Chapter Summaries

Chen Shi infiltrated Taiping Gate and used birds transformed from weapons and talismans to slaughter its disciples and leaders. After killing Gate Master Peng Wanshan, he spoke to the Young Master through a talisman, vowed to find him, and left the sect in ruins with only the captive children alive.

• Chen Shi sent transformed birds past Taiping Gate’s guards, killing a night-watch disciple and immobilizing the divine beast statues.
• The birds killed Taiping Gate’s servants and disciples while the sect prepared to harvest Soul-Returning Lotuses from the Underworld.
• Chen Shi’s birds assassinated Tao Jiangjiang and the other thirteen Golden Core cultivators, then killed Nascent Soul cultivator Liu Rufeng.
• Chen Shi entered the Taiping Palace and killed Peng Wanshan beneath the force of the Five Mountains.
• Chen Shi threatened the Young Master through Peng Wanshan’s Thousand Mile Sound Talisman, crushed it, and destroyed the mountain gate, leaving only the captive children alive.

Chen Shi destroyed Taiping Gate and freed the children held there while Cold Mountain Rogue and Migrant Rogue learned that Chen Yindu’s rescue of Chen Shi from the Underworld involved a mysterious Zhou Tian Grand Ceremony seal. After finding the Soul-Returning Lotus and a fortune in silver notes, Chen Shi chose to take the money despite his grandfather’s teachings.

• Cold Mountain Rogue and Migrant Rogue questioned Granny Sha and Madam Huali about Chen Shi’s rescue from the Underworld and learned that Chen Yindu sealed his soul with the Zhou Tian Grand Ceremony, after which Chen Shi lost two years of memories.
• Cold Mountain Rogue and Migrant Rogue decided not to investigate further because they feared meddling in a matter even Chen Yindu had not resolved.
• Chen Shi searched Taiping Gate for its Soul-Returning Lotus and told Little Dingxiang and the other children that the sect’s wicked members were dead and they were free.
• Little Dingxiang led Chen Shi to Peng Wanhan’s chambers, where he opened a sealed box and found hundreds of Soul-Returning Lotus stalks and more than ten thousand liang in silver notes.
• Chen Shi wrestled with his grandfather’s rule against taking money from the dead, then took the box and left, delighted to become a wealthy landowner.

Chen Shi rescued the children of Phoenix Ridge, helped them find teachers, and recovered from the damage caused by saving them. When agents of the mysterious Young Master came to investigate Taiping Gate, Yutian City killed three and captured their leader, who destroyed his own soul rather than reveal his master’s identity.

• Chen Shi gave twenty-seven children silver and Soul-Returning Lotuses, cleared their Yin Energy, and sent the murdered child ghosts to rebirth, leaving himself badly weakened.
• Chen Shi asked Yutian City to return the children to their homes, and Yutian City arranged for the survivors to join the Rogue Cultivator Gathering as disciples.
• After Heavenly Sun Child and the other cultivators selected students, Granny Sha took Little Dingxiang as her disciple and said her strong soul and Yin Energy suited soul-refining arts.
• Yutian City cleaned up the evidence at Taiping Gate and used Forget Worry Talismans to erase the children’s memories of their ordeal.
• Four agents from Yudu arrived to investigate Taiping Gate and find the Soul-Returning Lotuses, but Yutian City killed three and subdued their leader.
• The surviving agent burned his Primordial Spirit rather than reveal the Young Master’s name, and Yutian City warned Chen Shi that they could not pursue the matter further.

Chen Shi discovered that he could enter the Underworld in his soul form by riding Black Pot, then harvested Soul-Returning Lotuses from the vast lotus field. After eating them for several days, his soul turned golden, and he left with extra lotuses to sell.

• Yutian City warned Chen Shi about the power of Yudu’s Young Master and advised him to survive in a troubled world without abandoning his principles.
• Chen Shi asked Black Pot to open the Underworld, learned its spell could reach the Primordial Palace, and realized he might need to travel as a soul to enter the lotus field.
• Chen Shi used the Soul-Pulling Incantation, rode Black Pot into the lotus field, and began harvesting lotuses while the frightened huge ghost pretended to sleep.
• Chen Shi and Black Pot returned to the Yang World to eat, then made repeated trips to harvest more Soul-Returning Lotuses over six or seven days.
• Chen Shi’s soul turned golden after consuming many lotuses, and he left with more to sell while the huge ghost finally relaxed.

Chen Shi and Li Tianqing returned to Gongzhou after the Rogue Cultivator Gathering, where Chen Shi showed how thoroughly he had mastered the Cold Mountain Rogue’s spell. They joined the desperate defense against sea monsters at Yanxia Ridge and discovered the creatures were targeting the Mazu Temple.

• Li Tianqing spent several days practicing and integrating spells he had learned at the gathering while Chen Shi patiently waited for him.
• Chen Shi demonstrated his refined Fleeting Form spell and gave Li Tianqing Soul-Returning Lotuses, hiring him to refine Soul Returning Pills and wash his clothes.
• Chen Shi and Li Tianqing returned to Gongzhou and learned that sea monsters had landed, so they hurried toward Yanxia Ridge to aid the defenders.
• Director Lu restored the garrison post’s bronze mirror and used its light to repel monsters while Chen Shi’s transformed birds helped defend the post.
• Chen Shi and Li Tianqing fought through the mountains toward the coast as Director Lu supported them with the mirror, and they saw monsters overwhelm garrison posts along the shoreline.
• Chen Shi spotted sea monsters converging on the Mazu Temple and saw powerful creatures fighting the Primordial Spirits of Yutian City and the others.

Chen Shi reached Mazu Temple as oceanic demonic beasts overwhelmed its defenses and discovered that its unfinished goddess needed to be appointed. He used the West King's Jade Seal to establish Red Mountain Empress as the Great Maritime Transport Goddess, who transformed the temple and drove back the monsters, leaving a wounded presence in the sea.

• Chen Shi leaped from the cliff, transformed into a harrier falcon, and flew toward Mazu Temple while Li Tianqing fought off the attacking beasts.
• Giant monsters shattered the golden bell barrier, forcing Yutian City, Red Mountain Empress, Granny Minjiang, and the other defenders to battle the horde directly.
• Chen Shi entered Mazu Temple and tried to appoint its forming goddess with the West King's Jade Seal, but the seal would not land.
• Chen Shi placed Red Mountain Empress on the shrine and used the seal to appoint her the Great Maritime Transport Goddess of the Western Ox Continent.
• Red Mountain Empress became the goddess, restored Mazu Temple, and used the blood ganoderma to destroy the invading beasts and drive the survivors toward the sea.
• The goddess hurled part of the mountain into the ocean, injured a gigantic hidden entity, and declared that she would guard the sea.

Mazu revived, drove back a sea demon, and survived the True God from Beyond the Heavens destroying the coast before settling in Gongzhou City. After learning that the Red Mountain Empress had been her childhood self and that he had inherited leadership of the Heavenly Court, Chen Shi said goodbye to Mazu and left for Xinxiang with Li Tianqing.

• Mazu parted the sea and struck a giant demonic beast with the Blood Ganoderma, then Granny Sha arrived and warned that the True God from Beyond the Heavens would attack.
• Granny Sha led the group in fleeing as the True God’s divine sight devastated Mazu Temple and turned nearby mountains and land to glass; the Green Goat and Hu Xiaoliang shielded them from the fiery impact.
• Granny Sha arranged a temple for Mazu in Gongzhou City and had Yutian City erase the witnesses’ memories, while the Green Goat told Chen Shi that his grandfather had founded the Heavenly Court and made Chen Shi its new head.
• Mazu told Chen Shi that she was the Red Mountain Empress, whose childhood body had formed around her injured spirit, and spent three days shopping and strolling with him.
• Yutian City completed Mazu’s temple, and Chen Shi offered its first incense before bidding farewell to Mazu and departing for Xinxiang with Li Tianqing.

Chen Shi returned to Huangpo Village after the Gongzhou autumn examination was canceled and began preparing to earn money through alchemy. The chapter ended with officials arriving to announce that he had passed the provincial examination as Gongzhou’s Jieyuan, despite never taking the exam.

• Chen Shi questioned the fugitive boat girl about the Underworld and learned that the Benevolent Lord was missing and a Daoist priest had taken away a huge severed limb from the Min River.
• Chen Shi returned to Huangpo Village, where villagers heard he was suspected of killing the provincial governor and treated him as a likely future outlaw.
• Chen Shi bought the rare ingredients for a Soul Returning Pill and an old Eight Trigrams furnace from Shao Jing, then handed them to Li Tianqing to begin alchemy.
• After Li Tianqing spent more than ten days refining the pill, the new Xinxiang Provincial Governor and other officials arrived at the village with a celebratory procession.
• An Imperial Guard announced that Chen Shi had ranked first in Gongzhou Province’s provincial examination and was now Chen Jieyuan, leaving the villagers bewildered.

Chen Shi accepted gifts from Xinxiang officials after unexpectedly being named Jieyuan, then continued helping villagers as early nightfall and supernatural threats worsened. In Xianghe Town, he encountered Ying Rumeng and asked whether demons could cultivate their minds.

• Regional officials congratulated Chen Shi on his Jieyuan ranking and offered him a mansion, servants, carriages, horses, and an estate, which he accepted.
• Li Tianqing accused Chen Shi of becoming corrupted by wealth, but Chen Shi said he would still kill the officials if necessary and reminded Li to finish refining their contracted pills.
• Chen Shi reached the fifth-revolving golden core and noticed that nightfall had advanced again, raising his fear that eternal night could come.
• As demon monsters and evil spirits grew more dangerous, Chen Shi traveled from town to town selling talismans and subduing spirits for a modest fee.
• In Xianghe Town, Chen Shi met Monk Wuchen and the veiled Ying Rumeng, then asked her whether demons could cultivate their minds.

Chen Shi repeatedly tested Ying Rumeng, who feared he had discovered her demonic identity, while Monk Wuchen traveled with her. When their paths crossed again, Empress Shi Ji took over Chen Shi’s body and cowed Ying Rumeng with her Demon Immortal power, leaving Chen Shi to realize he had promised to restore a demon’s true form.

• Chen Shi probed Ying Rumeng about the escaped Gongzhou demon, and mushrooms sprouted on Black Pot and the wooden cart during their tense exchange.
• Monk Wuchen joined Chen Shi and Ying Rumeng for a meal, then explained that Ying Rumeng had taken him traveling to temper his mind after he passed the imperial examination.
• After Ying Rumeng and Wuchen departed, Chen Shi collapsed from fear and ordered Black Pot to leave Xianghe Town; Ying Rumeng separately admitted she feared Chen Shi and wanted to escape him.
• Chen Shi’s cart caught up with Ying Rumeng and Wuchen, and Empress Shi Ji awoke inside his small temple and claimed Chen Shi had been sent by his Godmother to rescue her.
• Empress Shi Ji took over Chen Shi’s body, revealed Demon Immortal power, and warned Ying Rumeng not to threaten her before returning control to Chen Shi.
• Chen Shi realized Empress Shi Ji was also a demon and remembered that he had promised to help her regain her true form.

Chen Shi learned that Empress Shi Ji’s presence greatly accelerated his cultivation, then sought a technique to complete the gaps in his art. After studying the Eight Extremes Golden Palace Divine Chapter, he discovered it gave him a lifespan of 487 more years.

• Ying Rumeng and Monk Wuchen departed, while Chen Shi discovered that Empress Shi Ji’s influence made his cultivation progress far faster.
• Empress Shi Ji explained that the Western Ox Continent’s dependence on the beings beyond the heavens had worsened the world’s decline and strengthened evil spirits.
• Chen Shi asked Empress Shi Ji to identify a suitable technique at the True King’s Tomb, and she chose the Eight Extremes Golden Palace Divine Chapter to supplement his incomplete cultivation art.
• Chen Shi memorized the chapter, returned home, and began cultivating it with Empress Shi Ji acting as his divine embryo.
• After reaching minor success, Chen Shi sensed that his golden core would disperse and his life would end in 487 years.

Chen Shi discovered that his Golden Core could grant nearly five hundred years of life, while Li Tianqing’s would last only about a century, and suspected the Three Lights Righteous Qi Art was the difference. After Li Tianqing set out to test the technique, Chen Shi sold his remaining Soul Returning Pills and deliberately drew the bathhouse young master’s followers after him.

• Empress Shi Ji explained that Chen Shi had 487 years left before his Golden Core dissipated, and Chen Shi compared his longevity with the short lives of powerful figures from the past.
• Chen Shi gave Li Tianqing the Eight Extremes Golden Que Divine Chapter, and Li Tianqing found that his Golden Core would dissipate in 84 years.
• Chen Shi and Li Tianqing suspected that the sun and moonlight used by ordinary cultivation methods were harmful, so Li Tianqing chose to scrap his Golden Core and try the Three Lights Righteous Qi Art.
• Li Tianqing finished refining the promised Soul Returning Pills, accepted silver and a jar of pills from Chen Shi, and left to search for an ancient temple where he could cultivate.
• Chen Shi’s Golden Core reached its sixth revolution, and he delivered his Soul Returning Pills to Shao Jing, who reported that a provincial-capital guest had bought the previous batch.
• Chen Shi drove toward the provincial capital with Black Pot and noticed followers behind him, knowing the bathhouse young master had taken the bait.

Chen Shi arrived in Xinxiang Provincial City and let its officials believe that a life of luxury would make him complacent. Instead, he used bamboo transformed into birds to kill Yan Jingshu and Xia Weiyin, then sent Fu Leisheng a message that their great grudges had been avenged.

• Chen Shi entered his grand residence, where servants pampered him while provincial officials secretly watched and assumed he would soon become dependent on their money.
• Chen Shi asked where the widows of former regional inspector Li Xiaozheng lived, and the officials realized he might be targeting Yan Jingshu and Xia Weiyin.
• Yan Jingshu saw kingfishers turn into sharpened bamboo and recognized the attack as Chen Shi's; the bamboo killed her and Xia Weiyin.
• Chen Shi sent a paper crane to Fu Leisheng, saying Chief Examiner Tian Huaiyi and Shen Yusheng had been avenged and that the noblewoman was dead.

Chen Shi stayed secluded in the provincial city while Governor Xu and the other officials learned why Western Capital feared the demons within him. As mysterious watchers died one by one, three of them finally broke into Chen Shi’s residence, where he prepared to confront them.

• Fu Leisheng read Chen Shi’s letter and practiced with a bamboo pole, stirred by the thought that Chen Shi might change the world.
• Governor Xu told the officials that Chen Shi had eaten fourteen high officials’ Primordial Spirits and harbored more than a hundred demons, so they agreed to conceal their anger and avoid provoking him.
• Chen Shi repeatedly declined Governor Xu’s banquet invitations, and several people monitoring his residence died under suspicious circumstances.
• Governor Xu watched as a woman in red, a peddler, and a scholar abandoned their posts and entered Chen Shi’s residence.
• Chen Shi greeted the three intruders with sharpened bamboo and declared that his interpretation of the Master’s teachings was the true Martial Truth.

Chen Shi used Black Pot’s blood talismans and flying bamboo to defeat Young Master’s three Nascent Soul subordinates, killing Jiang Pingting and the peddler before dueling the scholar. After sparing the scholar, Chen Shi asked what kind of divine embryo Young Master possessed.

• The scholar, Jiang Pingting, and the peddler attacked Chen Shi, but his Sixty Grand Dukes Breaking Formation shattered Jiang Pingting’s spell and disrupted the peddler’s heretical technique.
• Chen Shi’s bamboo spikes pierced the peddler and pursued Jiang Pingting more than eighty li, killing her in the wilderness.
• Chen Shi dismissed the formation and agreed to spare the scholar’s life if he won their duel, while promising to let him go if he answered questions after losing.
• Chen Shi defeated the scholar with a blow that broke his hand and caved in his chest, then stopped himself from striking a lethal follow-up.
• The scholar asked about Chen Shi’s divine embryo, and Chen Shi asked what kind of divine embryo Young Master had.

Chen Shi learned that the mysterious Young Master of Yudu had an extraordinarily powerful Divine Embryo and likely controlled Prince Zheng's Mansion, strengthening Chen Shi’s suspicion that the Young Master was connected to his stolen Innate Dao Embryo and past death. After sparing Pei the Scholar and resolving to avenge the Taiping Gate’s victims, Chen Shi joined Xu Jian for a meal and asked what he knew about the Young Master.

• Chen Shi questioned Pei the Scholar about the Young Master's Divine Embryo, learning that the Young Master mastered Chan Master Kuzhu's King of Wheels Divine Seal in two days and defeated Monk Wuchen.
• Pei the Scholar explained how Divine Embryo grades affected cultivation and combat, and said the Young Master met his subordinates at Prince Zheng's Mansion in Yudu.
• Chen Shi spared Pei the Scholar, then used a yellow sparrow to follow him and confirmed that he was heading toward Yudu to report what happened.
• Chen Shi told Black Pot he intended to avenge the children killed by the Taiping Gate and eradicate the evil behind the Young Master.
• Chen Shi sat with Xu Jian, who revealed that the Cold Mountain Rogue was his grand-uncle and asked Chen Shi not to act too outrageously in Xinxiang Province.
• Chen Shi asked Xu Jian what he knew about the Young Master of Yudu.

Xu Jian investigated the mysterious young master staying at Prince Zheng's Mansion, but his inquiries revealed that both the young master and Chen Shi were considered taboos. After advancing his cultivation and accidentally creating dangerous flower-birds, Chen Shi decided to go to Yudu himself.

• Xu Jian offered to investigate the young master's background and explained the history of Prince Zheng's Mansion to Chen Shi.
• Chen Shi returned to his residence, gave Qing'er money for repairs and clothes, and told her to make outfits for Black Pot.
• Chen Shi cultivated the Eight Extremes Golden Palace Divine Chapter, advanced his Golden Core to the eighth revolution, and transformed a withered flower into peony blossoms and dangerous birds.
• Xu Jian told Chen Shi that his investigators in Yudu had disappeared and that Xu Bufan had warned him not to investigate the young master.
• Xu Jian called Chen Shi and the young master taboos and left, prompting Chen Shi to decide to travel to Yudu.

Chen Shi traveled to the Bath Capital, where he discovered that Qian Xiangzhu planned to sacrifice workers to an underground evil spirit. After Chen Shi killed Qian Xiangzhu and Empress Shi Ji absorbed his remains, Ying Rumeng sensed Chen Shi had arrived and fled with Monk Wuchen toward an even more demonically dense place.

• Chen Shi left his residence and traveled south, passing coastal defenses damaged by sea monsters while Empress Shi Ji absorbed the monsters’ bones.
• Empress Shi Ji sensed Ying Rumeng, a demon seed, and dense demonic Qi near the Bath Capital, while Chen Shi used flying-sword birds to scout Prince Zheng’s Mansion and discovered that a powerful expert could disrupt his spell.
• Chen Shi reached the Bath Capital and found Qian Xiangzhu preparing to send workers into a blood-filled foundation as living sacrifices to an underground evil spirit.
• Chen Shi struck Qian Xiangzhu into the foundation, where the underground creature consumed him, and Empress Shi Ji absorbed his bones.
• Ying Rumeng sensed Chen Shi in the city and hurried away with Monk Wuchen, saying she had found a place west of the Bath Capital with far denser demonic Qi.

Chen Shi entered Yudu to investigate Prince Zheng's Mansion and encountered Hu Feifei in Rouge Alley. He discovered the ghosts of abused and murdered women in a courtyard, then met the brothel's Madam, who delivered Young Master's greetings.

• Empress Shi Ji explained that Demon Seeds could hide in ordinary objects or people, and Chen Shi learned she could not locate the one in Yudu.
• Chen Shi and Black Pot walked through Rouge Alley, where a little girl called Black Pot an evil sui and chased it after it stole her candied hawthorns.
• Hu Feifei recognized Chen Shi and said she had followed Sun Zheng to Yudu, but he had been visiting Rouge Alley for days.
• Chen Shi entered a secluded courtyard and saw many female ghosts, including the ghost of a pregnant woman who had died after being trafficked and abused.
• Chen Shi learned that the little girl, Little Bastard, could see ghosts, and Madam arrived to pass along Young Master's greetings.

Chen Shi faced the Young Master’s trap in Rouge Alley and was offered a choice between serving him or surrendering money, Soul-Returning Pills, and an apology. He pretended to comply, then attacked two of the women guarding him, beginning a fight against the Young Master’s carefully prepared forces.

• Madam revealed that the Young Master had studied Chen Shi’s battles and arranged five Nascent Soul experts and forty-five silver needles to counter his close combat.
• Madam offered Chen Shi a chance to rebuild the Taiping Gate and join the Young Master, promising rewards and information about who stole his divine embryo.
• Madam explained the little girl’s history and presented Chen Shi with a second choice: surrender his money and Soul-Returning Pills, apologize, and leave.
• Chen Shi ordered Black Pot to prepare the money and paper, then began writing an apology while the women kept their distance and aimed their needles at him.
• When Madam mocked the little girl, Chen Shi lunged forward, crushed one woman’s throat and neck, and hurled his brush through another woman’s head.