Chapter Summaries

Li Yan discovered that the Pan Peach Gathering’s nobles were trapped as debt stakes in the cursed peach tree and helped Tuer Ye free several children’s souls. After repelling a demonic Night-Traveling God, he was confronted by Zhao Qingxu, who offered to trade Kong Hui for Li Yan’s silence about the site.

• Li Yan realized that Pan Peaches stole children’s Innate Qi and left their noble consumers bound to the peach tree by a Name-Borrowing Talisman.
• Tuer Ye performed an exorcism, freeing a Girl’s soul and causing a Pan Peach to rot, while the Queen Mother God Statue replaced the empty space with a noble’s paper figure.
• Li Yan used the North Emperor Calamity Removal Technique to free several more children’s souls, but the Queen Mother God Statue’s curse damaged his Great Luo Dharma Body.
• A demonic Night-Traveling God attacked Tuer Ye, and Li Yan restrained it with his Soul Hooking Lightning Rope before summoning a Netherworld Divine General to destroy it.
• Zhao Qingxu appeared with four wisps of demonic energy and two Earth Official’s Treasure Edicts of Atonement, preventing Li Yan from relying on Netherworld troops.
• Zhao Qingxu offered to hand over Kong Hui if Li Yan kept quiet about the peach tree, and said that even Zhao Changsheng could be sold for a high enough price.

Li Yan uncovered Zhao Qingxu’s plan to use demonic qi to raise the Ferocious God Queen Mother Statue and fled the Nine Gates Yin Ruins as the Great Xuan dragon vein’s power surged. After escaping, he was pulled back to his body, where his companions were fighting off an ambush, and the group fled before the Golden Guard arrived.

• Zhao Qingxu admitted arranging an inside connection for Zhao Changsheng and offered to reveal his secrets if Li Yan killed Bai Chenshan.
• Li Yan attacked Zhao Qingxu, but Zhao Qingxu summoned evil ghosts while four possessed Night-Traveling Gods fed demonic qi into the Ferocious God Queen Mother Statue.
• The Great Xuan dragon vein’s pressure overwhelmed the Yin Ruins, forcing Li Yan and Zhao Qingxu to retreat as the Chang'an Ghost Market appeared.
• Li Yan escaped through Chongwen Gate, evaded imperial adepts with Tuer Ye’s help, and was pulled away from the ruined Land God Temple by his soul-guiding thread.
• Li Yan returned to his body amid a fight with Zhao Qingxu’s attackers, then ordered his companions to flee and burn the courtyard before the Golden Guard arrived.

Emperor Xiao Qixuan ordered a capital-wide curfew after the Nine Gates Yin Ruins incident, then sent Pei Zongti to learn what Li Yan’s group had discovered. Li Yan and Luo MingZi pursued clues about Zhao Qingxu and the Hairy Monkey soldiers to Kuai Dayou’s coffin shop, where Li Yan sensed that Kong Hui had been there.

• Emperor Xiao Qixuan imposed a curfew and ordered Pei Zongti to report what the Twelve Yuan Chen had learned about the Nine Gates Yin Ruins.
• Li Yan told Pei Zongti that Zhao Qingxu had hidden the Ferocious God Queen Mother and demonic qi, and described the strange jiaozi talismans Zhao used.
• Li Yan and Luo MingZi split up the investigation, sending Kong Shangzhao to search the Mystic Sacrificial Officials’ archives while they headed to find Kuai Dayou.
• Luo MingZi explained Kuai Dayou’s craftsmanship and his conflict with the Kuai family after secretly taking a descendant of Anige as his master.
• Li Yan found that the old owner of a warehouse had vanished, then followed Luo MingZi to Kuai Dayou’s coffin shop.
• Lu San sensed spellcasting inside the dark shop, and Li Yan recognized Kong Hui’s scent.

Li Yan’s team rescued Old Wu and Kuai Dayou from Kong Hui’s attack and learned that Kuai had aided Rabbit Lord. Meanwhile, Emperor Xiao Qixuan’s officials entered the Nine Gates Yin Ruins through a state sacrifice and saw the city gates moving like a vast heart.

• Li Yan and the Twelve Yuan Chen broke into Kuai Dayou’s shop, where they found a southwestern Gu master, dead attackers, and a passage into the underground tunnels.
• Li Yan knocked out the Gu master, entered the tunnels, and found Old Wu and Kuai Dayou injured inside Kuai’s Hundred Crafts Pavilion.
• Li Yan’s team treated the pair, and Old Wu explained that Kong Hui had tracked them down but withdrew rather than spend his treasure edict to save his subordinates.
• Li Yan asked whether Kuai Dayou had controlled Monkey Netherworld Soldiers to aid Rabbit Lord, and Kuai revealed that he recognized Li Yan from the Nine Gates Yin Ruins before fainting.
• Emperor Xiao Qixuan ordered an investigation of the dragon vein while Prince Lucuan, Pei Zongti, and Bai Chenshan entered the Nine Gates Yin Ruins through a ritual at the Imperial Ancestral Temple.
• Prince Lucuan warned Pei Zongti and Bai Chenshan not to stare into the Secret Realm as they saw the nine city gates revolving and repeating scenes from different eras.

Pei Zongti, Bai Chenshan, and Prince Lucuan discovered that Great Xuan’s dragon vein was corroding and exposed a traitor tied to Xiao Huainan, prompting Emperor Xiao Qixuan to order a purge of demonic forces in the capital. At Rouyuan Posthouse, Li Yan learned more about Kuai Dayou’s involvement with Tuer Ye and heard that the capital’s three Grandmasters would join the hunt; the chapter ended with Huo Yin confronting his disciple Luo Gongsheng.

• Prince Lucuan led Pei Zongti and Bai Chenshan through the Nine Gates Yin Ruins, where they found damage near the peach-tree altar and black-red corruption spreading across Great Xuan’s dragon vein.
• Prince Lucuan concluded that a traitor in the Court of the Imperial Clan was helping demon cultivators conceal the damage, and the three men recorded the corrupted areas.
• Xiao Bojin attacked Pei Zongti inside the Imperial Ancestral Temple, but Zhao Wujiu stopped him and identified him as a retainer of Xiao Huainan, whose ties led to King Changliu.
• Emperor Xiao Qixuan ordered Xiao Huainan’s household and associates seized, commanded the three Grandmasters to hunt the demon cultivators, and mobilized troops to seal off the affected streets.
• At Rouyuan Posthouse, Kuai Dayou told Li Yan that he had helped Tuer Ye out of obligation and named the priest who recruited him as Nameless; Luo MingZi then reported that the hunt for Kong Hui and Zhao Qingxu had begun.
• Huo Yin, the Divine Land Top Ten Grandmaster and head of the Great Xuan Divine Fist Society, listened as Luo Gongsheng admitted his failures and knelt before him.

Huo Yin, Dong Changxing, and Wan Sheng Ying answered the imperial order as Great Xuan launched a sweeping search for Jianmu Demon Man and the evil-aura sites in the capital. After troops uncovered several horrific demon installations, Li Yan spotted Kong Hui among the onlookers and called him out.

• Huo Yin expelled Luo Gongsheng, then accepted the emperor’s order and rushed out in fighting clothes with his bow.
• Dong Changxing left his negotiations with the Open Sea Faction to answer the imperial summons, while Wan SanShan mobilized the Wan Sheng Escort Agency to seal the gates and hunt Jianmu’s people.
• Yuanzai and the National Teachers used the Taiyi Astrolabe to identify suspicious locations as the imperial forces began searching the capital.
• Pei Zongti and Luo MingZi led troops through a warehouse ward, where they found corpses rooted inside beams, a contaminated well with pregnant women’s bodies, and a cat-ghost site.
• Li Yan’s gou register grew hot, and he spotted Kong Hui disguised as a scholar in the crowd and called him out.

Li Yan and the imperial forces cornered Kong Hui, but Kong Hui threatened to poison the capital’s water unless the three Grandmasters fought him without interference. Wan Sheng Ying accepted the challenge, and Kong Hui gained the upper hand with his strange martial arts and movement technique.

• Kong Hui scattered irritating pink dust to escape Li Yan, but Luo MingZi and the Enforcement Hall summoned a gale to clear it while the soldiers searched the streets.
• Huo Yin, Dong Changxing, and Wan Sheng Ying trapped Kong Hui, and Li Yan joined the encirclement as Pei Zongti ordered them to capture him alive.
• Kong Hui revealed that poison sacs in Dragon Beard Ditch would contaminate the capital’s water within half an hour unless he supplied an antidote, then demanded an uninterrupted battle between Grandmasters.
• Wan Sheng Ying attacked Kong Hui with his spear and Wan Sheng Fist, but Kong Hui’s illusions and Funeral Carriage Step evaded his linked strikes.
• Kong Hui struck Wan Sheng Ying with a black Rites seal that numbed half his body, then mocked him as inferior to the Grandmasters of old.

Huo Yin defeated and captured Kong Hui, ending the capital’s manhunt, while the authorities prepared to investigate the underground river contamination and Kong Hui’s wider conspiracies. King Snake escaped the capital and sought refuge with a mysterious man in blue whose miniature landscape resembled Ferocious God Queen Mother’s Pan Peach Tree.

• Wan Sheng Ying accepted his defeat by Kong Hui and left after Dong Changxing praised his potential.
• Huo Yin unleashed his Grandmaster aura and overwhelmed Kong Hui’s techniques with a series of powerful punches.
• The Enforcement Hall restrained Kong Hui and took him to its A-Rank Prison, while Pei Zongti ordered searches for the underground river contamination threat.
• Li Yan stopped Wu Ba from killing Kong Hui and was told he would join the interrogation after Kong Hui was questioned.
• King Snake watched the capital return to normal, decided to flee, and went to a residence where a man in blue tended a miniature landscape resembling Ferocious God Queen Mother’s Pan Peach Tree.

Zhao Qingxu punished King Snake for his fear and betrayal, while Li Yan interrogated the badly injured Kong Hui in prison. Kong Hui revealed that Zhao Qingxu was a Fierce Ghost from the treasury and was scheming to obtain something at Qiankun Academy, the key object in the transformation of the Human Path.

• Zhao Qingxu paralyzed King Snake with a money-themed curse, covered him in coin-shaped welts, and fitted a pale mask over his face.
• Old Knife tortured Kong Hui with Yellow Springs Mud and other techniques, but Kong Hui refused to confess.
• Li Yan entered the cell and questioned Kong Hui, who warned that Living Underworld Messengers could not rest in peace after death.
• Li Yan convinced Kong Hui that Zhao Qingxu had betrayed him in the Nine Gates Yin Ruins, and Kong Hui admitted he had mistakenly trusted Zhao Qingxu.
• Kong Hui revealed that Zhao Qingxu was a Fierce Ghost from the treasury and was scheming for something at Qiankun Academy, which was key to the transformation of the Human Path.

Li Yan learned that Qiankun Academy’s Steam Engine might influence the transformation of the Human Path, while Kong Hui died before explaining Zhao Qingxu’s plans. After Li Yan’s group honored Wu Qu in Cangzhou and Wu Ba began receiving the Hua Guang inheritance, Kong Shangzhao discovered a strange account that suggested Kong Hui was not human.

• Kong Hui revealed that Qiankun Academy contained something capable of influencing the transformation of the Human Path, then destroyed his body and Yin Soul before he could explain Zhao Qingxu’s motives.
• Li Yan arranged for Kong Hui’s head to be taken to Cangzhou, while Emperor Xiao Qixuan ordered the court to announce Zhao Qingxu’s execution and secretly protect Qiankun Academy.
• Li Yan and his companions honored Wu Qu’s grave, and Wu Zhong offered Wu Qu’s legacy to Wu Ba, who began the Hua Guang initiation rites.
• Sha LiFei said Kuai Dayou had agreed to help him make a gun-shaped artifact, and Li Yan said they would confront Zhao Qingxu when they returned to Qiankun Academy.
• Kong Shangzhao compared Kong Hui’s testimony with an account of a paper demon and wondered whether Kong Hui had been human.

Wu Ba failed to learn Hua Guang’s Five Thunder Strike but proved talented in Secret Strike and Counter Strike, earning a booklet for the advanced Reverse Closing Strike. When Li Yan’s group returned to the capital, they discovered rumors about Qiankun Academy’s supposed divine artifact had spread widely, and Luo MingZi revealed that Zhao Qingxu was a demon god who escaped from the Celestial Master Mansion.

• Wu Ba coughed up black blood while attempting Five Thunder Strike, and Li Yan absorbed the lightning with the Soul Hooking Lightning Rope.
• Wu Zhong determined that Wu Ba’s mountain xiao bloodline made him incompatible with thunder arts, then watched him demonstrate Secret Strike and Counter Strike.
• Wu Zhong gave Wu Ba the Reverse Closing Strike booklet and warned Li Yan about the dangerous struggle to become a Grandmaster.
• Li Yan and his companions returned to the capital and found rumors claiming Qiankun Academy possessed a powerful divine artifact.
• Luo MingZi explained that clandestine posters had spread the rumors and said foreigners had paid the printers.
• Luo MingZi revealed that Zhao Qingxu was a demon god who had escaped from the Celestial Master Mansion.

Li Yan learned that Zhao Qingxu had escaped the Demon Suppression Well and was working with allies in the capital, while investigators struggled to trace his network. Li Yan and Sha LiFei reached Qiankun Academy to investigate the divine artifact, where Wang Jingxiu eagerly pulled Li Yan inside to meet several people.

• Luo MingZi explained that Zhao Qingxu had once been possessed by a paper demon, escaped suppression with help from Da Xing remnants, and was behind the Pan Peach Gathering and attacks on the dragon vein.
• Luo MingZi said Zhao Qingxu's helpers had erased clues in the capital, while foreign merchants and local networks made the investigation difficult.
• Li Yan decided to continue searching for Zhao Qingxu while visiting Qiankun Academy, whose divine artifact might be the target of his plans.
• Li Yan practiced the Ten Great Stances of Red Fist, caused another fissure in his Great Luo Dharma Body, and worried about Zhao the Donkey's absence.
• Li Yan and Sha LiFei passed the guarded eastern outskirts checkpoint and saw Qiankun Academy facing the Divine Mechanism Camp across the valley.
• Wang Jingxiu recognized Li Yan at the academy entrance and dragged him inside to introduce him to several people.

Li Yan toured Qiankun Academy with Wang Jingxiu and Sha Lifei, discovering its craftspeople, researchers, and plans for surveying the Divine Land. Yan Jiuling then revealed that his theory of two great transformations had been proven by artifacts excavated from Mount Tai, including evidence of a passage between the mortal world and the Heavenly Realm called Jianmu.

• Wang Jingxiu showed Li Yan and Sha Lifei the academy’s buildings, research areas, and Hundred Crafts Pavilion, where Tao Fengchun supervised the craftsmen.
• Wang Jingxiu introduced the academy’s Attendants and explained that they protected researchers surveying dangerous regions in exchange for merits and access to resources.
• Zhou Bai Xiao and Zhao the Craftsman rushed to test a more refined batch of New-Style Gunpowder, drawing Sha Lifei’s interest.
• Li Yan met Yan Jiuling, who told him Zhao the Donkey had been hired to assist White Chenshan with a project.
• Yan Jiuling led Li Yan to a courtyard of artifacts excavated from Mount Tai and said they proved that Jianmu once connected the mortal world to the Heavenly Realm.

Li Yan examined an ancient relief at Qiankun Academy that connected Jianmu, Fuxi, and the Great Luo Dharma Realm, then received a life-draining stone that might restore his Great Luo Dharma Body. The chapter ended with Yan Jiuling revealing that the emperor would unveil the divine artifact at the academy’s opening ceremony.

• Yan Jiuling brought Li Yan to meet Zhao the Donkey and Bai Chenshan, then led them to a sealed storehouse containing artifacts recovered from Mount Tai.
• Li Yan and Bai Chenshan studied a bronze relief of Jianmu and read inscriptions linking it to Fuxi, the Great Luo Dharma Realm, and the descent of divine beings.
• Li Yan warned Bai Chenshan that restoring Jianmu could violate the Heavenly Laws and bring disaster, then asked Yan Jiuling whether they had found any clues about Zhao Qingxu; Yan Jiuling said the academy was under close watch.
• Yan Jiuling explained that Li Yan and Sha LiFei had been appointed Attendants and described the other teams serving the academy.
• Yan Jiuling gave Li Yan a blue-black stone that had drained the life from nearby plants; Li Yan recognized it as the kind of treasure his Great Luo Dharma Body needed.
• Yan Jiuling told Li Yan and Sha LiFei that their requested arrangements were being handled, then revealed that the emperor would announce the divine artifact at the opening ceremony.

After the Emperor announced that a divine artifact would appear at Qiankun Academy’s opening ceremony, Li Yan restored his Great Luo Dharma Body with the Fierce Spirit Stone. A dream from the Five Paths General led him to a demon hiding in the capital’s temple, where it fled toward Xuanwu Gate.

• Emperor Xiao Qixuan’s announcement that the divine artifact would be revealed at Qiankun Academy sparked rumors and a scramble among the capital’s factions for invitations.
• Li Yan told Wang Dao Xuan and Sha LiFei that the divine artifact was the Steam Engine, though they doubted its power.
• Li Yan used the Fierce Spirit Stone to restore his Great Luo Dharma Body and rekindle a soul flame.
• The Five Paths General appeared in Li Yan’s dream but could not speak, prompting Li Yan to investigate the temple in the capital.
• Li Yan’s hook document detected Demon God Liu Yuanheng’s demonic energy at the Five Paths General Temple, and Li Yan dragged the drunken caretaker outside as the demon fled toward Xuanwu Gate.

Li Yan pursued demonic qi into the Nine Gates Yin Ruins, where the Five Paths General brought him to the Chang'an Ghost Market and revealed that Erlang Zhenjun was involved in a hidden alliance concerning Jianmu. The General asked Li Yan to help stabilize their incense offerings and pointed him toward Mount Tai before Li Yan returned to his body in the Five Paths General Temple.

• Li Yan chased the demonic qi toward Xuanwu Gate, but the Five Paths General stopped the Netherworld troops and dragged Li Yan’s Yin Soul into the Nine Gates Yin Ruins.
• The Five Paths General sent Li Yan through Chongwen Gate to the Chang'an Ghost Market, where Li Yan questioned him about his motives.
• The Five Paths General drew Erlang Zhenjun and symbols of a soul warrant and thunder, leading Li Yan to infer that Erlang Zhenjun had been sent to guard a connection between the Netherworld and the Celestial Court.
• Through drawings, the Five Paths General showed that he had met Erlang Zhenjun and allied with him against the hands controlling Jianmu.
• The Five Paths General asked Li Yan to help stabilize their incense offerings and indicated Mount Tai and the Eighteen Bends before sending him back to his body.
• Li Yan woke in the Five Paths General Temple, where Sun Datong thanked him and asked whether he was the descended Five Paths Venerated Deity.

Li Yan investigated the missing temple blesser and learned that the blesser had met Lord Lu Xun before vanishing. At the Ministry of Works, Lu Xun attempted suicide, then revealed that he had learned the emperor intended to use the divine artifact to make an Iron Ox Cart.

• Sun Datong told Li Yan that the temple blesser had disappeared after meeting an old friend and receiving a letter from a beggar, and that Lord Lu Xun often invited him for tea.
• Li Yan warned Sun Datong to close the temple and leave for the countryside, then reported the incident to Luo MingZi without revealing his meeting with the Five Paths General.
• Li Yan, Luo MingZi, and a Commandery Commandant Office captain went to the Ministry of Works to question Lu Xun, but learned that Lu Xun had attempted to hang himself.
• Han Mo arrived and ordered Lu Xun questioned, and Lu Xun admitted hosting a banquet with the temple blesser Zhou and several influential guests.
• Li Yan pressed Lu Xun about his fear, and Lu Xun revealed that he had learned the emperor planned to use the divine artifact to make an Iron Ox Cart.

After Lu Xun’s confession exposed how news of the Steam Engine had leaked, Emperor Xiao Qixuan ordered an investigation into Prince Yan’s Mansion and the Iron Anchor Society, while Li Yan helped the implicated merchants and decided to leave the capital after capturing Zhao Qingxu. At Qiankun Academy’s opening ceremony, the concealed steam engine was revealed, and Xiao Qixuan arrived in a steam-powered dragon carriage.

• Lu Xun confessed that he had leaked information about the Iron Ox Cart and Official Roads to Prince Yan’s Mansion, Luo Gongsheng, and others, prompting Han Mo and Luo MingZi to report the matter to Emperor Xiao Qixuan.
• Prince Yan Xiao Jinglie came to the palace to confess, while soldiers seized Luo Gongsheng; Xiao Qixuan ordered Prince Yan’s household investigated and Luo Gongsheng sent to the death prison.
• The investigations uncovered that the dead steward had framed others and arranged Zhou the Shrine Priest’s murder, leaving the trail to Zhao Qingxu cut off.
• The Jin Prefecture Merchant Guild and Su Yu asked Li Yan for help, and he agreed while insisting the guild continue its plan to build Five Paths General Temples.
• Li Yan told his companions they would leave the capital after the academy ceremony, refining the magical artifact, and dealing with Zhao Qingxu.
• At Qiankun Academy’s opening ceremony, officials unveiled the steel steam engine, and Xiao Qixuan arrived in a steam-powered dragon carriage.

At Qiankun Academy’s opening ceremony, Emperor Xiao Qixuan unveiled a steam-powered dragon carriage, demonstrating the Imperial Court’s new Steam Engine and stirring excitement, alarm, and political maneuvering. After the banquet, Li Yan questioned Yuan Feng about revealing the engine’s uses, and Yuan Feng led him away to explain.

• Emperor Xiao Qixuan arrived in a steam-powered dragon carriage, and officials praised him while foreign envoys reacted with alarm and interest.
• Yuan Feng explained that the Steam Engine could power ships and mills, prompting merchants, officials, nobles, and military officers to discuss its uses and the Academy’s future.
• Yuan Feng rebuked hereditary nobles who dismissed the machine, and Emperor Xiao Qixuan departed while the opening ceremony continued.
• Yan Jiuling guided guests through Qiankun Academy, where they saw Lu Ban’s Wooden Magpie and other displays, while Li Yan noticed that important devices had been concealed and that Zhao Qingxu had not appeared.
• At the banquet, merchants and nobles competed for Academy recommendation slots, and Yan Jiuling deferred their requests to the Gewu Canon’s evaluation procedures.
• After the guests left, Li Yan asked Yuan Feng why he had revealed the Steam Engine’s uses to foreign envoys, and Yuan Feng invited him to come see the reason.

Li Yan learned that the dismantled Steam Engine had revealed the principles of a divine artifact, which the imperial court enshrined as the Sui Lun Water and Fire True Monarch and planned to spread across the realm. As Li Yan and his companions moved to the academy, a disguised spy reported to a hidden group and was asked whether he had found Zhao Qingxu.

• Yuan Feng showed Li Yan the Steam Engine’s bronze core, which circulated Innate Gangsha Two Qi, and said Mo Sect disciples had deciphered its construction after worshipping it as a god.
• Yuan Feng told Li Yan that the imperial court had named the artifact the Sui Lun Water and Fire True Monarch and ordered shrines to be established wherever Steam Engines were built.
• At Rouyuan Posthouse, Li Yan told Sha LiFei and Wang Dao Xuan that the academy would provide spiritual materials for their artifacts, while the group discussed Zhao Qingxu’s disappearance.
• Li Yan and his companions left for the academy as rumors about the Steam Engine spread through the capital and laborers rushed to seek work on a proposed divine road.
• A short peddler listened to rumors, crossed East City amid gang warfare, and entered an underground cavern where he reported to a hidden group.
• A voice from the darkness asked the peddler whether he had found any news of Zhao Qingxu.