Chapter Summaries

Xu Yi fought his way back to Xu Yanzhi and helped her break the encirclement, while she held onto the Red Name. Their victory was interrupted by Tong Fengquan, who challenged Xu Yanzhi to withstand three sword strikes, but he suddenly found himself unable to move.

• Xu Yi ambushed seven trial participants, eliminated four, took their merit points, and exchanged two high-grade Spirit Body Pills for keeping the Green-robed Man restrained.
• Xu Yi swallowed a pill and rushed to Xu Yanzhi, who was surrounded and fighting off the participants attacking her.
• Xu Yi joined the battle, wounded enemies from the shadows, and spread suspicions that others were withholding effort to steal the merit points.
• Xu Yanzhi’s assault and Xu Yi’s rumors broke the crowd’s morale, and the surrounding participants fled.
• Tong Fengquan appeared, demanded Xu Yanzhi surrender the Red Name, and challenged her to survive three sword strikes; as he introduced his wooden sword, he suddenly lost control of his body.

Xu Yanzhi defeated Xu Yi in the trial but gave him her Red Name, sacrificing her chance to advance; before leaving, they shared music, liquor, and a farewell poem. After returning from Chang'an Realm, she encountered Yuwen Tuo and Old Fan, who demanded answers about her failed contract.

• Xu Yi struck Tong Fengquan down with thunder magic, but Xu Yanzhi soon overpowered Xu Yi and took his token.
• Xu Yanzhi marked Xu Yi as a Red Name, exhausting her progress and dooming her chances in the Martial Trial.
• Xu Yi and Xu Yanzhi played “The Proud Wanderer” together, shared liquor, and Xu Yi recited a poem that moved her before she left.
• Xu Yanzhi emerged from Gongjin Hall, remembered the green robe Xu Yi had given her, and suffered a sudden bout of pain before recovering.
• Yuwen Tuo and Old Fan confronted Xu Yanzhi, and she returned the fifteen pieces of Profound Yellow Essence they had paid to hire her.

Xu Yanzhi drove off Yuwen Tuo after warning him not to target Xu Yi, while Yuwen Tuo and Old Fan resolved to block Xu Yi from earning a real post. Xu Yi began the written exam by entering a chamber with two Insight Walls and calmly preparing to seek a Dao Fruit.

• Yuwen Tuo accused Xu Yanzhi of helping Xu Yi, and she shattered his attack with the Asura Cold Flame Blade before warning him to leave Xu Yi alone.
• After Xu Yanzhi disappeared, Yuwen Tuo struck Xia Qijie unconscious and ordered Old Fan to send him to Qian Prison.
• Old Fan advised Yuwen Tuo that Xu Yi could still be denied a real post if he failed the written exam and received only a nominal appointment.
• Xu Yi returned to Gongjin Hall, where the five hundred Martial Trial survivors gathered before attendants led them to the written exam.
• Xu Yi entered a chamber with Insight Walls containing incarnations of the Immaculate Wonderful Tree and the Seven Treasures Jade Tree, then sat down to steady his mind before beginning.

Xu Yi faced a trial inside a clone of the Immaculate Wonderful Tree and recited a Buddhist verse that stirred its main tree. The chapter left the Ancestor Buddha Court in turmoil as a phantom escaped the tree and an old monk demanded to know who had refined its clone.

• Xu Yi discovered that the Immaculate Wonderful Tree in his examination room bore only first-grade Dao Fruits and suspected Yuwen Tuo had arranged the room change to sabotage him.
• Yuwen Tuo told Old Fan that he had switched Xu Yi’s examination room and intended to ensure Xu Yi received the worst Immortal Official post.
• Xu Yi was pulled into a hellish realm of vengeful ghosts, resisted their assault, and recited a Buddhist verse that made the vision vanish.
• Xu Yi’s recitation caused the clone of the Immaculate Wonderful Tree and its main tree in the Ancestor Buddha Court to shake violently.
• A hundred thousand Buddhas chanted the Great Brightness Sutra to steady the main tree, but a phantom escaped, and an old monk roared that someone had refined a clone.

Xu Yi endured severe injuries to draw the Immaculate Wonderful Tree and Seven Treasures Jade Tree into his Divine Diagrams, then barely completed his Dao Fruit comprehension before the examination deadline. His success stunned Yuwen Tuo and prompted officials to suspect that someone had helped him evade the Red Name.

• Xu Yi recited Buddhist scripture, drew the Immaculate Wonderful Tree toward him, and used Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva's sword to halt it long enough to absorb a Buddhist Dao Fruit.
• Xu Yi recited six words of Daoist truth, attracting the Seven Treasures Jade Tree and absorbing a Daoist Dao Fruit into his demon body's Divine Diagram.
• Powerful beings at Shangqing Temple and Yuqing Pavilion blamed the Witch Emperor for threatening the two divine trees, while Xu Yi remained unaware of the uproar.
• Xu Yi was transported to Gongjin Hall just before the comprehension deadline, passed the Path Testing Stone, and completed his examination.
• Yuwen Tuo and Old Fan were shocked that Xu Yi had passed, while the Blue Robe Old Man told the Red Robe Middle-aged Man that someone might have helped Xu Yi get past the Red Name.

Xu Yi learned that he had placed sixty-seventh in the second class and received the Subordinate Eighth Rank of Immortal Official, then completed his divine-light baptism and began building connections. After Huangmei warned him that Yuwen Tuo was still targeting him, Xu Yi decided he could no longer afford to endure the man’s provocations.

• The Blue Robe Old Man and the Red Robe Middle-aged Man discussed Xu Yanzhi’s departure and prepared to rank the examination candidates.
• Xu Yi received his Immortal Official Token after placing sixty-seventh in the second class, earning the Subordinate Eighth Rank.
• Xu Yi and the other second-class candidates underwent divine-light baptism, which fixed their appearances, and then waited for their official assignments.
• Candidates gathered around Xu Yi to make connections, and he politely exchanged contact details with them.
• Huangmei told Xu Yi that Yuwen Tuo had sent someone to search the resting chamber, and Xu Yi resolved to deal with Yuwen Tuo rather than keep yielding.
• Xiao Tao sang among the lotus flowers on an orchid boat, and Director Yu was drawn in by the song.

After learning that Xu Yi passed the competition, Director Yu discovered he had visited Yuwen Tuo at Five Dragon Hall. Xu Yi begged Yuwen Tuo for forgiveness, but Yuwen Tuo rejected his apology and threatened to crush him.

• Xiao Tao told Director Yu that Xu Yi passed the competition and placed sixty-seventh in the second class.
• Xiao Tao explained that the Southern Heavenly Court blamed Xu Yi's success on Xu Yanzhi, whose poetry had spread as evidence.
• Xiao Tao reported that Xu Yi had visited Yuwen Tuo at Five Dragon Hall, and Director Yu said she and Xu Yi owed each other nothing.
• Old Fan urged Yuwen Tuo to exploit Xu Yi's visit, and Yuwen Tuo agreed to receive him and vent his anger.
• Xu Yi bowed and admitted that he had offended Yuwen Tuo while currying favor with Director Yu, but Yuwen Tuo dismissed his apology and threatened him.

Xu Yi tricked Yuwen Tuo and Old Fan into drinking tainted Spirit Wine, leaving them unconscious for two hours before he slipped away. He then visited Director Yu at Sunny Rain Pavilion, where Xiao Tao greeted him with sharp taunts.

• Xu Yi offered to help Yuwen Tuo win over Xu Yanzhi and Director Yu, then shared Spirit Wine with Yuwen Tuo and Old Fan.
• Xu Yi left the hall after claiming that Xiao Tao had summoned him, and Yuwen Tuo and Old Fan soon lost consciousness.
• Yuwen Tuo and Old Fan woke two hours later and learned from Zhang Cheng that Xu Yi had barely left the hall before returning and heading to Sunny Rain Pavilion.
• Xiao Tao mocked Xu Yi when he arrived at Sunny Rain Pavilion, and he replied that he remembered it had been eighty-seven days since they last met.
• Xu Yi told Xiao Tao and Director Yu that he regarded them as close friends and asked why they were keeping him at arm’s length.

Xu Yi confronted Director Yu and Xiao Tao, then used compromising Ruyi Pearl footage to drive Yuwen Tuo and Old Fan away. The two men left unable to deny the evidence, while Xu Yi warned them that he would expose them if they harmed him again.

• Director Yu accused Xu Yi of flattering Yuwen Tuo, and Xu Yi left after telling her and Xiao Tao to take care.
• Yuwen Tuo and Old Fan barged into Sunny Rain Pavilion, threatened Director Yu and Xiao Tao, and demanded to know what Xu Yi had done to them.
• Xu Yi claimed he had evidence of their disgraceful conduct and gave each man a Ruyi Pearl to inspect in private.
• Yuwen Tuo and Old Fan saw the footage, and Yuwen Tuo nearly attacked Xu Yi before Old Fan restrained him.
• Xu Yi warned the two men to leave and threatened to expose them if they caused him further harm.

Xu Yi used a humiliating ruse to make Yuwen Tuo leave Director Yu alone, then waited at his riverside retreat for his official assignment. He received a post as Deputy Supervisor of the Ninth Department of Xuan Du, an office that handled uncanny incidents and captured monsters.

• Xu Yi drove Yuwen Tuo away by making him believe that he and Old Fan had fallen in love, and Director Yu thanked Xu Yi for resolving the trouble.
• Xu Yi returned to his bamboo house and discussed with Desolate Wraith why Liu Guancen and Su Xiangjun had not visited, concluding that the scandal surrounding Xu Yanzhi had made people wary of him.
• Desolate Wraith noted that Xu Yi had enough Profound Yellow Essence to repay his loans, but Xu Yi chose to keep the resources while awaiting his posting.
• Xu Yi received an appointment as Deputy Supervisor of the Fifth Supervision, Ninth Department of Xuan Du, which investigated uncanny matters and captured monsters.

Xu Yi arrived at the Department of Xuan Du and discovered that Xuan Ye Wang had arranged his appointment so he could punish him over Xu Yanzhi. When Xuan Ye Wang ordered Xu Yi whipped, Xu Yi challenged the order by insisting he had followed the rules.

• Yuwen Tuo warned Xu Yi that his new Deputy Supervisor post in the Ninth Battalion, Fifth Supervision was a dangerous assignment, and Director Yu offered to help transfer him if necessary.
• Xu Yi collected his official credentials at Chu Tian City and reported to Battalion Judge Liu Dongsheng, whose cold reception made him suspect someone had influenced the office against him.
• At the Fifth Supervision, Xu Yi recognized Xuan Ye Wang as the Director overseeing his new post and realized Xuan Ye Wang had arranged the assignment to target him.
• Xuan Ye Wang demanded that Xu Yi kneel, then ordered guards to give him fifty lashes of the Withered Soul Whip after Xu Yi refused to back down.
• Xu Yi questioned the punishment and cited the Southern Heavenly Court's rules, while Xuan Ye Wang recalled that he was targeting Xu Yi because of his connection to Xu Yanzhi.

Xu Yi pretended to accept Xuan Ye Wang’s offer to help him target Xu Yanzhi, then tricked him into supplying blood for a recording Seven-Inch Nail-Head Book. He threatened to expose Xuan Ye Wang’s plan to defy the Heavenly Court’s edict, leaving Xuan Ye Wang silent and unable to retaliate.

• Xuan Ye Wang confronted Xu Yi over missing roll call, but Xu Yi’s calm replies left him unable to assert his authority before the gathered officials.
• After dismissing the others, Xuan Ye Wang offered Xu Yi a future as a Principal Eighth Rank if he helped locate or lure Xu Yanzhi.
• Xu Yi claimed he would obey, then asked Xuan Ye Wang to confirm the promise in a Seven-Inch Nail-Head Book.
• Xu Yi used his own recording book to capture Xuan Ye Wang’s blood and revealed that he had tricked him into documenting his plan.
• Xuan Ye Wang tried to strike Xu Yi but stopped himself because they were in Chu Tian City.
• Xu Yi threatened to reveal that Xuan Ye Wang intended to defy the Heavenly Court’s edict and seek revenge on a fellow trial participant, and Xuan Ye Wang fell silent.

Xu Yi took charge of the Fifth Supervision and discovered that his appointment left him responsible for two devastating zombie outbreaks that had already landed his predecessors in the Heavenly Prison. The cases had no surviving files or clues, leaving Xu Yi with a dangerous investigation to face.

• Xu Yi rejected Xuan Ye Wang’s demand to deal with Xu Yanzhi and left the Department of Xuan Du with Huang Mei.
• Xu Yi traveled to Yunzhou and learned that, with both previous supervisors imprisoned, he was the acting head of the Fifth Supervision.
• Xu Yi held banquets to learn about the officials and functionaries under him, finding the officials wary and many functionaries eager to support him.
• Xu Yi learned that the Fifth Supervision’s former supervisors had been punished over zombie outbreaks that destroyed Wengcheng and East City.
• Huang Mei pointed out that the case files were missing and questioned how a formation could have drained an entire city’s five vital energies without alerting the patrolling Ding Shen and Jia Shen.

Xu Yi investigated the suspicious reassignment of patrol officers, but Xuan Ye Wang gave him five days to solve the case or resign. He sought help from Tang Heng and Dongming Neng, and began asking Dongming Neng for assistance.

• Xu Yi and Huangmei concluded that someone inside the patrol had helped the culprit by transferring Ding Shen and Jia Shen before the crime.
• A messenger delivered Xuan Ye Wang's order giving Xu Yi five days to solve the case or resign, so Xu Yi decided to gather help quickly.
• Xu Yi went looking for Tang Heng, who tried to flee, but Xu Yi caught up with him and persuaded him to contact Dongming Neng.
• Tang Heng told Xu Yi that Dongming Neng's family had deep connections in the Wind Message Battalion and suggested asking him for information.
• Dongming Neng arrived at Mount Lao, recognized Xu Yi as the cloaked man, and Xu Yi asked him to help with a difficult situation.

Xu Yi gathered help to investigate the zombie cases and quickly tracked down Cliff Ghost Emperor, Su Wuji. After their battle began, Su Wuji demanded to know what crime Xu Yi was accusing him of.

• Dongming Neng told Xu Yi that the zombie cases were likely tied to an Old Ancestor of the Xiang Family seeking the five energies, and agreed to obtain records on the three suspected evil cultivators.
• Tang Heng agreed to use his connections at the Good Materials Battalion to locate Black Wind Venerable, Cliff Ghost Emperor, and Blood River Old Ancestor.
• Xu Yi returned to the Fifth Supervision, where Desolate reported that only thirteen staff officers seemed reliable and then accepted Profound Yellow Essence as compensation.
• Dongming Neng sent the records, and Tang Heng later supplied Cliff Ghost Emperor's hiding place, so Xu Yi teleported there and attacked Su Wuji.
• Su Wuji summoned his Divine Diagram but could not defeat Xu Yi, then demanded proof of his alleged crimes and recorded their confrontation with a Ruyi Pearl.

Xu Yi investigated the Corpse Tide Major Cases and focused on Black Wind Venerable, whom he suspected of orchestrating them. Desolate confirmed Black Wind’s guilt and discovered that he was expecting an accomplice the next morning.

• Xu Yi pressured Su Wuji, who denied involvement but admitted Black Wind Venerable had been gathering materials for a great formation before fleeing.
• Xu Yi sent Desolate to investigate Black Wind Venerable while he traveled to the Eastern Lands to confront him.
• Black Wind Venerable denied the accusations and returned to his mountain gate without fleeing as Xu Yi watched from nearby.
• Desolate secretly investigated Black Wind Venerable and confirmed he was involved in the cases.
• Desolate reported that Black Wind had contacted an unknown person, who planned to meet him the next morning, and Xu Yi proposed striking them hard.

Xu Yi killed Gong Chu, the Xiang Family Third Old Ancestor’s head butler, and learned that the Xiang Family was behind Black Wind Venerable’s schemes. He prepared to impersonate Gong Chu and infiltrate his next meeting with Black Wind Venerable.

• Xu Yi disguised himself as Black Wind Venerable and lured Gong Chu into range, then immobilized and killed him so Desolate Charm could swallow his life wheel.
• Xu Yi searched Gong Chu’s belongings and kept watch until Desolate Charm confirmed that Gong Chu was the Xiang Family Third Old Ancestor’s head butler and had been meeting Black Wind Venerable.
• Desolate Charm explained that Gong Chu had no direct evidence of the Xiang Family’s involvement, and Xu Yi decided to target Black Wind Venerable instead.
• Xu Yi entered the Four-Colored Seal Space, then asked Desolate Charm to recount every detail of Gong Chu’s meetings with Black Wind Venerable.
• Xu Yi used a Ruyi Pearl to tell Black Wind Venerable he was delayed and would arrive soon, then memorized Gong Chu’s habits as they approached Black Wind Venerable’s cave abode.

Xu Yi disguised himself as Gong Chu to meet Black Wind Venerable and learned how Xu Yi’s investigation into the Corpse Tide Case had alarmed them. He recruited Xuanye Wang to remove Xu Yi from his post, leaving Xuanye Wang suspicious of the case and wondering which Langya family had contacted him.

• Xu Yi used Gong Chu’s memories and mannerisms to convince Black Wind Venerable he was Gong Chu, then heard about Empty Guest and Xu Yi’s investigation.
• Xu Yi and Black Wind Venerable discussed using Xuanye Wang, who held authority over Xu Yi, to stop the investigation.
• Xu Yi contacted Xuanye Wang through a Ruyi Pearl and offered him a generous gift to remove Xu Yi within two days.
• Xuanye Wang suspected Xu Yi had uncovered evidence in the Corpse Tide Case and asked whether the caller wanted him to halt the investigation.
• Xu Yi invoked the ties between the Five Gentlemen of Langya, and Xuanye Wang wondered which family had contacted him.

Xu Yi disguised himself as Gong Chu and met Xuan Ye Wang, persuading him to withdraw his deadline for Xu Yi and help set a trap using the Corpse Tide Major Case. Xuan Ye Wang hesitated over causing another attack, but Xu Yi promised to keep it small and provide a scapegoat.

• Xuan Ye Wang agreed to meet Gong Chu at Black Wind Venerable's cave abode, and Xu Yi revealed himself as Gong Chu.
• Xuan Ye Wang said he had given Xu Yi five days to solve the case or resign, while Xu Yi warned that the deadline could provoke influential allies and backfire.
• Xu Yi persuaded Xuan Ye Wang to cancel the deadline and promised to pursue a surer plan to bring Xu Yi down.
• Xu Yi proposed using another corpse tide attack to frame Xu Yi, and Xuan Ye Wang worried that he would be blamed too.
• Xu Yi promised to limit the deaths to dozens or a hundred people and provide a scapegoat, while Xuan Ye Wang remained hesitant.

Xu Yi and Xuan Ye Wang arranged a trap meant to frame Xu Yi, while Xuan Ye Wang tried to verify Gong Chu’s connection through Yuwen Tuo. Xu Yi turned the tables by publicly accusing Xuan Ye Wang of abusing his authority, leaving the director furious as his men dragged Xu Yi away.

• Xu Yi instructed Xuan Ye Wang to draw away the patrols so they could stage a raid, and he asked Black Wind Venerable to prepare a convincing formation.
• Xu Yi considered using Cliff Ghost Emperor or Blood River Old Ancestor as a scapegoat, but said they could deal with Xu Yi first if needed.
• Xuan Ye Wang contacted Yuwen Tuo to confirm his relationship with Xu Yi, and Yuwen Tuo warned him not to target Xu Yi before cutting off the call.
• Xu Yi reported that Black Wind Venerable was behind the case, but Xuan Ye Wang refused to order an arrest and told him to investigate at his own pace.
• Xu Yi shouted that Xuan Ye Wang was jealous and abusing his authority, and Xuan Ye Wang ordered his men to drag him out.