Chapter Summaries

Jiang Che accepted a mission to investigate Governor Lin Zhen’s assassination in Tai Prefecture and escort Lin Zhen’s family to safety. At the murder scene, he challenged Master Yuanzhi’s theory that a Giant Spirit Assassin was responsible, pointing to evidence of extremely cold true qi.

• Yue Ying announced that Lin Zhen had been assassinated in Tai Prefecture and described the mission to investigate the murder and protect his family.
• Daoist Wuwei recommended Jiang Che for the mission, and Lei Wanjun approved his assignment.
• Lin Jiangli tried to leave the governor’s residence to seek help from her beloved Xiao, but Zhao Zhuo stopped her while a masked figure watched from a tree.
• Jiang Che arrived at the governor’s mansion and met Lin Li, Lin Jiangli, Zhao Zhuo, and Chief Commandant Liu Yong before Master Yuanzhi joined the investigation.
• Master Yuanzhi blamed the murder on a Giant Spirit Assassin, but Jiang Che found that cold true qi, rather than brute force, had damaged the desk.

Jiang Che rejected Master Yuanzhi’s theory that Giant Spirit Assassins had killed the prefecture governor and investigated signs of an evil art instead. A false lead from Chen Wu lured him into a trap, where he killed two First-Rank Giant Spirit War Gods with Star-Burial and faced their Second-Rank leader.

• Jiang Che proposed splitting the investigation, while Master Yuanzhi and Chief Commandant Liu searched for suspected Giant Spirit Assassins.
• Jiang Che visited the Myriad Phenomena Dao Sect’s outpost and took dossiers from Chen Wu on hidden cults and evil factions in Tai Prefecture.
• Jiang Che searched several suspected hideouts over two days but found no useful evidence, while Master Yuanzhi announced a plan to capture suspicious giants.
• Chen Wu gave Jiang Che a report about suspected Blood Spirit Cult activity at Phoenix-Falling Slope, then revealed his treachery after Jiang Che departed.
• Three Giant Spirit War Gods ambushed Jiang Che at the estate, and their leader identified him as a seed of Great Chu.
• Jiang Che used his powers to hurl the two First-Rank War Gods into the air and kill them with Star-Burial, shocking the Second-Rank War God.

Jiang Che killed three Giant Spirit War Gods, including a Second-Rank War God, then confronted Chen Wu, who died by suicide before he could be questioned. A coded letter’s Cold Cloud Pine scent pointed to a hidden enemy within the Myriad Phenomena Dao Sect, while Jiang Che planned to investigate Governor Lin Zhen’s murder further at the Prefecture Governor Mansion.

• The Second-Rank War God charged Jiang Che, but Jiang Che’s enhanced strength let him destroy the giant’s arm and punch through his chest, killing him.
• Jiang Che took the three Giant Spirit Warriors’ right ears as proof of his kills, concealed the traces, and returned to Tai Prefecture City.
• Jiang Che found Chen Wu calmly drinking tea at the stronghold and revealed that the three assassins had died.
• Chen Wu tried to flee, then bit open a poison sac and died before Jiang Che could question him.
• Jiang Che found a coded letter on Chen Wu and recognized its Cold Cloud Pine scent as evidence that the assassination plot had originated inside the Myriad Phenomena Dao Sect.
• Jiang Che hid the letter and headed to the Prefecture Governor Mansion to seek further clues about Lin Zhen’s murder.

A True Mother Cult plot lured Zhao Zhuo away and led to his death, while Xiao Yi abducted Lin Jiangli after deceiving her with a false warning. Jiang Che learned that Zhao Zhuo was dead and Lin Jiangli had vanished, then set out to investigate the scene.

• Zhao Zhuo left the Embroidery Pavilion to pursue a supposed assassin, while Lin Jiangli received a forged note from Xiao Yi and slipped out to meet him.
• A disguised True Mother Cult member lured Zhao Zhuo into a grove, where two accomplices joined him and their formation weakened Zhao Zhuo before the three killed him.
• Xiao Yi met Lin Jiangli at the pavilion, persuaded her that someone in the residence had murdered her father, and abducted her after she grew suspicious.
• Jiang Che learned that Zhao Zhuo had been found dead and Lin Jiangli was missing, then asked Chief Commandant Liu to take him to the scene.

Jiang Che used his tracking skills to reconstruct how Zhao Zhuo was lured away and how Lin Jiangli left the mansion willingly to meet someone. After suspecting Xiao Yi had arranged her disappearance, Jiang Che set out with Chief Commandant Liu to investigate his residence.

• Jiang Che examined Zhao Zhuo’s death scene and found traces showing that three sinister-path attackers had killed him together.
• Jiang Che determined that an apparent ordinary person had lured Zhao Zhuo to the rear courtyard, where the person revealed their strength and began the fight.
• Jiang Che followed Lin Jiangli’s lingering scent from the Embroidery Pavilion to a secluded pavilion, where she had met an unfamiliar expert before being taken away.
• Jiang Che told the others that Zhao Zhuo had believed Lin Jiangli was safe because the alarm array had not been triggered, and that the servant who reported an assassin was likely the culprit.
• Lin Li revealed that Lin Jiangli had recently wanted to see Xiao Yi, prompting Jiang Che to suspect him and decide to investigate his residence.
• Chief Commandant Liu joined Jiang Che, and the two left the mansion to find Xiao Yi.

Jiang Che searched the Prefecture Governor Mansion for the spy who had helped Xiao Yi escape, using the [Pupil Seal] to examine the servants’ memories. He finally uncovered a disguised servant whose Divine Soul resisted the technique, revealing the spy’s presence.

• Lin Li gathered the mansion’s servants and guards, but no one admitted to delivering the warning that lured Zhao Zhuo away.
• Jiang Che and Chief Commandant Liu found Xiao Yi’s residence empty, confirming that Xiao Yi had fled.
• Jiang Che detected no obvious expert among the servants and ordered them all imprisoned so he could search for the disguised mole.
• Jiang Che used the [Pupil Seal] to examine the servants one by one and exposed Steward Qian’s embezzlement, though Qian was not the spy.
• When an ordinary-looking middle-aged servant resisted the [Pupil Seal], Jiang Che recognized him as a powerful cultivator and said he had finally found the spy.

Jiang Che exposed a heretical spy hidden among the Prefecture Governor Mansion’s servants and sent out controlled sparrows to search Tai Prefecture City for Xiao Yi. After Chief Commandant Liu’s torture failed, Jiang Che damaged the spy’s brain to break his Divine Soul defenses and began probing his memories.

• Jiang Che used his eye technique to expose the middle-aged servant, then restrained him when he tried to flee.
• Jiang Che had Chief Commandant Liu test the servant’s skin with a saber, revealing the spy’s extraordinary body tempering and True Person Realm strength.
• Jiang Che shattered the spy’s dantian, broke his limbs, and handed him over to Chief Commandant Liu for interrogation.
• Jiang Che controlled sixty sparrows with Pupil Seal and sent them across Tai Prefecture City to search for Xiao Yi.
• When Chief Commandant Liu’s torture failed, Jiang Che inserted needles into the spy’s head, damaged his brain, and used Pupil Seal to enter his memories.

Jiang Che learned that the True Mother Cult was searching for a hidden Divine Bone and discovered the spy’s disguise art, Flesh Parasitism. After his sparrows found the cult’s hideout, Jiang Che stormed in as Lin Jiangli was being tortured.

• Jiang Che extracted the True Mother Cult’s plans and learned that Lin Jiangli alone might know where Lin Zhen had hidden the Divine Bone.
• Jiang Che learned and recorded Flesh Parasitism, then killed the spy and ordered his sparrows to search south of Blacksmith Alley.
• Jiang Che told Lin Li about the treasure, but she said she had never heard of it.
• At an abandoned smelting workshop, the disguised Xiao Yi tortured Lin Jiangli and refused to risk rescuing the captured Second Master.
• Jiang Che located the workshop, slaughtered its guards, and burst into the hidden chamber as Xiao Yi was cutting Lin Jiangli’s face.

Jiang Che rescued Lin Jiangli, captured and interrogated the True Mother Cult leader, and discovered the cult was searching for a Divine Bone sought by State Preceptor Helian Zong. Lin Jiangli revealed an old silver bracelet her father had given her, and Jiang Che took it away to examine it.

• Jiang Che subdued “Xiao Yi,” freed Lin Jiangli, and healed the wound on her face with a Rejuvenation Pill.
• Jiang Che brought Lin Jiangli and the captive back to the Prefecture Governor Mansion, where she reunited with Lin Li.
• Jiang Che used the [Pupil Seal] to search “Xiao Yi’s” memories, learned about the Divine Bone, then killed him after the interrogation.
• Jiang Che told Lin Jiangli that the True Mother Cult had murdered her father and sought the Divine Bone, then asked what her father had left her.
• Lin Jiangli showed Jiang Che the silver bracelet she had worn since childhood, and Lin Li recalled that a wandering Daoist had given it to her after she fell mysteriously ill.
• Jiang Che took the bracelet to examine it in private after Lin Jiangli explained that going without it for long made her ill and unsettled.

Jiang Che discovered the silver bracelet held a sealed Soul-Stabilizing Divine Bone with powerful abilities, then returned it to Lin Jiangli and persuaded her to give it to him in exchange for treating her and helping her learn martial arts. After arranging to escort Lin Jiangli and her mother to the Myriad Phenomena Dao Sect, he set out to find his former teacher Luo Kun and senior brother Shao Jianbo.

• Jiang Che used Weapon Dissolution on Lin Jiangli's bracelet and discovered the Soul-Stabilizing Divine Bone, which could strengthen and protect his Divine Soul.
• Jiang Che explained the Divine Bone's importance to Lin Jiangli and Lin Li, and reassured Lin Jiangli that she was not to blame for her father's death.
• Jiang Che warned Lin Jiangli that the True Mother Cult and Helian Zong might target her, and she gave him the bracelet in exchange for his promise to cure her.
• Lin Jiangli asked Jiang Che to teach her martial arts, and he agreed to give her pointers while declining to take her as a disciple.
• Jiang Che left to prepare for their return to the Myriad Phenomena Dao Sect, then decided to visit Luo Kun and Shao Jianbo in Tai Prefecture.

Jiang Che asked Chief Commandant Liu to escort him to the Shao Family, where he hoped to visit his old friend Shao Jianbo. He arrived just after the family favored Shao Hong over Shao Jianbo, and revealed that Shao Jianbo was the friend he had come to see.

• Jiang Che asked Chief Commandant Liu to take him to the Shao Family in western Tai Prefecture City, and Liu agreed.
• At the Shao Family meeting, Shao Wenhua proposed Shao Jianbo to manage Apricot Grove Medicine Hall, while Shao Wenzhong argued for his son Shao Hong.
• Shao Jianbo accused Shao Hong of gambling away money and owing one hundred thousand taels, prompting a furious family argument.
• Old Master Shao assigned Apricot Grove Medicine Hall to Shao Hong and sent Shao Jianbo to manage a rundown grain and oil warehouse.
• Chief Commandant Liu arrived at the Shao residence with Jiang Che, while the family mistakenly believed Liu had come to reward Shao Wenzhong.
• Jiang Che announced that he had come specifically to see his former White Cloud Martial Hall fellow disciple, Senior Brother Shao Jianbo.

Jiang Che reunited with Shao Jianbo and visited their former master, Luo Kun, in Tai Prefecture. His arrival transformed the Shao Family’s treatment of Jianbo, and the chapter ended with Jiang Che bowing to Luo Kun at White Cloud Martial Hall.

• Chief Commandant Liu accompanied Jiang Che to visit Shao Jianbo, shocking the Shao Family and revealing Jiang Che’s standing.
• Jiang Che and Shao Jianbo recognized each other as former White Cloud Martial Hall disciples and reminisced about their reunion after ten years.
• Old Master Shao stripped Shao Wenzhong of authority, punished Shao Hong, named Shao Jianbo heir, and gave Shao Wenhua funds to expand his rice business.
• Jiang Che and Shao Jianbo went to White Cloud Martial Hall, where Jiang Che corrected the disciples’ White Cloud Fist and demonstrated the art.
• Luo Kun emerged after watching Jiang Che’s demonstration, and Jiang Che introduced himself and bowed to his former master.

Jiang Che returned to the White Cloud Martial Hall, reunited with Luo Kun and Shao Jianbo, and gave them pills, protective talismans, and a token. He then brought Lin Li and Lin Jiangli to the Myriad Phenomena Dao Sect, where he reported his mission and presented proof that he had killed three Giant Spirit War Gods before heading to Spirit Void Peak to speak with his master about the secret letter.

• Jiang Che reunited with Luo Kun and Shao Jianbo, told them he had become a true disciple of the Myriad Phenomena Dao Sect, and gave them life-extending pills, protective talismans, and a token.
• Jiang Che left the White Cloud Martial Hall after refusing Luo Kun’s offer to stay, and the next morning he met Lin Li and Lin Jiangli outside the Prefecture Governor Mansion.
• Jiang Che carried Lin Li and Lin Jiangli on the Cloud-Hidden Sky Wolf toward the sect and warned them to keep the Soul-Stabilizing Divine Bone secret because he suspected a spy among the sect’s higher-ups.
• Jiang Che brought Lin Li and Lin Jiangli to the Divine Strategy Alliance branch at Xingdao Peak, where an elder arranged their lodging at Anhe Residence.
• Jiang Che presented three Giant Spirit War God ears as proof of his kills, and the elder agreed to prioritize verification of the mission and its merit rewards.
• Jiang Che flew toward Spirit Void Peak to pay his respects to his master and discuss the secret letter.

Jiang Che reported the traitors and the Flesh Parasitism technique to Daoist Wuwei, then equipped the Soul-Stabilizing Divine Bone and learned of the coming True Beast Secret Realm. After deciding to enter the dangerous realm, he prepared by booking a Demon-Suppressing Tower challenge for the next day.

• Jiang Che told Daoist Wuwei about Chen Wu, the hidden traitors, and the Great Yan Kingdom’s Flesh Parasitism technique, while keeping the Soul-Stabilizing Divine Bone secret.
• Jiang Che returned to his family, then replaced the Key of Origin in his Soul Slot with the Soul-Stabilizing Divine Bone to strengthen his Divine Soul during cultivation.
• Bao Da told Jiang Che that the True Beast Secret Realm in Yun Prefecture would open soon and contained True Cores that could accelerate cultivation.
• Fang Zhenge explained that True Cores tempered the True Body, described the secret realm’s dangers, and told Jiang Che it would open in one month.
• Jiang Che chose to enter the secret realm and followed Fang Zhenge’s advice to strengthen himself by challenging the Demon-Suppressing Tower.
• Jiang Che reserved a tower challenge for the next day, and the steward hurried to spread the news across the peaks.

Jiang Che stormed the Demon-Suppressing Tower after reaching the Complete Truth Realm, defeating increasingly powerful guardian beast souls and absorbing their Law Fragments. He cleared the fifty-ninth floor and surpassed Luo Qinghan’s record, while Pei Ming’s fifty-ninth-floor record remained the next challenge.

• Jiang Che entered the Demon-Suppressing Tower and rapidly cleared its first forty floors before crushing the Desolate Ancient Rock Dragon on the forty-first floor with his Prison-Suppressing Force Field.
• Jiang Che advanced through the lower floors, absorbed numerous Law Fragments into his Law Seed, and instantly defeated the Second Stage Thunder War General on the fiftieth floor.
• The crowd watched Jiang Che reach the fifty-first floor, while Luo Qinghan realized he had beaten her record and Pei Ming suspected he had not yet reached his limit.
• Jiang Che defeated the guardians from the fifty-first through fifty-sixth floors, including the Nine-Headed Poison Demon Dragon, and continued past Luo Qinghan’s record.
• On the fifty-ninth floor, Jiang Che used his Prison-Suppressing Force Field, Star-Burial, and fully unleashed Star-Crushing to destroy the peak Second Stage Heaven-Burning Demon Ape.

Jiang Che stopped at the Demon-Suppressing Tower’s fifty-ninth floor, matching Pei Ming’s record while keeping his strongest trump cards hidden. He declared his intention to challenge Shen Yanjun of Heaven-Slaying Peak, then began planning how to grow strong enough to defeat him.

• Jiang Che cleared the fifty-ninth floor, surpassing Luo Qinghan’s record and matching Pei Ming’s, but chose not to attempt the sixtieth floor so he would not reveal Black Armor Form or Titan Strength.
• Jiang Che told Luo Qinghan he would seek a seat from another peak and looked toward Heaven-Slaying Peak, then left to comprehend the Law Fragments he had gained.
• Shen Yanjun learned that Jiang Che had cleared fifty-nine floors and intended to challenge someone from Heaven-Slaying Peak, and he angrily declared he would wait for him.
• Fang Zhenge visited Jiang Che and warned him that Shen Yanjun was too strong to challenge yet, advising him to wait until he reached the Third Stage of Complete Truth.
• Jiang Che accepted Fang Zhenge’s advice outwardly but planned to reach the Second Stage, obtain True Cores in the True Beast Secret Realm, and temper his body into a True Body before challenging Shen Yanjun.

Jiang Che collected eight thousand merit points for resolving the Tai Prefecture assassination case and spent them on four Taiyi Soul-Nourishing Pills. After weeks of strengthening his Divine Soul, Law Seed, and True Essence, he broke through to the second stage of the Complete Truth Realm, Returning to Truth.

• Fang Zhenge supported Jiang Che's plan to challenge Shen Yanjun and shared his advice for refining Law Fragments.
• Jiang Che collected eight thousand merit points for the Tai Prefecture investigation and exchanged them for four Taiyi Soul-Nourishing Pills.
• Jiang Che refined the pills and Law Fragments, strengthening his Divine Soul and Law Seed before using his refreshed entry chances at the Grotto-Heaven Blessed Land to gather Law Power and True Essence.
• Jiang Che left the Grotto-Heaven Blessed Land before its closing and continued cultivating on Crimson Firmament Peak until all three aspects of his cultivation reached their limits.
• Jiang Che shattered the barrier between the first and second stages of the Complete Truth Realm and reached Returning to Truth.

After breaking through to the Second Stage of Complete Truth, Jiang Che tested his doubled strength and began forging his True Body, but found the process too slow without True Cores. Fang Zhenge briefed him on the dangers and rules of the approaching True Beast Secret Realm, and Jiang Che asked his senior brother to spar so he could experience a Third Stage Law Domain.

• Jiang Che discovered that his true essence, physical strength, defense, and Law Power techniques had doubled after reaching the Second Stage of Complete Truth.
• Jiang Che began transforming his body into a True Body, calculated that it would take nearly three years, and hoped to accelerate the process by hunting True Cores in the secret realm.
• Jiang Che met Fang Zhenge, who was astonished by his breakthrough and warned him about the secret realm's random teleportation, three-day limit, dangerous True Beasts, and hostile cultivators.
• Fang Zhenge gave Jiang Che a rough map marking past Elite and King Level True Beast nests and advised him to flee from powerful beasts and packs.
• Jiang Che asked Fang Zhenge to spar so he could experience the Law Domain of a Third Stage cultivator, and Fang Zhenge agreed.

Jiang Che tested himself against Fang Zhenge’s Law Domain, learned that tempering his body into a True Body could resist its suppression, and set out with his companions for the True Beast Secret Realm. The True Mother Cult also dispatched its own forces to hunt the leading disciples of the major sects, and Jiang Che entered the newly opened realm gate.

• Jiang Che attacked Fang Zhenge, but Fang Zhenge’s Purple Extreme Void Domain weakened his power, warped space, and neutralized his Laws until he ended the spar.
• Fang Zhenge explained that a perfected True Body could resist Law Domain suppression, and Jiang Che resolved to seek True Cores and temper his body before facing Shen Yanjun again.
• Jiang Che, Fang Zhenge, Suying, and Luo Qinghan departed for Yun Prefecture on their mounts.
• Yin Youxuan offered the True Mother Cult’s followers the Nine Nether Calamity-Dissolving Pill as a reward and ordered them to hunt the True Disciples of the major sects in the secret realm.
• At the Valley of Absolute Life, the teleportation gate opened, and Jiang Che followed the crowd into the True Beast Secret Realm.

Jiang Che hunted True Beasts in the Blood-Spike Wasteland and refined their True Cores, rapidly advancing his True Body transformation. After killing an elite-grade tiger, he had its True Core stolen by two hidden figures, then pursued them until a towering swordsman appeared in their path.

• Jiang Che used the map to locate himself in the Blood-Spike Wasteland and hunted several ordinary-grade True Beasts, collecting their True Cores.
• Jiang Che refined the True Cores in a concealed cave, gaining the equivalent of a month of cultivation progress, then hunted another group for a similar gain.
• Jiang Che found an elite-grade tiger in a cave, broke through its weak Law Domain, and killed it after a fierce fight.
• Two hidden figures stole the tiger's purple True Core and fled, using an ability resembling teleportation to evade Jiang Che.
• Jiang Che pursued the thieves, but a tall, broad person carrying a massive sheathed sword appeared ahead and blocked their path.