Chapter Summaries

Lin Changqing returned from the Demon Realm after killing its four Demon Saints and shattering a projection of the Nine Nether Demon Emperor with one punch. As the Western Regions Defense Line celebrated his victory, he exposed a traitor within its ranks, and Ling Tian and Fayue prepared to investigate the other spies.

• Lin Changqing told Sword Saint Ling Tian and Saint Venerable Fayue that he had killed the four Demon Saints and shattered the Nine Nether Demon Emperor's projection with one punch.
• Lin Changqing revealed that he had killed Wei Yong, the defense line's deputy commander-in-chief, after finding evidence that he had defected to the demons and learned that other spies might remain.
• Sword Saint Ling Tian and Saint Venerable Fayue vowed to investigate Wei Yong's connections and purge the defense line of traitors.
• Lin Changqing returned to the Western Regions Defense Line, where the soldiers cheered his safe return and victory.
• Sword Saint Ling Tian announced Lin Changqing's deeds to the assembled soldiers, while hidden spies feared the demons' defeat had ruined their promised rewards.

After defeating the demons, Lin Changqing accepted Taixu Saint Emperor’s invitation to stay for a celebration banquet and gave Taixu Saint Emperor, Sword Saint Ling Tian, and Saint Venerable Fayue guidance on Martial Saint cultivation. His advice completed a system mission that rewarded him with mastery of Ten Thousand Swords Return to Origin, and he planned to return to the capital the next day.

• Lin Changqing agreed to remain at the Western Regions defense line for a celebration banquet before returning to the capital.
• Taixu Saint Emperor asked Lin Changqing to advise him, Sword Saint Ling Tian, and Saint Venerable Fayue, and Lin Changqing explained his insights into the Martial Saint realms.
• The three Martial Saints gained clarity about their cultivation, while Lin Changqing completed the system mission and claimed mastery of Ten Thousand Swords Return to Origin.
• Lin Changqing’s new sword-dao aura astonished the three Martial Saints, and he offered to demonstrate the technique after the banquet.
• Taixu Saint Emperor praised Lin Changqing before the soldiers, who celebrated his defeat of the demons, and Lin Changqing said he would return to the capital tomorrow.

Lin Changqing demonstrated Ten Thousand Swords Return to Origin, then left the Western Regions Defense Line for the Capital City. On the way through Yong Province, he discovered a Demon Suppressing Division branch was deliberately allowing demons to kill civilians for greater credit and rewards.

• Lin Changqing showed Sword Saint Ling Tian and the others Ten Thousand Swords Return to Origin, flattening a wasteland and giving Ling Tian new insight into sword intent.
• The Taixu Saint Emperor and Saint Venerable Fayue saw Lin Changqing off, while the Taixu Saint Emperor planned to return to the Capital City by assigning Xiao Liu to command the defense line.
• Lin Changqing traveled through a Spatial Rift on Golden Radiance with Lin Hu, Lin Que, and Lin Wu.
• In Yong Province, Lin Changqing overheard a Demon Suppressing Division Centurion refuse to send troops against demons because letting them cause more deaths would bring greater credit and rewards.
• Lin Changqing slowed Golden Radiance after realizing the local Demon Suppressing Division branch was deliberately letting demons prey on the town.

Lin Changqing discovered that Yong Province’s Demon Suppressing Division officers had deliberately let demons prey on commoners to earn merit, then killed the scattered demons and confronted Centurion Wang Dafu. After uncovering a ledger that supported the accusations, Lin Changqing heard Wang Dafu claim he had followed orders from his superiors.

• Lin Changqing used his divine sense to discover scattered demons and local Demon Suppressing Division officers profiting by letting them harm commoners.
• Lin Changqing killed every scattered demon within thousands of miles with his divine power.
• Lin Changqing arrived in town with Lin Hu, Lin Que, and another guard, and overheard Wang Dafu and his men discussing how they planned to let demons cause more deaths for merit and rewards.
• A system mission tasked Lin Changqing with purging the corrupt Yong Province Demon Suppressing Division Branch and offered him the Zhentian Seal as a reward.
• Lin Changqing confronted Wang Dafu, rejected his denials, and found a merit ledger recording repeated demon attacks and commoner casualties before the officers intervened.
• Wang Dafu broke down and pleaded for his life, claiming that his superiors had forced him to participate.

Lin Changqing exposed the Yong Province Demon Suppressing Division’s scheme to keep demons alive for merit and rewards, promised the people justice, and headed for the provincial headquarters with the corrupt officials bound behind him. He arrived as Zhao Decai and other commanders discussed their profiteering, bringing the headquarters under his crushing pressure.

• Wang Dafu and the other Centurions confessed that Zhao Decai, Lord Ma, officials in the Demon Suppressing Division, and local prefects had shared rewards from merit ledgers while leaving demons alive.
• Lin Changqing condemned the officials, bound them with Spiritual Power chains, and announced to Yong Province that he would deliver justice.
• Lin Changqing healed the people with golden rain, and grateful survivors pleaded with him to punish the officials who had abandoned them.
• Lin Changqing rode Golden Radiance through a Spatial Rift toward Yong Province City, deliberately making the bound officials suffer along the way.
• At the provincial headquarters, Zhao Decai and other Thousand-Man Commanders discussed keeping demons active for profit before Lin Changqing arrived and crushed the estate with his pressure.

Lin Changqing confronted Ma Chengxiong at the Yong Province Demon Suppressing Division headquarters over the branch’s scheme of nurturing bandits and letting demons kill civilians. Ma Chengxiong denied involvement, but Lin Changqing crushed him under Half-Emperor pressure, then summoned Yong Province Inspector Li Henian to answer questions as well.

• Lin Changqing brought the captured Wang Dafu and other Demon Suppression Guards to the headquarters, where his Half-Emperor pressure pinned everyone down.
• Ma Chengxiong came out to greet Lin Changqing and learned that Wang Dafu had confessed to the branch’s crimes.
• Ma Chengxiong denied knowing about the bandit scheme and tried to blame Wang Dafu and the other guards.
• Lin Changqing cited the branch’s scale of corruption and Ma Chengxiong’s wealth, then pressed him to the ground with his power.
• Li Henian arrived, and Lin Changqing told him to stand aside because he would question him too.

Lin Changqing obtained Ma Chengxiong’s list of officials involved in nurturing bandits and ordered their arrests across Yong Province. By afternoon, every name on the list had been captured and crowded into the provincial capital’s prison.

• Ma Chengxiong revealed that the names and account books were hidden in his study, and Lin Que retrieved them for Lin Changqing.
• Lin Changqing confirmed the list included nearly all of the Yong Province Demon Suppressing Division’s officials and ordered Li Henian to arrest everyone named within one day.
• Lin Changqing sent Lin Hu with Li Henian, and Li Henian ordered General Cao Zhenshan to mobilize the Prefectural Army across Yong Province.
• Lin Hu’s Saint’s might stopped suspects from resisting or escaping as the Prefectural Army arrested officials including Wu Zhilong, Prefect Li, and Prefect Wang.
• By afternoon, every person on the list had been arrested and brought to the provincial capital’s prison.

Lin Changqing sentenced the Yong Province officials and Demon Suppression Guards involved in harboring bandits to exile in the Northern Border’s Death Squad Battalion, while their families faced exile, the Music Conservatory, or confiscation of their property. Li Henian lost his post and wealth for failing to report the crimes, and the prisoners were left to face their punishment as Lin Hu sealed their cultivation.

• Lin Hu and Li Henian reported that all listed suspects had been captured and that 417 people had been arrested in Yong Province.
• Lin Changqing ordered the guilty officials and guards stripped of office, sealed, and exiled to the Northern Border, with punishments extended to their families and property.
• Lin Changqing charged Li Henian with failing to report the crimes, then stripped him of his post and property but spared him exile because he had cooperated and taken no bribes.
• Li Henian announced the sentence in the provincial prison, where Ma Chengxiong and the other prisoners panicked and protested.
• Lin Hu sealed the cultivation of the prisoners, reinforcing the seal on Ma Chengxiong as he faced exile and the loss of his family and property.

Lin Changqing returned to the capital after crushing the Western Regions’ demonic threat and exposing corruption in Yong Province, then reported both cases to Su Gan. Su Gan resolved to punish the Ma Clan despite its Iron Certificate of Merit and ordered an imperial edict drafted.

• Lin Changqing claimed the ninth-tier Zhentian Seal and departed Yong Province, leaving Li Henian to guard the imprisoned officials until the court took custody.
• Lin Changqing returned to the Imperial City, where he told Su Gan that he had killed four Demon Saints and destroyed a projection of the Nine Nether Demon Emperor.
• Lin Changqing reported that Wei Yong had leaked Western Regions defense intelligence to the demons and that officials in Yong Province had let bandits grow stronger to profit from rewards.
• Su Gan erupted in anger over the deaths and corruption, while Lin Changqing explained that greed kept growing once it was indulged.
• Lin Changqing left to return to Wanqing, and Su Gan decided Ma Chengxiong’s crimes were not protected by the Iron Certificate of Merit and ordered an imperial edict drafted.

Lin Changqing returned to Saint Emperor Mansion, learned Su Wanqing was cultivating toward a breakthrough, and relaxed after reporting that the Western Regions were safe. Meanwhile, Shen An delivered an imperial decree punishing the Ma Clan for Ma Chengxiong’s crimes, and Ma Jiande discovered that the family’s Iron Certificate of Merit could not shield them from Lin Changqing’s verdict.

• Lin Changqing returned to Saint Emperor Mansion and learned that Su Wanqing had entered seclusion to attempt a breakthrough to the Sixth-Rank Martial Artist Realm.
• Lin Changqing told Uncle Liu that all four Demon Saints were dead and the Western Regions were safe, then soaked in the Spirit Spring with Golden Radiance and his companions.
• Shen An arrived at Ma Mansion with Royal Forest Guards and read a decree stripping Ma Chengxiong of office and exiling him and the Ma Clan’s adult men while confiscating the family’s property.
• Ma Jiande protested that his family was innocent and presented the Late Emperor’s Iron Certificate of Merit to protect them from punishment.
• Shen An explained that the certificate could not overturn a verdict personally issued by the Evergreen Saint Emperor, leaving Ma Jiande stunned.

Shen An enforced Evergreen Saint Emperor’s judgment against the Ma Clan, and Ma Jiande surrendered after learning the Iron Certificate of Merit could not shield his family. Ma Chengjie arrived and realized the clan’s destruction had been planned, then considered fighting back.

• Shen An challenged Ma Jiande to prove that the Ma Clan’s Iron Certificate of Merit had been granted by Evergreen Saint Emperor.
• Commander Luo used his Great Grandmaster pressure to keep Ma Jiande in check while Shen An warned him against resisting.
• Ma Jiande let the certificate fall and allowed the Royal Forest Guard to chain him.
• Ma Chengjie rushed back to Ma Mansion and heard Shen An read the judgment ordering collective punishment and confiscation of the Ma Clan’s property.
• Ma Chengjie realized the Iron Certificate could not stop the judgment and clenched his fists as he considered fighting Commander Luo.

Shen An arrested the Ma Clan and uncovered evidence of years of corruption and abuse, and Su Gan sentenced the implicated family members and officials to exile. The chapter ended with Su Gan ordering compensation and tax relief for the people of Yong Province, funded by the Ma Clan’s confiscated property.

• Ma Chengjie surrendered to Shen An, and the Royal Forest Guard arrested the Ma Clan and searched Ma Mansion.
• Shen An uncovered records of bribery, sold posts, fabricated charges, and other crimes, then escorted the family and evidence to the Ministry of Justice prison.
• Su Gan announced the Ma Clan’s crimes at court and ordered the clan and other implicated people exiled to the Northern Border, with no leniency.
• A Royal Forest Guard officer reported that Yong Province residents had gathered to thank the Evergreen Saint Emperor and petitioned the court to punish those responsible.
• Su Gan ordered thirty taels of silver in compensation for each harmed household in Yong Province and a three-year tax exemption, paid from the Ma Clan’s confiscated property.

After the Ma Clan's crimes were exposed, Su Gan appointed He Cheng'an as Yong Province Inspector and entrusted him with reforming the province. He Cheng'an went to thank Lin Changqing, whose system generated a mission to meet and encourage him, offering mastery of the healing technique Longevity Art as its reward.

• Su Gan appointed He Cheng'an Yong Province Inspector and ordered him to take up the post in three days.
• He Cheng'an decided to visit Lin Changqing to express his gratitude, bringing Green Jade Honey Peaches and Green Plum Wine as gifts.
• At the Saint Emperor Mansion, guards stopped He Cheng'an and sent word to the rear courtyard.
• Uncle Liu told Lin Changqing that He Cheng'an had come to thank him, and Lin Changqing received a system mission to meet and encourage the new inspector.
• The system offered Lin Changqing complete mastery of the Longevity Art, a technique that could produce healing Evergreen True Essence.

Lin Changqing received He Cheng'an, newly appointed Inspector of Yong Province, and learned about his humble origins and upright character. He encouraged He Cheng'an to rebuild the province and promised support, while warning him not to become corrupt; He Cheng'an swore to serve the people honestly.

• Uncle Liu invited He Cheng'an into the Saint Emperor Mansion after Lin Changqing agreed to meet him.
• He Cheng'an thanked Lin Changqing for exposing Ma Chengxiong's faction and presented Green Jade Honey Peaches and homemade Green Plum Wine.
• He Cheng'an described his poor upbringing, the teacher who helped him learn, and how he remained stuck at Fifth Rank for twelve years because he refused to curry favor.
• Lin Changqing urged Inspector He to comfort Yong Province's people, restore order, and promote upright officials, promising that he and His Majesty would support him.
• Lin Changqing warned He Cheng'an that he would show no mercy if He Cheng'an became corrupt, and He Cheng'an swore to reform Yong Province and never embezzle.

Lin Changqing rewarded the newly appointed Yong Province Inspector He Cheng'an with Spirit Crystals and a lifesaving power, then claimed mastery of the Evergreen Art and tested its abilities. He extended Uncle Liu's life and rapidly ripened Green Jade Honey Peach trees, leaving himself impressed by the technique's uses.

• Lin Changqing gave He Cheng'an three million high-grade Spirit Crystals and planted protective power inside him before He Cheng'an left for Yong Province.
• Lin Changqing claimed perfect mastery of the Evergreen Art after completing the task of receiving and encouraging He Cheng'an.
• Lin Changqing used Evergreen True Essence to make Uncle Liu look younger and extend his lifespan by about twenty years.
• Lin Changqing concluded that extending life consumed far more true essence than healing, and decided to reserve that ability for critical moments.
• Lin Changqing infused the estate's neglected Green Jade Honey Peach saplings with Evergreen True Essence, rapidly growing them into fruit-laden trees.

Lin Changqing recalled Lin Long from Yu Province after hearing that the fief was stable, and Lin Long returned to the Capital City ahead of schedule. His return—and Golden Radiance’s destruction of the chessboard—saved Lin Changqing from Lin Hu’s impending tenth straight chess loss, before Lin Changqing sent Lin Hu to inform the emperor and arrange a new manager for the fief.

• Lin Changqing contacted Lin Long, heard his report that Yu Province was prosperous and orderly, and told him to return to the Capital City.
• Lin Long arrived at the residence while Lin Changqing was about to lose his tenth chess game in a row to Lin Hu, and Lin Changqing knocked the board over while greeting him.
• Lin Long explained that he had handed civil and military responsibilities in Yu Province to local officials and left documents for the transfer.
• Lin Hu celebrated Lin Long’s return and tried to resume the chess game, but Golden Radiance smashed the stone table and chessboard with its tail.
• Lin Changqing told Lin Hu to report Lin Long’s return to the emperor and ask the court to appoint someone to manage Yu Province.

Lin Changqing tested the Four Symbols Killing Array against his defenses, enduring ten minutes of attacks without injury. Afterward, he used the Evergreen Art to restore the exhausted guards and returned to the residence with them.

• Lin Changqing took Lin Long, Lin Que, Lin Wu, Lin Hu, and Golden Radiance to a remote plain and sealed the area with a purple-gold barrier.
• Lin Long, Lin Hu, Lin Que, and Lin Wu formed the Four Symbols Killing Array and unleashed its full power against Lin Changqing.
• Lin Changqing withstood their attacks for ten minutes, while the array devastated the plain, but his defenses remained unbroken.
• Lin Changqing used Evergreen True Essence to restore the four guards' Spiritual Power and dispel their fatigue.
• Lin Changqing repaired much of the damaged wasteland, then rode Golden Radiance back to the residence with the guards.

Su Wanqing emerged from seclusion after reaching the Sixth-Rank Martial Artist Realm, and Lin Changqing returned to celebrate with her after resolving the Western Regions crisis and several cases in Yong Province. Her family and the nobles celebrated her breakthrough, and the chapter ended with the couple spending the night together.

• Lin Changqing spent a peaceful few days at the Saint Emperor Mansion until he sensed Su Wanqing's aura stabilize at the Sixth-Rank Martial Artist Realm.
• Su Wanqing emerged from seclusion, and Lin Changqing appeared through a Spatial Rift to congratulate her before telling her he had killed four Demon Saints and smashed a Demon Emperor's incarnation.
• Lin Changqing recounted how he had exposed corruption in Yong Province and punished the officials and Ma Clan involved, while Su Wanqing expressed concern for him.
• Lin Changqing hosted a banquet for Su Wanqing's breakthrough, and Su Gan attended with gifts and congratulated his daughter.
• After the guests left, Lin Changqing and Su Wanqing reunited in their bedchamber, while Golden Radiance moved away to give them privacy.

Lin Changqing spent a comfortable half month with Su Wanqing while the Emperor and Xiao Qianjun purged corruption from the Demon Suppressing Division. After receiving the Shadow God General Art from his monthly sign-in, Lin Changqing summoned ten Grandmaster Peak warriors and discovered he could command an army of up to one hundred.

• Su Gan heard Xiao Qianjun report widespread corruption in the Demon Suppressing Division and ordered those responsible punished according to the severity of their crimes.
• Xiao Qianjun requested inspections of the branches’ combat readiness and rotating senior officials between jurisdictions, and Su Gan approved the reforms and rewarded him.
• Lin Changqing received the monthly sign-in prompt and claimed complete mastery of the Ninth-tier Supreme Grade Shadow God General Art.
• Lin Changqing tested the art in the mansion’s training ground and summoned ten Shadow God Generals, each with Eighth-Rank Grandmaster Peak strength and absolute obedience to him.
• Lin Changqing dismissed the ten Shadow God Generals and returned to his bedchamber, pleased with his new reward.

Lin Changqing showed Su Wanqing that he could summon one hundred Shadow God Generals, claiming an immortal had taught him their technique in a dream. After watching two of them fight, he dismissed them and left Su Wanqing amazed by the technique’s power.

• Lin Changqing summoned one hundred Shadow God Generals on the Martial Arts Arena and told Su Wanqing that he had learned the technique in a dream from an immortal.
• Su Wanqing believed an Upper Realm immortal had chosen Lin Changqing and praised him as the greatest prodigy in the Heavenly Martial Continent.
• Lin Changqing dismissed all but two Shadow God Generals and watched them spar inside a Spiritual Power barrier.
• One Shadow God General defeated the other, then remained standing despite severe injuries; Lin Changqing’s attempts to command it to self-destruct failed.
• Lin Changqing dismissed the surviving general and told Su Wanqing that the technique could summon at most one hundred, leaving her awestruck.