Chapter Summaries

After the war in Northern Commandery, the Azure Cloud Sect struggled to distribute the spoils and ordered a search for Kong Wu, while Kong Wu planned to travel to Western Ox Continent to gain more attribute points. He reached the city he thought was Qing'an City, only to discover it was Maple Dance City.

• Azure Cloud Daoist assigned the Corpse Taming Sect's territory to Red Plum Villa and ordered the elders to find and protect the cultivator who had defeated Young Master Hongchen.
• Kong Wu considered the danger posed by Young Master Hongchen and decided to travel to Western Ox Continent to collect more free attribute points.
• Kong Wu used Shui Yueqi's directions and a map to seek Qing'an City, but found a mountain range where he expected the city to be.
• Kong Wu crossed the mountains, followed a road to a city, and realized its gates read Maple Dance City rather than Qing'an City.

Kong Wu entered Maple Dance City to buy sturdier clothes, unaware that the cultivators there mistook him for a terrifying demon cultivator. After recognizing the Water Moon Sword Sect’s ceremonial robe and Hun Jie’s Tiger Fiend Sword, the Bamboo Heart Sect’s Jin Fan concluded Kong Wu had destroyed the sect and moved to alert his superiors.

• Kong Wu explored Maple Dance City and noticed cultivators reacting to him with fear before entering a shop to buy protective robes.
• An enforcer rushed to Jin Fan and reported that a powerful demon cultivator had entered the city.
• Jin Fan prepared to confront the intruder until the enforcer identified the bone sword as Hun Jie’s Tiger Fiend Sword.
• The enforcer recognized Kong Wu’s tattered garment as Shui Yueqi’s ceremonial robe and suspected Kong Wu had annihilated the Water Moon Sword Sect.
• Jin Fan ordered the Bamboo Heart Sect’s disciples gathered, told them to watch Kong Wu, and went to report the danger to the sect.

Kong Wu commissioned a custom garment from the Immortal Garment Pavilion, where manager Yu Lin recognized the righteous energy surrounding his bone sword. The Bamboo Heart Sect elders who had been watching Kong Wu as a suspected demonic cultivator were left facing Yu Lin’s rebuke.

• Kong Wu asked Yu Lin to make him a sturdy garment that fit, and Yu Lin agreed to use the best materials in exchange for one pure-attributed spirit crystal.
• Yu Lin told Kong Wu that the Immortal Garment Pavilion upheld its principles even when dealing with someone who appeared to be an ordinary person.
• Three Void Refining-stage elders from the Bamboo Heart Sect watched Kong Wu leave the pavilion and confronted Yu Lin about the suspected demonic cultivator.
• Yu Lin defended Kong Wu, explaining that his bone sword radiated pure Vast Righteousness, and called him a Great Confucian.
• Kong Wu nearly stumbled when Yu Lin praised him as a Great Confucian.

Kong Wu was mistaken for a Great Confucian and then identified by Yu Lin as a descendant of Sage Kong Yue. Yu Lin became his devoted follower, and they went to Late Maple Tower, where the Maple Leaf Dance began.

• Yu Lin defended Kong Wu as a Great Confucian until a Bamboo Heart Sect disciple revealed that Shui Yueqi had given Kong Wu the robes and flag, prompting the elders to retreat.
• Kong Wu told Yu Lin his name and suggested he might be Kong Yue’s descendant, and Yu Lin knelt to pay his respects.
• Kong Wu tried to disprove his scholarly lineage by giving nonsensical explanations of sage teachings, but Yu Lin took them as proof and followed him reverently.
• Kong Wu and Yu Lin went to Late Maple Tower to eat and watch the Maple Leaf Dance, and Kong Wu ordered ten portions of each signature dish.
• The Maple Leaf Chicken arrived as the music for the Maple Leaf Dance began below.

Kong Wu watched the Maple Leaf Dance until Bamboo Heart Sect Hall Master Jin Fan arrived and tried to ban it. Yu Lin drove Jin Fan away, while sensing that Kong Wu had nearly killed him.

• Kong Wu savored Maple Leaf Chicken and watched the Maple Leaf Dance, finding comfort in its joyful performance.
• Jin Fan ordered the dancers to stop and declared the Maple Leaf Dance and the Red Maple Festival forbidden.
• Jin Fan seized a Golden Core guest and threatened the red-clad dancer with imprisonment when she asked about performing the next day.
• Kong Wu told the dancers to continue, and Yu Lin appeared to confront Jin Fan.
• Yu Lin injured Jin Fan and sent him away with a warning to the Bamboo Heart Sect Grand Elder.
• Yu Lin returned to his room and sensed that Kong Wu had been close to killing Jin Fan.

Kong Wu learned that the Bamboo Heart Sect had banned the Maple Leaf Dance, a tradition from the former rulers of Maple Dance City, Maple Dance Valley. After Feng Lu vowed to dance at the Red Maple Festival despite the danger, Kong Wu promised the festival would go ahead and told Yu Lin to handle something for him.

• After the dancing ended, Kong Wu ordered another round of food, and Yu Lin brought Feng Lu to thank him for helping her finish her dance.
• Yu Lin and Feng Lu explained that the Bamboo Heart Sect had banned the Maple Leaf Dance after taking over the city, while Maple Dance Valley had been known for forcibly performing Essence Absorption.
• Feng Lu recalled how Maple Dance Valley had joined the residents' Red Maple Festival, then mourned that the lively celebration seemed lost.
• Feng Lu declared that she would dance the Maple Leaf Dance even if the cultivators killed her, and Yu Lin offered to have the Household pressure the Bamboo Heart Sect.
• Kong Wu ordered Yu Lin to stop talking, promised Feng Lu the festival would proceed as usual, and told her not to kneel.
• After Feng Lu left, Yu Lin said the eighteen Houses would support Kong Wu if he revealed his identity, but Kong Wu dismissed him and called him over to handle something.

Azure Cloud Daoist learned that Kong Wu had been found in Maple Dance City and planned to recruit him to seek the Human Immortal’s Cave Mansion in the Kunlun Secret Realm. Young Master Hongchen also learned Kong Wu’s location and sent Ta Shan to capture or kill him, setting both groups on course to arrive around noon the next day.

• Azure Cloud Daoist’s disciple reported that Kong Wu was in Maple Dance City, and Azure Cloud Daoist sent him away to cultivate while he summoned the Azure Cloud Sect’s Grand Elder and True Man Qingxuan.
• Azure Cloud Daoist told the others that the Kunlun Secret Realm might reveal a Human Immortal’s Cave Mansion and ordered True Man Qingxuan to bring Kong Wu back before the Demonic Sect could reach him.
• The Grand Elder warned that Young Master Hongchen would likely target Kong Wu, and True Man Qingxuan departed for Maple Dance City.
• Young Master Hongchen learned Kong Wu’s location and ordered Ta Shan to attack him, capture him alive if possible, and bring back his soul if he killed him.
• Ta Shan left for Maple Dance City by way of Evil Bone Temple, while Young Master Hongchen hoped to obtain Kong Wu’s secret art.

Evil Bone Buddha decided to recruit Kong Wu into the Sacred Buddha Temple and set out himself. In Maple Dance City, Feng Lu defied the Bamboo Heart Sect’s ban on the Red Maple Festival, and the townspeople gathered around her as the enforcers tried to arrest her.

• Evil Bone Buddha decided Kong Wu should take refuge in the Sacred Buddha Temple and left to find him, telling his black-robed disciple to prepare for the Kunlun Secret Realm.
• The people of Maple Dance City saw Feng Lu walk toward the square dressed for the Red Maple Festival, despite the Bamboo Heart Sect’s ban.
• Bamboo Heart Sect enforcers confronted Feng Lu and ordered her arrested for violating the ban.
• The townspeople protested when the enforcers moved to seize Feng Lu, and the squad leader’s attack only angered the crowd.
• More than a hundred townspeople stood around Feng Lu, facing the enforcers in silence.

Bai Xiucai revealed his Spirit Transformation cultivation to protect Feng Lu and the people of Maple Dance City, defeating the enforcement team before confronting Bamboo Heart Sect reinforcements. As Feng Lu prepared the plaza for her final Maple Leaf Dance, a growing crowd of townspeople arrived to help.

• Bai Xiucai stepped forward to shield the crowd after the enforcement captain attacked them.
• The enforcement captain accused Bai Xiucai of being a Demonic Sect spy and attacked with the Bamboo Curtain Formation.
• Bai Xiucai broke the formation with his paper fan, defeated the enforcers, and told Feng Lu to proceed.
• Feng Lu headed to the plaza while Bai Xiucai flew to intercept five approaching Bamboo Heart Sect reinforcements.
• Feng Lu and the townspeople decorated the plaza as more commoners streamed in carrying instruments, lanterns, flowers, and cooking supplies.

Feng Lu prepared for the Maple Leaf Dance as Bamboo Heart Sect’s cultivators battled Bai Xiucai above the square. After Bai Xiucai survived a powerful explosion but was gravely wounded, a burly stranger arrived and killed one of the cultivators with a sneeze.

• Manager Wan dismantled Late Maple Tower’s wooden platform and brought timber to help Feng Lu prepare for the Maple Leaf Dance.
• Bai Xiucai fought off three Spirit Transformation cultivators from Bamboo Heart Sect until one used Bamboo Heart Thunder against him.
• Bai Xiucai shielded the mortals in the square, survived the blast, and staggered back to face the three cultivators despite his injuries.
• A burly man arrived and ignored a Bamboo Heart Sect cultivator’s palm strike, which left him unharmed.
• The burly man sneezed and shattered one of the cultivators, while the leading cultivator lost an arm.

Kong Wu frightened off two Bamboo Heart Sect cultivators and waited while Feng Lu prepared to recreate the Red Maple Festival. When Bamboo Heart Sect elders and dozens of powerful cultivators arrived, Bai Xiucai reassured Feng Lu that Kong Wu could handle them and resolved to give up drinking.

• Kong Wu’s sneeze terrified two Bamboo Heart Sect cultivators, who fled to seek an elder, while Bai Xiucai wondered about Kong Wu’s power and bone sword.
• Feng Lu told Kong Wu the festival preparations would take fifteen minutes, and he went to nap on an observation platform.
• Bai Xiucai told Feng Lu he had helped because he wanted to see the Red Maple Festival again.
• The two fleeing cultivators returned with dozens of others, including two Void Refining stage elders, and Feng Lu grew worried.
• Bai Xiucai assured Feng Lu that the newcomers were insignificant before Kong Wu, then vowed to give up alcohol.

Kong Wu stopped the Bamboo Heart Sect from attacking the mortals in Maple Dance City and warned its elders not to cross the line he had drawn. Ma Yuanhua and Lu Hao realized they could not defeat him, but still faced pressure to defend the sect’s authority.

• Lu Hao dismissed a disciple’s account of Kong Wu killing someone with a sneeze, then recognized Kong Wu alongside Ma Yuanhua.
• Ma Yuanhua apologized for the sect’s earlier offense and warned Kong Wu not to interfere in its internal affairs, but Kong Wu remained asleep.
• Ma Yuanhua ordered Spirit Transformation disciples to attack the mortals, and Kong Wu killed them by throwing ordinary stones through their barriers.
• Kong Wu woke and crushed stones into powder, scattering it into a line across the ground and rooftops.
• Kong Wu warned the Bamboo Heart Sect that anyone who crossed the line would die.

Kong Wu helped Feng Lu and the residents prepare the Red Maple Festival while refusing to acknowledge the Bamboo Heart Sect. When the Grand Elder ordered an attack on the square, Kong Wu erased the sect’s assault with a gust from his fist, leaving the conflict unresolved.

• Lu Hao wanted to attack Kong Wu, but Ma Yuanhua stopped him and said he had summoned the Bamboo Heart Sect’s Grand Elder.
• Kong Wu used his power to help Feng Lu and the residents finish decorating the square for the Red Maple Festival.
• The Bamboo Heart Sect’s Grand Elder arrived and demanded that Kong Wu stop the celebration, but Kong Wu ignored him.
• As Feng Lu prepared to begin the festival, the Grand Elder called the celebration demonic and ordered his disciples to eradicate the residents.
• The Grand Elder attacked Kong Wu while the Bamboo Heart Sect disciples bombarded the square, but Kong Wu’s fist wind wiped out all their attacks.

Kong Wu shrugged off the Bamboo Heart Sect Grand Elder’s sword qi and annihilated nearly all the sect’s cultivators in Maple Dance Valley with precisely aimed stone fragments. He let the wounded Grand Elder’s Nascent Soul escape so it could bring back stronger enemies, while reflecting on his newfound control over strength.

• The Grand Elder attacked Kong Wu with Bamboo Heart Sword Qi, but it failed to injure him and instead became spiritual energy within his body.
• Upset that the attack had ruined his clothes, Kong Wu broke stones from the railing and hurled them at the Grand Elder and the Bamboo Heart Sect cultivators.
• The stones pierced the Grand Elder’s dantian and killed most of the sect’s forces, including Lu Hao and Ma Yuanhua, while the Grand Elder escaped as a badly wounded Nascent Soul.
• Kong Wu chose not to pursue the Grand Elder, hoping he would return with stronger opponents, and received system notifications for the many cultivators he had killed.
• Kong Wu considered how his improved strength let him control each stone with precision and wondered whether that resembled the control of a domain.

After defeating the Bamboo Heart Sect cultivators, Kong Wu distributed his attribute points and asked Bai Xiucai to retrieve his clothes from the Immortal Garment Pavilion. While waiting with Feng Lu, he bought food from the Red Maple Festival vendors and gave them Storage Rings as keepsakes.

• Kong Wu added the cultivators’ 184 Free Attribute Points to his Life attribute and considered how to use his two Special Attribute Points.
• Kong Wu noticed Bai Xiucai’s unusually high Life attribute and asked him to visit the Immortal Garment Pavilion about his clothes, while Bai Xiucai mistakenly thought Kong Wu had uncovered his origins.
• Bai Xiucai flew off to run the errand, and Kong Wu told Feng Lu to rest until he returned.
• Kong Wu spotted a vendor roasting chicken, bought ten, and then visited the festival’s snack stalls.
• Kong Wu gave each vendor a Storage Ring, which they accepted as a keepsake of the festival and of him.

Kong Wu put on his newly made robe, whose special attributes made him seem irresistibly handsome, then faced the arrival of Bamboo Heart Sect’s Sect Master, Mr. Azure Bamboo. He rejected Qing Zhu’s guess that he belonged to the Zilu School and prepared to fight before the wine finished heating.

• Bai Xiucai returned with the black outfit, and Kong Wu found that it fit him perfectly.
• Kong Wu spent a Special Attribute Point on the Black Mystic Robe, giving it the Charm attribute and making everyone nearby see him as exceptionally handsome.
• Kong Wu used his remaining Special Attribute Point on the robe and accepted Feng Lu’s request to begin, but noticed someone approaching.
• Mr. Azure Bamboo arrived with the Great Elder’s Nascent Soul and asked whether Kong Wu was a Confucian cultivator from the Zilu School.
• Kong Wu denied Qing Zhu’s guess indirectly, then said the wine was nearly ready and that he would deal with him quickly.

Kong Wu confronted Qing Zhu over the Bamboo Heart Sect’s refusal to restore Maple Dance City’s Red Maple Festival, and their dispute turned into a fight. After blocking Qing Zhu’s Sword Qi, Kong Wu activated the Blood Ghost Battle Body as Qing Zhu began to unleash his own power.

• Kong Wu demanded to know whether the Red Maple Festival could continue, but Qing Zhu refused and explained that the Bamboo Heart Sect intended to erase Maple Dance Valley’s influence.
• Kong Wu rejected Qing Zhu’s demands and said he would oppose the sect to preserve the festival, so Qing Zhu attacked him with Sword Qi.
• Kong Wu used Soul Shock to weaken Qing Zhu, while his Black Mystic Robe absorbed the Sword Qi without damage.
• Kong Wu drew the Tiger Soul Sword and activated the Blood Ghost Battle Body as Qing Zhu began invoking Myriad Bamboo.

Kong Wu killed Qing Zhu with a single sword strike and let the Red Maple Festival continue, ending the Bamboo Heart Sect’s rule over Maple Dance City. Meanwhile, Wu Nishang revealed that Bamboo Heart Son was alive and had reached the Integrated Body Middle Stage, leaving Yu Lin worried about Kong Wu’s safety.

• Kong Wu beheaded Qing Zhu before he could unfold his domain, then returned to the festival platform and ordered the celebration to begin.
• Feng Lu danced as the crowd realized the Bamboo Heart Sect’s master had been killed, and Bai Xiucai concluded that Kong Wu did not belong to the Zilu School.
• Feng Lu and the musicians performed with renewed joy, believing the Bamboo Heart Sect’s rule over Maple Dance City had ended.
• Wu Nishang told Yu Lin that Bamboo Heart Son was still alive and had appeared during the Bamboo Heart Sect’s attack with Integrated Body Middle Stage cultivation.
• Yu Lin grew concerned for Kong Wu, recalling that Kong Wu had explained his plan with Sage Kong’s saying, “A gentleman who is not serious commands no respect.”

Kong Wu dismissed Yu Lin’s warning about the Bamboo Heart Sect’s mid-Body Integration practitioner and assured Maple Dance Valley he could handle the sect. Meanwhile, Bamboo Heart Son and the Great Elder discovered the sect’s devastating losses and learned that a lone person connected to the Zilu School had killed Qing Zhu and others; they flew toward Maple Dance City.

• Yu Lin warned Kong Wu about a mid-Body Integration practitioner in the Bamboo Heart Sect, but Kong Wu insisted he could handle the sect and told Maple Dance Valley to decide whether to return.
• Bamboo Heart Son and the Great Elder found that most of the Bamboo Heart Sect’s Spirit Transformation practitioners’ jade slips had shattered.
• The Great Elder contacted the Fourth Elder, who described finding the sect’s dead practitioners in Maple Dance City and seeing one person kill Qing Zhu with a single sword stroke.
• The Fourth Elder recalled that Qing Zhu had mentioned the Zilu School, and Bamboo Heart Son decided the attacker could not be allowed to live.
• Bamboo Heart Son and the Great Elder flew toward Maple Dance City.

Bamboo Heart Son and his disciple approached Maple Dance City cautiously, but Ta Shan ambushed them and mistook Bamboo Heart Son for the person Young Master Hongchen wanted captured. Ta Shan prepared to overpower him and make him reveal the truth.

• Bamboo Heart Son sensed an approaching threat as the ground shook, and Ta Shan burst from the forest and stomped where Bamboo Heart Son and his disciple had stood.
• Bamboo Heart Son recognized Ta Shan as a member of the supposedly extinct Pangu Clan and realized he was not carrying the sword described by the Fourth Elder.
• Ta Shan said Young Master Hongchen had ordered him to attack and capture a burly man near Maple Dance City.
• Bamboo Heart Son denied knowing Young Master Hongchen or being the person Ta Shan sought, but Ta Shan concluded that he must be the target because he was the strongest nearby.
• Ta Shan spread his arms and said he would make Bamboo Heart Son tell him the truth.