Chapter Summaries

Li Xiao discovered that Daoist Yang possessed rare purple qi and investigated the Daoist’s reputation while defending Prefecture City from the Fengyang Military Governor’s army. When a Little Ghost attacked him in his inn room, Li Xiao revealed it with his martial aura and struck it down, but its hiss drew several more cold presences toward the window.

• Li Xiao used Wind Listening and Qi Observing on the Daoist serving porridge and saw deep blue qi with a faint wisp of purple.
• Li Xiao learned that the people of Prefecture City praised Daoist Yang for driving away ghosts, while Li Xiao twice helped keep the city from falling to the Fengyang Military Governor’s army.
• Li Xiao was overwhelmed by sudden drowsiness in his inn and woke to the sound of a child laughing beside his bed.
• Li Xiao used his wind-listening art to locate an invisible child on the roof beam, then exposed the Little Ghost with his qi and blood.
• Li Xiao struck the Little Ghost and wounded it, but it survived and hissed as several cold auras rushed toward the window.

Li Xiao discovered that the Liu Family token could destroy little ghosts, but using it to kill three ghosts shattered it and revealed a map marked Chiyuan Province. In a hidden mountain valley, the black-robed Taoist Lu blamed the Taoist surnamed Yang for the ghosts’ destruction and sent a blood-drawn talisman into the night.

• Li Xiao used the token to destroy the three little ghosts attacking him.
• The token cracked and broke apart, revealing a durable map marked Chiyuan Province, which Li Xiao kept.
• The black-robed Taoist Lu found three of his ghost jars shattered and wondered who had destroyed the ghosts.
• Lu suspected the Taoist surnamed Yang, drew a rune in blood on a talisman, and sent it flying into the night.

After surviving an attack by three Little Ghosts, Li Xiao learned that hauntings had spread across several prefectures while the Weiyuan Military Governor struggled against Fengyang. Daoist Yang sensed ghost Qi on Li Xiao, recognized his unusual strength, and brought him to a secluded courtyard where two children were playing.

• Li Xiao found the innkeeper, waiter, and guests dead after the Little Ghosts poisoned and attacked the inn, then told the runners what had happened.
• A runner told Li Xiao that hauntings had terrorized nearby prefectures and that the Weiyuan Military Governor was too occupied with losses to Fengyang to intervene.
• Li Xiao concluded that Qi Cultivators were behind the ghost attack and went to the porridge shed, where Daoist Yang sensed ghost Qi on him.
• Li Xiao told Daoist Yang that he had killed three Little Ghosts, and Daoist Yang reacted with astonishment and wariness.
• Daoist Yang ended the porridge service and led Li Xiao to a secluded courtyard, where two malnourished children were playing.

Daoist Yang explained why he had adopted two orphaned children and revealed that his self-taught Qi Cultivation was too weak to face the Fengyang Military Governor’s trained practitioner. Li Xiao asked to learn Qi Cultivator skills, and Daoist Yang agreed to teach him the basics before leading him to a room filled with talismans and old texts.

• Daoist Yang introduced the orphaned boy and girl he had adopted and explained how their parents had died.
• Daoist Yang said his porridge shed helped orphaned children and thanked Li Xiao for killing the three Little Ghosts.
• Daoist Yang explained that his incomplete, self-taught Qi Cultivation gave him little fighting ability compared with a practitioner backed by a sect inheritance.
• Li Xiao asked Daoist Yang to teach him Qi Cultivator skills, and Daoist Yang agreed to teach him the basics.
• Daoist Yang led Li Xiao into a dim room containing talismans, jars, and old medical texts.

Daoist Yang showed Li Xiao the incomplete Basic Qi Guiding Art and explained the differences between Qi Cultivators and Martial Masters. He offered to teach Li Xiao what he knew, while admitting he had never reached Foundation Establishment or learned how to identify places rich in Spiritual Qi.

• Daoist Yang gave Li Xiao the incomplete Basic Qi Guiding Art and pointed out its scattered cultivation instructions and Talisman methods.
• Li Xiao told Daoist Yang he had met Daoist Nun Jingyun of Qingwei Temple, and Daoist Yang explained how Qi Cultivators differed from Martial Masters.
• Daoist Yang described Qi Cultivators’ rarity, their sects’ independent small worlds, and the dangers of encountering practitioners with strange methods.
• Daoist Yang said the art should lead toward Foundation Establishment, admitted he had not reached that realm, and offered to teach Li Xiao what he knew.
• Daoist Yang explained that cultivation required Spiritual Qi but admitted he could not identify places where it was abundant.

Li Xiao struggled to sense Spiritual Qi using the incomplete Basic Qi Guiding Art, while Daoist Yang admitted he had no reliable instruction to offer. The next morning, Daoist Yang showed Li Xiao the materials he used to draw talismans, including black dog blood and a mysterious silvery powder.

• Daoist Yang told Li Xiao about Spirit Stones and warned him that the destroyed Little Ghost sent by Daoist Lu made staying at an inn dangerous.
• Li Xiao stayed at Daoist Yang's home and repeatedly tried to sense Spiritual Qi, but failed, and the Panel did not record the incomplete Basic Qi Guiding Art.
• Li Xiao decided he could not spend three years fumbling toward Qi Sensation and went to sleep.
• The next morning, Daoist Yang admitted he knew no trick for sensing Qi and led Li Xiao to his talisman-making room.
• Daoist Yang explained that black dog blood or rooster blood gave exorcism talismans yang energy, then showed Li Xiao a silvery-gray powder.

Li Xiao learned how Daoist Yang made medicinal talismans and asked about his aspiration, discovering that Yang wanted to save people and see a peaceful world. When Li Xiao repeated a dangerous slogan, Yang revealed that Qi Cultivators could borrow Heaven’s power and punish those who blasphemed, leaving Li Xiao gazing uneasily at the sky.

• Li Xiao identified the herbs and faint Exotic Beast Meat in Daoist Yang’s talisman powder.
• Daoist Yang explained how medicinal talismans were drawn and used, and said powerful Qi Cultivators could make stronger talismans with their own qi.
• Li Xiao asked about Daoist Yang’s aspiration, and Yang said he wanted to save people and see a peaceful world.
• Li Xiao said, “The azure sky is already dead,” and Daoist Yang reacted with alarm, warning him not to say such things.
• Daoist Yang explained that Qi Cultivators could connect with Heaven and punish blasphemers, while Li Xiao stared at the sky with new unease.

Daoist Yang taught Li Xiao how spiritual qi flowed into talismans and gave him an Evil-Warding Talisman to clear the ghost qi and yin qi left by his fight. Li Xiao spent the next few days observing Daoist Yang's lessons, but he still had no spiritual qi of his own.

• Daoist Yang drew an Evil-Warding Talisman, exhausting himself as spiritual qi flowed from his body into the paper.
• Li Xiao held the talisman and watched it draw gray-black ghost qi from his palm as warmth dispelled his lingering cold.
• Daoist Yang explained that drawing talismans consumed spiritual qi and that Li Xiao would need to sense and accumulate it to follow the path.
• Li Xiao accompanied Daoist Yang to serve porridge at the city gate and helped drive off ruffians who tried to cause trouble.
• Daoist Yang demonstrated a Soul-Calming Talisman, and Li Xiao carefully observed its gentle flow of spiritual qi.
• Daoist Yang told Li Xiao that without spiritual qi, the talismans he drew himself were only empty shells.

Li Xiao failed to make talismans work without Spiritual Qi and stayed in the city to protect Daoist Yang and the children from the Black-Robed Daoist. General Wu arrived with cavalry and visited Daoist Yang to ask him for a favor.

• Li Xiao learned that his talisman practice had made no progress and decided to remain in the city for a few more days.
• A cavalry squad bearing the Military Governor’s banner entered the city, led by General Wu, a renowned Fourth Turn Great Martial Master with Dual True Intent.
• Li Xiao learned General Wu’s identity and followed her when her troop headed toward Daoist Yang’s courtyard.
• General Wu knocked on Daoist Yang’s gate, then asked him for a favor.

General Wu asked Daoist Yang to help protect the city from an enemy Qi Cultivator, but he refused after learning the enemy was defended by a powerful army. She left to protect the people herself, while Daoist Yang stayed behind, determined to guard the children and city as long as he could.

• Daoist Yang told General Wu he feared the enemy Qi Cultivator and could not fight him.
• Li Xiao met General Wu and asked whether her forces had any Fifth Turn Martial Masters available.
• General Wu explained that her Fifth Turn Experts were occupied by the enemy and that the Qi Cultivator had helped capture several undefended commanderies.
• General Wu revealed that the Qi Cultivator was stationed in Yong'an Prefecture with ten thousand elite troops and five Fourth Turn Great Martial Masters.
• Daoist Yang refused to join General Wu, who left after asking him to save whoever he could if the city came under threat.
• Daoist Yang admitted to Li Xiao that he feared dying and wanted to protect the two children and the people of the city.

Li Xiao mastered all four Divine Intent Diagrams but remained unable to sense Spiritual Qi or cultivate as a Qi Cultivator. As Yong'an Prefecture’s army surrounded the city, he read the ominous destiny above the Black-Robed Man and saw General Wu’s fortune growing stronger.

• Li Xiao completed the Gate-Breaking Saber and Dragon-Snake Illusory Body Divine Intent Diagrams, bringing all four of his diagrams to Perfection.
• Li Xiao repeatedly failed to sense Spiritual Qi or draw effective talismans despite following Daoist Yang’s instruction.
• The Yong'an Prefecture army surrounded the city, and General Wu led her cavalry out to face its forces and the Black-Robed Man.
• Li Xiao used Wind Listening and Qi Observing on the Black-Robed Man and saw dense gray-black qi indicating an approaching calamity.
• Li Xiao examined General Wu’s Fortune and Destiny and saw her blue and purple qi growing, with new streaks of green appearing.

General Wu led an iron cavalry charge that tore through the Fengyang Army, while Li Xiao watched the battle and waited for its motionless commander to act. General Wu’s fortune was rising as the Black-Robed Man’s waned, and the enemy archer still held his drawn bow.

• Li Xiao saw green qi appear above General Wu and dense gray-black qi above the Black-Robed Man, then predicted that the Qi Cultivator would not live long.
• General Wu charged the Fengyang Army with her armored cavalry, using Spear Intent and Sword Intent to cut through its ranks.
• Li Xiao observed that General Wu and her cavalry had joined their qi and blood into a powerful military battle formation.
• General Wu defeated three Fourth Turn Great Martial Masters, killing two and gravely wounding one as she opened a gap in the enemy formation.
• Li Xiao watched the motionless Fengyang Army commander hold a drawn arrow, waiting for an opportunity to strike at General Wu.

Li Xiao saved General Wu from a lethal arrow, then realized his intervention had altered her Fortune and Destiny. The Black-Robed Man began a curse ritual targeting Wu Lingshuang, and Li Xiao recognized the danger as the bell rang.

• The black-armored commander shot at General Wu, but Li Xiao intercepted the arrow with Snow Dragon Ridge and killed more than ten Fengyang Army soldiers with its remaining force.
• General Wu thanked Li Xiao, while he noticed that her Fortune and Destiny had briefly diminished and then returned to normal.
• The black-armored commander asked the Black-Robed Man to act, and the man prepared an incense altar surrounded by forty-nine Black Small Flags.
• The Black-Robed Man sprayed essence blood onto an ancient bronze bell and began ringing it beside a straw effigy marked with Wu Lingshuang’s name and birthdate.
• Li Xiao recognized the ritual as Curse Arts and turned toward Wu Lingshuang as the bell rang while she fought on the battlefield.

Li Xiao used two talisman-coated arrows to destroy the Black-Robed Man’s Spirit Ghosts and save Wu Lingshuang from a curse and attack. Wu Lingshuang and her cavalry retreated into the city as the Fengyang Army withdrew, while the Black-Robed Man escaped with his calamity still looming.

• The Black-Robed Man used a bell to disrupt Wu Lingshuang’s Qi and Blood, then sent two Spirit Ghosts from black jars to kill her.
• Li Xiao fired two arrows bearing Daoist Yang’s evil-expelling Talismans and destroyed the Spirit Ghosts.
• Wu Lingshuang recovered, thanked Li Xiao with a nod, and led her iron cavalry back into the city in an orderly retreat.
• The black-armored commander ordered the Fengyang Army to withdraw after his soldiers lost morale.
• The Black-Robed Man was helped onto a horse and retreated as Li Xiao watched the gray-black qi around him grow heavier.

After Li Xiao considered the failing fortune of the black-robed Qi Cultivator, Wu Lingshuang asked him to help strike against the man. Li Xiao agreed in exchange for the Qi Cultivator’s inheritance and reserved the right to withdraw if the danger became too great, while Daoist Yang was left facing pressure to join them.

• Li Xiao judged that the black-robed Qi Cultivator’s fortune was collapsing and considered taking his inheritance, but decided he needed Wu Lingshuang’s help.
• Wu Lingshuang thanked Li Xiao for saving her twice and learned from Daoist Yang that the black-robed man had used Curse Arts against her.
• Wu Lingshuang proposed a surprise attack on the retreating Qi Cultivator, and Li Xiao agreed to help if his inheritance went to him.
• Li Xiao warned that he would withdraw if they faced overwhelming danger, and Wu Lingshuang accepted his terms.
• Wu Lingshuang and Li Xiao turned their attention to Daoist Yang as he tried to slip away.

Wu Lingshuang persuaded Daoist Yang to join her and Li Xiao in a strike against the Black-Robed Man, and the three planned to infiltrate Yong'an Prefecture in three days. As Li Xiao considered the Qi Cultivator’s inheritance worth the risk, the wounded Black-Robed Man blamed him and Daoist Yang for destroying his Spirit Ghosts and vowed revenge.

• Wu Lingshuang urged Daoist Yang to help eliminate the Black-Robed Man, and Li Xiao promised to protect him if the plan went wrong.
• Daoist Yang agreed to join them and gave Wu Lingshuang Soul-Calming Talismans, then offered to draw talismans for Li Xiao.
• Wu Lingshuang, Li Xiao, and Daoist Yang planned to infiltrate Yong'an Prefecture during a cavalry diversion three days later and attack the Qi Cultivator in East City.
• Daoist Yang warned that the Black-Robed Man’s strength was reduced after losing his Spirit Ghosts, making the next five days their best chance to strike.
• The Black-Robed Man, injured by the destruction of his Spirit Ghosts, suspected Daoist Yang’s involvement and vowed to make him and Li Xiao suffer.

The Black-Robed Man enlisted his powerful Junior Brother to help kill Wu Lingshuang, promising him the Curse Killing Method in return. After recovering his strength, the two set out at night with four summoned golden warriors to raid Prefecture City.

• A gray-black paper crane delivered a message that made the Black-Robed Man laugh with delight.
• The Black-Robed Man welcomed his child-faced Junior Brother and promised to give him the Curse Killing Method if they killed Wu Lingshuang.
• The Black-Robed Man reflected that killing Wu Lingshuang would help the Fengyang Military Governor seize Weiyuan territory and earn him greater resources and status.
• The Junior Brother restored the Black-Robed Man's strength, and the Black-Robed Man proposed attacking Wu Lingshuang in Prefecture City at night.
• The Junior Brother summoned four golden warriors and transformed a talisman into a sedan; the pair headed toward Prefecture City after dark.

The Black-Robed Man and the Daoist Boy attacked Wu Lingshuang with the Four Great Vajra Warriors, but Li Xiao arrived in time to save her. The Daoist Boy then revealed his Fireball Art and faced Li Xiao, leaving a confrontation poised to begin.

• The Black-Robed Man led the Daoist Boy and the Four Great Vajra Warriors into Prefecture City and toward Wu Lingshuang's residence.
• Wu Lingshuang sensed the intruders, but the Four Great Vajra Warriors broke into the courtyard and overwhelmed her with their axes and immense strength.
• As a Vajra Warrior prepared to strike Wu Lingshuang down, Li Xiao shot it with an arrow and blasted it into a wall.
• The Black-Robed Man threatened Li Xiao and Daoist Yang, while Li Xiao recognized the Daoist Boy as the greater danger.
• The Daoist Boy pointed at Li Xiao and dropped a fireball where he had stood, but Li Xiao dodged it and faced him.

Li Xiao and Daoist Yang intervened as Wu Lingshuang fought the Black-Robed Man and his warriors, while Li Xiao judged that she still had a chance to survive. After Daoist Yang’s talismans disabled the four warriors, the Foundation Establishment Daoist Boy drew a magic artifact and aimed its giant sword at Li Xiao.

• Daoist Yang warned Li Xiao that the Daoist Boy was a Foundation Establishment Realm Qi Cultivator, and Li Xiao saw signs of danger in the boy’s fortune while Wu Lingshuang’s fortune continued to surge.
• Li Xiao told Daoist Yang to help Wu Lingshuang while he stalled the Daoist Boy, and Daoist Yang reluctantly used five Five Thunder Orthodox Talismans.
• The Daoist Boy’s Fireball Art was intercepted by Li Xiao’s arrow, and the five lightning bolts struck and disabled all four Warriors.
• Wu Lingshuang caught her breath as the injured Black-Robed Man stood helpless, and the Daoist Boy condemned him as a piece of trash.
• The Daoist Boy produced a Storage Bag and summoned a dark blue magic artifact that expanded into a thirty-foot Giant Sword.
• The Daoist Boy pointed the Giant Sword at Li Xiao and asked how he wanted to die.

Li Xiao dodged the Daoist Boy’s pursuing giant sword until Wu Lingshuang’s aunt arrived on a white crane and destroyed the weapon with a single palm strike. The Foundation Establishment Late Stage woman prepared to kill the Daoist Boy and the Black-Robed Man, but the Daoist Boy suddenly kicked his companion toward her.

• The Daoist Boy sent his giant sword after Li Xiao, who repeatedly dodged its strikes while considering escape.
• Wu Lingshuang called for her aunt, who arrived on a white crane and knocked the giant sword out of the air.
• Wu Lingshuang’s aunt supported her, learned Li Xiao had saved her three times, and then threatened the Daoist Boy and the Black-Robed Man.
• The Daoist Boy surged with power and kicked the Black-Robed Man toward Wu Lingshuang’s aunt.