Chapter Summaries

On the Dragon Boat Festival, Li Yan helped the Tian family perform rituals to send off the plague and release hungry ghosts, while recognizing how the rites fit into Yu LanShan’s plan to counter the demon. He then rode to Yuquan Temple to visit Master Lu and Sha LiFei, where Hu Ming led him to a workshop and explained the temple’s artifact-refining spring.

• Li Yan returned to the E Prefecture Merchant Guild, shared the Tian family’s festival banquet, and decided to visit Sha LiFei at the Jin Prefecture Merchant Guild.
• Li Yan escorted Patriarch Tian and Wang Dao Xuan out of the city, where Wang Dao Xuan presided over the Sending the Five Gods of Plague ritual and Li Yan set the straw boat ablaze with a fire arrow.
• At the riverside, Li Yan observed the Buddhist ritual for releasing the Flaming Mouths and understood how it supported Yu LanShan’s plan to suppress the demon.
• Li Yan rode alone to Yuquan Temple but found no sign that the demon had taken his bait; Zhang Shu welcomed him and said Hu Ming was expecting him.
• Hu Ming led Li Yan to Zhuodao Spring and explained its connection to the earth veins and the temple’s artifact refining.
• Li Yan and Hu Ming approached a brightly lit side courtyard, where more than a dozen people were polishing metal.

Li Yan visited Master Lu’s workshop, where the craftsmen prepared customized armor and firearms, then agreed to meet the Young Lord of Wu Prefecture over a crystal. At the Royal Palace, Li Yan sensed hidden murderous intent beneath its beautiful gardens while he waited for the Young Lord.

• Li Yan watched Master Lu’s disciples work and saw Master Lu use the Snow Mountain Dharma to rescue a firearm part from a faulty furnace.
• Master Lu showed Li Yan the blueprints for customized armor and firearms, then Sha LiFei accepted Li Yan’s gifts and returned to work.
• Hu Ming told Li Yan that the Royal Palace had invited them to discuss buying the crystal and that the Young Lord would receive them; Li Yan agreed to go.
• Li Yan and Hu Ming traveled to Wuchang, where dragon-boat ceremonies were underway under heavy security, and Li Yan retrieved the Crystal Dinosaur Egg from his luggage.
• Li Yan and Hu Ming entered the Royal Palace and waited in a lakeside pavilion for the Young Lord; Li Yan sensed hidden dangers beneath the palace’s lovely scenery.

Li Yan sold the Crystal Dinosaur Egg to Xiao ShiXian for one hundred thousand taels, while Hu Ming secured support for the Jade Emperor Temple’s calendar-revision project and left for Jin Prefecture. After returning to Wu Prefecture City, Li Yan went to meet Wu Qu at the Golden Phoenix Pavilion and realized the brothel was a Dark Hall of the Golden Swallow Gate.

• Xiao ShiXian agreed to give the Immortal Treasury Crystal and one hundred thousand taels to the Jade Emperor Temple to support its Star Gazing Platform and calendar-revision efforts.
• Li Yan warned Xiao ShiXian about the dangers and consequences of pursuing evil methods of longevity, then sold him the Crystal Dinosaur Egg for one hundred thousand taels.
• Xiao ShiXian hosted Li Yan and Hu Ming at a feast, and Hu Ming gave Li Yan a Jin Prefecture Merchant Guild token before leaving with the crystal for Jin Prefecture.
• Li Yan returned to the E Prefecture Merchant Guild, then headed to Xiangshui Alley to meet Wu Qu at the Golden Phoenix Pavilion.
• Li Yan noticed that the Golden Phoenix Pavilion was a Dark Hall of the Golden Swallow Gate.

Li Yan visited Wu Qu at Golden Phoenix Pavilion and learned about the factions among God Ascenders. Wu Qu revealed that he belonged to a secret organization and invited Li Yan to join it.

• Li Yan met Wu Qu at Golden Phoenix Pavilion and learned that Yu Mei of the Golden Swallow Gate had sent news about Zhao WanFang and Red Woman.
• Wu Qu explained that he was staying at the brothel to avoid Wuchang’s power struggles and the weakened local Divine Fist Society.
• Wu Qu used a statue of Hua Guang Great Emperor and incense to shield their conversation from mystical-power investigations.
• Wu Qu described the Hidden Immortals, Mountain Immortals, and evil-path cultivators known as demons.
• Wu Qu revealed that he belonged to an organization of martial cultivators and invited Li Yan to join, adding that it had many Living Underworld Messengers.

Li Yan learned that Wu Qu’s organization united Living Underworld Messengers and martial artists, and he agreed to consider attending its Fengdu gathering. As Li Yan settled in at the merchant guild, a covert group from the Heavenly Saint Sect arrived near a ruined temple to hunt a traitor and obtain a Secret Treasure.

• Wu Qu explained the history, purpose, and rules of his organization and invited Li Yan to its gathering in Fengdu during the twelfth lunar month.
• Wu Qu described the Divine Land’s prominent martial experts and conflicts, including the Heavenly Saint Sect’s effort to resurrect the Heavenly Saint Duke and the fighting at Guanjiang Estuary.
• Li Yan returned to the E Prefecture Merchant Guild hall, found Wang Dao Xuan reading and Lu San meditating, then rested while awaiting the battles’ end.
• After midnight, a Night Owl guided five newcomers from a passenger boat through the woods to a ruined temple, where the Meishan Sect brothers met them.
• Protector Wang learned that a traitor nearby held the Secret Treasure needed to free the Barbarian King Corpse Immortal, then set out to confront Po Liu Han Ba Ling.

Protector Wang and the Meishan Three Brothers led an assault on the abandoned fortress to capture the monk Bu Kong and recover the Red Mohe. Bu Kong escaped after Protector Wang shot off his left arm, and Granny A Lang vowed that he would not get away.

• Protector Wang ordered Granny A Lang and the wild man to drive Bu Kong from the fortress while the Fu Family Siblings attacked from the flanks and the Meishan Three Brothers guarded the passages.
• Granny A Lang identified the formation protecting the manor, and the wild man destroyed one of its flags as Bu Kong came out to confront the group.
• Bu Kong refused to return the Red Mohe or join Zhao Changsheng's mission, explaining that he no longer wanted to cause suffering among commoners.
• Bu Kong repelled the venomous mosquitoes, the Fu Family Siblings' spears, and the Meishan Three Brothers' arrows, revealing his mastery of Buddhist, Daoist, and grassland techniques.
• Protector Wang fired the Divine Firearm from concealment and struck Bu Kong's left shoulder, but Bu Kong used a Tantric escape technique to flee, leaving his severed arm behind.
• Granny A Lang had the wild man retrieve Bu Kong's arm and said the traitor would not get away.

Li Yan connected the Wu Prefecture City disturbances to Zhao Changsheng and Liu Niang, then used Lu San’s ability to follow a dying cat to a butcher shop hiding cat catchers. After Li Yan exposed their underground passage, black smoke and green eyes emerged from the pit, leaving the threat below unrevealed.

• Li Yan practiced combining thunder arts with Martial Arts moves to make his Dharma Martial faster and more lethal.
• Li Yan told Cheng Jue that Liu Niang was Consort Liu, a Cat Ghost practitioner, and that she served Zhao Changsheng, who was behind several recent disturbances.
• Cheng Jue said Liu Niang was likely hiding in Wu Prefecture City and explained that feral cats had gone missing; Li Yan proposed asking the cats for help.
• Lu San summoned animals in an abandoned Mortuary Village, and a starving tabby cat led him and the others to a butcher shop where cat catchers were gathered.
• The butcher tried to flee with a Netherworld Fire Musket, but Li Yan killed him with a flying knife while Cheng Jue’s monks subdued the other men.
• Li Yan detected and smashed open a secret underground passage, where black smoke, green eyes, and spreading frost appeared.

Li Yan and the others confronted Liu Niang after she unleashed a horde of Cat Ghosts, but Lu San’s ritual guided the spirits into transcendence and helped expose her escape. Li Yan captured Liu Niang and destroyed the icy aura she hoped would let her return to life, leaving her fate sealed.

• Li Yan warned everyone to retreat as Liu Niang’s Cat Ghosts attacked, and Cheng Jue’s monks trapped the creatures in the Great Wheel Mingwang Formation.
• Lu San performed a Nuo Dance with a dead kitten and guided the Cat Ghosts into transcendence, breaking Liu Niang’s spell.
• Cheng Jue collapsed the underground passage and attacked Liu Niang as she fled, while Li Yan blocked her escape.
• Liu Niang released poisonous red mist and tried to kill Li Yan, but the Soul Hooking Chain overcame her protective talisman and incapacitated her.
• Li Yan severed Liu Niang’s hands and feet and pierced her dantian, then crushed the icy aura she had intended to use to return to life.

Li Yan discovered that Liu Niang’s scheme served Demon God Ran Tong, who had escaped with five streams of demonic energy and was hiding in Wu Prefecture City. After the city was sealed, Li Yan joined Baotong Chan Temple’s ritual to lure Ran Tong’s demonic energy to Xingfu Temple, while the Meishan Three Brothers found the pale scholar waiting at their rendezvous.

• Li Yan recognized the statue beneath the meat stall as Demon God Ran Tong and learned that five of the seven seals on his body had been broken.
• Li Yan warned the authorities that Ran Tong had escaped by possessing an onlooker, and the city gates were closed while animals were sent to search.
• Li Yan explained that Liu Niang had been manipulated by Ran Tong, and Cheng Jue reported that three Meishan Dharma Sect disciples and a cargo of gunpowder had left for the mountains.
• Master Tong Xuan agreed to use Xingfu Temple’s Shadowless Pagoda to suppress Ran Tong, and Li Yan prepared to summon a Netherworld Divine General when the demonic energy arrived.
• The Meishan Three Brothers reached their forest rendezvous and found the pale scholar surrounded by black mist.

Li Yan and the monks of Baotong Chan Temple suppressed a wisp of demonic qi inside the Shadowless Pagoda, while the Meishan Three Brothers received orders from a mysterious presence to find the Red Mohe. After returning to Yuquan Temple, Li Yan absorbed divine force that repaired his Great Luo Dharma Body and strengthened his Soul Hooking Chain.

• A demonic presence possessed a scholar, told the Meishan Three Brothers that Liu Niang was dead, and ordered them to obtain the Red Mohe and send it to the Barbarian King Tomb.
• The possessed scholar summoned ghosts before Buddhist chanting drove the demonic qi from his body, and the three brothers left to follow his instructions.
• The demonic qi attacked the Shadowless Pagoda, but Li Yan summoned darkness and Netherworld Divine Generals to suppress it.
• Li Yan and Master Tong Xuan found the Demon God Ran Tong statue hollowed out and decayed, and Master Tong Xuan promised to present the matter to the Mystic Sacrificial Official and reward Li Yan in two days.
• Li Yan returned to Yuquan Temple and absorbed divine force from the Soul Hooking Register, repairing his Great Luo Dharma Body and extending his Soul Hooking Chain beyond three meters.

The Meishan Three Brothers summoned the East Lake Old Ancestor, which located the wounded Po Liu Han Ba Ling at Lotus Creek Temple, while Protector Wang planned an assault to seize the Red Mohe. Li Yan returned to Wu Prefecture City and met Lei Po Shan, who delivered him a letter from Yan Jiuling.

• The Meishan Three Brothers told Protector Wang that Liu Niang was dead and that the Ghost Sect needed the Red Mohe and had found a feng shui formation at Parrot Isle Wharf.
• The eldest brother offered Three Talents Demon Suppressing Coins and Po Liu Han Ba Ling's severed arm to summon the East Lake Old Ancestor, which used the Yuan Guang Technique to reveal him at Lotus Creek Temple.
• Protector Wang planned to attack Parrot Isle Wharf during the Dragon Boat Race finals and then assault Lotus Creek Temple after Buddhist experts were drawn away.
• After the group left, the East Lake Old Ancestor met a giant Chinese Alligator by the lake.
• Li Yan returned to Wu Prefecture City, met Lei Po Shan outside the E Prefecture Merchant Guild headquarters, and received a letter bearing Yan Jiuling's signature.

Li Yan read Yan Jiuling’s account of the Great Xuan Dynasty’s growing crisis and the planned Qiankun Academy, then watched the spread of firearms unsettle the martial world. After the Raft Sect won a dragon boat race, Li Yan arrived at Baotong Chan Temple to meet Master Tong Xuan and found the Great Hero Hall eerily empty.

• Li Yan read Yan Jiuling’s letter about the capital, the court’s political turmoil, and the proposed Qiankun Academy.
• The Raft Sect won a dragon boat race, and Shi Chen argued that firearms would change the martial world’s balance.
• Shi Chen hosted a victory feast at his residence while the Fu Family Twins watched him from a secluded table.
• Li Yan went to Baotong Chan Temple after Master Tong Xuan offered him an opportunity.
• Li Yan entered the deserted Great Hero Hall and sensed that something was wrong.

Li Yan was trapped in Baotong Chan Temple’s mystic realm and used his White Emperor’s Blessing to break through its illusions and face the afflictions. As he advanced toward the Great Hero Hall, the monks were astonished that his mind and spirit would not give out; meanwhile, Shi Chen’s banquet continued under the watch of a suspicious monk.

• Li Yan repeatedly found himself back in the Great Hero Hall courtyard, then entered the hall and realized that his surroundings were an illusion when his straw horse charms did not decrease.
• Li Yan meditated until his innate Geng Metal Qi shattered the illusion, allowing him to advance through the mystic realm as Tong Xuan and the other monks altered their seals.
• Li Yan faced illusions of greed and anger, recognized how they afflicted the mind, and continued forward by confronting them.
• At the Shi residence, Shi Chen drank at the banquet and set his sights on a pair of twin siblings whom the old man with the White Paper Fan brought to him.
• A disguised Enforcement Hall monk watched Shi Chen with suspicion, while a man from the Commandery Commandant Office claimed the twins were harmless and mocked them.
• Li Yan reached the Great Hero Hall steps in a weakened state, but the old monks noticed that his mind and spirit still had not been exhausted.

Li Yan passed the Heart Refining Hall’s five trials and gained insight into the habits that hindered his martial arts before Master Tong Xuan awakened him with a staff strike. After learning that Overlord’s Well had turned foul, Li Yan agreed to investigate it and headed there as the river’s larger cleansing ritual continued.

• Li Yan overcame the Habitual Obstacle by abandoning his fixed fighting patterns and defeating the mirror version of himself.
• Master Tong Xuan struck Li Yan with the Deshan Staff and shouted a Buddhist teaching, bringing him to enlightenment after he entered the Great Hero Hall.
• Master Tong Xuan explained the Heart Refining Hall and asked Li Yan to investigate the foul water at Overlord’s Well; Li Yan agreed.
• Master Lu told Li Yan that Overlord’s Well’s water had a different use from Zhuodao Spring’s and that its murkiness might stem from a changed underground watercourse.
• Li Yan observed the river rites and learned how the upcoming ceremonies would suppress evil energy, then checked on the Tian family and set out for Overlord’s Well with Yamen Runners.

Li Yan investigated the murky water at Overlord's Well and suspected a change in the underground water vein had made its folk deity disappear. A mysterious Giant Alligator then possessed a Yamen Runner and demanded that Li Yan bring Lu San to it for a trade.

• Li Yan reached Ziyang Lake with the Yamen Runners and encountered Yu Sheng, who explained that the Commandery Commandant Office was patrolling for martial-world troublemakers.
• A Leather Gate medicine seller secretly relayed a message that his associates had prepared something and must avoid alerting their enemies.
• At Overlord's Well, Li Yan detected Yin Energy, questioned local residents, and sent a Chuling Paper Figure into the well to investigate.
• Li Yan found cracks in the Well Dragon King's statue and concluded that a shifted water vein had likely caused the water to turn murky and the folk deity to vanish.
• After the Chuling Paper Figure's ashes sank into the well, a huge presence awakened underwater and black smoke burst out, possessing a Yamen Runner.
• The possessed runner spoke for the Giant Alligator and asked for Lu San, so Li Yan led the group toward the southwestern corner to find him.

Li Yan and Lu San helped Giant Turtle Master remove the Gu poison inflicted by her rival, East Lake Old Ancestor, and formed a pact with her. After learning about the Three Treasures of Yunmeng, Li Yan discovered that the Lord of the Clouds Divine Gate was a mysterious ancient ship that could be entered through dreams.

• Lu San translated for Giant Turtle Master, who asked for help curing her Gu poison and wounds from a battle with East Lake Old Ancestor.
• Li Yan arranged for Giant Turtle Master to clear the underground waterway feeding Overlord's Well, then gave the Yamen Runners hush money and sent them away.
• Li Yan and Lu San treated Giant Turtle Master at a riverbank using Fei Yi's dried corpse and Lu San's poisonous bees, which removed the Gu worms and their eggs.
• Lu San and Giant Turtle Master swore a blood pact, while Li Yan considered the alliance worthwhile.
• After reaching Yuquan Temple, Li Yan learned from Giant Turtle Master that the Lord of the Clouds Divine Gate was a gigantic ancient ship entered through dreams, and that she hoped to become a Water God of the Yangtze water system.

Li Yan planned to help Giant Turtle Master gain a divine title and stayed in Wu Prefecture while ritual artifacts were completed. On Lord Guan’s birthday, as the Knife-Sharpening Rain began, he drew the Severing Dust Blade and heard it roar like a dragon.

• Li Yan considered how Giant Turtle Master could earn imperial and Orthodox Xuan Gate support by establishing merit during the Southwest War.
• Lu San left to protect the merchant guild, while Sha LiFei gave Li Yan two iron Fire Caltrops made with New-Style Gunpowder.
• Baotong Chan Temple prepared to guard Parrot Isle and suppress the demon cultivators during the birthday ceremony for Nation Protecting Ming King Buddha.
• Yu LanShan warned the Prince of Wu Prefecture that the Ghost Sect sought to throw the Divine Land into chaos, then agreed to discuss the next day’s ritual.
• Protector Wang’s men prepared a concealed-gunpowder dragon boat and planned to attack Lotus Creek Temple and seize the Red Mohe.
• Li Yan practiced Red Fist footwork as the Knife-Sharpening Rain began, then drew the Severing Dust Blade and heard a dragon’s roar.

Master Lu forged Li Yan’s Soul Severing Throwing Knives and Flintlock Pistol during the Knife Sharpening Rain, while Emperor Guan ceremonies unfolded across Ezhou and the Divine Land. As Li Yan tested his new weapons, monks carried twelve covered statues of Emperor Guan Saintly Monarch from Baotong Chan Temple to the docks, where crowds and dragon boats awaited.

• Master Lu held a sacrificial ceremony outside Yuquan Temple and began forging Li Yan’s ritual artifacts in the rain.
• Li Yan chose the Treasure Light Suanni method for his throwing knives, and Master Lu forged and illuminated all six blades.
• Li Yan bound a throwing knife with the Soul Hooking Chain and demonstrated how it flew around him within three meters.
• Master Lu began completing Li Yan’s Flintlock Pistol, while ceremonies for Emperor Guan Saintly Monarch took place throughout Ezhou and the Divine Land.
• Li Yan received the pistol, ammunition belt, and holster, then equipped himself with the pistol, six throwing knives, Severing Dust Blade, and Fire Caltrops.
• Master Tongxuan ordered Cheng Jue to lead the monks in carrying twelve covered statues to the Wu Prefecture City docks, where crowds, soldiers, and twelve dragon boats gathered.

During the dragon boat race, the Heavenly Saint Sect’s sabotage triggered an explosion that capsized boats and sent the statues of Lord Guan into the river, disrupting the ritual at Parrot Isle. As the Prince of Wu Prefecture and Yu LanShan struggled to recover the statues, Wang Dao Xuan sent Brother Lu to Cheng Jue with a message about the Alligator Dragon.

• The dragon boats raced, but the Raft Sect fell behind because replacement rowers planted by the Heavenly Saint Sect disrupted their rhythm.
• Shi Chen panicked when he saw the Fu Family Siblings were gone, then tried to shoot the Old Beggar; the rain-soaked firearm failed, and Gu worms erupted from Shi Chen’s body.
• Cheng Jue ordered the Raft Sect’s boat stopped, but Heavenly Saint Sect fanatics ignited its explosives, causing a massive blast that capsized boats and set people and vessels on fire.
• Yu LanShan saw the statues of Lord Guan fall into the river and urged the Prince of Wu Prefecture’s men to recover them and get at least half the boats to Parrot Isle.
• Wang Dao Xuan sent Brother Lu to find Cheng Jue and make the Prince of Wu Prefecture say, “The Alligator Dragon is also a dragon.”

Lu San helped Giant Turtle Master and the Alligator Dragons complete the feng shui ritual that enabled Prince of Wu Prefecture to suppress the White Tiger Evil and prepare an attack on the demon practitioners. A messenger then reported that Lotus Creek Temple was under assault, where Qin Yuner and the Heavenly Saint Sect confronted the wounded Po Liu Han Ba Ling.

• Cheng Jue sought Prince of Wu Prefecture's approval for Lu San's plan, and Prince of Wu Prefecture agreed to let the Alligator Dragons help in exchange for a possible title for Giant Turtle Master.
• Lu San summoned Giant Turtle Master, who led the Alligator Dragons in retrieving consecrated statues of Emperor Guan Saintly Monarch from the Yangtze and carrying them to the docks.
• Prince of Wu Prefecture spoke in support of the Alligator Dragons, and Yu LanShan completed the feng shui formation that would suppress the White Tiger Evil and keep the Yangtze peaceful.
• Prince of Wu Prefecture ordered the army to attack the demon practitioners, but Qiu Huang delivered news that Lotus Creek Temple was under assault, prompting the prince and Master Tong Xuan to send aid.
• At Lotus Creek Temple, Qin Yuner and Protector Wang demanded an item from the wounded Po Liu Han Ba Ling while the temple burned around them.