Chapter Summaries

Miao Qianhe fled Jinan by boat, but Qin He caught him and thwarted his underwater escape. Facing capture, Miao Qianhe swallowed poison and died after cursing Qin He.

• Miao Qianhe ordered four Poison Witch Sect disciples to row south as he tried to escape Jinan.
• Qin He used the Marking Technique to track Miao Qianhe and appeared at the boat's stern.
• Miao Qianhe jumped into the river and attempted to hide underwater with help from his Mink Gu.
• Qin He's subordinates hooked Miao Qianhe out of the water, and Qin He demanded that he take poison and kill himself.
• Miao Qianhe asked who had defeated him, cursed Qin He after hearing the name Wei Wu, and swallowed a poison pill.

After killing Miao Qianhe, Qin He learned that the red light he had sent toward Jinan City was likely a dangerous curse art. Back at the Corpse Burning Chamber, he discussed the curse with Big Turtle and revived Miao Qianhe’s dying Mink Gu with an essence pill.

• A red light shot from Miao Qianhe’s crown toward Jinan City after his death, while his four subordinates took antidote pills and regained their freedom.
• Qin He collected Miao Qianhe’s corpse and brought six corpses to the private Corpse Burning Chamber, where he and Big Turtle began cremating them.
• Qin He asked Big Turtle about curse arts and learned that they could exact a heavy price on both caster and target; he relaxed after hearing that the Rotten Ass Curse might be treated by cutting off the cursed person’s ass.
• Qin He fed an essence pill to Miao Qianhe’s dying Mink Gu, and the little creature’s eyes brightened as it began to recover.

Little Yellow Ox blamed Wang Tie Zhu for suggesting that Qin He bury an injured mink, provoking Qin He’s anger. At the Lotus Army camp, Bai Tiangang learned that Jin Wuhao and Hundred Ghosts Venerable had likely been killed in a sudden attack, then discovered that Xu Hong had also left.

• Big Turtle accidentally burned Little Yellow Ox’s regrown fur with fire oil, then put out the flames with water.
• Little Yellow Ox suggested burying Qin He’s injured mink and claimed Wang Tie Zhu had told it to do so, earning a reprimand from Qin He.
• White Lotus Fiends found a charred fragment of Hundred Ghosts Venerable’s robe in the pit where Jin Wuhao and Hundred Ghosts Venerable had vanished.
• Bai Tiangang concluded that the two experts had probably been ambushed and killed in a single strike.
• A spy told Bai Tiangang that White Lotus Holy Lord Xu Hong had left under the pretext of supervising provisions.

Bai Tiangang concealed the disappearance of the Golden Corpse Leader and Hundred Ghosts Venerable, then ordered an early assault on Jinan City after learning Xu Hong had defected. Meanwhile, Qin He upgraded his skills and developed five tiers for transmitting techniques, spending merit to aid sincere worshippers.

• Bai Tiangang told the Lotus Sect gathering that the Golden Corpse Leader and Hundred Ghosts Venerable had chased off imperial court attackers, and the banquet continued with dancers from the Lu Prince's Palace.
• After the crowd left, Bai Tiangang learned that Xu Hong had defected and ordered the Lotus Sect to launch its general assault on Jinan City the next morning.
• Qin He reviewed the new temples in Jinan City, found that Wei Wu had not been recorded as a sincere worshipper, and counted two hundred and ten thousand merit.
• Qin He upgraded the Merit Golden Body to the third rank and the Merit Soul Art to the second rank, leaving sixty thousand merit.
• Qin He transmitted techniques, prescriptions, and other skills to sincere worshippers, using five merit-cost tiers from entry level to Attained Perfection.

Qin He witnessed Miao Qianhe’s life and learned how war and vengeance turned a gifted healer into a feared poison master. The Black Robed Man judged Miao Qianhe and awarded Qin He the Poison Scripture.

• Qin He’s merit-point teachings stirred people across the city, and Miao Qianhe’s corpse finished burning.
• Miao Qianhe’s family was forced to serve the Imperial Army, and most of them died before the chieftain’s remnants killed his father.
• Miao Qianhe avenged his family by poisoning the group that killed his father and later massacred an Imperial Army commander’s feast.
• Leng Jingshan rescued Miao Qianhe from the Flying Fish Guard and took him into the Poison Witch Sect, where he became a renowned poison master.
• Miao Qianhe poisoned Leng Jingshan and eliminated his clan and rivals to seize control of the Poison Witch Sect.
• The Black Robed Man judged Miao Qianhe’s life and awarded Qin He the Poison Scripture.

Qin He learned the Poison Scripture, Iron Cloth Shirt, Duo'e Dharma Scripture, and Blessing Technique from the corpses’ rewards, then went to sleep. At Corpse-Burning Camp, Wei Yuanji received the Iron Head Skill while Wei Wu received nothing, so Wei Yuanji urged him to worship Great Immortal Green Ox more sincerely.

• Qin He learned the Poison Scripture but set aside its cultivation method because Poisonous Strength conflicted with his inner strength.
• Jin Wuhao gave Qin He the Iron Cloth Shirt, and Hundred Ghosts Venerable gave him a fragment of the Duo'e Dharma Scripture.
• Iron Demon Venerable gave Qin He the Blessing Technique, while the last two armored corpses gave him the Hard Armor Technique and inner strength pills.
• Qin He decided to pass the Hard Armor Technique to Wang Tie Zhu, then fell asleep.
• Wei Yuanji woke with the Iron Head Skill, while Wei Wu grew angry at receiving no reward from Great Immortal Green Ox.
• Wei Yuanji urged Wei Wu to worship more sincerely and promised to eat cow dung if Wei Wu did not receive a proper cultivation method; Wei Wu took yellow paper and went outside.

Wei Yuanji reflected on Wei Wu’s lost potential and resolved to spread faith in Great Immortal Green Ox after the White Lotus Sect was defeated. When they realized the sky had stayed dark for hours, Wei Wu and Wei Yuanji recognized that the White Lotus Sect had launched an attack on the city.

• Wei Yuanji recalled Wei Wu’s talent and lamented how far he had fallen after missing Great Immortal Green Ox’s teachings.
• Wei Yuanji decided he would travel and spread faith in Great Immortal Green Ox once the White Lotus Sect was pacified.
• Wei Wu returned from repeated trips to the latrine and told Wei Yuanji he thought he had hemorrhoids.
• Wei Yuanji and Wei Wu realized the sky had remained dark long past dawn, a sign of the White Lotus Sect’s power.
• A horn sounded and commands rang across the city, and Wei Yuanji recognized that the Lotus Army was attacking.

The White Lotus Army launched a full assault on Jinan City, while Tu Baishou and the defenders prepared to face the attackers and supernatural forces. As the battle raged on, Qin He and Wang Tie Zhu watched from the walls and dealt with a fighter who climbed up to challenge them.

• The White Lotus Army surrounded Jinan City before dawn, and Tu Baishou took charge of the city’s defenses alongside Lei Ming.
• Tu Baishou summoned Wu De and Fahai to handle the Corpse Army and ghosts expected to exploit the lingering Yin Energy.
• Bai Tiangang’s forces attacked with catapults, siege engines, battering rams, and scaling ladders, while the defenders answered with arrows, ballistae, and cannons.
• Qin He and Wang Tie Zhu observed the battle and discussed burning the corpses piled outside the city.
• A burly White Lotus fighter climbed onto the battlements and challenged the defenders, but Wang Tie Zhu kicked him back off the wall.

Qin He and Wang Tie Zhu watched the siege from Jinan City's walls while the White Lotus Sect unleashed its Corpse Army and Paper Soldiers. The Daoist priest suppressed the Corpse Army with the Lingyun Town Evil Scripture, but the Paper Soldiers remained a threat, and Tu Baishou urged Fahai to use the half-learned Spirit Guiding Spell.

• Qin He judged the fighters on the wall, while Wang Tie Zhu knocked away anyone Qin He did not want and hurled the Twin Heroes of Binhe off the wall.
• The White Lotus Sect sent its Corpse Army and Paper Soldiers toward Jinan City, terrifying the Imperial Army and disrupting the defenders' formation.
• A Divine Constable told Tu Baishou that the two armies numbered about five thousand each and that the White Lotus Sect was committing its full force.
• The Daoist priest chanted the Lingyun Town Evil Scripture, suppressing the Corpse Army but barely affecting the Paper Soldiers.
• Tu Baishou asked Fahai to recite Golden Light Temple's Spirit Guiding Spell, and Fahai admitted he had only learned half of it.

The defenders of Jinan City struggled to hold back the Corpse Army and Paper Soldiers as the Great Monk and the Daoist used their scriptures to weaken the attackers. Just as the Great Monk faltered while reciting the Spirit Guiding Spell, a grinning man appeared before him and mocked him.

• The Great Monk recited the Spirit Guiding Spell, weakening the Paper Soldiers and dimming the Corpse Army’s scarlet eyes, but the attackers kept advancing.
• Tu Baishou ordered the defenders to meet the assault, and Dou Lao Liu smashed the first corpse monster to leap onto the wall.
• Tu Baishou called for the Great Monk and the Daoist to be protected, so Dou Lao Liu and Chang Wen guarded them as the battle intensified.
• The Corpse Army and Paper Soldiers overwhelmed sections of the wall, inflicting heavy casualties and splitting the defenders into isolated groups.
• The Great Monk struggled to recite even half of the Spirit Guiding Spell before a man appeared, called him no good, and patted his forehead.

Great Monk suddenly mastered a transformed Spirit Guiding Spell and destroyed the Corpse Army and Paper Soldiers, turning the battle around. Bai Tiangang ordered the Lotus Army to withdraw, while Qin He and Wang Tie Zhu gathered Corpse Burners to collect the dead.

• Qin He struck Great Monk on the forehead, triggering his sudden enlightenment in the Spirit Guiding Spell.
• Great Monk chanted the transformed spell, summoning a divine vision that purified the Corpse Army and burned away the Paper Soldiers.
• The Taoist questioned Great Monk about the spell, while Great Monk wondered whether Qin He had truly been the one who struck him.
• Bai Tiangang ordered the Lotus Army to withdraw after its forces lost morale and the assault failed.
• Qin He and Wang Tie Zhu brought Corpse Burners onto the walls to collect corpses as the defenders cheered.

Qin He rejected his followers’ attempts to label Wei Wu a heretic and defended the freedom to believe or not believe. As the siege of Jinan continued on a timetable shaped by the coming spring plowing season, Qin He quietly used his Corpse Burning Furnace to cripple the Lotus Sect.

• Qin He greeted Wei Wu, who ignored him and left while brooding over his bad luck and lack of progress.
• Qin He told Wei Wu to worship sincerely, but Wei Wu dismissed him and hurried away.
• Xu Changshou and Li Tie called Wei Wu a blasphemer, but Qin He said Great Immortal Green Ox opposed forming cliques and respected people’s freedom not to believe.
• The Li Court assembled a two-hundred-thousand-strong anti-rebellion army in Linqing, while the Emperor ordered Jinan’s siege lifted before the end of the first lunar month.
• Qin He’s Corpse Burning Furnace processed six corpses a day, gradually crippling the Lotus Sect.

Qin He met Bai Tiangang at a private banquet, where they discussed Bai Tiangang’s rebellion and tested each other with yes-or-no questions. Qin He revealed that Bai Tiangang was a Divine Envoy of the False Heavenly Court whose true aim was to sever the Li Dynasty’s fortune, leaving Bai Tiangang terrified and demanding to know who Qin He was.

• Bai Tiangang waited alone in the Lotus Army’s command hall and welcomed Qin He, recognizing that his origins were more mysterious than those of a Jinxi refugee or Corpse Burner.
• Qin He questioned Bai Tiangang’s plans for enfeoffment, then declared that only one of them would leave the banquet alive.
• Bai Tiangang proposed a set of yes-or-no questions, and Qin He agreed that they would switch turns after three questions.
• Bai Tiangang asked whether Qin He served the imperial court, resented the White Lotus Sect, and came from another world; Qin He answered no, no, and both yes and no.
• Qin He asked whether Bai Tiangang came from another world, then identified him as a Divine Envoy of the False Heavenly Court and said his rebellion aimed to sever the Li Dynasty’s fortune.
• Bai Tiangang rose in alarm and demanded to know who Qin He was, while Qin He pointed out that Bai Tiangang had broken their rules.

Qin He used his questioning game to confirm that Bai Tiangang and the White Lotus Sect were acting for the False Gods, who sought to attack the Li Court’s Golden Dragon of Fortune. He revealed that he was a Corpse Burner and rejected Bai Tiangang’s offer to join forces, declaring that he wanted to burn him.

• Bai Tiangang asked about Qin He's origins, but Qin He ruled the questions invalid and took his turn.
• Qin He confirmed that Bai Tiangang belonged to the White Lotus Sect and asked whether the False Gods were plotting against the Li Court’s Golden Dragon of Fortune; Bai Tiangang admitted it.
• Qin He reasoned that the rebellion, led by Bai Tiangang as a Divine Envoy of the Lower Realm, was intended to undermine the dynasty’s fortune rather than seize the throne.
• Bai Tiangang pressed Qin He to reveal his origins, and Qin He said he was a Corpse Burner who specialized in burning the Heretical Ways, Demons and Monsters.
• Bai Tiangang offered to join forces and yield his position as sect leader, but Qin He refused and said he wanted to burn Bai Tiangang.

Qin He refused Bai Tiangang’s offer to surrender, and Bai Tiangang summoned three powerful Paper Soldiers bestowed by heavenly gods. Qin He still vowed to burn Bai Tiangang’s corpse and hinted that his confidence came from using cheats.

• Bai Tiangang summoned three formidable black Paper Soldiers to surround Qin He after Qin He refused to negotiate.
• Qin He admired the Paper Soldiers’ strength, while Bai Tiangang explained that heavenly gods had bestowed the technique on him.
• Bai Tiangang offered Qin He another chance if he knelt, signed a Master-Servant Blood Pact, and became his servant.
• Qin He refused to kneel to Bai Tiangang and declared that he would burn his corpse anyway.
• Bai Tiangang demanded Qin He’s name, and Qin He said he used cheats and was a cheat bastard.

Qin He was trapped in Bai Tiangang’s Three Powers Yin Spirit Array, where three Paper Spirit Generals and countless Yin spirits attacked him. He broke the array with his spells and Sixth Rank Merit Golden Body, leaving Bai Tiangang defeated and begging to negotiate.

• Bai Tiangang unleashed the Three Powers Yin Spirit Array, transforming the three Paper Soldiers into towering Paper Spirit Generals and trapping Qin He in a scorched realm.
• Qin He dodged the Paper Spirit Generals’ attacks while Bai Tiangang declared that the array would kill him.
• Qin He used the One-Leg Gale Technique and the Thirty-Six Spirit Suppressing Forms to immobilize the three Paper Spirit Generals, then destroyed them with lightning.
• Qin He released his Sixth Rank Merit Golden Body, which erased the attacking Yin spirits and shattered the array.
• Qin He challenged Bai Tiangang to use another move, and Bai Tiangang asked to negotiate and offered to kneel.

Qin He killed Bai Tiangang despite his pleas and defied the Upper Realm False God who appeared from the dead servant’s body. After easily resisting the False God’s aura, Qin He burned Bai Tiangang’s corpse and resolved to grow stronger.

• Qin He rejected Bai Tiangang’s offer to make peace and decided the mass murderer had to die.
• Bai Tiangang tried to flee, but Qin He pinned him to a pillar with three Corpse Suppressing Nails and killed him.
• A blurry face emerged from Bai Tiangang’s body and identified itself as an Upper Realm False God.
• Qin He admitted killing Bai Tiangang, refused the False God’s demand that he become its servant, and challenged it to come to the lower realm.
• The False God’s aura attacked Qin He, but he blocked it easily and decided to reach a thousand years of inner strength soon.
• Qin He cleaned Bai Tiangang’s corpse, put it in the Corpse Burning Furnace, and burned it on the spot.

Qin He burned Bai Tiangang’s corpse and summoned an attendant while disguised as the dead cult leader. Sun Bing recognized Qin He from their past in Liucheng and realized he was standing at another corpse-burning scene, but denied having any questions.

• Qin He used his folding Corpse Burning Furnace to burn Bai Tiangang’s corpse, then changed into Bai Tiangang’s appearance and called for an attendant.
• Sun Bing entered and recognized Qin He’s distinctive shoes from their past dealings in Liucheng.
• Sun Bing spotted Bai Tiangang’s corpse on the furnace and the Sacred Lotus Jade Finger, realizing Qin He had killed the cult leader.
• Qin He removed the jade thumb ring from the corpse, put it on, and asked Sun Bing whether he had any questions.
• Sun Bing shook his head and called Qin He Lord Cult Master.

Qin He summoned Sun Bing and used a long speech about winning people’s hearts to steer him toward dealing with the Holy Cult’s Heretical Ways. Sun Bing proposed sending them off with wine and fine dishes, and Qin He agreed.

• Qin He questioned Sun Bing about whether he had any questions, and Sun Bing insisted he had none and professed his loyalty.
• Qin He recounted principles about winning the people’s hearts and keeping petty men at a distance, prompting Sun Bing to suggest clearing out the Heretical Ways.
• Sun Bing called the Heretical Ways beasts and parasites and proposed burning them, but Qin He said that would be too heartless.
• Sun Bing proposed preparing good wine and fine dishes to send the Heretical Ways off, and Qin He accepted the suggestion.

Qin He tested a poison on Li Dazui, a notorious cannibal summoned to the Lotus Army camp as Sun Bing’s chosen gift. After Li Dazui collapsed, Qin He ordered Sun Bing to burn him alive in a prepared furnace.

• Sun Bing escaped Qin He’s hall and rejoiced at the opportunity to profit from the dangerous situation at the Lotus Army camp.
• Sun Bing brought Li Dazui before Qin He, who questioned him about eating children.
• Li Dazui explained that famine had introduced him to human flesh, which he later craved and hunted for, even compiling a cookbook and stewing a singing girl.
• Qin He gave Li Dazui poisoned wine, and Li Dazui collapsed as his strength and inner force faded.
• Qin He ordered Sun Bing to carry Li Dazui to a furnace, then doused him with fire oil and set him alight while he was still alive.