Chapter Summaries

Lin Fan fought the great power among ghost cultivators, Venerable Blood Weeper, who sought the Divine Bone and tried to rebuild the Ghost King Sect. Lin Fan finally killed him with his Sword Seed, black banner, and Devouring Demonic Art, then began recovering his strength.

• Venerable Blood Weeper overwhelmed Lin Fan and drained the surviving Blood Demon Sect disciples to restore his strength.
• Kumuzi turned against Lin Fan, while Ghost Mother Wuji protected him; Lin Fan used a fake Divine Bone to lure Venerable Blood Weeper into an attack.
• Lin Fan detonated Green-Eyed Flood Dragon Talismans and two ancient demons, severely weakening Venerable Blood Weeper but failing to kill him.
• As Venerable Blood Weeper moved to seize him, Lin Fan revealed his strength and pierced the old man's brow with his Sword Seed, binding his soul with the black banner.
• Venerable Blood Weeper tried to ignite his soul, but Lin Fan swallowed its power with the Devouring Demonic Art and killed him.
• Lin Fan collected Venerable Blood Weeper's storage ring and used Spirit Jade to restore his depleted True Essence.

After defeating the ghost cultivator powerhouse, Lin Fan claimed his spoils and gained a transformed demonic sail with Ghost Mother Wuji as its Artifact Spirit. He then discovered the Shadowless Escape Technique and began using the Pre-emptive Dao Fruit to learn it.

• Lin Fan restored his True Essence, reflected on how narrowly he had won, and inspected the ghost cultivator's storage ring.
• Lin Fan infused Yin Yang Blood Tiger blood essence into his second portal, leaving only the last Blood Gate unopened.
• Lin Fan transferred the golden Soul Gathering Pearl's eighty to ninety thousand souls into the Black Demon Sail, greatly increasing its power.
• Ghost Mother Wuji volunteered to become the sail's Artifact Spirit, helping Lin Fan suppress its evil consciousness; Lin Fan renamed it the Wuji Sail.
• Lin Fan found the Ten Directions Ghost Domain Art and the Shadowless Escape Technique, then asked the Pre-emptive Dao Fruit to advance the escape technique.

Lin Fan advanced the Shadowless Escape Technique and Secret Records of Rune Fusion, creating a fourth Ancient Demon Talisman tied to the Sky Swallowing Sparrow. As he realized the five talismans might fuse, the Eerie Altar descended over the Blood Demon Sect and began turning its people to stone.

• Lin Fan advanced the Shadowless Escape Technique, then returned to copying rune patterns after noticing his lifespan had dwindled.
• Ghost Mother Wuji warned Lin Fan that the Eerie Altar could destroy the Ghost King Sect, and Lin Fan sent Feng Ling word to hasten repairs to the Teleportation Array.
• Lin Fan advanced Secret Records of Rune Fusion to Great Accomplishment and learned the rune for the fire-attribute Sky Swallowing Sparrow.
• Lin Fan crafted the fourth Ancient Demon Talisman, and it resonated with his other three talismans; he surmised that five talismans representing the elements could fuse into one.
• The Eerie Altar descended above the Blood Demon Sect, and its elders and disciples began turning into stone statues.

Lin Fan escaped the Eerie Altar by entering the secret realm, where he reunited with Han Yan and discovered that the realm had grown dangerous. At the Ancient Bronze Hall, Han Yan revealed her true nature and offered to help him escape if he aided her in devouring the divine statues, then said the altar was pursuing him because he carried its aura.

• Lin Fan fled the Blood Demon Sect as the Eerie Altar pursued him into the secret realm, where he found the blood pool dried up and encountered the enlarged Mutated Divine Statue.
• Han Yan rescued Lin Fan, explained that the secret realm had changed after something tried to break out of the Ancient Bronze Hall, and guided him toward it.
• Lin Fan used Kumuzi's Bronze Key to open the Ancient Bronze Hall, revealing a chamber filled with powerful divine statues.
• Han Yan revealed that she was not the real Han Yan and offered to help Lin Fan reach a Teleportation Array if he helped her devour the divine statues.
• Han Yan explained how divine statues came to be and said Lin Fan carried the Eerie Altar's aura.

Lin Fan exposed Grandma Blood River's attempt to make him move the divine statues and lured her into a clash with the Eerie Altar and the Mutated Divine Statue. As the secret realm collapsed, a broken divine statue guided him through a portal in the Ancient Bronze Hall, leaving his fate uncertain.

• Lin Fan entered the Ancient Bronze Hall and realized Grandma Blood River wanted him to move its divine statues so she could escape her restraints.
• Grandma Blood River revealed her identity and attacked Lin Fan with blood curses, but his Sky Swallowing Sparrow form returned the statue to its place and shattered her blood tide.
• Lin Fan fled using a Blood Demon Talisman decoy, drawing Grandma Blood River into a battle with the Eerie Altar and the Mutated Divine Statue.
• Grandma Blood River transformed into a blood sea, triggering golden runes, lightning, and the secret realm's collapse.
• A broken divine statue guided Lin Fan to a portal inside the Ancient Bronze Hall, and he entered as the hall exploded and the secret realm collapsed.

Lin Fan survived a spatial storm and woke buried at Random Burial Ridge in Great Gan, where he took constable Ding Fu’s identity after killing him. He entered Yunshan County and joined the Archive Department, where his superior Zhou Qing rewarded him with Lifespan Blood Pills.

• A constable named Ding Fu buried Lin Fan, who had been left unconscious after a spatial storm, and Lin Fan grabbed Ding Fu’s shoe as he awoke.
• Lin Fan used Soul Searching Technique on Ding Fu, learned about Great Gan and Yunshan County, then killed him and took his identity, status token, and storage pouch.
• Lin Fan discovered Lifespan Blood Pills and the Seven Fiends Saber Art in the pouch, burned Ding Fu’s corpse, and disguised himself as a constable.
• Lin Fan passed beneath the Lifespan Ancient Mirror at Yunshan County’s gate without being exposed, despite learning that the artifact secretly drained the lifespans of the city’s residents.
• Lin Fan reported to deputy administrator Zhou Qing in the Archive Department, received Lifespan Blood Pills, and agreed with Zhou Qing’s view that sacrificing a few people could spare others from danger.

Lin Fan discovered that copying Archive Department files granted him lifespan, while learning that Yunshan County officials were secretly seeking young women to appease fox demons. He returned home after gaining thirty years of lifespan and was welcomed by Su Wan'er.

• Zhou Qing told a shadowed official that two more young women of purest yin were needed, and the official gave him half a month to find them.
• Ye Die warned Lin Fan that eight young women had died and questioned his repeated trips outside the city.
• Lin Fan copied a file and gained six years of lifespan, then earned thirty years by copying files throughout the day.
• Lin Fan left the County Office before dark and returned home, where Su Wan'er welcomed him.

Lin Fan recovered from his injuries and advanced his sword cultivation while staying in Yunshan County, inadvertently provoking the Lifespan Ancient Mirror. He opened the Blood Gate and resolved to pursue greater strength as the mirror’s caretaker feared a powerful demon had entered the city.

• Lin Fan saw the Lifespan Ancient Mirror drain Su Wan'er’s vitality through her emotions and gave her a Lifespan Pill.
• Lin Fan restored his True Essence with Spirit Jade and used the Indestructible Dao Fruit to heal his damaged soul at the cost of five hundred years of lifespan.
• Lin Fan advanced the Flowing Cloud Sword Scripture to the fourth level, and his cultivation caused the Lifespan Ancient Mirror to flare and intensify its lifespan drain.
• Lin Fan opened the Blood Gate, reached the ninth grade of the Mountain Splitting Realm, and resolved to grow strong enough to face the world’s mysterious powers.
• A black-clad figure on the city gate tower failed to suppress the ancient mirror and feared that a Fifth or Sixth Realm demon had entered Yunshan County.

Lin Fan learned that Madam Su had recognized his disguise as Ding Lang, but she agreed to keep treating him as her husband. After the Lifespan Ancient Mirror went berserk and drained the lives of over a hundred elderly residents, Lin Fan was assigned to patrol the city under curfew, and he asked Jiang Ming where to buy Demonic Beast Blood Essence.

• Madam Su noticed that Lin Fan differed from Ding Lang and promised to keep his identity secret after he warned her.
• Lin Fan saw residents discussing several sudden deaths caused by drained lifespans on his way to the County Office.
• Jiang Ming told Lin Fan that the Lifespan Ancient Mirror had gone berserk and that an extremely dangerous demonic entity was suspected to have entered the city.
• Zhou Qing ordered the Archive Department constables to patrol designated areas because the county town was under curfew.
• Lin Fan and Jiang Ming set out on patrol, and Lin Fan asked where he could buy Demonic Beast Blood Essence; Jiang Ming named Tian Yuan Pavilion on Gu Ling Street.

Lin Fan sent an Avatar Talisman to Tian Yuan Pavilion to find powerful Demonic Beast Blood Essence for his Blood Gate. He traded his talisman-making skills for the essence and left after the shopkeeper recognized him as a rare talisman master.

• Lin Fan left Jiang Ming at a restaurant and sent his burly Avatar Talisman to Tian Yuan Pavilion.
• Lin Fan's avatar found that the pavilion's displayed Demonic Beast Blood Essence was too weak, but shopkeeper Liu Ruhan offered a drop of Fifth Realm Yuan Devouring Beast blood essence.
• Liu Ruhan deduced that Lin Fan's visitor was an Avatar Talisman and proposed exchanging the blood essence and free materials for a Heaven and Earth Demon Suppressing Talisman.
• Lin Fan agreed to the deal and left Tian Yuan Pavilion with the blood essence.
• Liu Ruhan told an associate that they should befriend Lin Fan and report the newly discovered talisman master to headquarters.

Lin Fan received Zhou Qing’s order to abduct a woman, then returned home and used the Yuan Devouring Beast blood essence to break through to the Cloud Soaring Realm. After awakening his spiritual sense and transforming his Sword Seed into a Sword Embryo, he wondered whether the mysterious secret realm had once been a powerful cultivator’s inner landscape.

• Lin Fan retrieved the Yuan Devouring Beast blood essence while drinking with Jiang Ming, then returned to patrol and later filed the day’s records.
• Zhou Qing gave Lin Fan a note ordering him to handle a matter involving missing women and promised him a Lifespan Blood Pill.
• Ye Die confronted Lin Fan about Zhou Qing’s order, but Lin Fan denied that he had been told to do anything wrong.
• Lin Fan sealed his room with divine-soul power and Ancient Demon Talismans, then used the blood essence to break through to the Cloud Soaring Realm.
• Lin Fan gained Origin Energy, a Sword Embryo, and heightened spiritual sense, then wondered whether the mysterious secret realm had been an inner landscape.

Lin Fan investigated the Lifespan Ancient Mirror’s nighttime erosion and went to meet Lord Fox while disguised as Zhou Qing’s lackey. After Lord Fox killed the men accompanying him and threatened to use him as a cauldron, Lin Fan killed the fox demons and returned to Yunshan County with the imprisoned women.

• Lin Fan saw the black mist over Yunshan County and sensed the Lifespan Ancient Mirror draining lifespan at night.
• Lin Fan met the men outside the county and escorted their prison cart carrying three women north to Lord Fox.
• Lord Fox killed the burly man and devoured the other cultivators after Lin Fan allowed it to happen.
• Lord Fox threatened Lin Fan with death or having his essence drained for the goddaughter fox demon.
• Lin Fan killed Lord Fox and the goddaughter, collected their storage artifacts, and escorted the women back to Yunshan County.

Lin Fan delivered the rescued girls to Ye Die’s residence and discovered that the fox demons possessed a powerful Demon Core Pill, hinting at a Fifth Realm demon behind them. He mastered the fifth Ancient Demon Rune, made its talisman, and began fusing all five Ancient Demon Talismans.

• Lin Fan brought the captive girls to Ye Die’s residence, where Ye Die and the woman in black found them and a Moon Raven watched from the roof.
• Lin Fan searched the dead men’s storage artifacts, found Lifespan Blood Pills and a Demon Core Pill, and realized a Fifth Realm demon supported the fox demons.
• Lin Fan used the Pre-emptive Dao Fruit to perfect the Secret Records of Rune Fusion and learned the Ancient Three-headed Lizard rune.
• Lin Fan refined the fifth Ancient Demon Talisman, then summoned all five talismans and began combining them with his divine soul power.

Lin Fan refined five Ancient Demon Talismans into an Ancient Demon King Talisman and used the Eye of Submersion to mislead Zhou Qing about Lord Fox’s death. Zhou Qing ordered Lin Fan to accompany him out of the city in three days to plead guilty, while Lin Fan prepared talismans for Tian Yuan Pavilion.

• Lin Fan fused five Ancient Demon Talismans into an Ancient Demon King Talisman and refined it into an Avatar Talisman.
• Ye Die confronted Lin Fan about rescuing three girls, but he denied knowing anything and entered the County Office.
• Zhou Qing questioned Lin Fan about Lord Fox’s death, and Lin Fan used the Eye of Submersion to make him believe a false account.
• Zhou Qing spared Lin Fan and ordered him to accompany him out of the city in three days to plead guilty to the fox demons.
• Jiang Ming warned Lin Fan that the Inspection Bureau had evidence against Zhou Qing, and Lin Fan thanked him.
• Lin Fan prepared talismans for Tian Yuan Pavilion, and the next day his Avatar Talisman delivered them.

Lin Fan joined Zhou Qing's convoy to deliver captives to the Red-tailed Fox Demons, but the meeting turned into a trap for Qing Feng and the Inspectorate. After revealing strength that let him kill the fox demons with ease, Lin Fan became the target of a second Fourth Realm demon fox.

• Lin Fan gained forty-two years of lifespan by copying case files, then denied knowing about Zhou Qing's dealings when Inspectorate envoy Qing Feng offered him a promotion for evidence.
• Three days later, Lin Fan accompanied Zhou Qing's convoy of captive women to a ruined mountain god temple, where Zhou Qing offered them to Second Master Fox.
• Second Master Fox devoured people from the carriages, and Zhou Qing pointed Lin Fan out as someone who knew who had killed Fifth Brother.
• Qing Feng and the Inspectorate arrived and attacked Zhou Qing and Second Master Fox, but Zhou Qing revealed he had lured them into a trap with a second, more powerful demon fox.
• Lin Fan effortlessly killed several attacking fox demons and absorbed their Soul Body energy, so Second Master Fox sent the other giant fox to kill him.

Lin Fan used the Ancient Demon King to devour Fox Howl and uncover the fox demons’ alliance with Zhou Qing and County Magistrate Yuwen Xian to seize Yin Maidens. He returned to the battle and killed Second Master Fox, leaving Zhou Qing and the wounded Inspector facing him.

• Lin Fan escaped Fox Howl’s attacks, then the Ancient Demon King emerged and swallowed Fox Howl, absorbing his memories.
• Lin Fan learned that the Fox Demon Clan’s mysterious ancestor was suspected to have reached the Form Transformation Realm and that Zhou Qing and Yuwen Xian had colluded with the fox demons to find Yin Maidens.
• Lin Fan decided to protect the Inspection Bureau’s people and transformed the Ancient Demon King into a pale-skinned man.
• The exhausted Inspector held off Zhou Qing and Second Master Fox, who hesitated to risk her dying strike.
• Lin Fan arrived, and Second Master Fox welcomed him before asking him to help kill the Inspector.
• Lin Fan suddenly stabbed Second Master Fox through the chest and tore his body apart.

Lin Fan defeated Zhou Qing while disguised as a terrifying giant, then let Qing Feng take Zhou Qing alive as evidence against the County Magistrate. After returning home and recovering Zhou Qing’s storage ring, Lin Fan discovered an astonishing item inside.

• Qing Feng weakened Zhou Qing with her final sword strike, and Lin Fan seized him, shattered his bones, and took his storage artifact.
• Qing Feng deduced that the giant was neither a demon nor Ding Fu, but it ignored her offer to cooperate and vanished.
• Patrol Office reinforcements arrived, and Qing Feng ordered them to search for survivors and revive Lin Fan.
• Qing Feng questioned Lin Fan about the fox demon, then brought him back to the Patrol Office to give a statement.
• Lin Fan returned home, reunited with Madam Su, and later examined Zhou Qing’s storage ring.
• Lin Fan deciphered the ring’s restrictions and found an astonishing item inside.

Lin Fan used the Wuji Sail’s Yin Malevolent Energy to merge the Desolate Heaven Dharma Form with the Bright King Dharma Form, creating a new cultivation art and advancing his cultivation. Meanwhile, the Inspection Division confronted a county official over his collusion with demons, and he defended his actions as being for Yunshan County before the earth began to shake.

• Lin Fan found the Blood Concealment Cloak and Lifespan Pills in Zhou Qing’s storage ring, along with the Great Evolution Desire Talisman Art and Bright King Dharma Form.
• Lin Fan summoned Ghost Mother Wuji and asked her to produce Yin Malevolent Energy so he could merge the Bright King Dharma Form with the Desolate Heaven Dharma Form.
• Lin Fan used the Pre-emptive Dao Fruit to obtain the Desolate Heaven Bright King Dharma Form and cultivated it with yin and yang energies from the Wuji Sail and his surroundings.
• Lin Fan completed the merged art, improved his mental power and cultivation, and realized that an ancient fox demon had likely used Yin Maidens to strengthen its mental power.
• At the Yunshan County Office, the Inspection Division accused a seated figure of colluding with demons and slaughtering innocents; he claimed he had acted for the county, then rose as the earth shook.

After Zhou Qing was exposed for colluding with demons and the County Magistrate escaped the Inspection Bureau, Lin Fan was summoned and promoted to deputy chief of the Archive Department. The County Magistrate warned him to obey the County Office, while an eerie figure worried that the old fox demon would retaliate.

• Madam Su told Lin Fan that Yunshan County was safer than the places beyond it, where demons and evil cultivators threatened people.
• At the County Office, Jiang Ming told Lin Fan that Zhou Qing had been captured for colluding with the Fox Demon Tribe and that the County Magistrate had escaped the Inspection Bureau.
• The County Magistrate summoned Ding Fu, accused him of betraying his master, then credited him for opposing Zhou Qing and promoted him to deputy chief of the Archive Department.
• The County Magistrate warned Ding Fu to follow his orders, and Ding Fu accepted his new official robe and identity token.
• An eerie figure questioned why the County Magistrate had rewarded Ding Fu, and the County Magistrate said the Inspection Bureau needed an explanation before dismissing concern about the old fox demon.

Lin Fan settled into his new role as deputy director of the Archive Department while Qing Feng asked him to help uncover who had protected the corrupt former County Magistrate Wang Guangyi. The chapter ended with Lin Fan warned that his actions against Zhou Qing had made him a target, leaving him to consider Qing Feng’s request.

• Grandma Hongyun arrived to save the wounded County Magistrate and killed the Patrol Envoy who had pursued him.
• Lin Fan returned to the Archive Department as its new deputy director and continued copying case files to earn lifespan.
• Ye Die brought Lin Fan to meet Qing Feng, who described the threats surrounding Yunshan County and Wang Guangyi’s crimes.
• Qing Feng asked Lin Fan to find evidence against the people who had protected Wang Guangyi and let him escape.
• Qing Feng warned Lin Fan that his betrayal of Zhou Qing and role in the County Magistrate’s flight had put his life at risk.