Chapter Summaries

Kong Shangzhao deciphered part of Xu Fu’s Seeking Immortality Chapters, revealing a scheme to build a Nine Extremes Ascension-to-Immortality Formation, while Li Yan’s group guarded the text and left Linqing. As unrest against Eunuch Ma’s abuses gathered in the city, Zhao Wan Fang sent intelligence to the capital, and the group reached Cangzhou by canal.

• Kong Shangzhao explained that the bamboo strips used the Great Void Script and translated a passage describing Xu Fu’s plan to establish a Nine Extremes Ascension-to-Immortality Formation at nine locations.
• Li Yan asked Kong Shangzhao to continue deciphering the text and keep the matter secret, while the group set precautions around their courtyard and guarded the Seeking Immortality Chapters.
• Li Yan refused a Cao Gang disciple’s offer to tour Linqing, and he and Wang Dao Xuan warned the others not to get involved in trouble in the city.
• Eunuch Ma ordered harsher levies as merchants and artisans suffered under his extortion; Zhang Mingyuan called the guilds together, while Wang Chaozuo ordered weapons forged.
• Zhao Wan Fang reviewed reports of growing resistance against Eunuch Ma and sent the intelligence toward the capital before Li Yan’s party departed Linqing by ship.
• Several days later, Li Yan and his companions arrived at Cangzhou and saw the Iron Lion beside the river.

Li Yan and his companions reached Cangzhou, where they witnessed the hardship of dock workers and learned that unrest had erupted at Linqing Pass. They met Wu Zhong, who tested Wu Ba’s strength before revealing that Wu Qu had been killed.

• Li Yan broke an overseer’s whip with a pebble to stop him from striking an old porter, but the porter died from exhaustion.
• Li Yan and his companions visited South River Pavilion while waiting for the Wu family to respond to their Visiting Card.
• A Cao Gang disciple reported that merchants and the Porters Guild had attacked the Tax Commissioner’s office at Linqing Pass, and Li Yan suspected the news had been deliberately concealed.
• Wu Zhong arrived with a child resembling Wu Qu and said he had come to test whether Wu Ba deserved to learn the Wu family’s secret art.
• Wu Ba blocked Wu Zhong’s punch, and Wu Zhong praised his physical potential before revealing that Wu Qu had been killed.

Li Yan and his companions investigated Wu Qu’s unexplained death, learned that betrayal may have led to his demise, and vowed to avenge him. They reached Jinmen to search for clues among the scattered members of the Yellow Springs Organization, where a man suddenly collapsed in a strange fit at the dock.

• Wu Zhong told Li Yan that Wu Qu had died without wounds or detectable traces, and Li Yan concluded that someone had destroyed his soul.
• Li Yan knocked Wu Ba unconscious when grief and rage threatened to overwhelm him, then learned more about Wu Qu’s ties to the Yellow Springs Organization.
• Li Yan gave Wu Qu’s son, Wu Anji, a protective Four Spirits Coin and promised to help him if he ever faced trouble.
• Wang Dao Xuan’s divination suggested Wu Qu had died in a deadly predicament after being betrayed by someone he trusted, but the group found no clear lead.
• Li Yan refused Wu Zhong’s offer to join the search, promising to pursue Wu Qu’s killer while Wu Zhong stayed to protect Wu Anji.
• Li Yan and his companions arrived at Jinmen, saw the dock’s corrupt tax dealings and foreign merchant ships, then watched two men drag a convulsing stranger into a teahouse.

Li Yan and his companions entered Jinmen, where they discovered the Jinghai Gang was openly selling the addictive Fushou Paste with apparent protection from the Marines. They settled at the Jin Prefecture Guild Hall and began searching for signs of the Yellow Springs Organization, but the Gou Ledger suddenly warmed as they arrived.

• Li Yan's group saw Jinghai Gang men smoking Fushou Paste at a dockside stall, and a Marines' Banner Officer arrested them while ignoring Li Yan and his companions.
• A flatbread seller told Li Yan that the Jinghai Gang sold Fushou Paste and that people had died from smoking it; Long Yan'er identified the sample as an ordinary variety related to a more potent substance they had seen before.
• Li Yan led the group into Jinmen and hired Liang Biaozi to find households marked with the Yellow Springs Organization's symbol and linked to elderly people or people who had returned from the dead.
• Li Yan showed his Jin Prefecture Merchant Guild token to gain lodging at the Jin Prefecture Guild Hall, then asked Liang Biaozi to investigate while the manager welcomed the group inside.
• The Gou Ledger began to grow faintly warm as Li Yan entered the guild hall.

Li Yan discovered an unidentified Yin criminal connected to the foreign merchant Mendes and began investigating him in Jinmen. As Falcon Li Dong tracked Mendes to the Hai River Naval Camp and Liang Biaozi found a household bearing Li Yan’s symbol holding a funeral, Li Yan’s suspicions about a wider plot grew.

• Li Yan found a Black Well mission at the Jin Prefecture Guild Hall, and Judge Cui ordered him to investigate the unidentified Yin criminal for a doubled reward.
• Li Yan identified Mendes, a Portuguese maritime merchant, as the source of the Yin criminal’s aura and assigned his companions to watch him and gather intelligence.
• Kong Shangzhao gave Li Yan translated passages describing the First Emperor’s plan for a Nine Extremes Ascension to Immortality Array, which Li Yan resolved to report to the Mystic Sacrificial Official.
• Falcon Li Dong tracked Mendes to the Hai River Naval Camp, and Li Yan suspected his dealings might be connected to opium entering Jinmen.
• Liang Biaozi arrived and told Li Yan he had found a household marked with Li Yan’s symbol that was holding a funeral.

Li Yan investigated the Wang family’s suspicious funeral and learned that their resurrected patriarch had used a mystical power to amass wealth before becoming a living corpse. After the Jinghai Gang extorted the family, Li Yan discovered that a sorcerer named Zhou had set a trap for the Yellow Springs Organization and sent a letter to someone surnamed Wu in Cangzhou.

• Li Yan followed Liang Biaozi to the Wang residence and confirmed that the Yellow Springs Organization’s mark was drawn on a tree outside it.
• Li Yan observed the Wang family’s funeral and recognized signs that the coffin held a living corpse.
• Three Jinghai Gang ruffians broke into the residence, extorted silver from the Wang family, and threatened to return.
• Li Yan confronted the Wang family and learned that their resurrected patriarch had awakened the Intent Mystical Power and found valuables in shipwrecks through fish.
• The Wang family revealed that Mister Zhou had taught them to preserve the patriarch’s body, marked their gate, and used their home as part of a trap for the Yellow Springs Organization.
• Li Yan learned that Mister Zhou had forced a fortune-teller to write a letter to someone surnamed Wu in Cangzhou.

Li Yan tracked the street toughs to Cui Xi Hall and learned that Yu Wenhai of the Jinghai Gang had arranged Wu Qu’s capture and death. After killing the toughs and rampaging through the brothel, Li Yan killed Master Lu, evaded a volley of musket fire, and disappeared into the darkness.

• Li Yan followed the three street toughs to Cui Xi Hall and confirmed that the Jinghai Gang was spreading Fushou Paste with powerful allies possibly involved.
• Li Yan subdued Master Wu with the Soul Hooking Chain and forced him to reveal that Yu Wenhai had orchestrated the trap that led to Wu Qu’s death.
• Li Yan killed Master Wu and the other two toughs, then attacked the brothel’s customers and hired thugs, setting rooms ablaze.
• A one-eyed strongman named Master Lu confronted Li Yan, but Li Yan severed his leg with Severing Dust Blade.
• Three men fired muskets at Li Yan, who killed Master Lu with a Soul Severing Throwing Knife and vanished into the darkness.

After Li Yan’s attack on Cui Xi Hall, the Jinghai Gang investigated the fire and began searching for him, while Li Yan met Tian Chiliarch in Jinmen and learned the gang was backed by Prince Ying’s Estate. The chapter left Li Yan facing the possibility that powerful political and religious forces were entangled with the Jianmu organization.

• The Jinghai Gang subdued the chaos at Cui Xi Hall, and Third Master Chen Yu Wenhai ordered a search for Li Yan while forbidding contact with him.
• Jinghai Gang members discussed Li Yan’s attack, and Yu Wenhai rejected calls to act rashly against him.
• Li Yan met Tian Chiliarch at an eatery near the Jade Emperor Pavilion and heard that Zhao Changsheng’s forces had ambushed the Commandery Commandant Office in Jiangnan.
• Li Yan told Tian Chiliarch that a Jianmu base was operating in Jinmen, and Tian explained that the Jinghai Gang was protected by Prince Ying’s Estate.
• Tian Chiliarch revealed that former Jinghai Gang leader Lu Jinghai had left the gang’s affairs and was cultivating at the Jade Emperor Pavilion.

Li Yan learned that Fushou Paste might be part of the Red Haired Foreigners’ wider scheme, and Tian Chiliarch left for the capital to warn the emperor. As Li Yan investigated Jinmen’s factions, Zhang Tiankui’s men surrounded the Jin Prefecture Merchant Guild and demanded that it hand Li Yan over.

• Li Yan rejected Tian Chiliarch’s advice to limit his revenge, explaining that Fushou Paste could devastate the Great Xuan Dynasty and that Red Haired Foreigners might be behind its spread.
• Tian Chiliarch agreed to report the foreigners’ activities and Fushou Paste to the emperor, then gave Li Yan an imperial warrant and left Centurion Wang to assist him.
• Centurion Wang explained how Jinmen’s military, merchant families, Jinghai Gang, Marines, and foreign traders were connected, including the rivalry between Zhang Tiankui and Yu Wenhai.
• Falcon Li Dong brought Li Yan a message, and Li Yan realized that his whereabouts had been exposed and that his enemies had come for him.
• Zhang Tiankui’s Hai River Vajras built a wrestling ring outside the Jin Prefecture Merchant Guild and demanded that the guild surrender Li Yan.
• When the guild manager refused, Zhang Tiankui’s men boiled foul mixed leftovers and splashed the stinking porridge across the guild’s gates, taunting Li Yan.

Li Yan and the Twelve Yuan Chen confronted Zhang Tiankui after he harassed the Jin Prefecture Merchant Guild Hall, and Wu Ba fought him in a brutal duel. Li Yan stopped Wu Ba from killing Zhang and hinted that Lu Jinghai and Yu Wenhai were doomed, leaving Zhang’s future position uncertain.

• Li Yan returned to find Zhang Tiankui’s gang harassing the guild hall, and he secretly signaled the Twelve Yuan Chen with their cash coins.
• Wu Ba descended to challenge Zhang Tiankui and initially gained the upper hand through his powerful Eight Extremes techniques.
• Zhang Tiankui drank perilla wine to invite a deity, strengthening himself and battling Wu Ba with Malevolent Qi.
• Wu Ba broke Zhang Tiankui’s Inviting the Gods technique and defeated him after Zhang attacked with a ritual copper ring.
• Li Yan calmed Wu Ba, helped Zhang to his feet with the Undying Imprint Method, and told him that Lu Jinghai and Yu Wenhai were doomed.

Li Yan defeated Zhang Tiankui’s men and urged him to take control of the Jinghai Gang before Yu Wenhai could cause chaos. Zhang Tiankui went to seek Lu Jinghai’s help, but Lu Jinghai attacked him and revealed his inhuman transformation as masked assailants slaughtered Zhang’s followers.

• Li Yan subdued Zhang Tiankui, while Wu Ba, Lu San, and Sha LiFei defeated more than a hundred Jinghai Gang wrestlers without killing them.
• Li Yan and Wang Baihu told Zhang Tiankui that Yu Wenhai’s schemes involving Fushou Paste and the Nine Cauldrons threatened the Jinghai Gang, and they urged him to seize control and prevent unrest.
• Zhang Tiankui rejected their plan and left to find his adoptive father, Lu Jinghai; Li Yan sent Wang Baihu to mobilize trusted officials and the Jinmen garrison.
• At the Jade Emperor Pavilion, Zhang Tiankui told Lu Jinghai about Yu Wenhai’s alleged treachery and asked him to take charge.
• Lu Jinghai pretended to agree, then attacked Zhang Tiankui with a blackwood thorn and red smoke as masked assailants descended and killed Zhang’s subordinates.

Li Yan uncovered Lu Jinghai’s betrayal and learned that Kong Zizai had taught him the Evil Serpent Immortality Art and that Yu Wenhai was Kong Zizai’s disciple. After Lu Jinghai died, Li Yan and his allies rushed to the docks to capture Kong Hui, where the ship Tulip aimed its cannons at them.

• Lu Jinghai poisoned Zhang Tiankui and admitted he had approved the plot against the Nine Cauldrons, while Li Yan and Lu San killed many of the Dongying attackers.
• Li Yan exposed Lu Jinghai’s Evil Serpent Immortality Art, and Zhang Tiankui threw him into the sunlight, breaking the art.
• Lu Jinghai revealed that Kong Zizai taught him the secret art, that Yu Wenhai was Kong Zizai’s disciple, and that their connection involved the capital’s Pan Peach Gathering before he died.
• Li Yan ordered his allies to arrest Yu Wenhai and capture Kong Hui, then led them toward the docks as Sha LiFei shot through Jinghai Gang thugs blocking their way.
• Li Yan recognized the Tulip at the docks, sensed danger, and ordered everyone to spread out as the ship’s cannons aimed at them.

The Tulip revealed itself as a pirate warship and devastated Sancha River Mouth with cannon fire. Li Yan and his companions fought back, and Li Yan reached the ship’s ritual chamber, where he confronted Mendes as he called on Barbatos.

• The Tulip opened its disguised gun ports and bombarded Sancha River Mouth, killing civilians and soldiers and setting the dock ablaze.
• Zhou Kang realized that his lax inspections had allowed the Tulip to conceal its cannons, but he panicked as the attack continued.
• Li Yan ordered Wu Ba to cover him, and Wu Ba’s Tiger Crouching Cannon punched a hole through the Tulip’s hull.
• Li Yan used Profound Water Escape to reach the ship underwater, where he fought off Huashe creatures and encountered a swarm of fish, snakes, and a Water Monkey.
• Lu San released poisonous bees while Long Yan'er unleashed Sesame Gu, and Sha LiFei and Wu Ba pressed toward the riverbank.
• Li Yan broke into the Tulip’s cabin and found Mendes kneeling before a ritual array, where Mendes called out to Barbatos.

Li Yan stopped Mendes’s ritual aboard the Tulip, but the sorcerer’s death released black smoke that possessed pirates before the Yin Office captured the foreign demon. The search uncovered Fushou Paste, dead captives, and letters, while Kong Hui and Yu Wenhai escaped to Tongzhou and set new schemes in motion; the chapter ended with Li Yan and his allies studying documents about Barbatos and Solomon’s seventy-two demon gods.

• Li Yan severed Mendes’s hands, then shot him when the sorcerer suffered a backlash and began releasing a foreign demon’s power.
• Black smoke escaped Mendes’s corpse and possessed several pirates, but Li Yan summoned the Yin Office troops, who captured the demon.
• Li Yan told Lu San, Sha LiFei, and the others that Kong Hui and Yu Wenhai were not aboard the Tulip, then ordered them to search for clues and track the fugitives.
• The group found crates of Fushou Paste, dead martial artists, and concealed letters aboard the damaged Tulip, while Falcon Li Dong failed to find the escaping enemies.
• In Tongzhou, Kong Hui explained to Yu Wenhai that they would shift blame onto the Red-Haired Foreigners and use the crisis to stir conflict at court before they slipped past the troops and left.
• Tian Chiliarch reported the arrests and aftermath in Jinmen, while Li Yan and his allies examined translated documents linking Mendes’s occult arts to Barbatos and Solomon’s seventy-two demon gods.

Li Yan uncovered Mendes's foreign demon-summoning network and overheard a dispute among powers in the Great Luo Dharma Realm about their interference in the mortal world. Before leaving Jinmen for Tongzhou, he reunited with Hei Dan and received an imperial edict for his grandfather that pointed toward Zhao Qingxu in the capital.

• Kong Shangzhao translated Mendes's records, revealing the Canaan Blood Covenant's demon-summoning rites, its smuggling ties with Kong Zizai and Yu Wenhai, and the pirate leader Zhao Changsheng's plans.
• Tian Chiliarch took the intelligence to report to the capital, while Kong Shangzhao agreed to finish the Seeking Immortality Chapters before returning to his father.
• Li Yan recorded the foreign demons' origins at the Black Well and overheard Great Luo Dharma Realm figures arguing about the Heavenly Laws and interference in the mortal world.
• Li Yan and his companions prepared to leave Jinmen, but Hei Dan arrived with an imperial edict granting Li Yan's grandfather, Li Gui, his retirement and reward.
• Hei Dan told Li Yan that a Daoist had delivered the edict and was waiting in the capital; Li Yan connected the message to Zhao Qingxu and arranged for Hei Dan to open a shop before departing by ship.

Li Yan reunited with Luo MingZi in Tongzhou and learned that Zhao Changsheng’s allies had infiltrated the capital and were tracking the investigation. After Luo MingZi led the group toward the capital, Li Yan sensed they were being watched, while black-robed figures on Tongzhou’s walls discussed the danger of confronting them.

• Li Yan arrived in Tongzhou and reunited with Luo MingZi, who had secretly arranged a guarded meeting at a tavern.
• Luo MingZi explained that his investigation into Zhao Changsheng had uncovered stolen court treasures and a mysterious enemy who had killed investigators and anticipated their moves.
• Li Yan signaled that he had a new clue about the capital’s Pan Peach Gathering, and Luo MingZi warned that the capital’s politics and surveillance made open investigation dangerous.
• Luo MingZi sent a subordinate to report soldiers’ abuse of ginseng diggers, then arranged for the group, including Kong Shangzhao, to travel by road toward the capital.
• Li Yan sensed that someone was watching them as they left Tongzhou, while black-robed figures on the city walls warned one another not to approach the Twelve Yuan Chen and Li Yan.

Li Yan’s group reached the capital and settled at a fortified estate outside the city, where Li Yan told Luo MingZi about Zhao Qingxu’s provocation and the mysterious Pan Peach Gathering. While Luo MingZi arranged a cover and investigated possible leaks among his subordinates, Li Yan disguised himself and entered the capital to infiltrate it.

• Luo MingZi warned Li Yan not to use divine abilities near the capital and led the group to a requisitioned estate outside the city.
• Li Yan told Luo MingZi that Zhao Qingxu had sent a provocative letter and that Lu Jinghai had mentioned the Pan Peach Gathering; Li Yan suspected it might connect to Prince Ying’s Estate.
• Luo MingZi agreed to cover for Li Yan as he secretly investigated the estate and briefed him on the capital’s dangers.
• Luo MingZi sent his subordinates to search temples and gangs for information on Zhao Qingxu while using Li Yan’s apparent rest at the estate as a chance to expose a mole.
• Luo MingZi arranged materials and a furnace for Sha LiFei, then asked Kong Shangzhao to examine old books and archives brought into the estate.
• Li Yan lowered his straw-hat brim and entered the capital among the waiting crowd as its gates opened.

Li Yan entered the capital in disguise and discovered that Wuleji, a fugitive Dark Five Immortal, had taken refuge in Prince Ying's Estate. As Li Yan considered how to investigate the estate without alerting Wuleji, a wayward young master left through a side door, and Li Yan followed him into the night.

• Li Yan passed the capital's strict gate inspection using a false identity and learned from an imperial notice that the court had cracked down on foreign merchants, heretical cults, and Fushou Paste.
• Li Yan wandered through the capital, gave silver to a disabled street performer, and entered the inner city at dusk.
• At the office affiliated with Prince Ying's Estate, Li Yan's divination tally revealed that Wuleji, a fugitive wolf-worshiping Dark Five Immortal, lived there as a hired fighter.
• Li Yan decided against entering the estate openly because Wuleji might discover him and force him to summon Yin soldiers.
• A pale young master slipped out through the estate's side door despite his guards' pleas, and Li Yan followed him toward the Floating Fragrance Brothel.

Li Yan followed Prince Hai to the Floating Fragrance Brothel, where Dong Cunshan helped him enter the crowded rear courtyard. During Miss Hu’s hair-combing ceremony, Li Yan recognized the woman serving her as Widow Wang, who had once served Chuma Xian at Li Family Fortress.

• Prince Hai went to the Floating Fragrance Brothel, and Li Yan followed him there while learning that Tiger Might Hall controlled the establishment.
• A servant challenged Li Yan at the entrance, but Li Yan paid the tea fee and gained entry.
• Madam Liu tried to keep Li Yan out of the rear courtyard until Dong Cunshan recognized him and brought him to an elegant room.
• Dong Cunshan told Li Yan that his meridians had been injured in Chengdu and explained that several young masters had gathered to compete over Miss Hu.
• Miss Hu appeared at the embroidered tower, and Li Yan recognized Widow Wang serving behind her.

Li Yan investigated the strange gathering at Fragrance Pavilion and discovered that Miss Hu, Widow Wang, and Feng Shaoqing were tied to the Northern Frontier's Five Immortals Hall and its search for Wuleji. As Li Yan watched, a Night-Traveling God attacked the brothel, leaving Miss Hu in alarm.

• Li Yan and Dong Cunshan watched capital officials and young nobles compete to impress Miss Hu, until Prince Hai threw his treasured Coiled Dragon jade pendant and Feng Shaoqing returned it.
• Xiao Jingyan arrived and dragged Prince Hai away, while Dong Cunshan warned Li Yan that Prince Ying's Estate was being targeted and left without revealing Li Yan's presence.
• Li Yan sent a Chuling Paper Figure into the embroidered tower and saw Widow Wang serving Miss Hu as Feng Shaoqing addressed her as Branch Master.
• Feng Shaoqing explained that they sought to use Xiao Chenghai and Prince Ying's Estate to draw out Wuleji, whom Li Yan recognized as a target of the Northern Frontier's Five Immortals Hall.
• Miss Hu sensed a spy, while Li Yan smelled blood and incense as people in the brothel were killed in silence; Miss Hu realized the Night-Traveling God had arrived.