Chapter Summaries

Qin He revealed that he had escaped the Immortal Binding Rope and defeated the two Human Corpses while the Daoist tried to flee. He then paralyzed the Daoist and began robbing him, discovering that the Daoist’s trousers concealed something unusual.

• Qin He told the Daoist he had broken free and reminded him that he had refused help three times.
• The two Human Corpses broke out of the Corpse Restraining Cage, and Qin He charged at them with the Big Black Shovel while the Daoist tried to escape over the courtyard wall.
• Qin He smashed the Human Corpses and immobilized them with Corpse Suppressing Nails, causing the Daoist to fall from the wall.
• Qin He paralyzed the Daoist with the Sunflower Acupuncture Hand and took his Immortal Binding Rope, Corpse Bags, talismans, Jade Tablets, demon Inner Cores, and other possessions.
• Qin He yanked at the Daoist’s unusually roomy trousers despite the Daoist’s protests.

Qin He discovered a mysterious egg the Taoist had been incubating and claimed it as his own while waiting for it to hatch. Meanwhile, An Zhongjiu learned that Shen Lian had survived, Shiju was being burned, and the Human Corpses sent to the Qiao and Gao Families had disappeared, but he ordered his forces to stay still and prioritize seizing the Corpse Pill.

• Qin He found a golden egg and three strange objects hidden in the Taoist's trousers, then pressured the Taoist to explain that the egg might be a Divine Relic.
• The Taoist said he had incubated the egg for nearly ten years because he felt it was fated with him, though he did not know what it was or when it might hatch.
• Qin He declared the egg his and told the Taoist to keep incubating it until it hatched, while Gao Wensong ordered two thousand taels of silver fetched.
• An Zhongjiu received word that Shen Lian had survived taking an Outer Strength Pill and that Shiju was being burned at the Corpse Burning Hall with the Corpse Pill still inside him.
• An Zhongjiu learned that the Human Corpses sent against the Qiao and Gao Families had gone missing, then ordered his forces to remain still and focus on seizing the Corpse Pill.

Qin He discussed the Orthodox Gods and the vast underwater world with Big Turtle before cremating two Human Corpses and learning how corrupt Magistrate Gao Liheng destroyed their families. The Black Robed Man judged the dead and awarded Qin He a copy of the Lingyun Scripture and a roll of Corpse Mane.

• Qin He asked Big Turtle about the Orthodox Gods, and Big Turtle explained that they had existed in legend since an ancient Mythological Era.
• Big Turtle described the vast, largely unexplored underwater world and said his godfather would not safely come ashore to speak with Qin He.
• Qin He cremated the Human Corpses of Wang Xiangqing and Su Gui and saw their pasts through the Shadow Play.
• Qin He learned that Magistrate Gao Liheng had framed the families’ feud as rebellion, taken bribes, and caused the Wang Family’s execution and the Gui Family’s ruin through predatory debt.
• The Black Robed Man judged the corrupt officials and granted Qin He the Lingyun Scripture and a roll of Corpse Mane as a double reward.

Qin He learned the Lingyun Scripture and obtained Corpse Mane, while a Daoist’s attempt to calculate Qin He’s identity provoked a lightning strike. As rebellion spread through Shandong, a young Flying Fish Guard member approached the blind sorcerer in Changling Alley and said he might be different from other people.

• Qin He learned the Lingyun Scripture, examined the Corpse Mane, and went to sleep while Big Turtle gnawed on a ginseng root.
• A Daoist tried to calculate the identity of the man who had crushed him, but lightning struck his temple and a wisp entered the Golden Egg, cracking its shell.
• A courier brought news that the White Lotus Army had captured three counties and Laizhou Prefecture and was advancing on Qingzhou and Dengzhou.
• The emperor summoned the Grand Secretariat ministers and issued orders to respond to the rebellion.
• A young Flying Fish Guard member visited the blind sorcerer’s stall in Changling Alley and said he felt different from other people.

Qin He reviewed the growing merit from the temple’s miraculous reputation and decided to address refugees’ wishes about the worsening porridge by confronting Xu Tianen. He approached the palace but was stopped at the gate by a powerful beardless old man.

• Qin He learned that his daily merit had risen to over two thousand as believers’ wishes came true and they returned to fulfill their vows.
• Qin He found that more than two hundred refugees had wished for better porridge and decided to combine their wishes with confronting Xu Tianen.
• Qin He sensed Xu Tianen was still in the palace and headed for the Imperial City.
• Qin He pushed through the palace’s growing repulsive force until a beardless old man appeared and ordered him to stop.

Qin He forced his way toward the True Dragon Sacred Palace and bargained with the Dragon Guard Eunuch to have Prince Zhongshan Xu Tianen brought out. After Xu Tianen left the palace, Qin He took him home for a meal.

• Qin He reached within five steps of the Dragon Guard Eunuch and demanded entry to the palace to speak with the ruler.
• Qin He struck the ground with one stomp, and the Dragon Guard Eunuch used his whisk to stop the trench of force.
• Qin He identified himself as Great Immortal Green Ox and demanded that Xu Tianen leave the palace within one incense stick's time.
• The Dragon Guard Eunuch sent Xu Tianen out through a small palace gate.
• Qin He questioned Xu Tianen about hiding in the palace, then told him they were going to his house for a meal.

Qin He enjoyed a feast at Prince Zhongshan's Mansion, captured more Mutated Corpses on his way home, and continued his work as news spread of the White Lotus Sect's growing rebellion in the Lu Region. As the imperial court mobilized for a major campaign, the Corpse Burning Hall assembled reinforcements, and Qin He agreed to go south.

• Qin He left Prince Zhongshan's Mansion with a food box, transformed his face, and captured two Mutated Corpses from Old Striker.
• Qin He cooked the corpses at the Corpse Burning Facility while Big Turtle ate the imperial dishes from the food box.
• White Lotus forces seized Qingzhou City, and imperial troops from across the region fought them in a series of battles.
• The Emperor ordered reinforcements to the Lu Region, and Tu Baishou led more than a hundred Corpse Burning Hall workers south toward Jinan.
• Xu Changshou and Li Tie were selected from the East City Corpse Burning Facility, and Qin He told Ling Zhonghai he wanted to see the wider world and would go.

Ling Zhonghai sent Li Tie, Xu Changshou, and other Corpse Burners south to join the campaign against the White Lotus rebels, while he and Gao Linkun plotted to pursue Tofu Beauty. On the journey, Xu Changshou described a turtle-soup recipe that frightened Big Turtle into leaping from Qin He's ox and fleeing toward the Grand Canal.

• Ling Zhonghai sent off the selected Corpse Burners with marching money, and Xu Changshou dragged the reluctant Li Tie onto the cart.
• Ling Zhonghai and Gao Linkun watched the convoy leave, then agreed to pursue Tofu Beauty and argued over Qin He's pot.
• Qin He and Xu Changshou joined the larger procession heading south under Tu Baishou as the frozen canal slowed the campaign.
• Liu Sanjin and the others questioned Qin He about his Little Yellow Ox and Big Turtle, and Big Turtle spat at Liu Sanjin.
• Xu Changshou proposed feeding Big Turtle ginseng and making it into medicinal soup, so Big Turtle jumped off the ox and ran toward the Grand Canal, calling for its godfather.

Qin He traveled with Xu Changshou, who remained convinced the Big Turtle could be used as a tonic, and encountered Wei Wu on the road. Wei Wu still suspected Qin He was the Great Immortal Green Ox, while Wei Yuanji worried that his cousin had become obsessed.

• Qin He rejected Xu Changshou's folk remedy, caught the fleeing Big Turtle, and carried it in a sack on the bull.
• Wei Wu rode past Qin He after Qin He greeted him, and Xu Changshou wondered why Wei Wu seemed displeased.
• Qin He suggested Wei Wu was jealous of his good looks, prompting Xu Changshou to decide the turtle soup was necessary.
• Wei Yuanji offered to deal with Qin He, but Wei Wu insisted Qin He was the Great Immortal Green Ox.
• Wei Yuanji argued that Qin He's bull had been sold by Miao's Cattle Market, but Wei Wu refused to believe the bull could be mistaken.

Qin He learned from Big Turtle about the canal’s underwater powers and the Black Dragon King, a dangerous eel demon with a history of disrupting shipping. When the Black Dragon King blocked the fleet’s route, Tu Baishou confronted it, and the demon demanded more payment.

• The Corpse Burning Hall’s four hundred Flying Fish Guards and ten thousand Capital Garrison soldiers endured the freezing march south and boarded ships at Cangzhou.
• Big Turtle told Qin He that the Black Dragon King was an eel demon formerly under the Jing River Dragon King and explained the rival powers of the Three Palaces and Nine Kings.
• Big Turtle warned Qin He that the Black Dragon King was cunning, powerful, and prone to causing trouble, including overturning ships to search for a Sea Bright Pearl.
• After the fleet traveled fifty li south, the ice closed over the waterway and forced the boats to stop in confusion.
• Tu Baishou called out to the Black Dragon King, which emerged from the ice and demanded that the fleet pay more.

Tu Baishou and the Black Dragon King argued over the price of escorting the Corpse Burning Hall to Jinan, while Qin He learned more about the demons and considered eating them. The quarrel ended in violence when the Black Dragon King’s group attacked a ship and Tu Baishou ordered the Flying Fish Guard to fight back.

• Tu Baishou confronted the Black Dragon King for raising the agreed price, and the Black Dragon King revealed its three giant underlings: the Crab Spirit, Loach Spirit, and Red Carp Spirit.
• Big Turtle urged Qin He to kill the demons, but a Truth Spell exposed that it wanted revenge because they had bullied its godfather; Little Calf mocked Big Turtle for calling them turtle bastards.
• Tu Baishou and the Black Dragon King traded insults until the Black Dragon King’s threats and boasts gave way to a furious shouting match.
• After the Black Dragon King’s group sank beneath the water, the rearmost ship began taking on water, and the soldiers fled onto the ice.
• Tu Baishou ordered arrows and cannons fired into the canal, while Big Turtle noted that the Flying Fish Guard had come prepared to resist the demons.

The Black Dragon King and his subordinates tried to evade the Thunderclap Cannons, but arrows repeatedly struck his head underwater. After fleeing and using Water Escape, he was hit by a homing barrage, leaving his next move uncertain.

• The Black Dragon King dismissed the threat from Tu Baishou’s Thunderclap Cannons and was struck by an arrow in the head.
• The Crab Spirit pulled out the arrow, but the Black Dragon King was hit by two more arrows in quick succession.
• The Black Dragon King sank to the riverbed with his subordinates and learned that the arrows had come from the direction of the ship.
• The Black Dragon King moved to attack, but a barrage of arrows followed him and curved toward his head after he used Water Escape.
• The arrows struck the Black Dragon King repeatedly while the Red Carp Spirit and the other subordinates watched in terror.

Qin He secretly hurled spears that killed the Black Dragon King, the Crab Spirit, and the Loach Spirit, leaving the Red Carp Spirit terrified and trapped beneath the water. Tu Baishou waited to resume negotiations, but three spear-pierced demons surfaced belly-up.

• Tu Baishou ordered the fleet to stop firing, and Wei Wu tried to make the chaotic Corpse Burners obey.
• Qin He kept attacking, then made several dozen spears vanish from the racks while Wei Wu and the others could not recall what had happened.
• Beneath the water, the Black Dragon King, the Crab Spirit, and the Loach Spirit died after spears pierced their hearts, while the Red Carp Spirit froze in fear under Qin He's warning.
• Tu Baishou discussed negotiating with Gong Tianxing as the fleet waited for the Black Dragon King to reappear.
• Three enormous bodies surfaced through the ice, riddled with spears and floating belly-up.

The Red Carp Spirit announced that it had killed the Black Dragon King and his companions under Tu Baishou’s plan, although Tu Baishou knew an unknown power had actually done it. He accepted the credit and ordered the fleet south, leaving the Red Carp Spirit to clear the ice and guide the ships onward.

• Tu Baishou and the others discovered that spears had killed the Black Dragon King, the Loach Spirit, and the Crab Spirit.
• The Red Carp Spirit surfaced and reported to Tu Baishou that it had eliminated the demons according to his plan and cleared the waterway.
• Gong Tianxing and Wei Wu praised Tu Baishou, believing he had secretly arranged the attack, while Tu Baishou realized he could neither claim nor reject the credit safely.
• Tu Baishou ordered the fleet to break the ice and continue south.
• The Red Carp Spirit shattered the ice with a wave, and the fleet raised its sails and sailed south with the demon corpses pinned to a ship’s hull.

A dark, skinny Daoist and the Great Monk crashed their fishing boat onto the ice and discovered evidence that three demons had died underwater. The Great Monk identified a Carp Spirit as the one who cleared the way for Tu Baishou, and the pair tried to continue their pursuit despite losing their boat.

• The Daoist and the Great Monk sailed south in a small fishing boat, arguing over the Daoist’s improvised soft sail.
• The boat struck a sunken ship, sending the pair flying onto the ice and wrecking their boat.
• The Great Monk used Tongue Taste Tracing to determine that an Eel Demon, a Crab Demon, and a Loach Demon had died underwater.
• The Great Monk identified a Carp Spirit as the one who cleared the way for Tu Baishou, and the Daoist urged them to catch up with the fleet before the river froze.
• The pair found their boat and sail broken, so the Daoist proposed using his paraglider invention.

Qin He, Big Turtle, and Little Calf feasted on soup made from the Black Dragon King and two other Water Demons while camping by the canal. Their meal was interrupted by a monk and a Daoist flying past upside down beneath a cloth-like glider, and Qin He recognized their voices.

• Qin He and his companions ate soup made from the Water Demons, while Qin He told Big Turtle and Little Calf he would spare the Red Carp Spirit if it kept its promise.
• Qin He asked Big Turtle about his godfather’s grudge against the Black Dragon King, and Big Turtle said the demons had forced his godfather to pay tribute.
• A strange cloth-like glider flew over the canal with two people hanging upside down beneath it, screaming as it rose and fell.
• Big Turtle watched the fliers in amazement, and Little Calf recognized one voice as Fat Monk’s; Qin He said the other belonged to a Daoist.

Qin He watched the Black Dragon King's life and learned how the eel rose to power by devouring its kin and betraying one master after another. The Black Robed Man judged the demon's crimes ordinary and awarded Qin He three techniques.

• Qin He saw the Black Dragon King's underwater world and its awakening from an ordinary yellow eel into a cultivator.
• The Black Dragon King devoured its own kind, then repeatedly manipulated spirits into ruin and claimed their possessions.
• After betraying six masters, the Black Dragon King fled the Jing River Dragon King's wanted order and established itself as a tyrant in the Grand Canal's No Man's Land.
• The Black Dragon King bullied the Old Tortoise King and Ao Jiao, earning Big Turtle's lasting grudge and calls for Qin He to destroy the gang.
• The Black Robed Man judged the Black Dragon King's conduct ordinary and awarded Qin He Water Escape Technique, Blackening Technique, and Basic Alchemy.

Qin He learned the Water Escape Technique, Blackening Technique, and Basic Alchemy after burning the Water Demons, then attempted to refine their Inner Cores into pills. He successfully refined two gray pills, though their effects had not yet been revealed.

• Qin He learned three techniques from the rewards for burning the Water Demons’ corpses, including the divine ability Water Escape Technique and Basic Alchemy.
• Big Turtle brought Qin He the Black Dragon King, Crab Spirit, and Loach Spirit’s restless Inner Cores and warned that they could not safely be swallowed.
• Qin He gathered medicinal ingredients and boasted that his alchemy surpassed the Dragon Palace and Fox Clan, while Big Turtle doubted his practical experience.
• Qin He’s first attempt to hold the ingredients aloft failed, dropping them into the fire, but he calmly raised them again and used Dharma Seals to control the flames.
• Qin He refined away the impurities and lingering wills, producing two gray pills as Big Turtle and Little Calf excitedly recognized them as Beast Strengthening Pills.

Tu Baishou and Wei Wu discussed the Red Carp Spirit and Wei Wu’s suspicion that Qin He was Great Immortal Green Ox, while the Flying Fish Fleet continued toward Linqing. The fleet came under attack when iron chains blocked the river and fireballs descended.

• Wei Wu questioned how Tu Baishou had supposedly subdued the Red Carp Spirit, and Tu Baishou admitted he had never met it.
• Wei Wu told Tu Baishou he believed Qin He was Great Immortal Green Ox and explained the clues behind his suspicion.
• Tu Baishou ordered Wei Wu to summon Qin He to the Corpse Burning Hall and prepare two Gilded Copper Coins for him.
• A lookout warned that iron chains blocked the river ahead, and dozens of fireballs struck toward the fleet.

Tu Baishou’s Flying Fish Guards defeated White Lotus rioters who attacked the fleet, while the Capital Garrison looted and devastated nearby villages. Qin He arrived at the aftermath, recognized signs of a rebellion, and selected thirty corpses to burn for his Shadow Play.

• Tu Baishou ordered the Flying Fish Guards ashore after fireballs struck several ships in the fleet.
• Tu Baishou led the Flying Fish Guards against the White Lotus rioters, scattering them and killing several hundred.
• Lu Zonglin’s Capital Garrison pursued the fleeing rioters, looted a town, and killed its inhabitants before withdrawing to the ships.
• Tu Baishou ordered the Flying Fish Guards to clear the iron chains blocking the river and continued south with the fleet.
• Qin He arrived at the ravaged village, found bodies and a White Lotus banner, and wondered why the rebellion differed from the history he knew.
• Qin He and his two beasts gathered the corpses, and he used Qi Gazing Technique to choose thirty bodies to burn.