Chapter Summaries

Li Yan entered Wang Dao Xuan’s courtyard and watched him give a poor scholar practical advice instead of exploiting his desperation. Li Yan then asked Wang Dao Xuan about a Cold Altar Rampaging Soldier, prompting the Daoist to demand to know who he was.

• Li Yan recognized the courtyard’s Five Elements feng shui and saw Wang Dao Xuan conducting a character divination for a worried young scholar.
• Wang Dao Xuan interpreted the character “gold,” learned of the scholar’s misfortunes, and advised him to rely on himself rather than worship an Yin Immortal.
• Wang Dao Xuan charged the scholar only three copper coins, and the scholar left with renewed resolve.
• Li Yan entered and praised Wang Dao Xuan for refusing to take advantage of the scholar, then asked him to resolve his own dilemma.
• Li Yan asked what a Cold Altar Rampaging Soldier was, and Wang Dao Xuan reacted with alarm and asked who Li Yan was.

Li Yan asked Wang Dao Xuan about the Cold Altar Rampaging Soldiers and learned more about Xuan Gate powers and the difficulty of joining the Tai Xuan Orthodox Sect. Wang Dao Xuan gave him a spirit-preservation manual, and Li Yan asked whether he remembered Sha LiFei.

• Li Yan told Wang Dao Xuan about the Cold Altar Rampaging Soldiers, and Wang explained their origins, dangers, and place in the Xuan Gate.
• Wang Dao Xuan explained that Xuan Gate soldiers needed skilled ritual masters to command them and that gods existed, while immortality and legendary powers remained beyond reach.
• Li Yan asked Wang Dao Xuan to help him enter the Tai Xuan Orthodox Sect, but Wang said the sect would likely seal his mystical power and offered another way to control it.
• Li Yan refused to accept his fate, and Wang Dao Xuan gave him a copied Western Xuan Cavern Nether True Scripture without charge.
• Li Yan asked Wang Dao Xuan about Sha LiFei, and Wang recalled that Sha had left him with an unpaid bill at the Drunken Flower Pavilion.

Li Yan rode with Wang Dao Xuan and Sha LiFei to GuShui Village, considering how to preserve his spirit while keeping the divine statue in his dantian secret. At the Lu residence, Wang Dao Xuan refused to begin the meal until Landlord Lu explained the trouble in his household.

• Sha LiFei jokingly denied owing Wang Dao Xuan money, and the three riders left the city without incident.
• Li Yan reviewed the Xuan Gate’s cultivation methods and decided to investigate the Lu Family’s problem before attempting to preserve his spirit.
• The group arrived at GuShui Village during the harvest, where Landlord Lu waited anxiously for Wang Dao Xuan.
• Wang Dao Xuan introduced Sha LiFei as his companion and Li Yan as his junior brother, and Landlord Lu allowed both to join the visit.
• After Landlord Lu welcomed them to the Orchid Fragrance Courtyard, Wang Dao Xuan asked him to explain what had happened in his household.

Wang Dao Xuan and Li Yan investigated the Lu Family’s strange sighting of Landlord Lu’s first wife’s soul and prepared a ritual to call it back. As the maid began the ritual at Zi Hour, Landlord Lu secretly received jujubes from his concubines and listened to the cries from outside.

• Steward Lu accidentally revealed that the Lu Family was hiding something, but Wang Dao Xuan used signs of baleful yin energy in the courtyard to establish his authority.
• Landlord Lu explained that guards and servants had seen his first wife floating outside, even though she remained alive and bedridden.
• Wang Dao Xuan concluded that the Madam’s Living Soul had left her weakened body and arranged a soul-summoning ritual, while Li Yan noticed Landlord Lu’s concealed odor and suspected he was a eunuch.
• Wang Dao Xuan instructed the household to avoid the Madam’s quarters and prepared a Soul-Calling Banner using her hair and clothing.
• At Zi Hour, the maid climbed onto the roof and called for the Madam’s soul to return, while Landlord Lu secretly took jujubes from his two concubines and listened in the dark.

Wang Dao Xuan and Li Yan performed a soul-returning ritual to save the First Madam, while Li Yan continued searching for the mysterious fragrance. After the First Madam’s Living Soul returned and was stabilized, the fragrance appeared again.

• Wang Dao Xuan lit Soul Guiding Lamps and began calling the First Madam’s Living Soul back while Li Yan watched for it with his Olfactory Mystical Power.
• Li Yan sensed the Living Soul near the maid carrying the Soul-Calling Banner, and Wang Dao Xuan used Firm Qi and the wooden fish to guide it toward the rear courtyard.
• The maid brought the First Madam’s visible Living Soul into the room, where it vanished as it returned to her body.
• Wang Dao Xuan tied a red cord around the First Madam and chanted the Soul-Soothing Scripture until the Soul Guiding Lamp steadied.
• Li Yan smelled the mysterious fragrance again as a gust of Yin Wind passed through the room.

Li Yan failed to capture a Black Snake that Wang Dao Xuan identified as a Heavenly Spiritual Treasure, then left the Lu Family residence to return home. At the stables, Sha LiFei found an old drumstick, and Li Yan's expression changed the moment he took it.

• Li Yan spotted a Black Snake approaching the First Madam's room, but Wang Dao Xuan warned him not to startle it, and it vanished.
• Wang Dao Xuan explained that the snake was a Heavenly Spiritual Treasure and described how difficult such treasures were to identify and collect.
• Wang Dao Xuan examined the First Madam and told Landlord Lu that she was near death despite her Living Soul having returned.
• Li Yan decided to leave for home, and Landlord Lu gave him travel expenses and a horse.
• Sha LiFei found an old drumstick in the stables, and Li Yan's expression changed when he took it.

Li Yan discovered that the ebony drumstick was a Heavenly Spiritual Treasure and absorbed its fortune with the Substitute Divine Statue before returning to Li Family Fortress. After reassuring his grandfather, he began practicing the stillness method of preserving the spirit.

• Li Yan touched the ebony drumstick and absorbed the Heavenly Spiritual Treasure's fortune, improving the Substitute Divine Statue.
• Li Yan parted from Wang Dao Xuan and rode back to Li Family Fortress, while Sha LiFei accompanied Wang Dao Xuan to find an Auspicious Burial Site.
• Landlord Lu knelt before the First Madam, whom he called a princess, then pressured his concubines to bear him an heir and ordered them to choose a stable man.
• The Red-Clothed Concubine confided that Landlord Lu would kill her if he learned what happened with Commander Zhao, and the White-Clothed Concubine suggested an opportunity.
• Li Yan returned to Li Family Fortress, comforted his anxious grandfather Li Gui, and promised to cook him a new dish.
• That night, Li Yan prepared for cultivation and focused his awareness on the center of his brows.

Li Yan mastered spirit preservation and refined his Substitute Divine Statue into the Great Luo Dharma Body, gaining protection for his spirit and control over his mystical power. Sha LiFei and Wang Dao Xuan then told him that bandits had slaughtered a village, including the Qi-Lu Highwaymen Leader they had encountered before.

• Li Yan finished harvesting the wheat around Li Family Fortress and continued practicing spirit preservation at night.
• Li Yan successfully preserved his spirit, refining the Substitute Divine Statue into the Great Luo Dharma Body and learning its abilities.
• Li Yan learned to control his Olfactory Mystical Power with the Yang Seal and Yin Incantation, shutting it off and activating it at will.
• Sha LiFei arrived at Li Yan's home and asked him to bring food and water to the ruined Mountain God Temple, where Wang Dao Xuan was waiting.
• Sha LiFei and Wang Dao Xuan told Li Yan that hundreds of bandits had attacked and slaughtered a village, and that the Qi-Lu Highwaymen Leader had joined forces with Guanzhong bandit leaders.

Li Yan learned that the slaughtered village and the bandit attack were tied to a eunuch posing as Landlord Lu, while Wang Dao Xuan warned that Li Gui’s spirit had been badly weakened by the curse. After arranging several days of opera for his grandfather, Li Yan faced Li Gui’s apparent final resurgence and heard his last advice.

• Li Yan learned that Landlord Lu was a eunuch and told Sha LiFei and Wang Dao Xuan to hide until the danger passed.
• Li Yan asked Wang Dao Xuan to examine Li Gui, and the Daoist said the curse had damaged the old man’s Divine Soul and left him little time to live.
• Li Yan sold Landlord Lu’s horse and hired an opera troupe so Li Gui could enjoy performances he loved.
• Li Gui asked for something cold to eat, and Li Yan recognized the sign of false resurgence and served him ice mixed with malt sugar.
• Li Gui warned Li Yan that he would be alone and told him it was better to be hated than pitied, and feared than bullied.

After Li Yan buried his grandfather, he joined Wang Dao Xuan and Sha LiFei in returning to Xianyang to pursue work in the Xuan Gate trade and investigate Zhou Pan. They found their first potential job through a shadow-puppet troupe, but Wang Dao Xuan immediately refused it when he learned it involved inviting a god.

• Li Yan completed his grandfather’s funeral with help from Wang Dao Xuan, Sha LiFei, and the villagers, then spent a month mourning and searching in vain for his grandfather’s spirit.
• Sha LiFei reported that Landlord Lu’s concubine and Zhao Cheng had sold their fields and fled, and Li Yan proposed that the group go to Xianyang rather than Chang’an.
• After returning to Xianyang, Li Yan gathered information about Zhou Pan while the group struggled to find work in the Xuan Gate trade.
• Sha LiFei found a job for the group through an acquaintance in a Huayin shadow-puppet troupe, which planned to perform Filling the Statues and invite a god.
• Wang Dao Xuan reacted to the troupe’s request by refusing to take the job.

Daoist Wang, Li Yan, and Sha LiFei agreed to help Zhou KangNian and the Spring Breeze Troupe escape the Iron Blade Society’s extortion, while staying alert for a dangerous shadow-play ritual. At the troupe’s run-down station near Horse King Temple, Li Yan recognized the gang’s leader as Meng HaiCheng.

• Daoist Wang refused Sha LiFei’s request to help the Shadow Play Troupe invite gods, warning that the troupe’s practices could summon something dangerous.
• Zhou KangNian came to Daoist Wang and explained that his son had died after being lured into gambling, leaving the troupe in debt to the Iron Blade Society.
• Zhou KangNian knelt and asked for help protecting the troupe, offering to take the consequences upon himself.
• Li Yan urged Daoist Wang to accept the job, and Daoist Wang agreed to inspect the troupe while warning them to leave if they found evidence of an evil ritual.
• Zhou KangNian led Daoist Wang, Li Yan, and Sha LiFei to the Spring Breeze Troupe’s dilapidated courtyard near Horse King Temple, where Li Yan recognized Meng HaiCheng among the gangsters.

Li Yan confronted Meng HaiCheng and the Iron Saber Gang at the Spring Breeze Troupe’s courtyard, forcing them to postpone their feud and agree to a later life-and-death duel. After confirming the troupe showed no sign of demonic activity, Wang Dao Xuan prepared to investigate the Mass Burial Grounds the following night.

• Li Yan drew his saber and held Meng HaiCheng at knifepoint when the Iron Saber Gang surrounded him outside the Spring Breeze Troupe’s courtyard.
• The troupe’s families came outside, and Wang Dao Xuan reassured Troupe Leader Zhou that he would still handle the case.
• Li Yan used a Flying Locust Stone to stop a ruffian from climbing over the rear wall, then offered Meng HaiCheng a choice between fighting immediately or arranging a duel later.
• Meng HaiCheng chose a duel in three days and left with the Iron Saber Gang after Li Yan kicked him out of the courtyard.
• Li Yan told Sha LiFei to spread word of his arrival, and Wang Dao Xuan told Troupe Leader Zhou to prepare for their trip to the Mass Burial Grounds the next night.

After Meng HaiCheng’s defeat, Zheng HeiBei and You LaoSi planned to sabotage Li Yan’s ritual at the Mass Burial Grounds so the Iron Saber Gang could avoid the arena match. Er Gou reached the beggars’ den and was led toward its hidden camp.

• Zheng HeiBei berated Meng HaiCheng for accepting a Life and Death Arena match against Li Yan.
• You LaoSi said Li Yan and Wang Dao Xuan planned to invite an Underworld Deity at the Mass Burial Grounds, and advised Zheng HeiBei to stir up trouble during the ritual.
• Zheng HeiBei sent Er Gou to contact the West Traveling Beggar Gang, and You LaoSi gave him instructions for approaching them.
• Er Gou rode through the northwest gate of Xianyang City to the Mass Burial Grounds, where the beggars’ wild dogs surrounded him.
• Er Gou exchanged martial-world code words with a hunched old beggar, who led him toward a fire in the mountains.

Er Gou sought help from the West Traveling Beggars’ Mountain Lord, who refused to take the Iron Saber Gang’s money and instead asked him to find a missing concubine hiding in Xianyang. Meanwhile, Wang Dao Xuan prepared the Spring Breeze Troupe to perform a ghost opera at the Mass Burial Grounds, while Li Yan resolved to face the Iron Saber Gang himself and demonstrated a new feat of strength.

• Er Gou entered the West Traveling Beggars’ camp and asked Mountain Lord to deal with the outsiders who had opposed the Iron Saber Gang.
• Mountain Lord refused the payment and asked Er Gou to help find a concubine of Landlord Lu who was still hiding in Xianyang.
• Wang Dao Xuan reviewed the rules for invoking the gods with the Spring Breeze Troupe before their trip to the Mass Burial Grounds.
• Sha LiFei warned Li Yan that Zhou Pan’s Hidden Strength disciples wanted to kill him and suggested asking Guan WanChe for help.
• Li Yan rejected the suggestion and pressed a small tree until its leaves and branches fell.

Li Yan revealed that he had broken through to Hidden Strength, and Troupe Leader Zhou gave him the inherited Divine Drum Cloud Thunder Sound method in return for helping the Spring Breeze Troupe. Wang Dao Xuan led the group to the Mass Burial Grounds to perform a ritual, leaving them climbing toward a mountain hollow as night fell.

• Li Yan demonstrated Hidden Strength, and Sha LiFei urged him to keep the breakthrough secret until the arena match so he could place bets.
• Wang Dao Xuan recalled the ominous and auspicious signs that had led him to befriend Li Yan, then felt reassured by Li Yan's breakthrough.
• Troupe Leader Zhou gave Li Yan three inherited manuals, including the Divine Drum Cloud Thunder Sound, in gratitude for his willingness to fight in the Life and Death Arena.
• Li Yan discovered that the Divine Drum Cloud Thunder Sound required specially made iron drums as well as breathing techniques.
• Wang Dao Xuan led Li Yan and the Spring Breeze Troupe toward an auspicious hollow in the Mass Burial Grounds, and the group climbed the muddy slope as night fell.

Li Yan and Wang Dao Xuan led the Spring Breeze Troupe to the Mass Burial Grounds to invite a protective god for their ancestral idol. When Evil Beggars disrupted the ritual with a pack of wild dogs, Li Yan set out to stop them and struck one with a stone.

• Li Yan guided the group through the Mass Burial Grounds while Wang Dao Xuan searched for a suitable ritual site.
• Wang Dao Xuan and the Spring Breeze Troupe prepared the altar and began inviting a god, but Li Yan rejected the weak entities that appeared.
• Wang Dao Xuan realized someone was interfering with the ritual and asked Li Yan to drive them away.
• Li Yan followed the stench of corpses and found Evil Beggars feeding dead men's flesh to a pack of wild dogs.
• Li Yan hurled a stone that split one beggar's head, and the wild dogs turned on him.

Li Yan fought the beggars in the Mass Burial Grounds and uncovered their use of dogs, snakes, and hidden passages. After killing a beggar who summoned a Soldier Soul, Li Yan faced the risen corpse as a noise came from behind him.

• Li Yan charged into the beggars’ attack, and his Three Talents Demon Suppressing Coin sent the wild dogs and snakes scattering.
• Li Yan killed two beggars, then pursued the survivors into the trees and discovered hidden passages beneath the Mass Burial Grounds.
• Li Yan captured a beggar and demanded to know who had sent them, but the man whistled, so Li Yan slit his throat.
• A Soldier Soul possessed the beggar’s corpse and advanced on Li Yan, who prepared to strike before a noise came from behind him.

Li Yan, Wang Dao Xuan, and Sha LiFei lured a soldier soul into the ritual altar and escaped the Mass Burial Grounds with the Yin God sealed in a statue. After returning to Xianyang, they encountered a man who challenged Li Yan over a fight in the Life and Death Arena.

• Li Yan explained the soldier soul to Wang Dao Xuan and Sha LiFei, and the three decided to lure it to the ritual altar.
• Wang Dao Xuan opened a gap in the incense-ash city walls, allowing the soldier soul to enter the statue, which the troupe sealed inside a chest.
• The group descended the mountain without being attacked, while Wang Dao Xuan warned that a mountain deity might retaliate for taking one of its subordinates.
• After the troupe left, Beggar Leader Mountain Lord ordered the corpse burned and told his men to watch the group and blame the Iron Saber Gang for their losses.
• In Xianyang, Li Yan and his companions ate mutton soup, and a dead-fish-eyed man approached Li Yan and questioned him about fighting in the Life and Death Arena.

Li Yan visited the Zhang Clan Martial Hall after Zhang ShiTong revealed that his father wanted to meet him over the Life and Death Arena challenge. Zhang YuanShang warned Li Yan about the danger of fighting Zhou Pan’s young disciple, but Li Yan refused to back down, and Zhang YuanShang ordered Zhang ShiTong to test him.

• Zhang ShiTong introduced himself as a traveling inspector for the Xianyang Divine Fist Society and explained that the challenge had drawn the Zhang family’s attention because Li Yan was fighting in Li Hu’s name.
• Zhang ShiTong brought Li Yan to the Zhang Clan Martial Hall, where Li Yan recognized the stone lions at the entrance as powerful warding treasures.
• Zhang YuanShang criticized Li Hu and urged Li Yan to abandon the Life and Death Arena and leave Xianyang, explaining that Li Hu’s death had helped Zhou Pan gain power.
• Zhang YuanShang warned that Zhou Bai, a seventeen- or eighteen-year-old Hidden Strength fighter, would likely face Li Yan in the arena.
• Li Yan said Zhou Pan would have to keep choking on his anger, and Zhang YuanShang ordered Zhang ShiTong to test Li Yan’s strength and break his legs if he had nothing but a hard mouth.

Li Yan sparred with Zhang ShiTong at the martial arts academy, revealed his Hidden Strength, and secured Zhang YuanShang’s promise to arrange a fair Life and Death Arena against Zhou Bai. He left warning Sha LiFei and Wang Dao Xuan about the Iron Saber Gang and asking them to obtain Qin Han War Drums.

• Li Yan removed his Guan Shan Saber and Sleeve Blade, then faced Zhang ShiTong in a sparring match.
• Zhang ShiTong used Xinyi Liuhe Fist attacks, but Li Yan countered with Red Fist techniques and threw him into a beam.
• Li Yan struck Zhang ShiTong with Hidden Strength and sent him crashing into a pillar before Zhang YuanShang stopped the spar.
• Zhang YuanShang promised to arrange the arena without interference, and Zhang ShiTong warned Li Yan that Zhou Bai was stronger than he was.
• Li Yan left the academy, cautioned Sha LiFei and Wang Dao Xuan to stay cautious of the Iron Saber Gang, and asked them for Qin Han War Drums.