Chapter Summaries

Li Yan and Hei Dan searched for Blind Old Three, the wolf that had killed Hei Dan’s little sister, but found no trace of it before dawn. As they returned to Li Family Fortress, Li Yan caught a familiar bloody stench and became alert.

• Li Yan and Hei Dan searched the fields for Blind Old Three, but Li Yan decided they would continue the next morning.
• Hei Dan said his father planned to take him away to reap wheat, and Li Yan promised to hunt down the wolf before it disappeared.
• Hei Dan asked what lay beyond the mountains, and Li Yan answered that there were only more mountains and people.
• Li Yan smelled a cold, rank scent with a hint of blood—the same stench he had noticed near Er Niu’s remains—and pressed Hei Dan down.

Li Yan and Hei Dan confronted Blind Old Three as it stole a pig in the village, and Li Yan killed the unusually clever wolf with his Guanshan Knife. After the wolf died, its strange rank smell intensified and vanished, leaving Li Yan uneasy as Hei Dan noticed nothing.

• Li Yan and Hei Dan crept toward Blind Old Three, which had entered the village and was dragging away a pig.
• Li Yan shot Blind Old Three in the foreleg, but the wolf pulled out the arrow and leaped from a wall to attack him.
• Li Yan dodged the wolf’s pounce and cut its neck with his Guanshan Knife, though Blind Old Three’s claw grazed his neck.
• Hei Dan stabbed Blind Old Three through its remaining good eye, killing it.
• Li Yan sensed the wolf’s strange rank smell grow stronger and then disappear, but Hei Dan could not smell anything.

Li Yan killed Blind Old Three and received a village-rewarded pig, while Widow Wang secretly warned that the wolf’s corpse carried bad luck. Back home, Li Yan resumed his Red Fist training, where a stone statue floated within his dantian.

• Li Baoquan scolded Hei Dan for acting alone, but Li Yan said he had already taken a chicken as payment for dealing with Blind Old Three.
• Clan leader Li HuaiRen rewarded Li Yan’s family with Zhou Juezi’s pig and ordered the wolf’s corpse hung at the village entrance.
• Widow Wang warned that Blind Old Three’s body was unclean and should be burned, then returned home and prayed to her Third Aunt that disaster was coming.
• Zhou Juezi slaughtered the pig, and Li Yan shared some meat with Hei Dan and familiar neighbors before taking the rest home.
• Li Yan practiced the Overlord Lifts the Tripod exercise, and a stone statue floated in his dantian.

Li Yan reflected on the Substitute Divine Statue that had brought him to this world and protected him as he trained in martial arts. After talking with his ailing grandfather, Li Yan left the village’s strange nighttime activity unexplained as wolves fled from Blind Old Three’s corpse.

• Li Yan recalled that the Substitute Divine Statue could absorb injuries and grant him three chances at rebirth, though its interior had begun to crack.
• Li Yan practiced his family’s fighting methods, demonstrating Peak of Manifested Strength at only fourteen, while Li Gui scolded him for pursuing martial arts.
• Li Yan redirected Li Gui’s anger by asking about the Icy Plains, and Li Gui recounted the deadly expedition that had cost him a leg.
• Li Gui urged Li Yan to marry a woman with big hips, and Li Yan worried that his grandfather’s memory and health were worsening.
• Village children threw stones at Blind Old Three’s corpse hanging from the Old Locust Tree.
• At night, a pack of wolves approached the corpse but fled in alarm as a cold wind rose and shadows shifted around the tree.

Li Yan prepared preserved pork and a feast with his grandfather, then faced a supernatural presence at the courtyard gate that smelled like the slain Blind Old Three. The Victorious in a Hundred Battles plaque repelled the presence after an hour, but the chill on Li Yan’s back remained.

• Li Yan cooked several pork dishes and shared a hearty meal with his grandfather.
• At Widow Wang’s house, her four-year-old daughter lay inside a circle of red stakes as Widow Wang prayed to Third Aunt for protection.
• Li Yan woke with an icy chill on his back, and the Substitute Divine Statue failed to affect it.
• Hearing knocks outside, Li Yan approached the gate and sensed the foul, cold stench of Blind Old Three despite detecting nothing beyond the gate.
• Li Yan realized the Victorious in a Hundred Battles plaque was colliding with the unseen presence, and he waited inside as the knocking continued.
• After an hour, the stench vanished and the village dogs began barking, but Li Yan’s back remained cold.

Li Yan investigated Blind Old Three’s corpse and went to Widow Wang, hoping to learn how to stop it. There, he watched her summon the Immortal Family with a Wen Wang Drum as the foul odor gathered around a little girl.

• Li Yan saw that the Victorious in a Hundred Battles plaque had cracked overnight and feared it would not withstand another night.
• Li Yan inspected Blind Old Three’s hanging corpse, then learned from Li Shuanzhu that Widow Wang had wanted to burn it in a ritual.
• Widow Wang let Li Yan into her house and said the Immortal Family wanted to see him.
• Li Yan found a little girl unconscious inside a red-string circle before an altar to Hu Sangu and noticed the jars in the courtyard were arranged according to the Eight Gates.
• Widow Wang uncovered a Wen Wang Drum and Wu Wang Whip, then beat the drum and chanted as the foul odor gathered toward the girl.

Li Yan learned that his Spiritual Root had drawn the Cold Altar Rampaging Soldier’s attention, and Widow Wang gave him a risky ritual to evade it. After spending the night buried beneath his room, Li Yan found the bait rooster dead, but no black water had emerged from its organs.

• The Girl, possessed by Widow Wang’s Immortal Family, warned Li Yan that the Cold Altar Rampaging Soldier had cursed him and explained the Yang Six Roots and spiritual powers.
• Widow Wang revealed that Li Yan’s Spiritual Root had attracted the Rampaging Soldier, which wanted to devour his Three Souls Seven Spirits and take his body.
• Widow Wang told Li Yan to feed two roosters rice mixed with his blood, peachwood shavings, and hair ash, then hide buried in a pit while the Rampaging Soldier searched for him.
• Li Yan prepared the roosters and pit, tied the birds outside his door, and buried himself there through the night with his Guanshan knife.
• After hearing a rooster crow, Li Yan burst out of the pit and found the bait rooster dead; when he cut open its belly, its organs were mangled but no black water had flowed out.

Li Yan survived another attack by the Cold Altar Rampaging Soldier after it killed the rooster and battered the plaque protecting his home. The plaque broke at dawn, leaving behind three strange copper coins.

• Li Yan repeated Widow Wang’s ritual by tying a rooster outside and hiding underground as the Yin Wind approached his home.
• The Yin Wind killed the rooster and repeatedly struck the “Victorious in a Hundred Battles” plaque, cracking it as Li Yan resisted its false voices and sounds.
• Li Yan used his sense of smell to confirm that his grandfather and Blind Old Three were not in the courtyard, but he was fooled by a false rooster crow and emerged too soon.
• The real rooster crowed, and Blind Old Three’s scent receded; Li Yan waited until dawn before leaving the house.
• The “Victorious in a Hundred Battles” plaque split apart, and Li Yan found three unusual copper coins inside it.

Li Yan learned that the copper coins hidden inside his grandfather’s tablet were the Three Talents Demon Suppressing Coins, and that someone may have used them to doom his family’s bloodline. Hu Sangu’s Immortal Family prepared the coins as a saber tassel to help him face the Cold Altar Rampaging Soldier that was expected to attack that night, while privately warning Widow Wang that Li Yan’s fate remained grim.

• Li Yan found that the damaged tablet had concealed three vicious copper coins, while Li Gui reacted calmly to the damage and went out for a stroll.
• Widow Wang told Li Yan that the Cold Altar Rampaging Soldier had grown stronger, then had him recount the previous night’s events to Hu Sangu.
• Hu Sangu identified the coins as Three Talents Demon Suppressing Coins forged from Yang Yi’s Demon Blades and said their concealment in the tablet had likely cursed Li Yan’s family with violent deaths.
• Widow Wang and Hu Sangu made the coins into an Exorcising Ruyi Knot saber tassel, which Li Yan tested on his Guan Shan Saber before storing in a red pouch.
• After Li Yan left, Hu Sangu told Widow Wang the Rampaging Soldier might have been sent by an enemy and refused to recruit Li Yan, saying his opened Spiritual Root would draw danger and he might not live much longer.

Li Yan prepared the Land God Temple as a refuge and bait for the Cold Altar Rampaging Soldier, using its incense power to protect himself while he waited for the creature. When it seemed to retreat, he taunted it, and a pack of wolves emerged from the fog to surround the temple.

• Grandpa Li Gui felt unusually well after the curse on the family was broken, while Li Yan sharpened the Guanshan Knife.
• Li Yan brought offerings to the Land God Temple and placed the Three Talents Demon Suppressing Coin Sword Tassel before it to strengthen the knife.
• At Zi Hour, the Cold Altar Rampaging Soldier approached the temple but could not cross the boundary of its incense offerings.
• Li Yan resisted the creature's attempts to beguile him with his grandfather's voice, then taunted it to keep it from leaving.
• After the yin wind vanished, red-eyed wolves emerged from the fog and surrounded the Land God Temple.

Li Yan fought off a wolf pack and killed the Cold Altar Rampaging Soldier with the Three Talents Demon Suppressing Coin Sword Tassel, though the battle cost the Substitute Divine Statue one of its lives. He returned to Widow Wang’s courtyard and found it cleared out, confirming that she and her companions had been hiding from something.

• Li Yan used the Guanzhong Quick Saber to kill three attacking wolves and held the remaining pack at bay near the Land God Temple.
• The Rampaging Soldier ordered the wolves to drag Li Yan beyond the temple’s incense protection, where it began possessing him.
• Li Yan used the Three Talents Demon Suppressing Coin Sword Tassel with his Guanshan Knife to pierce and destroy the Rampaging Soldier.
• Li Yan recovered with the Substitute Divine Statue, which shed a ghostly flame and reset after its accumulated damage reached its limit.
• Li Yan put the blood-soaked tassel in a red cloth bag and found Widow Wang’s courtyard emptied and its Mystic Gate Array scattered.
• Li Yan concluded that Widow Wang and her companions had been hiding from something.

Li Yan sought out information about genuine Xuan Gate Experts as he prepared to confront the curse that had devastated his family. He learned that Sha LiFei might know more, then questioned his grandfather about old enemies and discovered that the person Li Gui had offended was already dead.

• Li Yan asked Du DaYa about Xuan Gate Experts, and Du DaYa explained the factions and pointed him toward Sha LiFei.
• Li Yan returned home and found Li Gui in a better mood since the Yansheng Curse had been broken.
• Li Yan wondered whether his father, Li Hu, had secretly investigated the Xuan Gate and whether the circumstances of his death were suspicious.
• Li Yan asked Li Gui who he had offended, and Li Gui said that person was already dead.

Li Yan learned that Yuan Xizhong had died years ago and concluded that someone else had likely arranged the curse against his family. He focused on entering the Mystic Gate and waited for Sha LiFei, who arrived to recruit wheat workers, then Li Yan stopped him to ask a question.

• Li Gui told Li Yan how Yuan Xizhong had burned Han villages, ignored escaping Jurchen royalty, and used his influence to ruin Li Gui and his comrades.
• Li Yan suspected another person had arranged the curse and decided to keep that suspicion from his elderly grandfather.
• Li Yan recalled how Sha LiFei had taken over organizing the village wheat workers after Li Hu died, and expected him to arrive for the summer harvest.
• Sha LiFei rode into Li Family Fortress, recruited wheat workers for jobs near Xianyang and Xingping, and brought pastries to Li Gui, who dismissed him.
• Sha LiFei watched Li Yan practice Red Fist and recognized his impressive skill, then prepared to leave.
• Li Yan called Sha LiFei back because he wanted to ask him something.

Li Yan traveled with Sha LiFei and a group of wheat harvesters toward Xianyang to meet the Xuan Gate person Wang Dao Xuan and seek a path into the Tai Xuan Orthodox Sect. During a midday rest, a group of armed jianghu riders arrived, and Li Yan sensed blood on them.

• Li Yan asked Sha LiFei to introduce him to Wang Dao Xuan, who was said to have connections to the Tai Xuan Orthodox Sect, and agreed to travel with Sha LiFei to Xianyang.
• Before dawn, Li Yan left Li Family Fortress after receiving a warning from his grandfather, Li Gui, to stay alert in the jianghu.
• Li Yan and Hei Dan joined Sha LiFei and about fifty wheat harvesters on the road, enduring the heat as they traveled toward Xianyang.
• The group stopped beneath locust trees at midday to rest and eat, and Li Yan treated the journey as training.
• More than twenty armed riders approached on fast horses, and Li Yan smelled blood on them and reached for his knife.

Li Yan and the migrant harvesters encountered Qi-Lu Highwaymen on the road, then faced a giant Cockscomb Snake that soon vanished into the wheat. After several uneventful days, they reached a village near Xianyang, where Li Yan anticipated meeting Wang Dao Xuan.

• Li Yan smelled blood on a band of riders, and Sha LiFei recognized them as Qi-Lu Highwaymen before they rode away.
• Li Yan sensed a powerful, fishy presence, and a giant Cockscomb Snake rose from a wheat field and fixed its gaze on him.
• Sha LiFei ordered the migrant harvesters to stack themselves into Arhats, but the snake grew taller than their human tower and then disappeared into the wheat.
• Li Yan suspected the Cockscomb Snake had been pursuing the highwaymen, while Sha LiFei led the shaken group along the Official Road instead of taking a shortcut.
• After several days, Sha LiFei brought the migrant harvesters to a village near Xianyang, and Li Yan looked forward to visiting Wang Dao Xuan.

Li Yan arrived with Sha LiFei and the wheat harvesters at GuShui Village, where Landlord Lu offered generous pay and meals for the harvest. After learning more about the household and meeting other Jianghu figures, Li Yan was mocked for being Li Hu's young son.

• Sha LiFei led Li Yan and the wheat harvesters to GuShui Village and explained that the wealthy Landlord Lu owned the surrounding fields.
• Steward Lu received Sha LiFei's group, and Li Yan observed the Longyou harvesters and the Lu Family's armed guards.
• Landlord Lu promised the harvesters two sheng of wheat per mu and unlimited White Flour Steamed Buns and mutton offal soup, while Steward Lu laid out strict rules.
• The harvesters ate at the shelters, and Li Yan enjoyed the meal before approaching Sha LiFei to ask about the journey ahead.
• Sha LiFei introduced Li Yan as the son of the Guanzhong Sick Tiger, and the other Jianghu figures exchanged compliments with him.
• A young man mocked Li Yan for entering the Jianghu before he had grown up.

Li Yan defeated Meng HaiCheng after Meng tried to humiliate him, revealing that Li Yan had reached the Peak of Manifested Strength. Afterward, Li Yan confronted Sha LiFei for setting him up, and Sha LiFei offered to tell him how his father died.

• Meng HaiCheng provoked Li Yan, hoping to gain favor with his master, Zhou Pan, by humiliating Li Hu's son.
• Li Yan dodged Meng HaiCheng's Monkey Leap with Side Step Shoulder Shift and struck him with a Heart Piercing Elbow, sending him flying.
• The onlookers recognized Li Yan's skill and realized he had reached the Peak of Manifested Strength; Meng HaiCheng vomited and fled.
• Li Yan pulled Sha LiFei aside and accused him of deliberately exposing his identity to provoke a confrontation.
• Li Yan pressed a short knife against Sha LiFei's heart, and Sha LiFei offered to explain how Li Hu had died.

Li Yan learned that several of his father’s old lovers died under suspicious circumstances after Li Hu’s death, and Sha LiFei suspected Zhou Pan had benefited. As Li Yan prepared to find Wang Dao Xuan, a ghostly old woman appeared at the Lu residence, while the Substitute Divine Statue in his dantian reacted to a strange, sweet scent.

• Sha LiFei told Li Yan that several courtesans who had been Li Hu’s old lovers died months after his death, and that Zhou Pan had led a search in Chang’an City.
• Li Yan pressed Sha LiFei about his motives, and Sha LiFei admitted he had sought an ally after offending one of Zhou Pan’s disciples.
• Li Yan told Hei Dan to learn a trade before trying to make his way in the world, and Hei Dan decided to apprentice with his leatherworker uncle in Chang’an City.
• Zhao Jiu investigated a figure near the Lu Family residence and encountered a floating, blue-green old woman, whose appearance drew a scream from the guards.
• Li Yan sensed a warm, sweet scent from the distance, and the Substitute Divine Statue in his dantian stirred restlessly.

Li Yan’s Olfactory Mystical Power grew stronger, and the Substitute Divine Statue reacted to a mysterious fragrance inside the Lu Family residence before the scent vanished. He traveled to Xianyang with Sha LiFei to find Wang Dao Xuan, but as he approached the Wei River, his heightened senses detected several mysterious scents.

• Li Yan woke when his Olfactory Mystical Power sharpened and the Substitute Divine Statue yearned toward a sweet fragrance that soon disappeared.
• Li Yan and the saber-wielders went to the Lu Family residence, where Steward Lu dismissed the commotion as a wild cat and asked Sha LiFei to stay.
• Sha LiFei told Li Yan that the Lu Family secretly wanted a Yin Yang Master for the First Madam’s funeral rites and invited him to travel to Xianyang to meet Wang Dao Xuan.
• Sha LiFei described Xianyang’s local powers and stayed outside the city while Li Yan disguised himself and headed for the ferry.
• Li Yan reached the Wei River and detected several strange, mysterious scents.

Li Yan entered Xianyang City, where his Olfactory Mystical Power flared up before failing and leaving him worried it was out of control. Seeking help from Wang Dao Xuan, he found the man’s former shop had been sold and tracked him to the Asking Dao Pavilion, where unusual scents came from the courtyard.

• Li Yan’s Olfactory Mystical Power revealed the strange scents around the ferry and Xianyang, then shut down and left him dizzy.
• Li Yan crossed the Wei River and entered Xianyang, passing beggars and learning how the city’s beggar gangs exploited travelers.
• Li Yan went to the address Sha LiFei had given him, but the incense-shop owner said Wang Dao Xuan had sold his shop and now worked from home.
• Li Yan followed the shopkeeper’s directions through an old residential alley and found the Asking Dao Pavilion.
• Li Yan noticed unusual scents coming from the Asking Dao Pavilion’s courtyard.