Chapter Summaries

Xu Wenjun took charge of investigating Kong Xinghu’s death and ordered Yang Ling to assist him. After the constables examined Kong Xinghu and the Blood-Handed Scholar, Yang Ling was asked to assess their deaths.

• Xu Wenjun inspected the Xiangfeng Prefecture constables, then condemned them for failing to find clues about Kong Xinghu’s murder.
• Xu Wenjun recognized Yang Ling’s reputation as a skilled investigator and ordered him to stay and assist with the case.
• Xu Wenjun’s subordinates brought in the bodies of Kong Xinghu and the Blood-Handed Scholar for examination.
• Zhao Qing and Yang Ling noted that the bodies showed no traces of Fire Oil, while Shi Xin suggested Kong Xinghu had been beaten before his body was burned.
• The Anti-Theft Division First Branch Master proposed that Kong Xinghu had found the Blood-Handed Scholar and been killed by the criminal’s accomplices, and Xu Wenjun asked Yang Ling what he thought.

Yang Ling examined Kong Xinghu and the Blood-Handed Scholar’s bodies, identified clues pointing to a powerful close-combat expert, and was appointed deputy leader of the task force investigating their deaths. With only one month to solve the case, Lu Yunchen told Yang Ling to form a team and investigate separately.

• Yang Ling said the killer was at least Middle Fifth Rank, used exceptional kicking techniques, and pierced both victims’ skulls with a finger or similar weapon.
• Xu Wenjun ordered the Iron Clothes Departments to watch for the stolen Divine Soul Great Return Pills and Great Evolution Blood Qi Pills, warning that the investigators would face dismissal if the case stalled.
• As Yang Ling tried to leave, Xu Wenjun appointed him deputy leader of the task force and assigned the Xiangfeng Prefecture masters to assist him.
• Lu Yunchen arrived with constables including Yun Ruo, accepted leadership of the investigation, and agreed that he and Yang Ling would answer to the Capital if they failed.
• Lu Yunchen gave the task force one month to produce results and told Yang Ling to select people for a team so they could investigate separately.

Yang Ling pursued a possible link between Lord Kong Xinghu’s murder, the burning of displaced people, and the Immortal God Cult, despite the risk of offending Xu Wenjun. Ding Wei’s testimony connected a batch of fire oil to the Wangzhi Medicine Guild, and Yang Ling set out to investigate it.

• Yang Ling told Yun Ruo, Shi Xin, and Zhao Qing that the murder might be connected to the earlier burning of displaced people and the Immortal God Cult.
• Zhao Qing admitted that he had authorized the sale of expired fire oil, while Yang Ling suggested the case could implicate the Wangzhi Medicine Guild and Xu Wenjun.
• Zhao Qing summoned Ding Wei, who confessed that he had sold the fire oil and used the Iron Clothes Department’s Tracking Powder on its barrels.
• Yun Ruo recorded Ding Wei’s account and had him mark his testimony.
• Yang Ling took the testimony and said he would visit the Wangzhi Medicine Guild alone, while Zhao Qing watched him with admiration.

Yang Ling led Zhao Qing and the Iron Clothes Department into the Wangzhi Medicine Guild to investigate a batch of fire oil, despite Hong Ruohai and Wang Xingсу trying to stop them. Yang Ling ordered Wang Xingсу arrested, and Yun Ruo seized him as the Constables prepared to tie him up.

• Yang Ling, Zhao Qing, Yun Ruo, and their men arrived at the Wangzhi Medicine Guild to trace fire oil linked to the Xiangfeng Prefecture Iron Clothes Department.
• Hong Ruohai tried to keep them from entering, but Yang Ling insisted they were conducting an investigation and went inside.
• Zhao Qing ordered Ding Wei and the Constables to use dogs to search the Guild for the fire oil.
• Wang Xingсу confronted the investigators, berated Zhao Qing, and invoked his uncle-in-law's position in the Command Department.
• Yang Ling accused Wang Xingсу of being an Immortal God Cult follower and ordered his arrest, and Yun Ruo captured him.

Yang Ling arrested Wang Xingсу at the Wangzhi Medicine Guild and killed one of his men when the group tried to interfere. He then argued before Xu Wenjun that the Guild was connected to the Immortal God Cult and the mass killing of displaced people, but the chapter left the investigation’s evidence under challenge.

• Wang Xingсу struggled against arrest, and Yang Ling ordered the constables to bind him and gag him.
• When Wang Xingсу’s associates charged the constables, Yang Ling killed the lead attacker with a single palm strike, and the others surrendered.
• Xu Wenjun arrived with Hong Ruohai, Wang Zhi, and the middle-aged man accompanying him; Yang Ling’s Insight Technique revealed that Wang Zhi had ordered seven servants silenced and their bodies hidden beneath the Guild’s locust tree.
• Yang Ling defended the arrest by saying Wang Xingсу had obstructed an investigation into the Immortal God Cult, while Yun Ruo cited the Iron Clothes Department’s rules permitting officers to kill those who threatened them.
• Xu Wenjun challenged Yang Ling’s decision to combine the Guild investigation with the Immortal God Cult case, and Yang Ling cited Ding Wei’s confession and his sighting of the Blood-Handed Scholar leaving the Guild smelling of fire oil.

Yang Ling defied Xu Wenjun’s order to end the investigation and insisted that fire oil was hidden beneath the Wangzhi Medicine Guild’s rear courtyard. After Qin Mo and the other miners dug three zhang down, they uncovered hundreds of barrels, leaving Wang Zhi and his son stunned and facing Zhao Qing’s accusation of rebellion.

• Xu Wenjun rejected Yang Ling’s request to combine the investigations, ordered him to leave the guild, and dismissed his claim that the Blood-Handed Scholar was involved for lack of evidence.
• Yang Ling had Yun Ruo record Xu Wenjun’s obstruction and said the report would be submitted to the Department Master and reviewed by His Majesty.
• Yang Ling cordoned off a patch of the Wangzhi Medicine Guild’s rear courtyard and declared that the fire oil lay beneath it.
• Qin Mo and the other miners arrived with Crane-Mouth Hoes and dug three zhang into the ground.
• The excavation exposed rows of at least seven or eight hundred fire-oil barrels, and Zhao Qing asked Wang Zhi whether the guild was stockpiling them to stage a rebellion.

Yang Ling’s attempt to combine the Wangzhi Medicine Guild investigation with Kong Xinghu’s murder was blocked by Xu Wenjun, who claimed authority over the fire oil case. Zhao Chonghong then arrived with Prefectural Soldiers, invoked the Emperor’s wishes and the Guild’s suspected ties to Rong Tribe spies, and took control of the investigation, leaving Yang Ling and Lu Yunchen to watch over the sealed Guild.

• Xu Wenjun rejected Yang Ling’s evidence as insufficient to combine the cases and ordered Hong Ruohai to investigate and seal the fire oil.
• Xu Wenjun ordered Yang Ling and his team to return to the Iron Clothes Department while he took over the Guild investigation.
• An officer informed Xu Wenjun that Zhao Chonghong had arrived, and Zhao entered with Lu Yunchen and dozens of Prefectural Soldiers who surrounded the Guild.
• Zhao Chonghong cited the Guild’s suspected links to the Immortal God Cult and Rong Tribe spies, then challenged Xu Wenjun’s involvement because Wang Zhi was his father-in-law.
• Xu Wenjun yielded control, and Zhao Chonghong sealed the Wangzhi Medicine Guild and assigned Yang Ling and Lu Yunchen to assist him.
• Zhao Chonghong left Yang Ling with a murderous look, and Yang Ling privately resolved that he would not fear Xu Wenjun in a fight.

Yang Ling exposed He Dongqing as the source of evidence against Wang Zhi and used the Insight Technique to uncover He Dongqing’s own crimes. He Dongqing denied betraying Wang Zhi, while Wang Zhi realized the medicine guild’s position had become hopeless.

• Zhao Chonghong ordered the fire oil barrels counted and recorded, and Yang Ling had the secret passage and the courtyard at its far end sealed.
• Officials counted 838 barrels of fire oil, confirmed that Ding Wei’s marked barrels were among them, and stamped matching records.
• Wang Zhi argued that the Wangzhi Medicine Guild should not be sealed and denied ties to the Rong Tribe, but Yang Ling challenged him over the deaths caused by the fire oil.
• Yang Ling summoned He Dongqing and said He had told him that Wang Zhi ordered seven servants killed and buried beneath the Great Locust Tree.
• Yang Ling used the Insight Technique on He Dongqing and discovered that He had arranged the servants’ murders and sent oil to the Refugee Compound, indirectly causing over a hundred refugees’ deaths.
• He Dongqing denied telling Yang Ling anything, while Wang Zhi silently realized that He Dongqing had betrayed him.

Yang Ling forced He Dongqing to testify after seven bodies were found beneath the Wangzhi Medicine Guild’s locust tree, linking Wang Zhi and the Blood-Handed Scholar to the fire-oil killings. Wang Zhi then claimed Kong Xinghu had ordered the fire oil and the burning of the refugees, prompting Zhao Chonghong to clear the courtyard for a private discussion.

• Yang Ling had Shi Xin and Yun Ruo locate the guild’s great locust tree, where they uncovered seven bodies.
• He Dongqing agreed to testify and said the dead servants had helped the Blood-Handed Scholar collect fire oil for Wang Zhi.
• He Dongqing revealed that Wang Zhi had kept the Blood-Handed Scholar in his service and offered a ledger detailing his orders and the fire oil’s source.
• Yang Ling accused Wang Zhi of colluding with the Immortal God Cult, but Wang Zhi admitted the Blood-Handed Scholar worked for the guild while denying that he was a spy.
• Wang Zhi claimed Kong Xinghu had ordered the fire oil deliveries and that Kong’s junior fellow disciple had proposed burning the refugees.
• Zhao Chonghong ordered the courtyard cleared, leaving only himself, Yang Ling, Lu Yunchen, Yun Ruo, Wang Zhi, his son and grandson, and He Dongqing.

Zhao Chonghong forced Wang Zhi to document his claims about the plot involving Kong Xinghu, refugees, and Luo Kai, despite Wang’s warnings about the Third Prince and the Star Gazing Academy. After Wang signed the record and tried to kill himself, Yang Ling stopped him, and the group concluded that the Star Gazing Academy Head had killed Kong Xinghu.

• Wang Zhi named Luo Kai as the person who had devised the scheme to force Zhao Chonghong out of Xiangfeng Prefecture, and Yang Ling realized Luo Kai was the Third Prince’s junior fellow disciple.
• Zhao Chonghong insisted that Wang Zhi sign his statement and said the decision to investigate rested with His Majesty, while Wang urged them to let the case go.
• Wang Zhi’s son begged him to sign, and Wang Zhi signed the record before biting down on his tongue in an attempt to die.
• Yang Ling stopped Wang Zhi from killing himself and warned that his death could make the case fall on his family.
• Zhao Chonghong and Lu Yunchen reasoned that Kong Xinghu’s testimony would be needed to support Wang Zhi’s claims, and Yang Ling declared that the Star Gazing Academy Head had killed Kong Xinghu.

After the Special Case Team sent evidence implicating the Star Gazing Academy Head and the Third Prince to the Capital, Xu Wenjun tore up the remaining files and warned that the civil officials would suppress the case. Yang Ling realized the Civil Official Group might hold power beyond the Zhao Family, while Zhao Chonghong stood by his decision and Xu Wenjun continued to rage.

• Yang Ling reported that the Special Case Team had linked the Star Gazing Academy Head to Kong Xinghu's murder and asked Xu Wenjun to take Wang Zhi's testimony to the Capital.
• Xu Wenjun tore up the case files and ordered the investigation team to disband, but Zhao Chonghong revealed that copies of the testimony had already been sent to the Capital.
• Xu Wenjun warned that the evidence could provoke the civil officials, who might accuse the Iron Clothes Department of fabricating crimes to challenge their power.
• Xu Wenjun declared that civil officials, not the Zhao Family, ran the realm, prompting Yang Ling to reconsider the Civil Official Group's reach.
• Zhao Chonghong said he had only done what he should, while Xu Wenjun cursed Yang Ling for eating the Qi and Blood Tai Sui.
• Yang Ling told Xu Wenjun he had lost his composure and added that the Qi and Blood Tai Sui had tasted delicious.

After the Capital’s investigation orders arrived, Yang Ling, Lu Yunchen, and Xu Wenjun were stripped of their local posts and ordered to report to the Capital. Yang Ling recognized the civil officials’ power and resolved to grow stronger before facing them.

• Xu Wenjun predicted that the Capital would intervene, while Lu Yunchen warned Yang Ling that resolving the case could cost them their posts.
• Three days later, Xu Wenjun read the Capital’s commendation and ordered Wang Zhi and the other people involved in the case beheaded for harboring the fugitive Blood-Handed Scholar.
• The Ministry of Personnel ordered Lu Yunchen and Yang Ling to relinquish their posts and travel to the Capital, and they handed over their Official Seals.
• Xu Wenjun announced that his merits and past failures had canceled out, so he too had to leave his post and become the Capital’s Anti-Theft Division First Branch Master.
• Xu Wenjun invited Yang Ling and Lu Yunchen to accompany him to the Capital, and Yang Ling resolved to raise his strength quickly.

Wang Zhi and He Dongqing were executed, closing Yang Ling’s case in the eyes of the authorities despite his anger that more people had escaped punishment. Yang Ling prepared to travel to the Capital, where Lu Yunchen warned him of danger, and first planned to arrange affairs at the Blazing Gold Ore mine.

• Zhao Chonghong ordered the execution of Wang Zhi and He Dongqing, while He Dongqing pleaded that he had not betrayed the Wang family.
• Xu Wenjun praised Yang Ling’s handling of the case and blamed the Wang family’s greed for his own loss of position.
• Yang Ling said that more people should be punished for burning over a hundred Players, but Lu Yunchen explained that the case was considered closed for now.
• Lu Yunchen promised to look after Yang Ling in the Capital, and Yun Ruo advised him to keep a low profile there.
• Yang Ling decided to visit the Blazing Gold Ore mine and make arrangements before traveling to the Capital.

Yang Ling prepared to leave the Blazing Gold Ore mine for the Capital, made arrangements to protect his people and Zhou Zheng, and continued mining until he reached level 90. After receiving two Purple Treasure Chests, he left the mine and opened the first one.

• Qian Dalong welcomed Yang Ling and promised to treat Zhou Zheng and his people well while Yang Ling was away.
• Yang Ling told the players he might not return from the Capital, arranged for Zhou Zheng to stay at the mine, and gave him a fragment of a Quenching Gold Armor Piercing Flying Dagger to sell.
• Yang Ling mined for several days, kept most of the blazing gold he found, and reached level 90, becoming the first of Divine Domain's fifty million players to do so.
• Yang Ling received two Purple Treasure Chests and sent Lin Caiyi and the others over a hundred possible blazing gold locations before leaving the mine.
• After traveling far from the mine, Yang Ling took out the two Purple Treasure Chests and opened the first one.

Yang Ling refined a Qi and Blood Tai Sui and raised his qi and blood to 16,800, then won 30 Free Attribute Points from the Purple Big Wheel. He prepared to enter the Tun Tian Dao Palace to strengthen himself and trade equipment for pills and herbs.

• Yang Ling swallowed a Qi and Blood Tai Sui and refined it, raising his qi and blood to 16,800 and estimating his limit at 20,000.
• Yang Ling opened the second Purple Treasure Chest and found a Purple Big Wheel whose rewards were unrelated to the chest's grade.
• Yang Ling drew the attributes category and received 30 Free Attribute Points, bringing his total to 53.
• Yang Ling planned to strengthen himself, trade equipment from the Green Dragon Ring for pills and herbs, and enter the Tun Tian Dao Palace.
• Yang Ling selected Yes to enter the exclusive instance.

Yang Ling accepted Lin Zhen’s request to accompany him home and help settle a dispute between the Lin Family and Star Gazing Academy. They traveled by boat toward Qitian Provincial Capital, where Yang Ling asked about places to trade divine weapons and buy cultivation supplies.

• Yang Ling confirmed that time in the instance stopped whenever he left, then settled into seclusion at Tun Tian Dao Palace and cultivated the Vajra Mingwang Technique for nine days.
• Lin Zhen asked Yang Ling to accompany him home after his third brother injured a disciple of a Star Gazing Academy teacher during a dispute over a woman.
• Yang Ling accepted the side quest, and the headmaster of Tun Tian Dao Palace approved their departure.
• Yang Ling and Lin Zhen boarded a Cao Gang fast boat bound for Qitian Provincial Capital, and Lin Zhen gave Yang Ling three Peiyuan Pills.
• Yang Ling asked Lin Zhen where he could sell divine weapons or buy pills and rare herbs.

Yang Ling discussed selling his Lower Fifth Rank Mysterious Phoenix Sword to Lin Zhen’s family in exchange for cultivation resources. When Lin Zhen revealed that the family owned a Crimson Wood Ghost Ginseng, Yang Ling eagerly agreed to trade for it.

• Lin Zhen offered to help Yang Ling sell his Divine Weapons through the Lin Family, and Yang Ling said he wanted rare herbs to strengthen his qi and blood.
• Yang Ling revealed that he planned to sell a Lower Fifth Rank Mysterious Phoenix Sword, astonishing Lin Zhen with its rarity and value.
• Lin Zhen estimated the sword could fetch at least a million taels, but Yang Ling said he preferred pills or rare herbs to money.
• Lin Zhen mentioned that his family owned a Crimson Wood Ghost Ginseng, one of the Martial Way Twelve Sacred Medicines.
• Yang Ling recalled the benefits of the Water Bodhi and eagerly told Lin Zhen he would trade with the Lin Family for the ginseng.

Yang Ling learned that Crimson Wood Ghost Ginseng could strengthen a Fifth-Rank martial artist’s regenerative abilities and became determined to obtain one before advancing. He offered Lin Zhen an increasingly valuable trade, ending with two Divine Weapons, 150 Peiyuan Pills, and a second-rate internal skill manual for the Lin Family’s ginseng.

• Lin Zhen explained that Crimson Wood Ghost Ginseng could be refined into Qi and Blood Tai Sui, and that taking it before the fifth rank strengthened regenerative abilities.
• Yang Ling realized he still had time to gain the ginseng’s benefits and proposed trading Divine Weapons and Peiyuan Pills for it.
• Lin Zhen doubted that the offered weapons and pills were enough, noting that his family needed the ginseng for his future advancement.
• Yang Ling raised his offer to 150 Peiyuan Pills and then added the second-rate Iron Clothes Divine Armor Scripture.
• Lin Zhen was stunned by Yang Ling’s final offer and wondered if such a deal could really exist.

Yang Ling accompanied Lin Zhen to the Lin Family estate to trade for Crimson Wood Ghost Ginseng, but overheard that the Lin Family’s troubles involved the Star Gazing Academy and a plan to demand compensation. Military Officer Mo dismissed Yang Ling as a nobody and prepared to confront the Lin Family.

• Yang Ling and Lin Zhen arrived at Qitian Provincial Capital’s harbor, where Lin Zhen eagerly anticipated trading for the Iron Clothes Divine Armor Scripture.
• Yang Ling learned about the Lin Family’s extensive businesses as Lin Zhen led him toward the family estate.
• Yang Ling overheard Mr. Wang and Military Officer Mo discussing how to obtain Crimson Wood Ghost Ginseng as compensation from the Lin Family.
• Lin Baoshan welcomed Yang Ling, who said he had come to investigate the trouble facing the Lin Family.
• Military Officer Mo called Yang Ling a nobody and agreed to lead Mr. Wang to the Lin Family to discuss compensation.

Yang Ling and Lin Zhen persuaded the Lin family to trade a crimson wood ghost ginseng for divine weapons, Peiyuan Pills, and an ancient second-rate internal skill manual. Lin Baoshan completed the exchange, and Yang Ling received the ginseng.

• Lin Hua admitted that he had drunkenly told people about the crimson wood ghost ginseng, and Yang Ling concluded that the Star Gazing Academy wanted it.
• Lin Zhen proposed exchanging the ginseng with Yang Ling so the Star Gazing Academy would be unable to claim it from the Lin family.
• Yang Ling offered the Mysterious Phoenix Sword, the Star Gazing Kirin Vest, 150 Peiyuan Pills, and the Iron Clothes Divine Armor Scripture.
• Lin Baoshan inspected Yang Ling's offerings, then returned with a wooden box containing the crimson wood ghost ginseng.
• Yang Ling opened the box and saw the ginseng's description: consuming it could increase cultivation.