Chapter Summaries

Song Ankang disguised himself and slaughtered Ghost Spirits attacking Tongxin Town, using the Seven Injuries Demonic Scripture despite its damaging side effects. After he defeated a large group and tried to rest, nearly a hundred more Ghost Spirits surrounded him and attacked.

• Song Ankang killed the Ghost Spirits attacking Huachun Hall, including the Bodiless Ghost, with single punches.
• Song Ankang pursued and killed more than twenty Ghost Spirits, including a Ninth-Rank Mid-Tier Ghost Spirit.
• A stronger Ghost Spirit led more than thirty attackers against Song Ankang, but he fought through them and killed their leader as it fled.
• Song Ankang stopped at Tongxin Restaurant to rest, where nearly a hundred Ghost Spirits arrived and launched a joint attack.

Song Ankang fought off a horde of Ghost Spirits in Tongxin Town while townsfolk recovered and joined the battle. When the Ghost Spirits used villagers to distract him, he struck down several Ninth-Rank Mid-Tier Ghost Spirits with Four Fists Combined, suffering severe bodily damage as the Heavenly Book of Fate Defiance began transforming the technique’s side effects.

• Song Ankang used the Seven Injuries Fist to fight the Ghost Spirits, taking injuries from their Ninth-Rank Mid-Tier attackers while killing many weaker spirits.
• Awakened residents of Tongxin Town joined the battle and helped relieve the pressure on Song Ankang.
• Ghost Spirits hurled townsfolk at Song Ankang to disrupt him, but the villagers urged him to focus on the enemy rather than rescue them.
• Song Ankang unleashed Four Fists Combined and killed several Ninth-Rank Mid-Tier Ghost Spirits with single blows.
• The Seven Injuries Demonic Scripture severely damaged Song Ankang’s body, and the Heavenly Book of Fate Defiance began absorbing energy to transform the side effects.

Song Ankang wiped out most of the Ghost Spirits attacking Tongxin Town, then fought Lady Red Umbrella, whose blood umbrella nearly matched his strength. After holding her off while the townsfolk fought the remaining ghosts, his injuries overwhelmed him and he collapsed.

• Song Ankang killed several Ninth-Rank Mid-Tier Ghost Spirits and pursued the fleeing Ninth-Rank Low-Tier Ghost Spirits.
• Lady Red Umbrella attacked Song Ankang with her blood umbrella and recognized his Earth Pass Perfection cultivation.
• Song Ankang resisted Lady Red Umbrella’s illusions and damaged her blood umbrella with his Seven Injuries Fist.
• Lady Red Umbrella and Song Ankang exchanged fierce attacks as the townsfolk and remaining Ghost Spirits fought nearby.
• Song Ankang’s injuries became unbearable, and he staggered before collapsing to the ground.

Song Ankang outwitted Lady Red Umbrella and struck her with a series of powerful Seven Injuries Fists, but her Blood Umbrella Explosion left him facing imminent danger. The chapter ends with Song Ankang exhausted and apparently unable to escape the attack.

• Song Ankang feigned repeated collapses to make Lady Red Umbrella wary of attacking, while their weapons and bodies suffered damage in the prolonged fight.
• Lady Red Umbrella closed in and used Ghost Cry God Howl followed by Soul Severing Wander against Song Ankang.
• Song Ankang's spiritual will resisted her spiritual attack, and he countered with three Seven Injuries Fists that badly wounded her.
• Lady Red Umbrella tried to flee, but Song Ankang caught her and struck again; she then unleashed Blood Umbrella Explosion.
• Song Ankang sensed the deadly attack, but he was at the end of his strength and could not escape.

Song Ankang formed his first True Qi Seed at the brink of death, escaped Lady Red Umbrella’s final strike, and hid near Tongxin Town while awaiting the Heavenly Book of Fate Defiance’s feedback. The town was safe, but its grateful residents believed their savior was doomed to die.

• Song Ankang absorbed attribute-less Spiritual Energy of Heaven and Earth, formed a True Qi Seed, and evaded Lady Red Umbrella’s killing blow as she died.
• Song Ankang collected Lady Red Umbrella’s Ghost Dust and fled Tongxin Town, his battered body near collapse after using Seven Injuries Fist repeatedly.
• Song Ankang hid beneath the remains of an abandoned well and used the surrounding Spiritual Energy and True Qi to keep himself alive while waiting for feedback.
• The remaining Ghost Spirits fled Tongxin Town, and Jiang Yunhe led the townspeople in pursuing them.
• The townspeople learned that Song Ankang was likely beyond saving and mourned the stranger who had protected them.

After the Ghost Spirit attack, Qiushi and the people of Tongxin Town discovered that Song Ankang had vanished, and they searched for him while mourning the devastation. The town’s residents credited the Seven-Tread Demonic Venerable with saving them, but Song Ankang’s whereabouts remained unknown.

• Qiushi woke in Huachun Hall and found that Song Ankang was missing, then organized a search and sent for reinforcements from Chaoyun Manor.
• The residents learned that the Seven-Tread Demonic Venerable had slain Lady Red Umbrella and many other Ghost Spirits, saving Tongxin Town and preventing an attack on Chaoyun Manor.
• The Sun Patrol Division and Night Watch Division failed to send timely reinforcements from Kyoto, while most of the fleeing Ghost Spirits were hunted down.
• Jiang Yunhe returned, learned Song Ankang had disappeared, and blamed himself as he searched for him.
• The townspeople joined the search and vowed to defend Jiang Yunhe from blame while trying to find Song Ankang.

After Ghost Spirits devastated Tongxin Town, Qiushi and the Tenant Farmers of Chaoyun Manor searched desperately for the missing Song Ankang while helping the survivors. The Kyoto reinforcements arrived too late, and the townspeople continued dealing with the catastrophe as the constables accepted responsibility for their failure.

• The Tenant Farmers of Chaoyun Manor joined the search for Song Ankang, whose disappearance left them panicked and indebted to his kindness.
• Qiushi searched the ruins in a daze until Lin Zhan sacrificed himself to save her from a River Ghost.
• After the guards killed the River Ghost, Qiushi ordered them to stay alert and continue searching for Song Ankang, and she resolved to help Lin Zhan's orphaned daughter.
• The Sun Patrol Division constables arrived more than an hour late, reported the situation, and helped clear the ruins, treat the wounded, and search for remaining Ghost Spirits.
• The constables recognized that the deaths of several thousand residents and the Ghost Spirits' attack would bring serious scrutiny from the court and country.

After surviving his wounds in an abandoned well, Song Ankang received powerful side-effect feedback that healed him and strengthened his body as he broke through into the Qi Nourishing Stage. He returned toward Tongxin Town, where the townspeople found him safe and raised the alarm.

• Song Ankang endured severe injuries until his true qi exceeded ten strands and the side-effect feedback began healing him.
• The feedback restored Song Ankang and increased his physical strength by about thirty percent, leaving him with sixteen strands of true qi.
• Song Ankang confirmed that he had broken through the Earth Barrier and become a Transcendence Warrior.
• After washing and changing clothes, Song Ankang headed toward Tongxin Town.
• Townspeople and Tenant Farmers found Song Ankang near a river and hurried to tell Jiang Yunhe and Qiushi that he was safe.

After returning to Tongxin Town, Song Ankang hid his strength and helped organize relief for the survivors. He learned that Qu Xin’s negligence had delayed reinforcements, then agreed to let Chaoyun Manor honor the supposedly dead Seven-Tread Demonic Venerable with a monument and biography.

• Qiushi rushed to Song Ankang and anxiously checked whether he was hurt, while he claimed he had escaped a Ghost Spirit and killed it by chance.
• Song Ankang sent Chaoyun Manor’s Tenant Farmers to help clear rubble, treat the wounded, and repair homes as villagers from nearby settlements joined the relief effort.
• Song Ankang asked Jiang Yunhe about Kyoto’s delayed support, and Jiang Yunhe explained that Qu Xin had repeatedly diverted the constables and dismissed Tongxin Town’s warnings.
• Jiang Yunhe requested permission to erect a monument and write a biography for the Seven-Tread Demonic Venerable, whom everyone believed had died saving Tongxin Town.
• Song Ankang agreed to the tribute so he would not expose that he was the Seven-Tread Demonic Venerable.

After Song Ankang returned from saving Tongxin Town, he let the townspeople honor the supposedly dead Seven-Tread Demonic Venerable while concealing that he was the hero himself. The chapter left him accepting Tang Yelan’s care and wondering what people would think when his identity was revealed.

• Song Ankang helped Tongxin Town and told Qiushi and Jiang Yunhe that he had broken through to the Inner Refinement Realm, prompting Jiang Yunhe to report the news to Tang Yelan.
• After hearing that Song Ankang had nearly died, Tang Yelan sent him dozens of bottles of pills and a letter urging him to stay safe and promising to bring him back to Kyoto.
• People found the Seven-Tread Demonic Venerable’s discarded black robe and, believing he had died, erected a grave of clothes and ordered bronze statues and Ever-Victorious Tablets.
• Song Ankang paid his respects at the grave of clothes and reflected that the people he had saved did not know the Seven-Tread Demonic Venerable was him.

After defeating Lady Red Umbrella, Song Ankang cultivated the Boy Demonic Cultivation Technique and strengthened his resolve to grow more powerful. Qiushi asked to take in Lin An’an, the orphaned daughter of the man who had saved her, and Song Ankang welcomed the girl into their family.

• Song Ankang returned to Chaoyun Manor and converted his sixteen strands of True Qi into Childhood Purity True Qi by cultivating the Boy Demonic Cultivation Technique.
• Song Ankang assessed his new strength and planned to cultivate Treading Snow Without a Trace and the Qi Concealment art of the Heaven Concealing Earth Absorbing Art.
• Qiushi knelt before Song Ankang and asked permission to care for Lin An’an, whose father Lin Zhan had died saving her from a Ghost Spirit.
• Song Ankang embraced Qiushi and agreed to treat Lin An’an as their little sister.
• Qiushi and Lin An’an cried as they remembered Lin Zhan.

Song Ankang welcomed Lin An'an into his home and arranged for her care after her father's death. He then witnessed the Sun Patrol Division execute Qu Xin for neglecting Tongxin Town, while the chapter ended with an author’s request for subscriptions.

• Song Ankang arranged Lin Zhan's funeral and brought Lin An'an into his household as his and Qiushi's younger sister.
• Song Ankang and Qiushi comforted Lin An'an, fed her, and planned to teach her reading, writing, and martial arts.
• Song Ankang gave Little Green herbs and pills to help it grow stronger and protect Qiushi and Lin An'an.
• A Silver Constable arrived in Tongxin Town and executed Qu Xin for failing to protect the townspeople.
• The surviving townspeople cheered as Qu Xin's death eased their resentment.

Song Ankang received recognition for his role in saving Tongxin Town, then considered traveling to Kyoto to find a partner who could help him break his cultivation technique. Meanwhile, Tang Quanli learned about Chaoyun Manor’s processing workshop and grew greedy after its profits were greatly exaggerated.

• Qu Xin was executed, and the Silver Constable announced that the Imperial Court had honored the Seven-Tread Demonic Venerable as a Righteous Hero.
• Jiang Yunhe and Chaoyun Manor received Imperial Court rewards and tax relief for their contributions during the crisis.
• Song Ankang returned to cultivation and decided he might travel to Kyoto to find a suitable partner for breaking the Childhood Purity Technique.
• Liu Lingzhi told Tang Quanli that Chaoyun Manor’s processing workshop was earning around three hundred taels of silver a day.
• Tang Quanli believed the inflated reports and became greedy for Chaoyun Manor’s profits.

Tang Quanli tried to strip Song Ankang of his position at Chaoyun Manor after learning the manor had become profitable, using losses and deaths there as an excuse. Tang Yelan rejected his demand and defended her husband, leaving Tang Quanli’s attempt to seize the manor in doubt.

• Tang Quanli learned that Song Ankang’s processing workshop had made Chaoyun Manor highly profitable and decided to take the manor from him.
• Tang Quanli ordered Liu Lingzhi to deliver a document demanding Tang Yelan approve Song Ankang’s removal and transfer to a more distant manor.
• Tang Yelan read the document and angrily rejected Tang Quanli’s claim to Chaoyun Manor.
• Tang Yelan argued that the missing herbs and tenant farmer deaths did not justify punishing Song Ankang, and cited his role in saving Tongxin Town from Ghost Spirits.

Tang Yelan defended Song Ankang against Tang Quanli by transferring White Jade Mulberry Forest to her husband, then ordered Chunhua to help him secure control before Tang Quanli could respond. The chapter ended with Tang Yelan prepared to risk her reputation for Song Ankang.

• Tang Yelan rebuked Tang Quanli's representative Liu Lingzhi and declared that Chaoyun Manor would go to Tang Quanli while White Jade Mulberry Forest would go to Song Ankang.
• Tang Yelan had Liu Lingzhi thrown out, and he left regretting that he would no longer be able to visit the Weaver Girls at White Jade Mulberry Forest.
• Tang Yelan realized she needed Song Ankang to take control quickly before Tang Quanli could reverse her decision.
• Tang Yelan gave Chunhua a letter and ordered her to tell Song Ankang to go to White Jade Mulberry Forest and secure his position as Forest Lord.
• Tang Yelan told Chunhua that she would oppose Tang Quanli for Song Ankang's sake, even if the dispute harmed her reputation.

Tang Yelan explained why she was fighting Tang Quanli over Chaoyun Manor and arranged for Chunhua to urge Song Ankang to take control of the White Jade Mulberry Forest. Song Ankang suspected the apparent exchange concealed a trap but agreed to go anyway, judging that he should not refuse an opportunity that benefited him.

• Tang Yelan told Chunhua that Song Ankang had entered cultivation and advanced rapidly, partly thanks to his comprehension, pills, and medicinal cuisine.
• Tang Yelan said Tang Quanli’s attempt to take Chaoyun Manor threatened Song Ankang’s prospects, and she intended to secure the White Jade Mulberry Forest for him.
• Tang Yelan sent Chunhua with a letter and guards to persuade Song Ankang to head to the forest immediately without revealing the full situation.
• Chunhua delivered the letter, which said Tang Quanli would hand over management of the White Jade Mulberry Forest in exchange for Chaoyun Manor.
• Song Ankang suspected Tang Quanli had ulterior motives but accepted the offer and prepared to go to the White Jade Mulberry Forest.

Song Ankang learned that Liu Yuanqing had exposed Chaoyun Manor’s processing workshop to Liu Lingzhi, prompting Tang Quanli to try to seize the manor. As the Tenant Farmers beat Liu Yuanqing and he threatened revenge, Song Ankang thanked him, knowing his scheme had helped bring about the exchange for White Jade Mulberry Forest.

• Song Ankang learned that Liu Yuanqing had reported Chaoyun Manor’s processing workshop to Liu Lingzhi, who had told Tang Quanli about it.
• Song Ankang realized that Tang Yelan had arranged for him to receive White Jade Mulberry Forest in exchange for Chaoyun Manor.
• Liu Yuanqing bragged that Tang Quanli would restore him to power and threatened to punish the Tenant Farmers who had humiliated him.
• Hao Jiyong, Wang Yuliang, Ma Jingang, and other Tenant Farmers beat Liu Yuanqing until Song Ankang stopped them.
• Song Ankang told Liu Yuanqing that, despite his cruelty, he had done well and deserved thanks.

Song Ankang killed Liu Yuanqing after revealing that Tang Quanli had given him the White Jade Mulberry Forest, and several Tenant Farmers joined in to share responsibility for the killing. He then told them that Tang Quanli had seized Chaoyun Manor, leaving them to face the manor’s uncertain future.

• Song Ankang told Liu Yuanqing that Tang Quanli had given him the White Jade Mulberry Forest as compensation, and said he was going to take it over.
• Song Ankang killed Liu Yuanqing, and Hao Jiyong, Wang Yuliang, Ma Jingang, Wang Bangzheng, and Li Guihua joined in, willing to take the blame.
• Chunhua realized that Song Ankang had gained the Tenant Farmers’ loyalty and had become far more capable than she had believed.
• Wang Yuliang and the other Tenant Farmers said they had acted for Song Ankang, and Song Ankang promised Liu Yuanqing’s death would not implicate them.
• Song Ankang told the Tenant Farmers that Liu Yuanqing had informed Liu Lingzhi and Tang Quanli about the processing workshop, prompting Tang Quanli to seize Chaoyun Manor.

After Song Ankang was replaced as Manor Lord of Chaoyun Manor, its tenant farmers begged to follow him to White Jade Mulberry Forest, and he agreed to take responsibility for them. He arrived at the much larger, more secure estate and prepared to assume his new post.

• Song Ankang told the tenant farmers that Tang Quanli had exchanged White Jade Mulberry Forest for Chaoyun Manor and warned them to yield to Tang Quanli when necessary.
• Hao Jiyong and Wang Yuliang asked Song Ankang to take them to White Jade Mulberry Forest, and nearly all the tenant farmers knelt and asked to follow him.
• Chunhua confirmed that Tang Family rules allowed Song Ankang to bring the willing tenant farmers, and Song Ankang promised to provide for them.
• The tenant farmers began packing under Hao Jiyong and Wang Yuliang's direction while Song Ankang and his companions rode ahead to White Jade Mulberry Forest.
• Song Ankang arrived at White Jade Mulberry Forest, a vast, well-protected estate near the capital with thousands of households and a large silk industry.

Song Ankang took control of the White Jade Mulberry Forest after Tang Yelan’s people had moved to remove Tang Quanli’s men. He left the forest’s accounts under review to uncover any fraud before the takeover was complete.

• Song Ankang arrived at the White Jade Mulberry Forest and learned that Tang Yelan had sent people ahead to clear out Tang Quanli’s men and inspect the accounts.
• Tang Yuan and his men accused Song Ankang and Tang Yelan of seizing Tang Quanli’s property, and Song Ankang answered by condemning Tang Quanli’s past conduct.
• Song Ankang ordered the guards to throw Tang Yuan and the others out, and they complied despite Tang Yuan’s protests.
• Song Ankang directed Hao Jiyong, Wang Yuliang, and Tang Yelan’s accountants to examine the forest’s books for hidden problems.