Chapter Summaries

Wei Qing awakened in the body of a poisoned young master, used a system gift pack to recover and advance his cultivation, and came back to life in his coffin. After Jun Wushang confronted the household steward over Wei Qing’s suspicious death, Wei Qing killed the steward and gained attributes from the system.

• Wei Qing recalled that Liu Ru had poisoned him after driving him into a servants’ courtyard, then discovered that a system had activated.
• Wei Qing claimed the novice gift pack, neutralized the poison, advanced to an Eighth-grade Martial Artist, and mastered Flowing Cloud Slash.
• Jun Wushang arrived to claim Wei Qing’s body and accused Steward Zhao Chuan of violating Heavenly Realm Division regulations.
• Wei Qing spoke from inside the coffin, shocking Zhao Chuan and delighting Jun Wushang.
• At Wei Qing’s urging, he killed Zhao Chuan with the Soul Severing Blade and gained Strength and Constitution from the system.

Wei Qing returned to the Wei Manor and the Heavenly Realm Division after breaking through to the Eighth-grade Martial Artist realm, confronting those who had turned against him. Zhou Cang assigned him an advancement assessment to hunt a demon near Fuyun Town, while news of his missing father remained pending.

• Wei Qing told Jun Wushang that Liu Ru had reported him dead and tried to give his Heavenly Realm Division slot to Wei Lin.
• Wei Qing struck Chen Dong, crippled his cultivation, and ordered the manor guards to kneel for betraying his father.
• Liu Ru and Wei Lin arrived at the Heavenly Realm Division to claim Wei Qing's slot, but fled when he appeared alive.
• Wei Qing told Jun Wushang he would not let the Wei family off easily, and Zhou Cang said Commander Dantai was searching for Wei Yuan.
• Zhou Cang gave Wei Qing an advancement assessment mission to kill a demon near Fuyun Town in Qingcheng.

Wei Qing arrived in Qingcheng to investigate a series of mysterious deaths believed to be caused by demons. After reviewing the household records of the victims, he recognized a troubling pattern and realized the case would be difficult.

• Wei Qing traveled to Qingcheng alone for his Heavenly Realm Division assessment and met Magistrate Fang Youting.
• Wei Qing declined dinner and asked to hear about the demon cases immediately, so Fang Youting summoned head constable Zhu Huan.
• Zhu Huan explained that people across several villages had died peacefully with smiles on their faces, while eighteen corpses later vanished from guarded mourning halls.
• Wei Qing asked Fang Youting to obtain the household registration records of all the deceased.
• Wei Qing studied the records, noticed a pattern, and thought the case would be troublesome.

Wei Qing gathered information about demonic activity around Qingcheng and set out with Zhu Huan to investigate Longdong Village. The village was deserted during harvest season, and four anxious constables welcomed Wei Qing as the Heavenly Realm Division’s demon hunter.

• Zhu Huan advised Wei Qing to investigate Longdong Village the next day, and Wei Qing agreed before staying at Qingcheng’s finest inn.
• Innkeeper Zhang Zhidong told Wei Qing about strange cries near Yandang Mountain and blood-colored light in the Black Mist Wasteland, where a Mechanical Flame Sparrow returned with a Heavenly Realm Division Ink Blade embedded in it.
• Zhu Huan brought Wei Qing local snacks in the morning, and Wei Qing asked him to take him to Longdong Village.
• On the ride, Zhu Huan explained that demons had driven villagers from their homes and praised Fang Youting for caring for Qingcheng’s people.
• Wei Qing and Zhu Huan reached Longdong Village, where empty wheat fields and four frightened constables awaited them.

Wei Qing and Zhu Huan entered a village haunted by a demon, where Wei Qing was trapped in a dream of his former life before awakening and fighting the Ghost Face Vine. He burned the demon to ash, leaving only a ghostly-blue bone spike behind.

• Wei Qing and Zhu Huan entered the silent village and approached Li Da Niu's wealthy home.
• Wei Qing shattered the gate's black-iron lock and stepped into the courtyard as darkness swallowed the sky.
• Wei Qing saw a hospital-room dream of his former Dragon Group companions and seized the nurse's arm as he woke.
• The Ghost Face Vine revealed its Nanke's Dream illusion, restrained Wei Qing with vines, and attacked with a bone spike.
• Wei Qing broke free, struck the Ghost Face Vine with Flowing Cloud Cross Slash, and burned it with a Li Fire Talisman.
• The Ghost Face Vine turned to charcoal and scattered, leaving a ghostly-blue bone spike on the ground.

Wei Qing killed the Spirit Stream Demonic Cat and gained stronger mental power, a perfected blade technique, and a spiritual cultivation method, but the cat’s four-tailed parent rushed toward Longdong Village. After Zhu Huan tried to assassinate Wei Qing and revealed his demonic power and hatred, the two began fighting.

• Wei Qing destroyed the Spirit Stream Demonic Cat’s bone spike, broke its illusion, and killed it as it tried to flee.
• Wei Qing fused the Mental Skull, gained mental power, perfected Flowing Cloud Slash, and advanced Nanke's Dream to Minor Accomplishment.
• A four-tailed Spirit Stream Demonic Cat learned of its child’s death and raced toward Longdong Village to seek revenge.
• Zhu Huan approached Wei Qing with concern, then attacked him with a dagger; Wei Qing blocked the strike and exposed his betrayal.
• Zhu Huan revealed that he sought revenge for his mother, transformed with demonic markings, and attacked Wei Qing, whose kick failed to injure him.

Wei Qing fought Zhu Huan and the Four-tailed Spirit Stream Demonic Cat, using a powerful esoteric art to wound the demon before it trapped him in a torturous spiritual-force space. Twelve hours later, he remained alive but was gravely injured and barely conscious.

• Zhu Huan caught Wei Qing with its elongated neck, but Wei Qing struck its mind with a blue radiance and left it writhing in pain.
• The Four-tailed Spirit Stream Demonic Cat attacked Wei Qing over its son's death, badly injuring him with a single blow.
• Wei Qing coated his Soul Severing Blade with Black Jade Dew and used his shoulder wound to trap the cat demon's tail before unleashing Esoteric Art—Lotus Bloom.
• Wei Qing's blade radiance shattered the demon's three barriers and wounded it, prompting the cat demon to trap him in its spiritual-force space.
• The cat demon tortured Wei Qing with blood-red filaments for twelve hours, leaving him barely conscious and severely mutilated.

Four-tailed Spirit Stream Demonic Cat tried to possess Wei Qing, but a mysterious woman in his sea of consciousness destroyed it and bound Zhu Huan to Wei Qing as his servant. After awakening stronger and back in Li Da Niu's courtyard, Wei Qing learned that Fang Xiang of the Fang family was colluding with demons.

• Four-tailed Spirit Stream Demonic Cat entered Wei Qing's sea of consciousness to possess him, but a mysterious woman appeared and shattered its soul, turning its remains into mental power that strengthened Wei Qing.
• The mysterious woman forced Zhu Huan to sign a Master-servant contract with Wei Qing and removed Zhu Huan's demonic markings while preserving his cultivation.
• Wei Qing awoke with increased mental power and a Seventh-rank martial artist realm, then found himself back in Li Da Niu's courtyard with Zhu Huan guarding him.
• Zhu Huan explained that a powerful martial artist had killed Four-tailed Spirit Stream Demonic Cat and made him Wei Qing's servant, concealing the woman's identity as instructed.
• Wei Qing confirmed he could control Zhu Huan through the contract and asked whether anyone else in Qingcheng colluded with demons; Zhu Huan named Fang Xiang, the eldest young master of the Fang family.

Wei Qing learned that Fang Xiang had colluded with demons and sold people to them, then went to Fang Manor and killed him. The chapter left Fang Xiang dead, Madam Fang unconscious, and Wei Qing rewarded by the system.

• Zhu Huan told Wei Qing that Fang Xiang had met a half-demon and sent living people out of the city as goods.
• Wei Qing and Zhu Huan rode to Qingcheng, while an Inspection Division officer found the Four-tailed Spirit Stream Demonic Cat’s remains and went to inform Zhou Cang.
• Wei Qing arrived at Fang Manor and told Madam Fang that Fang Xiang was accused of colluding with demons.
• Fang Xiang tried to escape in his half-demon form, but Wei Qing wounded him and cut off his scaled arm.
• Wei Qing rejected Fang Xiang’s plea for mercy and beheaded him, causing Madam Fang to collapse unconscious.
• The system rewarded Wei Qing with Strength, Constitution, and a Marrow Cleansing Pill for killing an Eighth-Rank Mid-Stage half-demon.

Wei Qing sealed Fang Manor and announced that Fang Xiang had colluded with demons and been executed. Fang Youting was taken into custody, while Qingcheng’s furious commoners were stopped from storming the manor.

• Wei Qing confined everyone in Fang Manor and ordered Zhu Huan to guard it with rotating shifts of constables.
• Fang Youting knelt outside the manor and begged Wei Qing to spare its innocent residents, while the commoners gathered to support him.
• Wei Qing told the crowd that Fang Xiang had colluded with demons, harmed Qingcheng’s people, and been executed.
• Zhu Huan displayed belongings found in Fang Xiang’s room, and several people recognized items taken from their missing children.
• Zhu Rou Rong and other enraged commoners tried to rush Fang Manor, but Wei Qing and Zhu Huan restrained them.
• Zhu Huan took Fang Youting into custody and led him toward the county office.

Wei Qing confronted Zhang Zhidong over the Night Snack Guard’s failure to uncover demonic threats and ordered him to investigate Qingcheng’s collaborators. After reporting the danger to the Imperial City, Wei Qing used a Marrow Cleansing Pill, leaving him amid a pond of blackened water as A Fu recognized his successful Marrow and Blood Cleansing.

• Wei Qing ordered Zhang Zhidong to find everyone in Qingcheng who had colluded with demonic creatures within two days or face replacement of the Night Snack Guard.
• Zhang Zhidong agreed to investigate, and Wei Qing said he would report Fang Xiang’s collusion truthfully.
• Wei Qing wrote a report about the demonic creatures and other events, concealed Zhu Huan’s betrayal, and sent the letter to the Imperial City by night owl.
• Wei Qing swallowed a Marrow Cleansing Pill and endured icy and scorching forces that drove impurities from his body.
• Wei Qing jumped into the pond to wash off the foul impurities, and A Fu recognized that he had completed Marrow and Blood Cleansing.

The leaders of the Heavenly Realm Division discussed the Black Lotus Cult’s growing threat and the empire’s strained defenses. After hearing that Wei Qing had killed Fang Xiang in Qingcheng, they praised his talent but decided he should remain there and prove himself.

• Nangong Yu and the four ministers discussed the Black Lotus Cult’s probing, the Division’s losses, and plans to deploy eighty percent of its Garrison Commanders.
• Zhou Cang reported that a mysterious expert had slain a sixth-rank demon in Yandang Mountain and that Wei Qing had killed Fang Xiang for colluding with demons and sacrificing more than a thousand people.
• Nangong Yu and the ministers reviewed Wei Qing’s report, agreed that Fang Xiang’s crime warranted exterminating nine clans, and noted that the punishment required His Majesty’s approval.
• Zhou Cang explained that Wei Qing was Wei Yuan’s son, had reached mid-stage eighth rank, and had killed two mid-stage eighth-rank opponents.
• Su Henian suggested transferring Wei Qing from Qingcheng, but Nangong Yu decided he should stay and temper himself amid the breaking seals and dangers in the regions.

The Heavenly Mirror Division granted Wei Qing the formal treatment of a Garrison Commander and ordered a sixth-rank guardian sent to Qingcheng. After learning that Fang Manor’s servants were trying to escape, Wei Qing killed their leader and enforced the order to keep everyone inside, then received word that the inn had news about his inquiry.

• Nangong Yu approved Wei Qing’s rewards, appointed him acting magistrate of Qingcheng, and ordered a sixth-rank Profound Tier Garrison Commander sent there.
• News of Fang Xiang’s collusion with demons and Fang Youting’s imprisonment spread through Qingcheng, and Zhu Huan struggled to control the angry crowd outside Fang Manor.
• More than twenty Fang Manor servants tried to force their way past the guards, claiming they were not responsible for the Fang family’s crimes.
• Wei Qing killed the household-guards leader, threatened the remaining servants, and ordered the yamen runners to kill anyone who left Fang Manor before the Imperial Court’s decree arrived.
• A Fu told Wei Qing that the shopkeeper had news about the matter Wei Qing had entrusted to them, and Wei Qing went to the inn.

Wei Qing and Zhang Zhidong uncovered evidence that the Yan Family was working with the Ghost Corpse Sect to raise corpse puppets in Qingcheng. As Wei Qing sought reinforcements, Yan Qingshan prepared to move his family after a final midnight operation.

• Zhang Zhidong told Wei Qing that the Night Owl Guard found skeletons of young men and women in a well at the Yan Family estate and linked the family to a black-robed visitor.
• Wei Qing and Zhang Zhidong suspected the Ghost Corpse Sect had stolen eighteen Pure Yang corpses to refine a Yang Kui and had used Qingcheng as a corpse-farming ground.
• Wei Qing ordered Zhang Zhidong to send the intelligence to the Heavenly Realm Division and request reinforcements from Jizhou.
• Yan Qingshan reported to a black-robed master that the final batch of blood food had arrived, and the master ordered him to take it west of the city at midnight.
• Yan Qingshan said his son would lead some family members to Jizhou City, while the black-robed master worried after losing contact with the Spirit Rhinoceros Demonic Cat in Yandang Mountain.

Wei Qing received official recognition as a Garrison Commander, a powerful cultivation method, and an appointment as acting magistrate of Qingcheng. As he reviewed the Imperial Court’s judgment against the Fang Family, he learned that the Heavenly Realm Division would transfer him back once enough personnel were available.

• Wei Qing ordered his men to apprehend the Yan Family’s departing younger generation outside the city and keep watch on the family’s remaining members.
• Jun Wushang delivered Wei Qing a formal Garrison Commander token, the Returning Origin Art, and twenty Qi Gathering Pills.
• Wei Qing learned from the appointment document that he would temporarily serve as magistrate of Qingcheng.
• Wei Qing read the Imperial Court’s judgment against the Fang Family, and he, Jun Wushang, and Zhang Zhidong discussed the family’s punishment and Fang Youting’s responsibility.
• Wei Qing opened Zhou Cang’s final letter and learned the higher-ups would transfer him back to the Heavenly Realm Division when enough personnel were available.

Jun Wushang visited Qingcheng to end his arranged engagement to Zhang Xue, only to discover that her father, Zhang Zhidong, was present and that Zhang Xue had arrived as well. She challenged him to a fight, and Jun Wushang struggled to defend himself against her stronger, more experienced attacks.

• Jun Wushang told Wei Qing he wanted to break his childhood engagement to Zhang Xue without offending her family.
• Zhang Zhidong revealed that he was Zhang Xue's father, and Zhang Xue arrived and confronted Jun Wushang.
• Zhang Xue challenged Jun Wushang to a fight, declaring that she would decide whether the engagement was over if she won.
• Zhang Zhidong stopped Wei Qing from intervening, confident that Zhang Xue could handle Jun Wushang.
• Zhang Xue's attacks forced Jun Wushang into a defensive position, and Zhang Zhidong explained that her mother had entered martial cultivation through medicine.

After Jun Wushang failed to break off his engagement with Zhang Xue, Wei Qing urged him to apologize to her family and went to Qingcheng’s county office as acting magistrate. He ordered the Fang family arrested under the Imperial Court’s decree, leaving the County Lieutenant worried that his constables could not handle the family’s martial artists.

• Zhang Xue beat Jun Wushang until he surrendered, then declared that she was the one ending their engagement.
• Wei Qing encouraged Zhang Xue to vent her anger and ordered Jun Wushang to apologize to her; Jun followed Zhang Zhidong out of the inn.
• Wei Qing presented his appointment document at the county office and told the County Lieutenant he would focus on Qingcheng’s stability and public safety.
• Wei Qing showed the County Lieutenant the Imperial Court’s verdict against the Fang family and ordered every Fang family member in Qingcheng, including servants, imprisoned.
• The County Lieutenant warned that the office’s constables were outnumbered and outmatched by the Fang family’s martial artists, and Wei Qing asked what he proposed.

Wei Qing arrived at Fang Manor with a verdict ordering the Fang clan and its servants arrested and executed for Fang Xiang’s collusion with demons. When Fang Youren ordered the family to resist, Wei Qing killed several of their martial artists and returned to his original position.

• Fang Youren’s relatives argued over whether Fang Changyou’s branch should take the blame for Fang Xiang’s crimes, but Fang Youren agreed that they should.
• A guard told Fang Youren that constables had entered the manor, and Wei Qing read the verdict condemning the Fang family and its servants.
• Wei Qing ordered the constables to arrest everyone and threatened to kill anyone who resisted.
• Fang Youren ordered the Fang family’s guards and martial artists to attack the constables.
• Wei Qing killed several Fang family martial artists, gaining attributes and a cultivation method before returning to where he had stood.

Wei Qing arrested the Fang Lineage for colluding with demons, and the court sentenced Fang Xiang to execution in two days. After confiscating the family’s enormous wealth, Wei Qing learned the Ephemeral Art and gained a dramatic increase in speed.

• Wei Qing intimidated the surviving Fang Lineage members into surrendering, and the constables took them to jail.
• A Qingshan Sect man warned his compassionate Junior Sister that speaking in defense of a traitor’s child could endanger their entire sect.
• A constable announced that Fang Xiang would be executed at the eastern execution grounds at noon two days later, and news of the sentence spread across Qingcheng.
• Zhu Huan and the constables found more than 350,000 taels’ worth of assets at Fang Manor, and Wei Qing ordered them sold and the proceeds sent to the Imperial City.
• Wei Qing used the system to learn the Ephemeral Art, reaching Minor Mastery and moving more than three times faster than before.

Wei Qing consumed eleven Qi Gathering Pills and learned the Returning Origin Art, breaking through to Low Sixth Rank. He led an operation against Yan Qingshan and the mysterious figure at the City God Temple, while Chen Feng’s group waited for him to arrive.

• Wei Qing used the Returning Origin Art and eleven Qi Gathering Pills to condense true essence and break through to Low Sixth Rank.
• Jun Wushang, Zhang Xue, and Shen Yan arrived, and Wei Qing agreed to let Zhang Xue join the operation with Jun Wushang watching over her.
• Wei Qing learned that Chen Feng and his people were waiting at the assembly point, then set out with Zhu Huan and the others.
• Yan Qingshan and the mysterious figure went to inspect the blood food confined in the City God Temple’s rear courtyard.
• Chen Feng stopped Cai Yang and the others from charging in before Wei Qing arrived, then recognized the approaching rustling as their allies.