.

• Wang Chen broke open the ancient Sealed Jade and found the Life-Giving Creation Cauldron, which the Cultivation Panel showed was sealed with one million points.
• Wang Chen stored the cauldron because he could not afford the more than five hundred thousand Human Virtue needed to unseal it.
• Over the following month, Wang Chen attended lectures at West Sea Sect and adapted to life in West Sea City while cultivating toward the second level of the Purple Mansion.
• Wang Chen realized he had only two Merit Points left and that his rent deadline was near.
• Wang Chen went to the Merit Department, where crowds of disciples were accepting tasks, and tossed his Identity Token toward the Merit Dao Stele.

Zhang Dahu and his family joined other townsfolk fleeing Wuyan Town, where Evil Spirits had made life unbearable. Their journey began peacefully, but a swarm of blood-eyed crows and encroaching gray mist threatened the group on the Chidao.

• Zhang Dahu told Old Man Zhang that several families had agreed to flee Wuyan Town, while the two prepared to shelter from the rising fog.
• Sinister winds destroyed Exorcism Talismans, and screams rang through town as the families endured the night in their secret chambers.
• Zhang Dahu's family left at dawn and joined the townsfolk gathered at the Chidao, where Sun Cheng revealed that Wang Wu's family had likely been attacked.
• The townsfolk set out toward the county seat and traveled more than ten li without incident, easing their fears.
• Zhang Dahu spotted enormous blood-eyed crows diving toward the group as gray mist swept in from the surrounding fields.

Zhang Dahu and the people fleeing Wuyan Town were overwhelmed by black crows and gray mist until Wang Chen, a specially appointed Exorcism Envoy of the West Sea Sect, arrived and drove away the Evil Spirits. After the townsfolk recognized their rescuer, Wang Chen began treating an injured child.

• Zhang Dahu rallied the fleeing townsfolk to fight the black crows, but the birds wounded many people as gray mist swallowed others.
• A townsman was dragged into the gray mist, and Zhang Dahu's Evil-Warding Spiritual Light failed to disperse it.
• As Yin Evil Aura threatened his family and the townsfolk, Zhang Dahu prepared to use the life-draining Blood Burning Technique.
• Wang Chen descended, dispelled the gray mist and Yin Evil Aura, and attacked the black crows with Fire Crows, sword radiance, and thunder.
• Wang Chen introduced himself as a specially appointed Exorcism Envoy of the West Sea Sect and asked about Wuyan Town's situation.
• The townsfolk begged Wang Chen for help, and he took healing Pills from his Storage Bag to treat a child wounded by the black crows.

Wang Chen rescued a group of townspeople fleeing Evil Spirits and agreed to escort them to Huai Shan County, provided they also helped evacuate anyone still willing to leave Wuyan Town. The group split over whether to help the remaining residents, and Wang Chen let those who wanted to go leave ahead while he prepared to deal with the town’s threat.

• Wang Chen treated a wounded child and learned from Zhang Dahu that only three or four hundred people remained in Wuyan Town after months of Evil Spirit attacks.
• Zhang Dahu and his companions offered Wang Chen their possessions in exchange for an escort to Huai Shan County Town.
• Wang Chen agreed to escort them if they brought along the residents still willing to flee, since he intended to purge Wuyan Town’s Evil Spirits.
• Several people objected to helping the residents who had stayed behind and urged the group to leave without them.
• Wang Chen calmly told those who wanted to leave to go ahead first.

Wang Chen entered Wuyan Town, drove off a shadowy Evil Spirit, and summoned the surviving townsfolk to escape. He led several hundred people toward the town’s edge, while sensing that more powerful Evil Spirits would return.

• Wang Chen used the Cave Truth Technique and Mana-formed Suppress runes to destroy dozens of Evil Spirits surrounding him.
• Wang Chen sent the Crimson Suanni Sword into the darkness, wounding an Evil Spirit that fled and caused the gray fog to disperse.
• Wang Chen suspected the Evil Spirit was only a vanguard and that stronger forces planned to turn Wuyan Town into an Evil Nest.
• Wang Chen announced that he had come under West Sea Sect orders and gave hidden townsfolk a quarter-hour to come out and follow him.
• Several hundred townsfolk gathered, and Wang Chen led them toward the edge of town.

Wang Chen escorted the rescued townspeople from Wuyan Town to Huai Shan County Town, then prepared to return and deal with the Evil Spirits. He left after asking Garrison Commander Zhao Hongyi for records of recent Evil Spirit cases.

• Wang Chen told the townspeople that the Evil Spirits could return and led them toward Huai Shan County Town.
• Wang Chen crafted more than three hundred Jia Ma Talismans and used them to speed the townspeople’s journey.
• Wang Chen reached Huai Shan County Town with the townspeople, and Zhao Hongyi ordered the gates opened to admit them.
• Wang Chen asked Zhao Hongyi for case files about Evil Spirits in Huai Shan County over the past two years.
• Wang Chen left Huai Shan County Town at dusk and headed back to Wuyan Town to deal with the Evil Spirits.

Wang Chen confronted the Evil Spirits haunting Wuyan Town, destroying their lesser ranks before a powerful Evil Monster emerged from beneath the opera stage. He attacked the monster with the Crimson Ni Sword, which it knocked aside, and prepared to strike again.

• Wang Chen watched a ghostly opera at the town’s stage as Evil Spirits gathered around him and gnawed at his Protection spiritual light.
• Wang Chen activated the Blazing Fire Dharma Image and destroyed the Evil Spirits that attacked him, earning Human Virtue.
• A blue-faced general descended from the stage with a saber, but Wang Chen shattered its weapon and body with Vajra Fist, collapsing the stage.
• Wang Chen released his Fire Crow Dharma Image to burn the remaining Evil Spirits and the buildings beside the stage.
• A giant Evil Monster burst from beneath the ruins and attacked Wang Chen with an axe and hammer, but he evaded and sent the Crimson Ni Sword against it.
• The Evil Monster knocked the Crimson Ni Sword away, and Wang Chen recalled it and sent it around for another strike.

Wang Chen wounded the Evil Monster with the Crimson Ni Sword and Evil-Quelling Talismans until it tried to flee. He trapped it with the Heavenly Net to Punish Evil and began dragging it away from the tunnel, though the struggle was still fierce.

• Wang Chen used the Crimson Ni Sword and Evil-Quelling Talismans to injure and weaken the Evil Monster.
• The Evil Monster hurled its battle axe, knocked the Crimson Ni Sword aside with its hammer, and opened a fissure to escape through the tunnel.
• Wang Chen caught the fleeing Evil Monster in the Heavenly Net to Punish Evil, which restrained it and drained its evil power.
• The Evil Monster hardened its skin to slow the net's effect, but Wang Chen poured Mana into the net and used his strength to drag it away from the tunnel entrance.

Wang Chen subdued a powerful Evil Monster with the Heavenly Net to Punish Evil and survived its final self-destruction. After using the Crimson Ni Sword to clear the surrounding Evil Spirits, he examined a jade bead that had turned gray and become threaded with black strands.

• Wang Chen used the Evil-Exorcising Net and his physical strength to restrain the Black Grudge-rank Evil Monster while fending off its summoned Evil Spirits with Vajra Body Protection.
• The Evil Monster drained and weakened by the net, then expanded and exploded in a final attempt to defeat Wang Chen.
• The Heavenly Net to Punish Evil absorbed the monster's blood mist and restored Wang Chen's depleted Mana.
• Wang Chen wielded the Crimson Ni Sword to kill the nearby Evil Spirits and clear the area.
• Wang Chen took out a jade bead that had turned deep gray, with black strands writhing inside it.

After clearing every Evil Spirit from Wuyan Town, Wang Chen returned to Huai Shan County and agreed to help Zhao Hongyi investigate the hidden threat that had been killing residents. The chapter ended with Zhao Hongyi offering Wang Chen a Storage Bag after they planned their investigation.

• Wang Chen used his Evil Soul Bead to consider whether it had recorded the Evil Monster he killed, then swept Wuyan Town and eliminated all its remaining Evil Spirits.
• Wang Chen tallied more than fifteen thousand new Human Virtue points, bringing his total above twenty thousand, and flew to Huai Shan County.
• Wang Chen told Zhao Hongyi that Wuyan Town had been cleared and agreed to continue taking missions in the surrounding villages and towns.
• Zhao Hongyi asked Wang Chen to help investigate the hidden Evil Cultivator or Evil Spirit responsible for draining the essence blood of dozens of households in Huai Shan County.
• Wang Chen agreed to help protect the county town, and he and Zhao Hongyi discussed a plan before Zhao Hongyi offered him a Storage Bag.

Wang Chen continued purging Evil Spirits across Huai Shan County and suspected the disaster was being manipulated from within the county town. At dawn, refugees from Zhao Family Town arrived at Huai Shan County Town, and Zhao Hongyi learned that his son Xiao Qi had stayed behind during their escape.

• Wang Chen killed a wraith-grade Evil Monster in Shanglin Town, bringing his Human Virtue total to seventy thousand.
• Wang Chen reflected on the widespread Evil Spirit attacks and suspected an unseen force was driving the disaster from Huai Shan County Town.
• Several thousand refugees from Zhao Family Town reached Huai Shan County Town and asked to enter.
• Zhao Hongyi arrived at the gates and learned from his clansman Hongcheng that Xiao Qi had covered the refugees' escape from the Evil Spirit invasion.
• Zhao Hongyi ordered the city gates opened and the city-protecting formation activated.

After Zhao Hongyi left Huai Shan City to save his son and ancestral land, the city tightened its defenses and faced an eerie procession of Evil Spirits at the south gate. Meanwhile, a disguised Evil Spirit infiltrated Garrison Headquarters, killed Uncle Fu, and headed toward the halls controlling the city-protecting formation.

• Zhao Hongyi departed Huai Shan City, prompting the city to impose a lockdown and reinforce its defenses.
• At sunset, an army of floating Evil Spirits approached the south gate, and the defenders prepared rune-engraved crossbows.
• A gray-clad servant bribed Uncle Fu to enter Garrison Headquarters during curfew.
• The servant revealed that he was not A Gui, killed Uncle Fu, and swallowed his corpse.
• The disguised Evil Spirit headed toward the Inner Court Dharma Protector Hall and Tian Shu Pavilion.

The gray-robed servant infiltrated Tian Shu Pavilion to seize control of Huai Shan City’s protection array, but Wang Chen’s trap pinned him before he could reach the cultivators inside. Wang Chen ensnared the Evil Cultivator with the Heavenly Net to Punish Evil, leaving him helplessly caught.

• The gray-robed servant hypnotized two armored guards into opening Tian Shu Pavilion’s gate, then put them to sleep.
• The gray-robed servant entered the tower intending to kill its stationed cultivators and use the City Protection Array to blood-sacrifice Huai Shan City.
• An array force pinned the gray-robed servant, shut the doors, and illuminated him as the city’s protective barrier contracted around Tian Shu Pavilion.
• Wang Chen appeared and identified the intruder as the culprit behind Zhao Hongyi’s crisis.
• Wang Chen attacked with the Heavenly Net to Punish Evil, which burned away the gray-robed servant’s evil power and trapped him.

Wang Chen defeated the Evil Cultivator in a carefully prepared trap at Tian Shu Pavilion and secured his Storage Bag as proof for the sect. He then returned to defend Huai Shan City, driving off the Evil Spirits gathered outside and pursuing them into the night.

• Wang Chen's formation and the Heavenly Net to Punish Evil drained the Evil Cultivator's power until he died, and Wang Chen burned the remains and secured the unusually durable Storage Bag for the sect.
• Wang Chen sent a message to Zhao Hongyi and flew toward the outskirts of Huai Shan City.
• Wang Chen attacked the Evil Spirits gathered outside the south gate with Evil-Quelling Talismans, a Mystic Fire Flying Crow, and the Crimson Ni Sword.
• The Evil Spirits scattered, and the cultivators and soldiers on the city wall cheered Wang Chen as the Immortal Envoy.
• Wang Chen pursued the fleeing Evil Spirits for nearly a hundred li beyond the city and killed hundreds of them.

After Wang Chen helped Zhao Hongyi eliminate the Evil Spirits plaguing Huai Shan County, the city celebrated its safety with fireworks. Zhao Hongyi rewarded Wang Chen with rare Spiritual Tea and sought to build a lasting connection with him.

• Wang Chen watched Huai Shan County celebrate the defeat of the Evil Spirits with fireworks and crowds filling the streets.
• Wang Chen recalled how he and Zhao Hongyi had slain the culprit seven days earlier and cleared the remaining towns of Evil Spirits.
• Zhao Hongyi served Wang Chen Huai Shan Five-Leaf Spirit Tea, and Wang Chen praised its purity and effects.
• Zhao Hongyi gave Wang Chen a jin of Spiritual Tea and offered to send him several taels each year to foster their relationship.
• Wang Chen accepted Zhao Hongyi's friendship, and the two drank tea and talked as fireworks continued over the city.

After returning from his mission, Wang Chen received a generous reward, renewed his rent, and focused on cultivation until he advanced to the Purple Mansion second layer. He then used Human Virtue to raise the sealed Life-Giving Creation Cauldron’s progress, causing its rust to vanish and revealing a pristine bronze cauldron.

• Wang Chen submitted proof of completing his task and, after the Merit Department reviewed it, received 1,376 Merit Points, his Storage Bag, and three thousand Medium Spirit Stones.
• Wang Chen exchanged Merit Points for Purple Essence Pills, renewed his rent for half a year, and saved the rest for later.
• Wang Chen cultivated diligently and advanced to the Purple Mansion second layer one month after returning to the sect.
• Wang Chen took three days off to enjoy the West Sea, then retrieved the sealed Life-Giving Creation Cauldron from his Storage Bag.
• Wang Chen spent Human Virtue to raise the cauldron’s unsealing progress to 500,000, and its rust vanished to reveal a pristine bronze cauldron.

Wang Chen awakened the Life-Giving Creation Cauldron, but it drained his Mana, vital blood, and the spiritual power stored in the Heavenly Net to Punish Evil. After forming a Divine Soul connection with the cauldron, he fed it nearly all his Human Virtue, but it remained hungry as he opened his Storage Bag.

• Wang Chen injected Mana into the Life-Giving Creation Cauldron, which clung to his hand and began draining his body.
• Wang Chen redirected the cauldron's suction to the Heavenly Net to Punish Evil, but it consumed all the stored spiritual power and left him depleted.
• Wang Chen's Divine Soul connected with the cauldron, which expanded to its towering true form and conveyed its hunger and grievance.
• Wang Chen realized the cauldron had an Artifact Spirit and spent nearly all his Human Virtue trying to satisfy it.
• Wang Chen opened his Storage Bag when the cauldron still showed no sign of being satisfied.

Wang Chen fed the Life-Giving Creation Cauldron his Spirit Stones and Yin Qi Beads, awakening its refining method and learning that it was an artifact-refining treasure. He hung the now-tamed cauldron around his neck and set aside artifact refining until he could find Spirit Fire and focus on cultivation.

• Wang Chen fed the Life-Giving Creation Cauldron all three thousand of his Medium Spirit Stones, then tried Lower Spirit Stones, which the cauldron rejected.
• Wang Chen gave the cauldron his six Yin Qi Beads, causing it to shrink and transmit its refining incantation and function to him.
• Wang Chen learned that the cauldron was an artifact-refining treasure and worried that pursuing artifact refining would cost too many resources and too much time.
• Wang Chen found the cauldron could no longer fit in his Storage Bag, so he hung it around his neck with an imitation of an Immortal Binding Rope.
• Wang Chen decided to postpone artifact refining because he still needed Heaven and Earth Spirit Fire and chose to prioritize cultivation and strength.

After months of steady cultivation in West Sea Sect, Wang Chen met Zuo Xiaomo and Xu Xinlan in Myriad Spirit City, where she asked him to protect her family estate as a retainer. Her offer of Essence of Five Elements, which suited Wang Chen’s technique, persuaded him to consider accepting.

• Wang Chen listened to True Person Puxiang lecture on cultivating life and reflected on how his studies and cultivation had progressed in West Sea Sect.
• Wang Chen received Zuo Xiaomo’s message and traveled to Myriad Spirit City to meet him and his cousin Xu Xinlan.
• Zuo Xiaomo explained that Xu Xinlan needed a new retainer after her previous protector died, leaving her estate vulnerable.
• Xu Xinlan offered Wang Chen thirty percent of her estate’s profits and three taels and three qian of Essence of Five Elements each month.
• Wang Chen accepted the jade bottle and smelled the Essence of Five Elements, which was especially suited to his cultivation technique.