Chapter Summaries

Li Yan and Old Daoist Feng uncovered a mural depicting the Zhou court’s attack on Chu’s Phoenix Vein and learned that the Ghost Cult sought Blood Jade Congs to overturn the Great Xuan. As the group tried to flee, Red Woman ambushed them, and Li Yan was shot but secretly survived; more of Zhao Changsheng’s people emerged.

• Li Yan found murals in the tomb, and Old Daoist Feng interpreted them as evidence that Duke Zhou used nine Blood Jade Congs to suppress Chu’s Phoenix Vein.
• Li Yan concluded that the Ghost Cult planned to use the Blood Jade Congs to bring down the Great Xuan, and the three decided to leave Zigui and report the threat.
• Li Yan sensed an ambush in the mountain fog as four eerie palanquin bearers carried the Ghost Bride toward them.
• A new-style firearm shot Li Yan through the chest, but he healed with the Great Luo Dharma Body while Sha LiFei used the Blood Jade Cong to halt Red Woman.
• Red Woman tried to bewitch Sha LiFei, but he resisted with the Six Ding Six Jia Talisman and fired at her before she revealed her demonic face.
• Li Yan secretly signaled Sha LiFei that he was alive, and more attackers emerged from the forest, including a man carrying a Divine Firearm who greeted Sha LiFei.

Li Yan and his companions survived Red Woman and Bai RuoXu’s ambush by summoning Netherworld Ghost Soldiers, then searched the battlefield and uncovered a letter linking the Ghost Cult to a plan to resurrect the Heavenly Saint Duke. The letter revealed that Zhao Changsheng would be involved, leaving Li Yan aware that Ezhou’s demonic forces were connected.

• Bai RuoXu and Red Woman used Gu poison to immobilize Sha LiFei and Daoist Feng, but Li Yan sprang his ambush and wounded Red Woman with the Severing Dust Blade.
• Red Woman escaped the blade and Yin Thunderbolts, but her injuries triggered her bloodthirsty frenzy, allowing Li Yan and his companions to retreat into the forest.
• Li Yan summoned the Netherworld Ghost Soldiers, who dragged Red Woman into the darkness and killed her, Bai RuoXu, and the other Ghost Cult followers.
• Sha LiFei recovered Bai RuoXu’s Divine Firearm, while Li Yan identified Red Woman’s Yin Corpse Longevity Method and the group burned her body and the zombie sedan bearers.
• Li Yan and his companions searched the site and found a secret letter instructing Bai RuoXu to deliver a message to Zhao Changsheng about the Heavenly Saint Sect’s plan to resurrect the Heavenly Saint Duke.

Li Yan destroyed the ghost sect’s hidden body beneath the river, while Imperial Court reinforcements arrived in Zigui County. After leaving by boat, he and Sha LiFei rescued Lu San and Wang Dao Xuan from an attack by troops from Tusi City, and the group realized war was approaching.

• Zigui County’s frightened residents learned that the waterway was open and Imperial Court reinforcements had arrived, while Liu Mei decided to leave the city.
• Prefect Zhou Kai welcomed the reinforcements, and Li Yan asked him to help uncover the ghost sect’s hidden body beneath the river.
• Li Yan used the soul-hooking decree to destroy the swollen corpse in the Stone Coffin, killing the evil thing possessing Liu DanQiu and causing the Yellow Demon God Temple’s statue to split.
• The Bamboo Mountain Sect’s elders pledged to summon southern lineages as officials discussed the growing turmoil across the southwest.
• Li Yan and Sha LiFei followed a hawk to find Lu San and Wang Dao Xuan fleeing Tusi City troops, then used mist and a Fire Caltrop to escape back to the riverbank.
• Wang Dao Xuan warned that troops from Tusi City had assembled, and the group prepared to flee by boat as war loomed.

Li Yan and his companions reached Yichang amid a major imperial military buildup, then learned that their discoveries at Chu King Lake had helped avert a Ghost Cult plot. Yu Lingzi explained the God Ascender path and warned that the surviving Ghost Cult elder Tongtian San Niang might still be active in Ezhou.

• Wang Dao Xuan recounted how he and Lu San found Ghost Cult members sacrificing children near Chu King Lake, while Li Yan described the Nine-Headed Bird feng shui formation.
• Li Yan and his companions passed the imperial navy’s inspection, reached Yichang, and found the city under strict wartime security.
• Yu Lingzi thanked Li Yan’s group, said Mount Wudang’s Three Great Mysterious Realms were open to them, and confirmed that the Blood Jade Cong had been sent there for safekeeping.
• Li Yan asked Yu Lingzi to send a letter to Luo MingZi and shared Wang Dao Xuan’s intelligence about the Ghost Cult digging near Chu King Lake.
• Yu Lingzi explained that God Ascenders included figures such as Da Ting Shi and warned Li Yan about the dangers of pursuing godhood or defying the limits of life and death.
• Yu Lingzi identified the river demon Luo Xing as a disciple of Tongtian San Niang and warned Li Yan to flee if he encountered her, since ghost soldiers might not defeat her.

Li Yan assessed the need for a Yang Thunder technique and a skilled Xuan Gate craftsman before attending the Yan family's full-moon celebration. He learned that unrest was spreading through Ezhou, was invited to seek a craftsman at a newly discovered Western Zhou Ancient Mine, and named Yan Wuyue's son “Pacify the Nation.”

• Li Yan concluded that he needed a Yang Thunder technique and a powerful Xuan Gate craftsman to strengthen himself and his weapons.
• Yan Wuyue invited Li Yan and his companions to celebrate his son's full moon, and told them that attacks and strange incidents had spread through Ezhou and Miao territory.
• At the Yan residence, Yu Lingzi told Li Yan that Xuan Gate craftsmen had gathered near a Western Zhou Ancient Mine in Wuchang Prefecture, and Li Yan planned to go there after investigating the Purple Canopy Mountain Cave.
• The original Qianhu told Li Yan that he would lead troops into Miao territory and promised to help with Li Yan's matter if he survived.
• Yan Bonian asked Li Yan to name the Yan family's newborn son, and Li Yan named him “Pacify the Nation.”

Li Yan and his companions waited out a storm at the Old Mountain God Temple and killed a demon house lizard that had been luring travelers to their deaths. After explaining the danger to the caravan, Wang Dao Xuan said they were heading to Dangyang to handle another matter, and the caravan leader raised the troubling rumor that Lord Guan was causing trouble.

• Li Yan's group stopped the caravan from entering the temple until lightning struck and killed the demon hiding inside.
• The caravan members found the charred body of a giant house lizard, and Lu San summoned mountain rats to strip it to its bones.
• Wang Dao Xuan explained that the house lizard had become a demon and used heavenly thunder to kill its victims, then told the caravan they had been sent by the City God Temple to investigate disappearances.
• The caravan leader asked whether the group was going to Dangyang because of trouble caused by Lord Guan, and Li Yan challenged him over the claim.

Li Yan and his companions reached Dangyang, where rumors of a murderous Headless Knight and lightning strikes at Guan Mausoleum had alarmed the Guan Clan. After Guan Peide brought them to Guan Family Village, Li Yan noticed something strange during a roof-beam ceremony: blood began seeping from the beam.

• The caravan leader told Li Yan and his companions that a Headless Knight had been killing people in Dangyang and that lightning had repeatedly struck Guan Mausoleum.
• Li Yan decided to enter Dangyang to gather information, and Guan Peide invited him to the Guan Clan manor to discuss the Headless Knight.
• Guan Peide explained that investigators had found no cause, while a Rice Diviner Woman had fallen unconscious after attempting to communicate with spirits.
• Li Yan and his companions visited Guan Family Village, where they saw descendants of the Guan Clan practicing Tang Hand Fist.
• Li Yan stopped to inspect a roof-beam ceremony at the home of an outsider surnamed Wu, and fresh blood began seeping from the wooden beam.

Li Yan and Wang Dao Xuan investigated a supernatural disturbance in Guan Family Village after Wu Lao Si’s grave timber caused a bloody beam, and they uncovered signs of a larger demonic plot. The group planned to summon the soul of the Black-Clothed Old Woman, who might know what had happened, and Li Yan vowed to retrieve it by force if necessary.

• Wu Lao Si admitted that a mysterious voice had led him and Liu Quezi to a hidden temple, where they removed flags before finding dead people and taking their silver and timber.
• Wang Dao Xuan identified the beam as a Grave Blood Beam and instructed the villagers to burn it with Peach Charms, scatter its ashes around the village, and remain indoors overnight.
• Guan Peide ordered Wu Lao Si to report to the county office and accept punishment, then hosted Li Yan and his companions at a banquet.
• Li Yan and Wang Dao Xuan concluded that Wu Lao Si had encountered a powerful Mountain Immortal and that the temple, the dead travelers, Guan Ling’s lightning strikes, and the Headless Knight might be connected.
• Li Yan proposed questioning the Black-Clothed Old Woman, and Wang Dao Xuan determined that she had lost her soul and would need a chicken for a summoning ritual that night.

Wang Dao Xuan prepared a rooster-led ritual to guide the Old Woman's missing soul back, while Li Yan and the others guarded the courtyard. Wu Lao Si fled the village with stolen silver and was seized by a sinister force, and the ritual ended with a tiger-like shadow appearing in the courtyard.

• Wang Dao Xuan set up a bagua formation and explained that a rooster would guide the Old Woman's soul back into a Chuling Paper Figure.
• Guan Peide brought Wang Dao Xuan a rooster, and Wang Dao Xuan instructed Li Yan to guard the ritual against interference.
• At Zi Hour, Wang Dao Xuan began the soul-summoning ritual, and the rooster entered the formation as Li Yan burned joss paper.
• Wu Lao Si ignored warnings, abandoned his wife and child, and fled the village with stolen silver before a bloody, icy presence forced him into the forest.
• As the rooster carried the Chuling Paper Figure toward the Old Woman, Li Yan drew the Severing Dust Blade and confronted a black shadow that growled from a courtyard corner.

Wang Dao Xuan and Li Yan rescued Guo Wangshi from a Tiger Demon’s attack and learned that rival forces might be trying to activate a formation tied to Purple Canopy Mountain. After the group planned to investigate Dangyang’s sacred sites, they found Wu Lao Si and other men hanged in the woods, exposing the Heaven Saint Sect’s involvement and suggesting an Old Ghost was also lurking nearby.

• A Tiger Demon’s Netherworld Spirit Travel nearly stopped Wang Dao Xuan’s paper figure, but he restored Guo Wangshi’s soul and she recovered.
• Guo Wangshi explained that the Tiger Demon commanded mausoleum-guarding Chang Gui, while evil cultivators from Jingchu might be pursuing a plan involving Purple Canopy Mountain’s Inverted Well and its great formation.
• Li Yan, Wang Dao Xuan, and their companions decided to investigate the mausoleum, Yuquan Temple, and Purple Canopy Mountain, then reported the rescue to Lord Guan.
• Lord Guan’s Elder revealed that Wu Lao Si had fled into the mountains with the silver, and Wang Dao Xuan identified his footprints as signs that the Blood Ghost had lured and possessed him.
• Li Yan’s group followed Lu San’s eagle hawk into the woods and found Wu Lao Si and more than ten black-clad men hanged from trees.
• Li Yan found a Qiongqi emblem on one corpse, leading Lord Guan to identify the Heaven Saint Sect, while the group suspected an Old Ghost from the tomb was also involved.

Li Yan pursued a mysterious killer who murdered Master Miao Shan Chan at Guan Mausoleum, but the culprit escaped into the Ju River. The group found that the killer had targeted a passage in Ge Xianweng’s Biographies of Divine Immortals, which Guan Peide realized was connected to Dangyang County.

• Yang Desheng agreed to question imprisoned grave robbers about ancient tombs where strange incidents and deaths had occurred.
• Li Yan and the others rode to Guan Mausoleum as a storm gathered, and Guan Peide explained its history and Buddhist guardians.
• Li Yan sensed trouble at Master Miao Shan Chan’s meditation room and rushed there, where the group found the monk dead and his books scattered.
• Li Yan chased a woodcutter-like old man through the forest, but the man used a Yellow Talisman to escape into the Ju River.
• Li Yan identified traces of underground corpses and Grave Blood Beam on the old man, while Wang Dao Xuan found that the killer had torn apart Ge Xianweng’s Biographies of Divine Immortals.
• Guan Peide recalled that Biographies of Divine Immortals was connected to Dangyang County.

After lightning struck Guan’s Tomb, Wang Dao Xuan and Li Yan concluded that turbulent water in the Ju River had intensified a Heavenly Being Resonance, and the group brought Master Miao Shan Chan’s body to Dangyang County. There, Tunneling Wolf revealed a third forbidden site near Dangyang, the Earth Immortal Cave, and claimed that Xiang Old Woman was actually Lady Fan.

• Li Yan and Wang Dao Xuan offered incense at Lord Guan’s hall, where Li Yan sensed the plaque and statues suppressed divine abilities but could not commune with Lord Guan.
• Wang Dao Xuan observed lightning repeatedly splitting the crowns of trees atop Guan’s Tomb and explained that the strikes reflected Heavenly Being Resonance; Li Yan connected the phenomenon to the Ju River turning muddy.
• After the storm passed, the group carried Master Miao Shan Chan’s body to Dangyang County, where Magistrate Zhang Cheng authorized Li Yan to investigate the suspicious deaths and grave robbers.
• Constable Yang Desheng took Li Yan and the others to question Tunneling Wolf, who named Guan’s Tomb, Purple Canopy Mountain Cave, and Earth Immortal Cave as forbidden places near Dangyang.
• Tunneling Wolf described the legend of Xiang Old Woman and claimed she was Lady Fan, the divine immortal of the Eastern Han.

Li Yan gathered clues about Lady Fan, Earth Immortal Cave, and the Heavenly Saint Sect before leading reinforcements to investigate Purple Canopy Mountain. The chapter ended with Feng HuaZi challenging Li Yan’s authority to investigate the Tai Xuan Orthodox Sect’s temple.

• Li Yan questioned Tunneling Wolf about the woodcutter who had killed Master Miao Shan Chan, but Tunneling Wolf denied knowing him and warned that Earth Immortal Cave would be dangerous.
• Master Wunian explained that Yuquan Temple was guarding the Buddha Tooth Relic Iron Pagoda and that rivalries among the Xuan sects limited its ability to act against the demons.
• Centurion Zheng arrived with one hundred soldiers from the Yichang Commandery Commandant Office, and Li Yan led them toward Purple Canopy Mountain.
• Li Yan’s group reached Purple Canopy Mountain, where he found no sign of intercepted messages and continued up the mountain with most of the soldiers.
• Li Yan presented his City God Temple commission to the Bamboo Mountain Sect and then confronted Feng HuaZi at the Tai Xuan Orthodox Sect’s temple.
• Feng HuaZi questioned the City God Temple’s authority to investigate his temple, claiming it answered directly to the True Martial Palace.

Li Yan searched the Tai Xuan Orthodox Sect for clues about the deaths in its temple and Feng Lingzi’s disappearance. At Xiao Xian Pavilion, he discovered rat demons hidden inside divine statues and stopped Feng Gangzi from killing them so Lu San could question them.

• Centurion Zheng invoked the Yichang Garrison’s authority, and Feng HuaZi allowed Li Yan and his men to search the temple.
• Li Yan asked about Feng Lingzi, and Feng HuaZi said he had stolen the Colorful Cloud Shoes and fled; Jing Kong then described Feng Lingzi’s odd behavior and warning about Xiao Xian Pavilion.
• Li Yan asked Feng HuaZi to remove the hall’s restriction, and the search revealed foul auras inside statues of the Qu Sisters.
• Feng HuaZi split the statues with his Treasure Sword, exposing two intelligent rat demons, and Feng Gangzi rushed to kill them.
• Li Yan threw Feng Gangzi aside and asked Lu San to question the rat demons, surprising the Daoists with Lu San’s Superior Language.

Li Yan and Feng HuaZi uncovered evidence that demon cultists had infiltrated the temple and learned that Liu Gang and Lady Fan were powerful Returning Yang Ones connected to the Earth Immortal Cave. The chapter leaves them confronting the danger posed by the cave and its hidden legacy.

• Lu San questioned two rat demons, who revealed that Feng Lingzi had killed himself before another person disguised himself with a human-skin mask and stole the ritual artifact.
• The rats identified Liu Gang's statue as the one Feng Lingzi had stared at, and they pointed to the northwest forest where the corpse had been taken.
• Li Yan and Feng HuaZi searched the Daoist Mausoleum and found several empty coffins, exposing that multiple temple members had faked their deaths; Feng Lingzi's decayed body was in Gu Linzi's grave.
• Feng HuaZi revealed that Feng Lingzi had recently borrowed books about Liu Gang and Lady Fan, and a young Daoist recalled that Feng Luzi had spoken of immortals before dying.
• Feng HuaZi explained that Liu Gang and Lady Fan were powerful Underworld criminals who had escaped into the human world, and that Lady Fan's disciple Xiaoyao had built the Earth Immortal Cave.

Li Yan investigated the Inverted Well and joined Feng HuaZi in confronting the Bamboo Mountain Sect about the evil presence infiltrating the mountain. A search uncovered an impostor among the sect’s disciples, and Feng HuaZi identified the corpse beneath the temple as evidence of the Demonic Body Longevity Method.

• Li Yan examined the Inverted Well but found no unusual qi or hidden features, even after descending into it.
• Li Yan and Feng HuaZi went to the Bamboo Mountain Sect, where Li Yan urged Lu Faqing to cooperate and investigate the sect’s dead disciples.
• Lu Faqing found that the burial chambers were empty and learned that the deceased had behaved strangely before their deaths.
• Lu Faqing lifted the temple’s restrictions so the group could search the grounds, and Feng HuaZi discovered a corpse hidden beneath a wing room’s floor.
• A disciple identified the corpse as Senior Brother Wang, who had supposedly left the previous day, and Feng HuaZi split open its skull to reveal an intact brain covered in yellow hair.
• Feng HuaZi identified the corpse’s condition as the Demonic Body Longevity Method.

Li Yan uncovered a Demonic Body Longevity Method plot on Purple Canopy Mountain, exposing corrupted disciples and their Earth Immortal Cave handlers. With the mountain’s hidden threat cleared, he and Wang Dao Xuan turned their attention to the tiger demon and the coming Guan Mausoleum Temple Fair.

• Lu Faqing and Feng HuaZi explained the history and danger of the Demonic Body Longevity Method, and Li Yan burned a corpse’s yellow hairs to identify afflicted Bamboo Mountain Sect disciples.
• Li Yan’s test exposed two afflicted disciples, and Mountain Guard Dogs found needles and a rotten tiger hide linked to Wang FaLin; back at the temple, the dogs identified Feng Gangzi, who fled before Feng HuaZi crippled him with the Wudang Yellow Mud Palm.
• Li Yan identified the tiger-based technique as Tiger Form Art and explained that the various demonic arts served the Demonic Body Longevity Method; Feng Gangzi confessed that Earth Immortal Cave had coerced him into poisoning disciples and concealing its schemes.
• Feng Gangzi revealed that Earth Immortal Cave sought Inverted Well, the Colorful Cloud Shoes, a tiger demon, and the destruction of the Netherworld Soldier temple altar during the Guan Mausoleum Temple Fair.
• Wang Dao Xuan presented records suggesting the tiger demon had returned to life and said Earth Immortal Cave was searching for it, leaving Li Yan’s group to investigate before the temple fair.

Li Yan returned to Dangyang with Daoists and Commandery Commandant troops, uncovered a Heavenly Saint Sect ambush, and prepared to hunt the sect’s agents and find the Tiger Demon. Lu San then used two spirit rats to lead a countywide search, which began as rats poured from homes and ditches.

• Li Yan stopped his party after detecting gunpowder, and his men found three Heavenly Saint Sect spies who had killed themselves rather than be captured.
• Centurion Zheng examined the bodies and inferred that the bandits were hiding near old military tunnels and receiving supplies from villagers.
• Sha LiFei disarmed the Earth Fire Thunders buried beneath the road, and Li Yan ordered the explosives stored for use against the Tiger Demon.
• Li Yan returned to Dangyang, learned that the Headless Knight had not appeared, and told Magistrate Zhang that they needed to locate the sorcerers hiding in the city.
• Lu San proposed using Rat One and Rat Two to command the city’s rats, and Magistrate Zhang ordered Officer Yang to announce the Rat Immortal’s search for demons.
• Officer Yang led the procession through Dangyang as rats swarmed out of woodsheds and ditches.

Li Yan and the city patrol tracked down and captured Blood Saber Cheng Qu, a sorcerer and Emei Fist expert who had joined the Heavenly Saint Sect. The Rat Immortal procession then led them to a deserted residence, where a Tai Xuan Orthodox Sect disciple heard the residence speaking.

• Lu San led the Rat Immortal procession through Dangyang City, sending rats through streets and buildings to search for demons.
• Li Yan and Centurion Zheng pursued two men fleeing an inn, and Li Yan defeated Cheng Qu with his saber and Yin Thunder.
• Centurion Zheng identified Cheng Qu as a famous Sichuan expert from the Cheng Family, and Li Yan ordered him kept alive for interrogation.
• Cheng Qu denied having ties to the Cheng Family and condemned Guan Yu before falling silent when Li Yan asked whether he was non-Han.
• The rats swarmed around a deserted residence with a dead locust tree, and the Tai Xuan Orthodox Sect disciple warned everyone to retreat because the residence was speaking.

Li Yan and the others uncovered a demonic sanctuary hidden in an old residence in Dangyang County, where Yin ghosts worshiped a Yin deity beneath an Old Locust Tree. After suppressing the ghosts and burning the tree, they found a tomb and a disturbing headless skeleton beneath it.

• Wang Dao Xuan studied the residence’s Feng Shui while Li Yan searched old land registers and learned that Yu Shiqing’s family had once owned the property and that it had been associated with deaths and misfortune.
• Wang Dao Xuan identified the residence as a Yin furnace and, with the others’ abilities, they discovered that ghosts were worshiping a Yin deity in the Old Locust Tree.
• Li Yan and the Bamboo Mountain Sect disciples used Peach Wood Arrows and the Cloud Thunder Divine Drum to suppress the Yin deity and eliminate the ghosts.
• Centurion Zheng ordered soldiers to destroy the residence, and Li Yan and the others burned the Old Locust Tree.
• Li Yan and the others searched the ruins and found a tomb beneath the tree containing a headless skeleton covered in skull-shaped bone tumors.