Chapter Summaries

Lu Zheng escalated his escape from Miami police into a violent car chase, killing officers and destroying police vehicles. After shooting a police helicopter’s sniper and disabling its tail rotor, he drove on as CNN broadcast the chaos live around the world.

• Lu Zheng charged out of a store and killed four officers before taking their ammunition, a shotgun, and a police car.
• Lu Zheng shot at a pursuing police car, causing it to crash into a luxury store, then evaded officers and drove through traffic.
• Lu Zheng blew up two police cars blocking an intersection, killing or injuring the officers nearby.
• Lu Zheng evaded police and media helicopters in downtown Miami, then shot the police helicopter’s sniper and disabled its tail rotor.
• The police helicopter crashed into a commercial building without exploding, while CNN broadcast the chase live.

Lu Zheng escaped a Miami police siege after his spectacular rampage drew worldwide attention, then flew away unseen. In Sea City, Lin Wan learned about the incident from her coworkers and realized Lu Zheng had deliberately left her behind.

• News of Lu Zheng's actions spread around the world as he fled SWAT fire by crashing into Curry Tower.
• Lu Zheng checked the damage his rampage had caused, decided not to push his luck, discarded the weapons, turned invisible, and flew away.
• Lin Wan heard her coworkers discussing the Miami incident and watched videos of the Asian man catching a gun and shooting down a helicopter.
• Lin Wan recognized that Lu Zheng had caused the commotion alone and thought he had deliberately chosen not to take her with him.

Lu Zheng explained to Lin Wan how he had been drawn into the Miami incident and why he avoided making a bigger spectacle of his abilities. After they reviewed the investigation and online speculation, Lin Wan revealed that several intelligence agencies were wondering whether Lu Zheng had once worked for them.

• Lin Wan accused Lu Zheng of leaving her behind, and he explained that police had questioned him while he watched an incident in Miami.
• Lu Zheng said he had kept his actions limited to avoid drawing too much public attention, and Lin Wan asked him to take her along next time.
• Lin Wan showed Lu Zheng a wanted notice whose reconstructed portrait resembled Yuan Jing, and said Lighthouse Country had found no database match and was searching Miami for him.
• Lu Zheng and Lin Wan discussed domestic online speculation that he was an elite agent, while Lin Wan described the analysts’ theories about his past and escape.
• Lin Wan told Lu Zheng that several intelligence agencies, including Lighthouse Country’s, were investigating whether he had once been one of their own.

During a hot-spring gathering, Lu Zheng’s group discovered that Bi Xinyu and Mo Lan had been injured by a centipede demon. Liu Qingyan began examining them, but their attacker arrived and threatened to refine them into Five Poison Pills.

• Lu Zheng and the women relaxed in the hot springs while Liu Qingquan and Ao Qian played nearby.
• Bi Xinyu arrived supporting the injured Mo Lan and said a sudden attacker had wounded them both during a sparring match.
• Bi Xinyu flirted with Lu Zheng and asked him for Yang Energy, but Liu Qingyan offered to examine their injuries instead.
• Liu Qingyan identified the poison as the venom of a centuries-old red-striped giant centipede and said she could treat it with acupuncture.
• A voice from outside the valley announced that it would refine Bi Xinyu and Mo Lan into Five Poison Pills.

Wu Daoheng pursued Bi Xinyu and Mo Lan to Hundred Springs Valley, but Liu Qingyan neutralized his poison and Shen Ying helped capture and kill him. Lu Zheng stored the centipede’s body, and Bi Xinyu and Mo Lan took his Poison Pills in exchange for Spirit Medicine; Liu Qingyan then offered to treat their injuries.

• Wu Daoheng appeared in the valley, revealed he had recovered from Bi Xinyu and Mo Lan’s attacks, and released poison into the mist.
• Liu Qingyan’s Red Pill cleansed the poison from the valley and everyone present.
• Shen Ying and eighteen Peach Blossom Heavenly Maidens surrounded Wu Daoheng, and Liu Qingyan and Shen Ying captured him.
• Shen Ying destroyed Wu Daoheng’s divine soul, and Lu Zheng shrank and stored his centipede body.
• Bi Xinyu traded a promise of Spirit Medicine for Wu Daoheng’s Poison Pills, giving one to Mo Lan.
• Liu Qingyan offered to treat Bi Xinyu and Mo Lan, and Bi Xinyu asked whether they needed to undress.

After Bi Xinyu gave Liu Qingyan a rare Immortal Spleen, Liu Qingyan brought it home to combine with Lu Zheng’s red-striped centipede and make powerful medicinal wine. The wine-making led Lu Zheng and Liu Qingyan into an intimate afternoon together.

• Bi Xinyu and Mo Lan thanked Liu Qingyan and the others before leaving, while they discussed the dead centipede demon’s mysterious Master and other unresolved dangers.
• Bi Xinyu and Mo Lan visited Renxin Hall, where Bi Xinyu gave Liu Qingyan an Immortal Spleen with more than eight hundred years of medicinal potency.
• Liu Qingyan invited Bi Xinyu to join her and her friends for opera, then hurried home with the Immortal Spleen and supplementary herbs.
• Lu Zheng and Liu Qingyan steeped the red-striped giant centipede and medicinal herbs in strong wine to make a potent medicinal brew.
• Lu Zheng carried Liu Qingyan to the bedroom, and the two became intimate while he urged her to show her ears and tail.

Lu Zheng brought medicated wine to Daoist Priest Mingzhang at White Cloud Temple, where he was told to attend the New Year Gathering and report his progress. After returning home, he prepared for the trip and decided to seek sword-refining materials at the temple.

• Lu Zheng and Shen Ying studied the Bone Refining Chapter and discussed whether its Buddhist techniques came from Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva.
• Lu Zheng brought Red Centipede Three Essence Wine to Daoist Priest Mingzhang and Shouyi Zhenren, and the wine helped Yuan Jing recover from injuries sustained fighting a zombie.
• Daoist Priest Mingzhang told Lu Zheng to return to White Cloud Temple for the New Year Gathering, noting that his cultivation had advanced remarkably in three years.
• Lu Zheng saw Wang Xiaowan, who had begun cultivating Qingwei Palace methods, before returning home and telling Ao Qian he would travel to White Cloud Temple for the New Year.
• Liu Qingyan reminded Lu Zheng that White Cloud Temple might have sword-refining materials, and Lu Zheng decided to look for them there.

Lu Zheng completed refining the Bronze Mirror, unlocking its abilities to suppress spells, view distant places, and locate people. He and Shen Ying admired the newly usable treasure and discussed its limits and potential.

• Lu Zheng and Liu Qingyan decided to trade their surplus spiritual pills to White Cloud Temple for valuable refining materials.
• Lu Zheng and Lin Wan spent the winter visiting Japan, while Lu Zheng also enjoyed a quiet ancient-world winter with his friends and family.
• Lu Zheng finished refining the Bronze Mirror after two years, and Shen Ying concealed its burst of light and aura with Peach Blossom Evil.
• Lu Zheng explained that the mirror could suppress spells, view distant places, and locate people, though its powers weakened against stronger or more distant targets.
• Lu Zheng noted that the mirror could also warn its holder when an unfamiliar aura entered a designated area.

Lu Zheng and Shen Ying named their newly refined artifact the Cloud Palace Treasure Mirror and used it to survey distant places. They discovered Guang Yue under attack at Chicken Cry Temple, and Lu Zheng and Shen Ying arrived as the Western monk Ben'an tried to convert him.

• Shen Ying and Lu Zheng named the artifact the Cloud Palace Treasure Mirror and tested its ability to observe Peach Blossom Glade, Tonglin County, and places hundreds of li away.
• Lu Zheng and Shen Ying found Guang Yue resisting the Glass Buddha light of a middle-aged monk at Chicken Cry Temple, while several newly admitted Little Monks lay collapsed nearby.
• The monk identified himself as Ben'an of the Great Glass Temple and urged Guang Yue to travel west and serve the Glass Buddha.
• Lu Zheng and Shen Ying entered the Great Hero Hall and asked Ben'an to stop attacking Lu Zheng's close friend.
• Ben'an refused, saying he would let Guang Yue greet them after converting him.

Lu Zheng and Shen Ying fought Ben'an to stop him from converting Guang Yue and taking him to Great Glass Temple. Jue Xuan intervened, forcing Ben'an to withdraw and leaving Guang Yue's Radiant Relic restored.

• Lu Zheng and Shen Ying attacked Ben'an, but his glass Buddhist light held them back while he tried to transform Guang Yue's Radiant Relic.
• Lu Zheng used thunder and cloud arts as Shen Ying pressed toward Guang Yue, yet Ben'an continued to resist.
• Jue Xuan of Great Vajra Temple entered the hall with a young monk and challenged Ben'an.
• Jue Xuan attacked Ben'an, while Lu Zheng and Shen Ying joined in and struck Ben'an's Glass Golden Body.
• Ben'an withdrew, the glass Buddhist light vanished, and Guang Yue's Radiant Relic returned to its original state.

Guang Yue thanked Lu Zheng, Shen Ying, and Jue Xuan for saving him from Ben'an and decided to return to his sect to have the Radiant Relic fully cleansed. When villagers arrived seeking help with a possessed man, Lu Zheng sensed the Heartless True Desire Demon Ancestor’s demonic qi, and the group went to investigate.

• Guang Yue explained that Ben'an had tried to reclaim his Radiant Relic and take him to the West, while Lu Zheng credited Jue Xuan with driving the monk away.
• Guang Yue decided to return to his sect during New Year so an eminent monk could cleanse the relic’s remaining essence.
• Jue Xuan said he had brought Liao Yin down the mountain to avoid the New Year’s bustle, and Lu Zheng explained that he and Shen Ying had reached the area by chance.
• A little monk summoned Guang Yue to help villagers from East Creek Town with a person who seemed possessed.
• Lu Zheng sensed demonic qi belonging to the Heartless True Desire Demon Ancestor, and Jue Xuan warned that the reincarnated Heavenly Demon Divine Sense would not be easy to deal with.
• Guang Yue and the others reached the side hall and saw a disheveled man bound tightly with thick hemp rope as the villagers waited for help.

Guang Yue and Master Jue Xuan investigated villagers afflicted by demonic qi while Lu Zheng summoned Chu Jin to help hunt the Demon Head. They concluded that the Demon Head was searching among ordinary people for someone suited to cultivating Demonic Art.

• Guang Yue destroyed the demonic qi inside Wu Zhuang, leaving him unconscious with a badly weakened soul, and learned that his symptoms began after visiting Tianjia Village.
• Lu Zheng asked the Demon Suppression Division to send Lord Chu, while Guang Yue and Master Jue Xuan went to investigate Dongxi Town and Tianjia Village.
• Master Jue Xuan and Guang Yue dispelled demonic qi from villagers in Tianjia Village but found that the Demon Head had already left.
• Lu Zheng, Shen Ying, and Chu Jin arrived, and Master Jue Xuan suggested the Demon Head had been searching for people suited to cultivating Demonic Art.

Lu Zheng used the Cloud Palace Treasure Mirror to trace demonic qi to a hidden figure in a mountain village near Dingshan County. He and Shen Ying led Chu Jin, Master Jue Xuan, and Guang Yue to the village, where they prepared to confront the Demon Head.

• Lu Zheng and the others found a second man afflicted with demonic qi in Dongxi Town, and Lu Zheng purged it before Shen Ying sealed the extracted demonic qi in a Porcelain Bottle.
• Lu Zheng used the Cloud Palace Treasure Mirror to track the demonic qi and revealed a black-mist-shrouded figure hiding behind a curtain in a mountain village ancestral hall.
• The mirror showed the village was about five hundred li south-southeast, and Shen Ying identified the direction as Dingshan County.
• Lu Zheng, Shen Ying, Chu Jin, Master Jue Xuan, and Guang Yue flew toward Dingshan County, following the mirror’s guidance to a mountain village west of the county seat.

Lu Zheng, Master Jue Xuan, and Chu Jin attacked a Demon Head hiding in a mountain village while Shen Ying and Guang Yue evacuated and protected the villagers. After a fierce battle and several escape attempts, Master Jue Xuan killed the Demon Head, and Lu Zheng gained more than two hundred points of Light of Luck.

• Chu Jin assigned Master Jue Xuan and himself to attack the ancestral hall while Lu Zheng, Shen Ying, and Guang Yue escorted the villagers away.
• Master Jue Xuan and Chu Jin attacked the Demon Head as it fled the ancestral hall, while Lu Zheng blocked its escape with a White Cloud Great Hand Seal.
• Shen Ying and Guang Yue moved the villagers out of danger and shielded them from the Demon Head's demonic sounds and thoughts.
• The Demon Head used an illusion to evade Lu Zheng and tried to escape, but Lu Zheng struck it from below with his Red Jade Sword.
• Master Jue Xuan, Chu Jin, and Lu Zheng wore down the Demon Head until Master Jue Xuan shattered its head and soul with his monk's staff.
• Lu Zheng received more than two hundred points of Light of Luck after the Demon Head died.

Lu Zheng, Shen Ying, Chu Jin, and Master Jue Xuan defeated a Demonic Beast that had been harming a village and helped the villagers recover. After the group parted ways, Lu Zheng joked with Shen Ying about a powerful expert, and she enveloped the forest in pink mist.

• Chu Jin and Master Jue Xuan confirmed that the Demonic Beast was dead, and Lu Zheng received their thanks for locating it with the Treasure Mirror.
• Shen Ying and Guang Yue helped villagers repair damaged houses, while Chu Jin promised to report the incident and asked Lu Zheng for help with future investigations.
• Master Jue Xuan discovered hidden demonic qi above a father and son in the ancestral hall and removed it with his Zen staff.
• Chu Jin left for Yizhou Prefecture, Master Jue Xuan and Guang Yue headed for Pingtan County, and Lu Zheng and Shen Ying went their separate way.
• Lu Zheng joked that He Dan was stronger than Shen Ying and Qing Yan combined, and Shen Ying covered the forest in pink mist.

Shen Ying and Lu Zheng returned to Peach Blossom Manor after a busy day of battles, where Shen Ying drew Liu Qingyan into their intimacy. In modern-day Sea City, Lu Zheng and Lin Wan decided to spend their holiday confronting Matsui Daishi and his family in Japan.

• Shen Ying told Liu Qingyan how she and Lu Zheng had rescued Guang Yue, joined forces with Chu Jin and Jue Xuan, and slain a Demonic Beast in Dingshan County.
• Liu Qingyan maintained the pill furnace with a spell, then Shen Ying pulled her into the bedroom and Lu Zheng followed.
• Lin Wan and Lu Zheng stayed home for the New Year's Day holiday, and Lu Zheng cooked her a meal of Lu Province dishes.
• Lin Wan chose Matsui Daishi as their next target after discussing his family's continued wrongdoing.
• Lin Wan and Lu Zheng decided to leave for Japan and deal with Matsui Daishi's whole family.

Lu Zheng and Lin Wan targeted the Matsui Lineage for its ties to a notorious war criminal and followed its leaders to their New Year gathering at Matsui Manor. As the lineage began its ancestor-worship ritual, the two infiltrated Matsui Shrine and prepared to attack.

• Lin Wan explained the Matsui Lineage's influence and identified its leaders and relatives as their target.
• Lu Zheng and Lin Wan discussed the political consequences of their actions and planned to strike the lineage's members.
• On New Year's Day, the pair followed Matsui Satoshi and other lineage leaders from Matsui Tower to Matsui Manor.
• At the family banquet, Matsui Lineage members celebrated their ancestors' deeds and recent events, angering Lin Wan.
• After the banquet, the lineage members went to Matsui Shrine for their annual ritual, unaware that Lu Zheng and Lin Wan had entered with them.

After the Matsui family was devastated in a gas explosion, Lin Wan and Lu Zheng discussed the fallout and planned to visit Matsui Tower before teaching her practical spells. At a roast duck restaurant, they realized Lin Wan’s former colleagues were conducting an undercover operation, and a man secretly slipped a USB drive into her bag.

• News reports said a gas explosion at Matsui Shrine killed several prominent Matsui family members and sent the Matsui Group’s stock price plunging.
• Lin Wan and Lu Zheng discussed the Matsui family’s destruction and agreed that Lu Zheng would leave a hidden move for the survivors at Matsui Tower.
• Lu Zheng offered to teach Lin Wan the Five Spell Technique after noticing her cultivation had progressed enough for simple spells.
• Lin Wan and Lu Zheng spotted Huang Xiumin and another policewoman wearing earpieces, then noticed Liang Yuandong and Liu Leng arrive at the restaurant.
• As Lin Wan and Lu Zheng left, a plain-looking middle-aged man brushed past Lin Wan and secretly slipped a USB drive into her shoulder bag.

Lin Wan and Lu Zheng helped Li Jinglin’s team arrest suspects during an undercover operation, then spent the rest of their holiday together. After the holiday, Lu Zheng traveled to the Matsui Building in Japan to carry out his revenge against the Matsui Lineage, where he tracked the final name on his list, Matsui Ye, to a storage room with his mother.

• Lin Wan recognized that an undercover suspect had planted a USB drive in her bag, but a motorcycle rider tried to steal it before Lu Zheng knocked him off the bike.
• Li Jinglin arrested the rider, while Huang Xiumin and the others brought in the middle-aged suspect, Jia Mu.
• Lin Wan and Lu Zheng left the police operation, watched a movie, shopped, and spent their holiday together.
• After the holiday, Lu Zheng flew to the Matsui Building during the Matsui Lineage memorial service and crossed names off his list.
• Lu Zheng used the Qi Observation Art to locate Matsui Ye and his mother in a third-floor storage room.

Lu Zheng and Lin Wan traveled to Tanzania for a self-guided African safari after spending the New Year with their families. They drove off the main road across the grassland and spotted giraffes and a pride of lions.

• Lu Zheng and Lin Wan chose the African savanna for their vacation and flew to Tanzania.
• They explored Dar es Salaam and visited Zanzibar Island before renting a jeep.
• Sonny warned Lu Zheng and Lin Wan about traveling in Tanzania and advised them to stay on designated routes and avoid resisting robbers.
• Lu Zheng and Lin Wan drove across the grassland on an unofficial road, enjoying the scenery and music.
• Lu Zheng and Lin Wan spotted several giraffes and a pride of lions.