Chapter Summaries

Zhang Tianshi tried to enter the academy with a talismanic edict from the Three Pure Ones, but Huo Yin intercepted him and forced him into battle. As the fight drew everyone’s attention, Lu Chengye secretly tampered with spiritwood components, and Li Yan pursued him after noticing his suspicious behavior.

• Zhang Tianshi challenged Zhao Wujiu over Heaven’s mandate and left when Zhao refused to let him meet the emperor that night.
• Zhang Tianshi infiltrated the academy, where Huo Yin confronted him and drove the fight away from the school.
• Huo Yin and Zhang Tianshi exchanged martial and thunder techniques until Zhang Tianshi withdrew, warning that they would see the outcome at Three Watches of the Zi Hour.
• Li Yan and Wang Dao Xuan watched the battle with Sha LiFei as the academy’s attention focused on the grandmasters.
• Lu Chengye secretly transferred black aura from Zhao Qingxu’s spiritwood clasp into other components while the craftsmen watched the fight.
• Li Yan noticed Lu Chengye’s trembling hands and pursued him when the old craftsman suddenly charged outside.

Li Yan insisted on searching the workshop after suspecting Lu Chengye of being a demonic spy, despite Tao Fengchun’s anger and a wager that could force the Twelve Yuan Chen out of Qiankun Academy. After an ordinary search found nothing, Li Yan used the North Emperor God Control Method and uncovered traces of the bizarre peach tree hidden in the spiritual materials.

• Sha LiFei pinned Lu Chengye when he tried to flee, but the craftsmen rallied around Lu Chengye and Tao Fengchun accused Li Yan and his companions of disrupting the statue’s construction.
• Li Yan refused to abandon his investigation, and Tao Fengchun wagered his standing against the Twelve Yuan Chen’s right to remain at Qiankun Academy if the search found no evidence.
• Huo Yin approved a search and ordered everyone else to stand back while Li Yan and the Twelve Yuan Chen examined Lu Chengye’s tools, work area, and components.
• The Twelve Yuan Chen found no visible trace of evil energy, so Li Yan set up a ritual and used the North Emperor God Control Method to inspect the workshop.
• Li Yan detected coin-shaped black wisps in several spiritual materials and recognized the corrupted spiritual wood as the bizarre peach tree he had seen in the Nine Gates Yin Ruins.

Li Yan exposed Zhao Qingxu’s demonic nature at the academy, where the Five Paths General suppressed the demon before he could corrupt the Steam Engine. The workshop was shut down and the court began negotiating with the orthodox schools, while Li Yan re-established contact with Erlang Zhenjun’s side through the Bronze Nuo Mask.

• Li Yan fired at the Pan Peach Wood, revealing Zhao Qingxu’s hidden demonic aura and prompting Huo Yin and the academy’s defenders to confront the escaping demons.
• Four strands of Liu Yuanheng’s demonic aura possessed craftsmen and a Divine Fist Society expert, but Li Yan summoned the Yin soldiers and the Five Paths General captured them.
• The Five Paths General uncovered Zhao Qingxu’s attempt to contaminate the Steam Engine and sent the Jiaozi Demon into the Underworld.
• The academy workshop stopped operating, and Wang Dao Xuan told Li Yan and his companions that the court was negotiating with the arriving orthodox school leaders.
• Li Yan returned to his room, placed the Bronze Nuo Mask over his head, and entered a vast expanse of dense fog.

Li Yan entered the Great Luo Dharma Realm, where Erlang Zhenjun revealed evidence that it had been destroyed before and warned that a great calamity might be approaching. Back in the capital, the emperor and the mystic sects avoided an immediate conflict by agreeing to enshrine Sui Lun True Monarch in a major ceremony.

• Li Yan traveled through the Great Luo Dharma Realm and met Erlang Zhenjun at Two Realms Mountain, where he learned how immortals were ranked.
• Erlang Zhenjun showed Li Yan ancient gods and beasts sealed in rock strata and suggested that the Dharma Realm had been destroyed repeatedly and that the Jianmu upheaval was connected to its fate.
• Erlang Zhenjun asked Li Yan to investigate the impending replacement of the Mount Tai Prefect and help him claim the position if possible.
• Li Yan returned to the inn exhausted, examined the trilobite's Coal Essence, and wondered whether the force behind Jianmu came from beings unwilling to leave the stage.
• Zhang Tianshi, Qiu Changchun, Wang Miaoyin, Yu Chanzi, and Chen Kongzi arrived in the capital as the emperor and the mystic sect leaders disputed control over the Human Path's transformation.
• Emperor Xiao Qixuan decreed that Sui Lun True Monarch would be enshrined at the Altar of the God of Earth and Grain, with officials and mystic leaders attending the ceremony.

After the capital’s grand sacrifice, Luo MingZi let Kong Shangzhao leave with Li Yan and the Twelve Yuan Chen, asking them to investigate the Ghost Opera Troupe and its possible ties to the Jianmu Demon Man. Li Yan and his companions departed by ship, carrying new leads and farewells from allies in the capital.

• Emperor Xiao Qixuan presided over a grand consecration ceremony attended by leaders of the Daoist sects, while the capital’s officials remained unaware of the statue’s true significance.
• At the Looking River Tower, Luo MingZi agreed to let Kong Shangzhao travel south with Li Yan and asked him to investigate whether the Ghost Opera Troupe was part of the Jianmu Demon Man’s scheme.
• Crown Prince Xiao Jingyan thanked Li Yan for averting disaster at Qiankun Academy and asked him to watch for the stolen Sea-Calming Jade Gui during his travels.
• Zhao Wan Fang told Li Yan that her people were investigating Mount Tai, while Elder Su renewed the Yan Sect’s offer to find him work in Jiangnan.
• Luo MingZi and Yan Jiuling met Li Yan at Tongzhou Dock, urged him to pursue the Jianmu Demon Man and the Ghost Opera Troupe, and exchanged farewells with him.
• Li Yan, Wang Dao Xuan, Sha LiFei, Kong Shangzhao, and the others boarded Fatty Lin’s ship and sailed away from Tongzhou Dock.

Li Yan and his companions arrived in Jinan Prefecture, where Wang Dao Xuan warned that the abnormal rain and the city’s springs might herald trouble. Kong Shangzhao discovered that strangers had taken over his family’s shop, and the chapter ended with Shopkeeper Qian revealing that the Yansheng Duke had died and Kong’s father was accused of killing him.

• Wang Dao Xuan warned that the unusual southern dampness and Jinan’s water vapor could cause an abnormal change.
• Li Yan’s group reached Banqiao Wharf and entered Jinan City, where Kong Shangzhao led them toward his family’s silk shop.
• Kong Shangzhao found unfamiliar people running the Kong Family Silk Shop, and the new shopkeeper refused to explain where his father was.
• Fatty Lin brought the group to Yuelai Inn and asked Shopkeeper Qian about the change at the shop.
• Shopkeeper Qian told them that the Yansheng Duke was dead and that Kong Shangzhao’s father was said to have killed him.

Li Yan and Sha LiFei investigated the strange death of Yansheng Duke and the arrest of Shopkeeper Kong, visiting Yanbo Tower to meet Golden Swallow Gate branch master Jinping. Jinping shared intelligence about Mount Tai and revealed that the Kong family’s dispute centered on the succession to the position of Yansheng Duke.

• Shopkeeper Qian told Kong Shangzhao and Li Yan that Yansheng Duke had been found dead in the ancestral hall beside the unconscious Shopkeeper Kong, who was now held under strict guard.
• Li Yan stopped Kong Shangzhao from rushing to the prefectural prison and decided to investigate Daming Lake with Sha LiFei.
• At Yanbo Tower, Li Yan and Sha LiFei recognized Feng Ping and the Lu family's second young master before Jinping invited them to a private room.
• Jinping gave Li Yan reports about unrest among Qilu’s martial factions and unusual security changes, disappearances, and strange sounds around Mount Tai.
• Li Yan asked Jinping about Shopkeeper Kong’s case, and she explained that factions in the Kong family were fighting over the position of Yansheng Duke.

Li Yan and Sha LiFei learned that Shopkeeper Kong was caught in a struggle over the Yansheng Duke title, then found officials unwilling to intervene in his case. Li Yan and Wang Dao Xuan sneaked into the prison to question him, only to find him emaciated and apparently insane.

• Jinping explained that Kong Zhenyuan and Kong Zhenwen's factions were contending for the Yansheng Duke title and that Kong Zhenyuan's branch was protecting Shopkeeper Kong while the duke's murder remained unresolved.
• Lu XiaoWu learned that Li Yan had arrived in Jinan and worried that his family needed Prince De's protection for its businesses.
• Li Yan and his companions failed to gain help from the Commandery Commandant Office, the Enforcement Hall, or other officials, so Li Yan decided to sneak into the prison.
• Li Yan and Wang Dao Xuan used the Five Directions Fengdu Banner and ghostly techniques to evade the prison's guards and wards.
• Li Yan and Wang Dao Xuan found Shopkeeper Kong in his cell, emaciated and raving that he did not want to become an immortal.

Li Yan and Wang Dao Xuan broke into the Jinan Prefecture prison, discovered that Shopkeeper Kong had lost his Human Soul, and abducted him to seek a way to restore it. Their escape sparked a citywide search that eventually led the authorities and the Kong family to surround the Jiangzhe Merchant Guild.

• Li Yan knocked out the prison guards while Wang Dao Xuan subdued Shopkeeper Kong and discovered that his Human Soul had been forcibly taken.
• Li Yan and Wang Dao Xuan carried Shopkeeper Kong out of the prison, overcame Zheng Kun, and escaped with help from Wu Ba and Sha LiFei.
• The Kong family factions, Jinan Prefecture officials, Mingde Academy, and other authorities arrived at the prison, but the Commandery Commandant Office and Xu Cangsong avoided taking responsibility for the investigation.
• Wang Dao Xuan told Kong Shangzhao that Shopkeeper Kong could be saved and planned a Three Yin Soul Return Altar, while Fatty Lin offered to obtain the ritual materials from the black market.
• The search continued through Jinan until the authorities found a lead, and their forces surrounded the Jiangzhe Merchant Guild.

Zhao Tong and the Kong family raided the Jiangzhe Merchant Guild in search of Shopkeeper Kong, leading Li Yan to fight Zhao Tong and conceal the missing prisoner. The search failed, but Wang Dao Xuan warned that Shopkeeper Kong’s soul had to be recovered quickly before his fate became uncertain.

• Master Zhao broke into the Jiangzhe Merchant Guild with the constables and searched its rooms for the criminals who had rescued Shopkeeper Kong.
• Zhao Tong confronted Li Yan, and Kong Shangming identified Li Yan and revealed that Kong Shangzhao was inside.
• Zhao Tong demanded that Kong Shangzhao admit to rescuing his father, and Kong Shangzhao condemned Zhao Tong for expelling him and ignoring Kong Shangqing’s abuse of a virtuous woman.
• Li Yan intervened when Zhao Tong attacked Kong Shangzhao, and the two fought to a draw before Li Yan allowed Zhao Tong to search the room.
• Zhao Tong found no sign of Shopkeeper Kong and ordered the constables to keep the guild under watch, while Li Yan checked on Wang Dao Xuan’s concealment ritual.
• Wang Dao Xuan warned Li Yan that they needed to gather ritual items and recover Shopkeeper Kong’s soul quickly.

Li Yan held the Jiangzhe Merchant Guild against the authorities so Wang Dao Xuan could perform a ritual to restore Shopkeeper Kong’s soul before Zi Hour. As Jinan’s powers weighed whether to intervene, Lu XiaoWu offered Prince De to go mediate the standoff.

• Wang Dao Xuan said Shopkeeper Kong’s soul had to be returned before Zi Hour, and Sha LiFei agreed they had no choice but to perform the ritual inside the guild.
• Li Yan confronted Master Zhao at the guild gates, declared the grounds forbidden for two days, and threatened to kill anyone who entered; Master Zhao withdrew rather than attack.
• Sha LiFei, Lu San, Kuai Dayou, and Fatty Lin slipped out to buy Spiritual Materials, but Zhao Tong ordered arcane-goods shops and markets placed under strict supervision.
• The Seal Holder Chiliarch and Xu Cangsong debated the risks of sending troops against Li Yan, while news of the standoff spread through Jinan’s martial world.
• At Prince De’s banquet, Kong Zhenyuan demanded troops suppress the guild, but Prince De Xiao Hong hesitated because of his ties to the guild and the political stakes.
• Lu XiaoWu offered to go persuade the opposing sides, recognizing that the standoff gave him an opportunity to advance his interests.

Lu XiaoWu secured Prince De’s support so Li Yan and Wang Dao Xuan could perform the Three Yin Soul Return Altar to find Shopkeeper Kong’s soul. Fatty Lin discovered it inside a Treasure Gourd in a ruined Land God Temple outside the city, and Li Yan hurried there with him as Zhao Tong pursued.

• Prince De rejected Kong Zhenyuan’s call to attack Li Yan and sent Lu XiaoWu to negotiate with him.
• Li Yan asked for the Jiangzhe Merchant Guild to be left undisturbed until Zi Hour and for the rare materials needed to perform the ritual.
• Lu XiaoWu gathered the requested materials, and Wang Dao Xuan prepared the altar and sent Li Yan, Lu San, and Fatty Lin’s souls out on paper cranes to search for Shopkeeper Kong.
• Fatty Lin spotted Treasure Qi at a ruined Land God Temple and found Shopkeeper Kong’s soul inside a Treasure Gourd.
• Li Yan took Fatty Lin and used the North Emperor Swift Travel Technique to head for the temple, while Zhao Tong followed them.

Li Yan recovered Shopkeeper Kong’s lost Divine Soul and captured Shadowless Kick Li Qi, while Zhao Tong’s interrogation tied Li Qi to Li Family Village near Xiaqing Palace. The revelation terrified Kong Zhenyuan, who returned home and saw something move in the shadows above him.

• Li Yan defeated Shadowless Kick Li Qi at the ruined temple and took the gourd containing Shopkeeper Kong’s Divine Soul.
• Zhao Tong recognized Li Qi, knocked him unconscious, and took charge of him while Li Yan returned to help save Shopkeeper Kong.
• Wang Dao Xuan used the gourd and a soul-fixing incantation to return Shopkeeper Kong’s human soul to his body, leaving him stable but unconscious.
• At the prison, Kong Zhenyuan accused Kong Zhenlin of responsibility for Li Qi, but Zhao Tong silenced their factions and questioned Li Qi.
• Zhao Tong revealed that Li Qi came from Li Family Village near Lao Mountain, prompting alarm and exposing Kong Zhenyuan’s fear.
• Kong Zhenyuan returned home in a panic, muttered that Li Family Village had been burned away, and noticed something move in the shadows above him.

After Kong Zhenyuan and his son were murdered, Lu HongYuan investigated the case and heard Shopkeeper Kong’s testimony, which linked the killer to Cai Wei and events on Lao Mountain twenty years earlier. As the Kong family faced possible blame and the killer remained unidentified, Lu HongYuan asked Li Yan to help him kill someone.

• Lu XiaoWu told Li Yan and the others that Kong Zhenyuan and Kong Shang'an had been killed, while Lu HongYuan traveled to Jinan to oversee the case.
• Bai Lao Jiu examined evidence from the ancestral shrine and concluded that a Mystic Sect master had used Daoist techniques to kill Kong Zhenyuan.
• Lu HongYuan summoned Li Yan’s group and the Kong family, and Shopkeeper Kong described a scarred Daoist who killed Kong Zhenyuan and spared him because he had buried victims of a massacre on Lao Mountain.
• Kong Zhenlin revealed that Kong Zhenyuan had loved Cai Wei, who died after the family opposed their marriage, and Lu HongYuan ordered an investigation into Li Family Village and Lao Mountain.
• Lu HongYuan called Li Yan back after the others left and asked him to help kill someone.

Li Yan and his companions traveled toward Tai'an, where they learned Mount Tai had been sealed by order of the authorities and Daoist sects. After settling at an inn, they heard that ghosts had appeared on the mountain, leaving the cause of the lockdown unresolved.

• Li Yan recalled agreeing to kill Zhou Zhao in exchange for Lu HongYuan protecting the Kong family and guiding him in Martial Arts.
• During the journey, Kong Shangzhao and Fatty Lin discussed the missing Bohai Twisted Wood and the Lin Family’s struggle to rebuild its shipping business.
• The group sheltered in a ruined shrine to Bixia Yuanjun, where Wang Dao Xuan explained the deity’s history and state worship.
• The travelers reached Tai'an and found Mount Tai sealed, with soldiers turning away pilgrims and blocking access to the mountain.
• Li Yan said he had received reports of unusual activity on Mount Tai and sent Sha LiFei to gather information.
• Sha LiFei returned and reported that ghosts were on Mount Tai.

Li Yan and Wang Dao Xuan infiltrated Mount Tai to investigate its worsening supernatural disturbance, while their companions searched Tai'an City for clues. In the city, Bai Lao Jiu revealed that Xuan Wei, the suspected killer of the Yansheng Duke, was likely nearby and connected to the woman killed by the Kong family and the Attendant captured at Kong Zhenlin's residence.

• Sha LiFei described reports of hauntings, missing Mount Tai Taoists, and a ghostly sedan procession, and Li Yan confirmed that a major event had occurred on Mount Tai.
• Li Yan and Wang Dao Xuan used escape techniques to pass the soldiers and cultivators guarding Mount Tai, where they learned the disturbance had worsened over seven days and the sect elders were meeting secretly.
• Wang Dao Xuan used a Mystic Turtle Shell compass to guide Li Yan toward Jade Emperor Peak, while he stayed behind near the mountain path.
• Sha LiFei, Fatty Lin, and Kong Shangzhao searched Tai'an City for information, while Lu San and Kuai Dayou encountered Bai Lao Jiu in a wine shop.
• Bai Lao Jiu told Lu San and Kuai Dayou that Xuan Wei, a Lao Mountain cultivator from Li Family Village, was likely in Tai'an and was suspected of killing the Yansheng Duke.
• Bai Lao Jiu said the woman hounded to death by the Kong family was Xuan Wei's daughter, and that the Attendant captured at Kong Zhenlin's residence also came from Li Family Village.

Bai Lao Jiu recruited Kuai Dayou and Lu San to investigate the disappearances around Tai'an, while Li Yan infiltrated Mount Tai and witnessed a supernatural attack on the Jade Emperor Temple. The attack’s leader was revealed as Shi Xuanming, who ordered the temple’s elders to withdraw.

• Bai Lao Jiu told Kuai Dayou and Lu San that his constables and Hidden Stakes had vanished, and Kuai Dayou persuaded him to write an IOU in the Kong family’s name for the Twelve Yuan Chen.
• Kuai Dayou and Lu San arranged to shadow Bai Lao Jiu, while Lu San sent Xiaobai with a note and summoned Sha LiFei to help surround him.
• Li Yan used the Turtle-Shell Compass and his climbing skills to reach the summit of Mount Tai, where he found the Jade Emperor Temple guarded by experts from several sects.
• A strange fog filled Jade Emperor Peak, and ghostly green lights overwhelmed the temple’s defenders until Shouming Zi and six other elders emerged from the temple.
• Shouming Zi recognized the attacker as Shi Xuanming, who dismissed the elders and ordered them to withdraw.

Li Yan witnessed Shi Xuanming attack the Jade Emperor Temple while seeking the Mount Tai Prefect's office, then learned that three Earth Immortals had vanished and might be acting together. After Li Yan left Mount Tai, Lu San, Sha LiFei, and Kuai Dayou watched Divine Arrestor Bai Lao Jiu as dense fog engulfed the streets.

• Shi Xuanming used mountain spirits and earth puppets to attack the Jade Emperor Temple, claiming that Orthodox sects monopolized Mount Tai's fortune and were plotting to claim the Prefect's office.
• Shi Xuanming wounded an elder with poisoned Heart Piercing Nails, then fled when Xuan Sangzi emerged from the temple.
• Xuan Sangzi learned that two other Earth Immortals were missing and ordered the Jade Emperor Temple to strengthen its defenses until Mount Tai's earth qi stabilized.
• Li Yan told Wang Dao Xuan about the succession struggle and suspected that someone had informed the three Earth Immortals that Living Underworld Messengers were being hunted.
• Lu San, Sha LiFei, and Kuai Dayou watched Bai Lao Jiu, and thick gray-white fog suddenly swallowed the streets.

Sha LiFei and his companions defeated the paper-people attack targeting Constable Bai, captured an Old Woman, and escaped the soldiers who arrived suspiciously quickly. While they suspected someone in the Commandery Commandant Office, Li Yan and Wang Dao Xuan returned from Mount Tai and recognized a man in a sedan as Fatty Lin’s clan uncle.

• Lu San identified the fog-bound attackers as paper people carrying a coffin, and Sha LiFei shot their controller after the coffin released knockout smoke.
• Lu San dispelled the fog and scattered the paper people, while Long Yan’er disabled the fleeing Old Woman and Wu Ba captured her.
• Soldiers and yamen runners surrounded the street, so Sha LiFei and the others escaped to a safe house.
• The Old Woman said an intermediary had hired her to kill Constable Bai, and Bai Lao Jiu suspected the Commandery Commandant Office because soldiers had arrived so quickly.
• Li Yan and Wang Dao Xuan returned from Mount Tai, saw a man riding in a sedan, and Wang Dao Xuan recognized him as Fatty Lin’s clan uncle.

Li Yan and his allies uncovered a plot involving Tai'an officials, Lin Yaozong, kidnapped children, and ritual instruments prepared for a ceremony in Laojun Valley. They gathered there at Zi Hour to stop the conspirators, but were astonished by the immense number of people arriving.

• Wang Dao Xuan confirmed that Fatty Lin's clan uncle, Lin Yaozong, had been seen in Tai'an, and Fatty Lin revealed his suspicion that Lin Yaozong had leaked his family's fleet routes to wokou pirates.
• Bai Lao Jiu connected the wokou to the massacre of Xuan Wei's village, while Li Yan suspected the Mount Tai conflict was linked to Jianmu and the wokou.
• Sha LiFei learned that black-canopied carts had brought children into the city, and Kuai Dayou discovered that masked customers had commissioned ritual instruments for Immortal-Guiding Music in a valley north of Mount Tai.
• Li Yan followed Lin Yaozong to a meeting with Zhao Bingzhong and Zhou Xian, where they revealed that ninety boys and girls had been placed in a cellar as blood sacrifices for a ceremony at Laojun Valley.
• Li Yan and his allies regrouped, resolved to stop the conspirators, and hid in Laojun Valley at Zi Hour as a vast procession of torches approached.