Chapter Summaries

Lu Zheng and Lin Wan sailed to the sea area marked on the treasure map and dived underwater to search for the sunken treasure. When the deep sea grew dark, Lu Zheng brought out a glowing Night-Shining Pearl to light their way.

• Lu Zheng and Lin Wan rented a yacht and set sail, enjoying a leisurely trip together.
• Lin Wan caught a seagull with her martial arts, then released it after Lu Zheng joked about roasting it.
• Lu Zheng matched the yacht’s location to the parchment map and stopped at the designated sea area.
• Lu Zheng used the Water Aversion Art to take Lin Wan nearly two hundred meters beneath the surface.
• Lu Zheng summoned a Night-Shining Pearl and filled it with true energy, making it shine brightly in the darkness.

Lu Zheng and Lin Wan found the wreck of the Saint Miguel and recovered its chests, jewels, and other valuables. They surfaced beside their yacht and discovered that two more yachts had arrived nearby.

• Lu Zheng used a Night-Shining Pearl to illuminate the seabed, and Lin Wan killed a great white shark that charged at them.
• Lu Zheng and Lin Wan searched the continental shelf and found a large, algae-covered sailing shipwreck.
• Lu Zheng cut open the hull with his Red Jade Sword and used his Moving Skill to control the ship’s collapse.
• Lu Zheng collected the ship’s chests, scattered valuables, and a plaque identifying the vessel as the Saint Miguel, then placed a pink-diamond necklace around Lin Wan’s neck.
• Lu Zheng and Lin Wan returned to the surface and saw two other yachts beside their yacht.

Lu Zheng and Lin Wan approached armed yachts and discovered that their crews were dangerous smugglers who had boarded their own yacht. After Lu Zheng caught a volley of bullets and killed the armed men, he confronted the two surviving leaders and demanded to know who they were.

• Lin Wan and Lu Zheng spotted two armed yachts, and Lu Zheng took a hovercraft toward them.
• Lin Wan overheard the crews discussing a shooting contest and learned that Santos planned to shoot Lu Zheng.
• Santos fired three bullets at Lu Zheng, who caught them in his bare hand.
• The yacht crews opened fire on the hovercraft, but Lu Zheng and Lin Wan emerged unharmed from a cloud and landed on the yacht.
• Lu Zheng killed the armed men with his Golden Citadel Heart Sword, leaving Kahn and Eric alive.
• Lu Zheng led Lin Wan toward Kahn and Eric and demanded to know who they were.

Lu Zheng and Lin Wan chose Purple Sun Group boss Grant to sell the weapons and treasure, then Lu Zheng used a dream and a warning to force Grant to cooperate. After Grant agreed to pay and sell the goods, Lu Zheng and Lin Wan relaxed on a Miami beach.

• Kahn and Eric revealed their ties to the Purple Sun Group and Cross Group, so Lu Zheng killed them after deciding they could not be trusted.
• Lu Zheng and Lin Wan agreed to use the Purple Sun Group to sell the goods, and Lu Zheng promised to conceal their identities and money trail.
• Grant investigated the failed transaction and concluded that someone had seized or robbed both groups in international waters.
• Lu Zheng pulled Grant into a terrifying dream and left him an address and account number, then warned him by shooting a bottle opener into his desk.
• Grant agreed to transfer ten million and sell the goods within half a year, while Lu Zheng and Lin Wan walked along the beach and discussed their trip expenses.

After returning from vacation, Lu Zheng heard about recent supernatural incidents and learned that Liu Qingyan had successfully refined Jade Ginseng Pills. He left Renxin Hall after encouraging Du YueYao in her cultivation, then reunited with Liu Qingyan that night.

• Lu Zheng returned to Renxin Hall, where Liu Qingyan and Du YueYao welcomed him and told him what had happened while he was away.
• Liu Qingyan had discovered a ghost draining people’s Yang Energy in Tonglin County, and Shen Ying and the Eighteen Heavenly Women had destroyed it.
• Monk Guang Yue had sought help with a ghost in Pingtan County while Lu Zheng was away, but the others did not know whether Yuan Jing had resolved the matter.
• Liu Qingyan showed Lu Zheng the Jade Ginseng Pills she had refined, and he praised their strength before accepting a bottle.
• Liu Qingyan explained that Du YueYao had begun practicing a health-nurturing cultivation method, and Lu Zheng encouraged her to persevere.
• Lu Zheng inspected his candy shop and sugar-making workshop, gave his employees bonuses, and later met Liu Qingyan to discuss the arts of wind and rain.

Lu Zheng and Liu Qingyan entered the Netherworld to rescue Yuan Jing, Guang Yue, Xin Zhanting, and Pingtan County's City God from a powerful Fierce Ghost. After the ghost's Azure Nether Phosphorus Fire failed to harm Lu Zheng or Liu Qingyan, the group was poised to confront him together.

• Duan Zhong told Lu Zheng that Yuan Jing and Guang Yue were trapped in the Netherworld by a powerful Ghost King, and Lu Zheng set out with Liu Qingyan to help them.
• Lu Zheng and Liu Qingyan reached the black bamboo forest, where Yuan Jing, Guang Yue, Xin Zhanting, and the City God were struggling against a Fierce Ghost wielding azure-green ghostfire.
• Guang Yue explained that he and Yuan Jing had killed the ghost's son, who had abducted women from the Yang World, but a wisp of the son's true spirit escaped into the Netherworld.
• The Fierce Ghost attacked Lu Zheng with Azure Nether Phosphorus Fire, but Lu Zheng destroyed a spark with his Peach Wood Sword and refused Xin Zhanting's suggestion to retreat.
• Lu Zheng led Liu Qingyan into the sea of ghostfire, which stopped at an invisible barrier and could not harm them as they reached the others.

Lu Zheng used the Fire Aversion Art to join the battle against the white-faced Fierce Ghost, protecting his allies and helping them turn the fight around. As the ghost tried to escape, Lu Zheng flew up on a cloud and struck him back down with the White Cloud Great Hand Seal.

• Lu Zheng entered the battlefield unharmed by the emerald ghostfire and used his spells and Wind Rain Flying Immortal to weaken its threat to Yuan Jing and the others.
• Liu Qingyan shielded the group with Demon Qi, while Xin Zhanting wounded the Fierce Ghost with a saber strike.
• The Fierce Ghost attacked Lu Zheng with a skeletal claw, but Lu Zheng slowed it with his Red Jade Swords and cracked its palm with the Peach Wood Sword.
• Guang Yue, the City God, and Yuan Jing joined forces against the Fierce Ghost, who broke through their attacks and tried to flee.
• Lu Zheng rose into the air on a cloud and slapped the Fierce Ghost back down with the White Cloud Great Hand Seal.

Lu Zheng broke through during the battle and joined the others in cornering the white-faced Fierce Ghost. After the Fierce Ghost died trying to escape, Liu Qingyan captured his son, who offered to reveal the location of Black Wheel King's yin-soul origin.

• Lu Zheng broke through and attacked the white-faced Fierce Ghost while the City God surnamed Wei, Xin Zhanting, Yuan Jing, and Guang Yue blocked its escape.
• Lu Zheng and Liu Qingyan joined the fight, with Liu Qingyan shielding the group from the Fierce Ghost's blue-green ghostfire.
• The white-faced Fierce Ghost unleashed its Blue-Green Nine Divine Fire Phosphorescent Flower at Lu Zheng, but Lu Zheng resisted the flames and struck its spirit with the Golden Citadel Divine Palace.
• Lu Zheng and the others overwhelmed the white-faced Fierce Ghost, who pulled his son from his chest and sent him fleeing before exploding in ghostfire.
• Liu Qingyan captured the son, who begged for his life and claimed to know where Black Wheel King's yin-soul origin was.

After the group questioned the captured ghost, he revealed that the Black Wheel King was hiding in the body of Guo Xiaodan in Pingtan County. Lu Zheng and his companions found that the King had already fled, so Lu Zheng set off for the Demon Suppression Division to report him.

• Wei Heng and the others persuaded the ghost to reveal that the Black Wheel King had possessed Guo Xiaodan, a boy from Guo Family Village.
• The ghost explained that the Black Wheel King used the secret art Refining Yang Returning Yin to lodge in a human body and had left after his identity was exposed.
• Lu Zheng and his companions traveled to Guo Family Village and found Guo Xiaodan gone, with only his older sister at home.
• Wei Heng killed the ghost after learning the Black Wheel King had escaped, and Lu Zheng gained strands of Light of Luck.
• Lu Zheng took Liu Qingyan with him and flew toward Yizhou to report the Black Wheel King to the Demon Suppression Division.

Lu Zheng and Liu Qingyan reported the Black Wheel King's whereabouts to Chu Jin and stayed in Yizhou while the Demon Suppression Division searched for him. When the Black Wheel King tried to leave Yizhou, Lu Zheng and Liu Qingyan intercepted him at the border with Yu Province.

• Lu Zheng told Chu Jin that the Black Wheel King had possessed a young boy and might still be in Yizhou, prompting Chu Jin to order a prefecture-wide search.
• Lu Zheng offered to help destroy the Black Wheel King, and Chu Jin arranged for Lu Zheng and Liu Qingyan to stay at the Demon Suppression Division.
• Lu Zheng and Liu Qingyan spent three days exploring Yizhou Prefecture while the search continued.
• Yamen runners recognized Guo Xiaodan, possessed by the Black Wheel King, as he entered Zhongling County, but he evaded their notice and headed toward Yu Province.
• Lu Zheng and Liu Qingyan waited by a wayside pavilion and greeted the Black Wheel King as he approached the provincial border.

Lu Zheng killed Black Wheel King and discovered that the ghost’s secret art could help cleanse the Yin Qi from his Bronze Mirror. He returned to the Liu family courtyard with Liu Qingyan, who was left too weak-legged to explain their flight through the clouds convincingly.

• Lu Zheng trapped Black Wheel King’s escaping soul, destroyed it with his Golden Citadel Heart Sword and Divine Palace, and absorbed more than a hundred strands of Light of Luck.
• Lu Zheng and Liu Qingyan settled Black Wheel King’s affairs, including sending ten strings of cash to Guo Xiaodan’s family.
• Lu Zheng explained that the secret art’s method for cleansing Yin Qi could speed up his refinement of the Bronze Mirror taken from a Ghost King.
• Lu Zheng and Liu Qingyan flew toward Tonglin County, then became intimate while concealed in clouds.
• Lu Zheng brought Liu Qingyan to the Liu family courtyard, where Liu Qingquan supported her and asked Lu Zheng to let her fly too.

Lu Zheng and Liu Qingyan studied alchemy together and successfully refined a batch of spirit pills. Lu Zheng invited the Five Beauties Manor women to a pill-tasting gathering at Peach Blossom Forest during the upcoming Caiqing Festival.

• Lu Zheng spent his days cultivating and studying the pill scripture with Shen Ying and Liu Qingyan, whose alchemy skills advanced rapidly.
• Lu Zheng and Liu Qingyan spent three days refining a spirit pill with four kinds of Spirit Medicine and successfully produced twelve pills.
• The medicinal fragrance spread through Peach Blossom Manor, and the five women from Five Beauties Manor inhaled it and praised its potency.
• Lu Zheng proposed hosting a pill-tasting assembly at Peach Blossom Forest on the Caiqing Festival, and the five women agreed to attend.

Lu Zheng hosted a gathering at Peach Blossom Manor, where friends enjoyed food, games, and music among the blooming peach trees. The guests split into mahjong and Chinese checkers games as the gathering got underway.

• Zhu Yushan and Li Hanyu arrived at Peach Blossom Manor and praised Lu Zheng’s gathering, while Zhu Yushan asked him to review a policy essay.
• Lu Zheng discussed Zhu Yushan’s essay with him after greeting the couple.
• Hua Yixing and the other women from Five Beauties Manor arrived, and Yu Mingxin filled the grove with birds while Lin Jing'er and Hu Cainiang planted wildflowers.
• Li Hanyu, Hua Yixing, Lin Jing'er, and Hu Cainiang began playing mahjong while the hosts received the guests.
• Liu Qingquan invited Yu Mingxin and Bai Ting'er to join her and Xiao Cui for Chinese checkers, and Xiao Cui explained the rules before their four-player game began.

Lu Zheng hosted a festival gathering and surprised his guests with Three-Ginseng Jade Ganoderma Pills he had refined with Liu Qingyan. As the guests ate, played games, and socialized, Zhu Yushan took Lu Zheng’s casual advice about chess and military strategy seriously, triggering another twelve-point deposit in Lu Zheng’s mind.

• Lu Zheng welcomed his friends to Peach Forest Square and presented each guest with a Three-Ginseng Jade Ganoderma Pill refined with Liu Qingyan.
• The guests praised the pills and swallowed them, with Bai Ting’er, Hou Ping, and Du YueYao benefiting especially from their effects.
• The guests split up to play mahjong, chess, Chinese checkers, and music, or to paint, while Hou Ping happily sampled the food and wine.
• After losing to Lu Zheng at chess, Zhu Yushan discussed the game and listened as Lu Zheng compared chess strategy to military planning.
• Zhu Yushan resolved to study the way of chess, and the Jade Seal in Lu Zheng’s mind registered a twelve-point deposit.

Lu Zheng and his companions enjoyed a lively gathering in the Peach Forest until Shen Ying and Lu Zheng sensed demonic qi nearby. Lu Zheng, Zhu Yushan, Yuan Jing, and Guang Yue flew east to investigate as the others followed or escorted Liu Qingquan and Du YueYao to safety.

• Lu Zheng beat Zhu Yushan at chess while Yuan Jing defeated Guang Yue, and Lin Jing'er completed a painting of the gathering.
• Liu Qingyan greeted the guests before Shen Ying sensed two intruders, one with an unusually strange aura, and Lu Zheng identified demonic qi.
• Lu Zheng carried Zhu Yushan, Yuan Jing, and Guang Yue east on a cloud to investigate the intruders.
• Xin Zhanting raced after them, while Shen Ying sent Tao Xin and Tao Rui to escort Liu Qingquan and Du YueYao to Peach Blossom Manor.
• Shen Ying, Li Hanyu, Liu Qingyan, and the women of Five Beauties Manor headed east, and Hou Ping followed Xin Zhanting.

Rong Song fled a demonic beast to Yizhou and reunited with Lu Zheng, who defeated it after it revealed its connection to Heartless True Desire Demon Ancestor. The group returned to their gathering place, where Rong Song learned about the Demon Ancestor’s origins.

• Rong Song fled through the wilderness with a big-headed Demonic Beast pursuing him and encountered Lu Zheng and his companions in a Peach Blossom Forest.
• Lu Zheng struck the beast with a Golden Citadel Heart Sword and restrained it with a White Cloud Great Hand Seal, but it devoured his spells and grew stronger.
• Liu Qingyan identified the beast as a subordinate of Heartless True Desire Demon Ancestor, and the beast declared that it would drag everyone into the Demon Ancestor’s True Desire Demon Realm.
• The big-headed Demonic Beast exploded, but Lu Zheng blocked and erased the demonic qi before it could harm the group.
• Rong Song explained that he had disrupted the beast’s ritual to refine ninety-nine human hearts, prompting it to pursue him.
• Lu Zheng told Rong Song what he knew about Heartless True Desire Demon Ancestor, including that the figure was a reincarnation of Heavenly Demon Divine Sense.

Du Huanzhen told Lu Zheng and the others that the imperial court had twice fought Heartless True Desire Demon Ancestor, who escaped and fled to Southern Xinjiang. She also warned that demonic forces were stirring up trouble across Great Jing, then joined the gathering in Peach Forest.

• Du Huanzhen arrived at Peach Forest and explained that she had followed the traces of Rong Song and the Demonic Beast after investigating deaths in Red Mountain Village.
• Du Huanzhen revealed that the royal ancestors and Buddhist and daoist masters had twice defeated Heartless True Desire Demon Ancestor, but he had escaped both times.
• Du Huanzhen said the Directorate of Astronomy had divined that the wounded Demon Ancestor had fled to Southern Xinjiang.
• Du Huanzhen warned that demonic agents and chaotic sects were causing trouble in Great Jing while the Demon Suppression Division and military focused on the southern provinces.
• Lu Zheng resumed the gathering, and Du Huanzhen learned mahjong while Rong Song watched the group and overheard Guang Yue and Yuan Jing arguing.

After Rong Song left Tonglin County, Lu Zheng reunited with Lin Wan and learned that recovered cultural relics were returning to China and that Grant planned a Saint Miguel treasure auction. Lu Zheng set out to pick Lin Wan up for dinner but got caught in Friday traffic and ran the rest of the way.

• Rong Song stayed with Lu Zheng for seven or eight days before continuing his travels.
• Lu Zheng called Lin Wan, who told him that recovered cultural relics had been transferred to the Zhe Province Cultural Relics Bureau and that authorities were pursuing more items sold by Allen Company.
• Lin Wan told Lu Zheng that Grant planned to hold a week-long Saint Miguel treasure auction with Sotheby's in autumn, featuring more than ten thousand artifacts.
• Lu Zheng booked dinner at Riverside Pavilion and took a taxi to pick up Lin Wan, but Friday traffic trapped him on the way.
• After Lin Wan called to say she was waiting outside her workplace, Lu Zheng paid the taxi fare and ran toward her.

Lin Wan and Lu Zheng reunited, went shopping, and enjoyed a luxury dinner at River View Pavilion. They discussed the Saint Miguel auction and learned that a Spanish coronation crown was expected to be the most valuable treasure, while their meal continued.

• Lin Wan waited for Lu Zheng, recorded his arrival, and laughed as he swept her up and spun her around.
• Lu Zheng and Lin Wan went shopping near River View Pavilion before arriving for their six o'clock reservation.
• Lin Wan sent Lu Zheng the Saint Miguel auction catalog and told him Spain had protested but that many collectors planned to attend.
• Lin Wan revealed that a crown made for the King of Spain's coronation was expected to fetch the highest price because of its historical significance.
• Lu Zheng and Lin Wan began their meal, praised the food, and fed each other appetizers.

Lu Zheng and Lin Wan discussed the insured jewelry and art thieves in Miami, then Lu Zheng surprised Lin Wan by flying with her over Sea City. Excited by the experience, Lin Wan urged him to fly them home, leaving their car behind.

• Lin Wan told Lu Zheng that art thieves had gathered in Miami and that Blackwater Security was guarding the insured jewelry.
• Lu Zheng and Lin Wan celebrated with an extravagant dinner, then strolled beside Sea City's inner river and joked about luxury ingredients.
• Lu Zheng agreed to deliver the artifacts stolen from Allen Art Company to the Forbidden City Museum alone to avoid connecting their movements.
• Lu Zheng cast an Invisibility Technique and flew with Lin Wan on a cloud above Sea City, showing her the night view.
• Lin Wan asked Lu Zheng to fly them home immediately, and they left their car to retrieve the next day.