Chapter Summaries

Great Immortal Green Ox’s Chaos Shovel destroyed the Yellow River Dragon Palace and forced the demons to submit. Meanwhile, the Great Li Dynasty reclaimed the north, and Shen Lian’s slow campaign into Jiangnan left the emperor’s three-year tax exemption to restore public confidence.

• Qin He’s Chaos Shovel flattened the Yellow River Dragon Palace, and Ao Ding led the demons in submitting to Great Immortal Green Ox.
• The new emperor appointed Li Huaian to rebuild the central government and gave Shen Lian command of a western campaign against the Chuang rebels.
• Shen Lian and Cao Bianjiao captured Tongguan, defeated the Chuang Army, and reclaimed the northern half of the realm.
• The Chuang Army invaded Jiangnan, and the Donglin Party paid Shen Lian to march south, but he advanced slowly while demanding more provisions.
• The emperor exempted the north from taxes and military levies for three years, easing unrest and earning widespread acclaim.

After returning to the Capital City, Qin He noticed new inventions and sweet potatoes appearing around the docks, signs that the era was beginning to change. He returned to the Corpse Burning Facility and saw that his three beasts had grown stronger, while Little Calf had learned only to stand up.

• Qin He returned to the Capital City after spending more than half a year dealing with the Demon Race and collecting numerous monsters.
• Qin He walked through the docks and noticed pulleys lifting cargo and a steam-powered machine helping Tie Sanqi forge iron.
• Qin He bought a skewer made from newly cultivated sweet potatoes after arguing with the peddler over its taste and price.
• Qin He returned to the Corpse Burning Facility and shared his candied hawthorn skewers with the Corpse Burners.
• Qin He saw that Wang Tie Zhu and Little Sable had grown stronger, while Little Calf had learned to stand.

Little Calf swallowed a defective Form Transformation Pill in the Luo River Dragon Palace and gained the ability to stand, though it remained mostly bovine. Qin He returned, learned that Hui Miqiu had gone to watch the execution of Di Kingdom spies, and planned to leave again that night.

• Little Calf searched the Luo River Dragon Palace for treasures and found a Form Transformation Pill in its pill-refining chamber.
• Little Calf swallowed the defective pill, which turned its front hooves into three-fingered hands but left the rest of its body bovine.
• Qin He returned with a bundle of Candied Hawthorn Skewers and met the towering, upright Little Calf.
• Wang Tie Zhu told Qin He that Hui Miqiu had gone to watch the execution of spies led by Liu Changan.
• Qin He said he would leave that night, and Wang Tie Zhu suggested roasted Candied Hawthorn Skewers for lunch.

Qin He entered Zhaoyu Prison after the Riffle Fish Spirit reported moving Treasure Aura in the Capital City, but found Liu Changan's corpse waiting in the Corpse Burning Hall. He prepared to investigate the possible clue before burning Liu Changan's body in the Southern Ming Li Fire.

• The Riffle Fish Spirit told Qin He that it had sensed Treasure Aura in the Capital City, including a moving presence resembling the one in Scale Demon City.
• Qin He refused to touch the national treasury and followed the Riffle Fish Spirit to Zhaoyu Prison after it located the other aura there.
• Qin He and the Riffle Fish Spirit entered Zhaoyu Prison unnoticed by the Flying Fish Guards and went to the Corpse Burning Hall.
• Qin He found Liu Changan's prepared corpse and used Shadowless Hand to cleanse and prepare it.
• Qin He burned Liu Changan's corpse in the Southern Ming Li Fire.

Qin He witnessed Liu Changan’s life, from an impoverished scholar’s son to a Great Li official who defected to the Di after his family was killed and he was betrayed. The Black Robed Man judged Liu Changan and awarded him a Qiankun Stone.

• Liu Changan studied through poverty, passed the xiucai examination, and joined the Border Army as a clerical underling.
• After Liu Changan secretly reported Zu Shouqing’s abuses, Zu had him imprisoned and his family killed, but a Di attack led to his transfer to Aquina’s Eight Shadow Divisions.
• Liu Changan served the Di, rose to become a third-rank Minister of War’s Deputy, and gave them intelligence that helped destroy the Li Army at Daling River.
• After Aquina vanished and Great Li returned to power, the Flying Fish Guard arrested Liu Changan and sentenced him to execution in autumn.
• The Black Robed Man pronounced judgment on Liu Changan and awarded him a Qiankun Stone.

Qin He found a Qiankun Stone, and the Riffle Fish Spirit spotted Treasure Aura nearby. At the Flying Fish Guard Office, Wei Wu considered the Emperor’s strategy and asked whether preparations at the Corpse Burning Hall were complete.

• Qin He examined the Qiankun Stone, found no clue to its abilities, and put it into his Armpit Space.
• The Riffle Fish Spirit watched Qin He make the stone appear and disappear, then spotted Treasure Aura and called it out.
• Wei Wu listened to reports and reflected on the Emperor’s maneuvers against the southern rebels and the Donglin Party.
• Wei Yuanji and Wei Yuanchun noticed Wei Wu unconsciously raising an orchid finger, a habit that had earned him the nickname Orchid General.
• Wei Wu dismissed his subordinate and asked Wei Yuanji whether everything had been arranged at the Corpse Burning Hall.

Qin He found a complete gray ring resembling the relic from Scale Demon City and sent the Riffle Fish Spirit and Hui Miqiu to search Heavenly Court ruins for more. While Wang Tie Zhu and Little Calf searched for the Taoist priest and the Great Monk, the two men were queuing at the crowded Immortal Green Ox Temple, hoping to find Great Immortal Green Ox.

• Qin He examined the complete gray ring, put it in the Armpit Space, and tasked the Riffle Fish Spirit with searching Heavenly Court ruins alongside Hui Miqiu.
• Qin He promised a reward for each relic they found, and the Riffle Fish Spirit and Hui Miqiu set out two days later.
• Qin He sent Wang Tie Zhu and Little Calf to find the Taoist priest and the Great Monk so he could inspect the Divine Relic Golden Egg again.
• The Taoist priest and the Great Monk searched for Great Immortal Green Ox, but Qin He's concealment technique and disguises thwarted their attempts to identify him.
• The Taoist priest and the Great Monk joined the long queue outside the newly rebuilt Immortal Green Ox Temple, where Flying Fish Guard officers enforced the line.

Ma Fei scammed Fahai out of two taels of silver by pretending the monk had injured him in the temple queue. After escaping, Ma Fei collided with the Bullhead and immediately pretended to be hurt again.

• Ma Fei cut into the queue at Immortal Green Ox Temple and pretended Fahai had broken his leg when the monk pushed him aside.
• Fahai admitted he had shoved Ma Fei, and the Taoist warned that his honesty meant he would have to pay.
• Fahai gave Ma Fei two taels of silver, and Ma Fei ran off with the money.
• Ma Fei reflected on how he chose targets for his scams and celebrated his successful haul.
• Ma Fei collided with the Bullhead and began shouting that his bones were broken.

Qin He turned Ma Fei’s staged accident into a real injury after Ma Fei demanded compensation. Ma Fei’s legs were broken, and he insisted Qin He support him for life.

• Ma Fei pretended that Qin He and Little Calf had injured him and demanded silver, claiming his uncle worked at the Eastern City Marshal’s Office.
• Qin He encouraged Ma Fei to raise his demand, then paid him twenty taels for his two legs.
• Little Calf stomped on Ma Fei’s legs twice, breaking both of them.
• Ma Fei shouted for attention and demanded that Qin He support him for the rest of his life.
• Qin He hesitantly agreed after pulling a birdcage from beneath his arm.

Qin He caught Ma Fei in a birdcage and discovered he had taken human form as a weak Red-beaked Golden Finch. As Qin He and Little Calf threatened and silenced him, two strangers arrived and claimed the bird belonged to them.

• Ma Fei fled when he saw Qin He's birdcage, but Qin He enlarged it and captured him.
• Qin He used Demon Identification Technique and learned Ma Fei was a Red-beaked Golden Finch with five years of Dao Xing and a trace of Golden-winged Great Peng bloodline.
• Little Calf threatened to stew Ma Fei, and Qin He used a Mute Spell to silence him before hanging his cage from Little Calf's horn.
• A warrior and an Onmyoji appeared and said the Golden Finch belonged to them.
• Qin He recognized the two strangers as Imperial Sirs.

Qin He and Little Calf confronted two Eastern Ying Envoys who demanded the Red-beaked Golden Finch, and easily defeated them. The envoys lay buried under Little Calf’s dung as Qin He and the cow headed home, while the Great Monk and a Daoist approached the scene.

• An Onmyoji demanded that Qin He return the Red-beaked Golden Finch, and Qin He challenged the envoys to call the bird themselves.
• The Onmyoji attacked Qin He with a Blade Talisman, but Qin He blew it away.
• The samurai charged Qin He, but Little Calf kicked him in the crotch and knocked him unconscious.
• The Onmyoji fled, but Little Calf rammed him into a wall and left him unconscious beside the samurai.
• Qin He ordered Little Calf to teach the envoys a lesson, and Little Calf covered them in dung before leaving with Qin He.
• The Great Monk and a Daoist arrived two streets away, drawn by the lingering smell.

Fahai and Wu De tracked the supposed cow that had wronged them, only to find a warrior and an Onmyoji covered in cow dung. Fahai confirmed the culprit by tasting the dung, and Wu De vomited as the two victims woke and reacted in disgust.

• Fahai and Wu De found two dung-covered people in a corner and suspected the cow from the Cow Dung Idol Incident.
• Fahai insisted on tasting the dung to confirm it, despite Wu De's protests.
• Fahai identified the dung as belonging to the cow and pulled a fish bone from his mouth.
• Wu De vomited, and the warrior and Onmyoji woke up to find themselves covered in cow dung.
• The warrior and Onmyoji stripped off their clothes and armor, flinging dung onto Wu De's forehead.

Wu De and Fahai encountered a samurai and an Onmyoji, but their confused exchange turned into a filthy fight involving shoes, blades, talismans, and cow dung. Qin He watched from a distance, marked Wu De, and decided to wait until the pair had cleaned themselves up.

• Wu De cleaned himself by rubbing against Fahai, then threw a shoe that stuck to Lord Reizei's face.
• The samurai and Lord Reizei mistook Wu De and Fahai for allies of the cow rider, and the two groups attacked each other.
• Fahai used his Golden Bell Shield to withstand the Onmyoji's shoe, while Wu De counterattacked with his Adamantine Leg.
• The samurai cut Wu De's shoe in half with Drawing Sword Slash, and Fahai and Wu De charged into battle against the samurai and Lord Reizei.
• Lord Reizei exploited Wu De's disgust at the flying cow dung, leaving the fight deadlocked as Qin He watched with Little Calf.
• Qin He cast a Marking Technique on Wu De and chose to wait until Wu De and Fahai had washed themselves clean.

The chapter recounts how Jia Cong rose from bathhouse attendant to proprietor of Jia's Bathhouse, which he expanded into an upscale business. After years of decline and a particularly bleak six months, Jia Cong sat drowsily behind the counter as a customer arrived.

• Jia Cong used his literacy, arithmetic, and fighting skills to become a favored attendant at the bathhouse.
• After the previous proprietor died, Jia Cong comforted the widow and became the bathhouse's new proprietor.
• Jia Cong expanded the bathhouse, added pools and amenities, and attracted wealthier customers.
• War and poverty in the Capital City drove away customers, leaving Jia's Bathhouse struggling to cover its expenses.
• Jia Cong dozed behind the counter until someone asked to take a bath.

Qin He and Little Calf visited Jia's Bathhouse after the filthy travelers who arrived before them puzzled its owner, Jia Cong. Little Calf insisted that its human-form transformation entitled it to bathe alongside Qin He, who challenged its claim of being clean.

• Jia Cong reluctantly arranged baths for a filthy warrior and mage, then for a Fat Monk and a Thin Taoist.
• Qin He arrived with Little Calf and paid Jia Cong twenty taels of silver to bathe them both.
• Jia Cong led Qin He and Little Calf to the finest bathing room, where Qin He entered one pool and told Little Calf to use the other.
• Little Calf argued that its human form made it a person who could share Qin He's pool.
• Qin He asked whether Little Calf had wiped after defecating, leaving it speechless.

Qin He muted Golden Finch after it mocked Little Calf, then went to check on the Daoist and monk. At the bathhouse, Wei Wu—or someone impersonating him—paralyzed the pair and stole the cracked Golden Egg before revealing his true identity as a pale Onmyoji.

• Golden Finch mocked Little Calf for being unable to reach his backside, so Qin He used the Mute Spell to silence it.
• Qin He finished bathing, drank liquor, and headed to check on the Daoist and monk.
• A disguised man in Wei Wu's Flying Fish Guard uniform immobilized the Daoist and monk with white smoke.
• The impostor rummaged through the Daoist's crotch pouch and took out a cracked Golden Egg that shone with golden light.
• After the Daoist and monk realized he was not Wei Wu, the man revealed himself as a pale young Onmyoji wearing a crow-shaped hat.

The Daoist and monk rushed to confront the samurai and Onmyoji after the Onmyoji released them, but found the pair fighting and joined in to mediate. Meanwhile, Qin He discovered that the cracked Golden Egg gave off an ominous aura and resisted every attempt to break it, so Wang Tie Zhu suggested asking his godfather about it.

• The Onmyoji released the Daoist and monk, who suspected Great Immortal Green Ox had taken the Daoist’s strange Golden Egg and hurried to confront the Dongying pair.
• The Daoist and monk burst into the bathhouse and attacked the samurai after seeing him overpower the Onmyoji.
• Qin He examined the cracked Golden Egg, sensed its ominous aura, and found that even his strongest blows could not break it.
• Wang Tie Zhu told Qin He that his godfather might know something about the Golden Egg.

Qin He consulted the Mystic Water Tortoise King about the golden egg and learned it might be a Primordial Corpse Kun Egg Pouch. The King suggested the creature would hatch when Silent Dharma descended, acting as a cleaner of the world.

• Wang Tie Zhu explained that his godfather, the Mystic Water Tortoise King, possessed ancient records inherited from a once-powerful aquatic clan, and Qin He agreed to visit him.
• Wang Tie Zhu prepared for the meeting, and three days later Qin He met the Mystic Water Tortoise King and Ao Jiao, the Great King Turtle.
• Qin He showed the Mystic Water Tortoise King the golden egg, and the King identified it as resembling the legendary Primordial Corpse Kun Egg Pouch.
• The Mystic Water Tortoise King explained that the Primordial Corpse Kun supposedly fed on Dao laws and the void and emerged when spiritual power fell into extinction.
• The Mystic Water Tortoise King speculated that the creature would hatch when Silent Dharma descended and called it the cleaner of their world.

Qin He learned that the Primordial Corpse Kun could consume laws and the void, potentially bringing Silent Dharma and the destruction of the realm. After discussing possible ways to respond, he left the Mystic Water Tortoise King's cave and headed back to the capital, worried Silent Dharma was near.

• Qin He asked the Mystic Water Tortoise King whether Silent Dharma would destroy the whole realm, and learned that the Primordial Corpse Kun could consume laws and the void.
• The Mystic Water Tortoise King described reincarnation as the First Order and warned Qin He not to disturb the Primordial Corpse Kun recklessly.
• Wang Tie Zhu suggested burning the creature, but Qin He said the Southern Ming Li Fire had failed to affect its egg sac.
• The Mystic Water Tortoise King suggested using lightning or sending the egg sac out of the world, while Ao Jiao, the Great King Turtle, doubted Silent Dharma was imminent.
• Qin He said the era of Silent Dharma was probably near, recalling the uncontrolled fragment of the Heavenly Court in the sky.
• Qin He left the Mystic Water Tortoise King's cave and set off for the capital.

Qin He and Little Calf left without a meal after visiting the Mystic Water Tortoise King, whose sudden memory lapse puzzled Wang Tie Zhu and Ao Jiao. On the way back, Little Calf tried to persuade Qin He to seek another feast, and Qin He decided they should go to the Underworld instead of returning to the Wei River Dragon Palace.

• Qin He left the Mystic Water Tortoise King's home without eating, to the relief of the Mystic Water Tortoise King, Ao Jiao, and Wang Tie Zhu.
• Wang Tie Zhu asked the Mystic Water Tortoise King about the Primordial Corpse Kun, but the old turtle forgot what it had said and blamed its muddled memory on taking human form.
• The Mystic Water Tortoise King and Ao Jiao traded insults before Ao Jiao took Wang Tie Zhu home, boasting that Wang Tie Zhu's mother had given birth to another little brother.
• Little Calf complained that Qin He had used the Mute Spell to stop it from asking the turtles for a feast, and Qin He scolded it for learning crooked tactics from the Riffle Fish Spirit.
• Little Calf suggested visiting the Wei River Dragon Palace for another meal, but Qin He rejected the idea and chose the Underworld as their next destination.