Recaps

Li Qing studied Wang Dexiu's diary to learn about cultivation and Anomalies, then used the Jade Tablet to absorb an Essence Stone and increase the essence in his blood. He resolved to seek more cultivation arts and forge his own method, while remaining suspicious of Dharma Coins and testing a strange black iron ball.

• Li Qing learned the stages of Essence Refining, how Anomalies formed, and that their Essence Stones could be used for cultivation.
• He noticed Wang Dexiu's diary described a faceless watcher and strange voices beginning seven days earlier, around when Li Qing started cultivating the Essence Blood Art.
• Li Qing picked up the Essence Stone, and the Jade Tablet absorbed it, raising the proportion of his blood fused with essence from one-fifth to two-fifths.
• Li Qing decided to seek cultivation arts from Rogue Cultivators and use the Jade Tablet to combine them into a method that could absorb different kinds of essence.
• He identified a Black Profound Ganoderma needed for the Black Water Art, then infused essence into a black iron ball, which swallowed it without changing.

Li Qing bought the Five Viscera Five Qi Art to test whether his jade tablet could optimize and fuse cultivation arts, then visited the Scripture Tower to trade several arts and a martial art for new ones. He introduced himself as Qin Erlang to Han Qingsong and presented his materials for evaluation.

• Li Qing gave Wang Kuohai a list of materials to gather and one thousand taels of silver.
• A burly cultivator accepted a Demon Extermination Hall assignment to investigate the death of a half-Transformed Body Strengthening Rogue Cultivator.
• Li Qing ate a large meal to replenish his essence, then went to Hundred Gates Alley seeking cultivation arts related to the five viscera.
• Li Qing paid ten Dharma Coins for the Five Viscera Five Qi Art, which the jade tablet immediately recorded.
• Li Qing visited the Scripture Tower and offered Han Qingsong the Shadow Transformation Art, three blood arts, the Black Water Profound Yin Art, and a martial art with two minor techniques.

Li Qing exchanged three volumes with Han Qingsong for the Vajra Art, the Heart Clearing Art, and the Bone Forging Art, intending to explore whether their methods could be combined. After leaving the Scripture Tower, he noticed a bundle of five books at a street stall that gave him a sense of danger.

• Han Qingsong explained the origins of Li Qing’s three volumes and offered him a choice of three Formula-level arts or spells in exchange.
• Li Qing selected the Vajra Art, the Heart Clearing Art, and the Bone Forging Art, despite Han Qingsong warning that others had failed when trying to cultivate multiple arts together.
• Li Qing traded the Blood Fusion Art, the Shadow Transformation Manual, and the Martial Art for his three chosen volumes, then signed the Scripture Tower’s contract under the name Qin Erlang.
• Han Qingsong watched Li Qing leave and looked forward to a reward for completing the Supreme Blood Demon Scripture.
• Li Qing spotted five books bundled at a street stall and sensed a strange, dangerous aura around them.

Li Qing traded a Jade Talisman for five diaries and returned home, where Wen Taiquan confronted him about a half-Aberration cultivator’s death. After Wen Taiquan invited him to join the Demon Extermination Hall and left, Li Qing used the Jade Tablet to read the diaries and sensed a mysterious connection linking cultivators across different eras.

• Li Qing traded his Jade Talisman for five diaries from a black-robed street vendor.
• Wen Taiquan confronted Li Qing in his courtyard, saying his Tracking Mouse had followed the scent of the dead half-Aberration cultivator.
• Wen Taiquan told Li Qing he was a Demon Extermination Captain, said he did not intend to arrest him, and invited him to join the Demon Extermination Hall.
• After Wen Taiquan left, Li Qing examined the diaries with the Jade Tablet and found their accounts linked across different eras.
• Li Qing read stories of cultivators encountering Anomalies and sensed an inexplicable Network connecting them.

As Li Qing read the True Diary, the Jade Tablet revealed the horrifying beings hidden in its three frenzied images, and he resolved to cultivate cautiously. He then discovered Humanity's Overview Technique, an imperfect art that combined multiple methods and had no listed cost.

• Li Qing saw three disturbing images representing a Daoist, a Buddha, and a demon god, and sensed their power could corrupt the mind.
• He concluded that the cultivators' madness might stem from encountering the beings depicted in the diary and decided not to reproduce the images.
• Li Qing resolved to keep a low profile and beware of forces that drove cultivators into conflict.
• He examined several Foundation Establishment arts and their cultivation methods, innate spells, and costs on the Jade Tablet.
• Li Qing found Humanity's Overview Technique, which fused various methods and granted four innate spells, with no cost listed.

Li Qing arranged a deal with Wang Kuohai to collect five century-old spirit herbs in exchange for a cultivation technique, then examined the essence around Jade City and considered the Demon Extermination Hall as a source of information and opportunity. He left the hall’s role in the city under consideration, believing government service might help him find techniques and Essence Stones.

• Li Qing realized his new foundational technique drew essence from his own body and decided to seek five century-old spirit herbs.
• Wang Kuohai returned the unused money and told Li Qing he had gathered everything except the Black Profound Ganoderma.
• Li Qing offered Wang Kuohai a cultivation technique that could extend his lifespan if he collected the five rare spirit herbs, and Wang Kuohai agreed to try.
• Li Qing observed essence drifting from people, animals, and trees as he walked through Jade City.
• Li Qing spotted the guarded, unmarked Demon Extermination Hall and considered whether its ties to the Hundred Schools of Thought and the government could help him obtain cultivation techniques and Essence Stones.

Li Qing joined the Demon Extermination Hall under the false name Qin Wuming and learned its rules and mission system. Wen Taiquan brought him to choose a solo Grade C assessment mission, and Li Qing asked whether the experts had ever identified the wrong target.

• Li Qing decided to try joining the Demon Extermination Hall because he wanted a reliable path to advance his cultivation.
• At the gate, Li Qing told the guards that Wen Taiquan had invited him, and Wen Taiquan welcomed him inside as Mr. Qin.
• Wen Taiquan explained the Hall’s rank, salary, merit-point system, annual mission requirement, and rules for its captains.
• Elder Huang examined Li Qing, confirmed his cultivation appeared orthodox, and gave him a token registered to Qin Wuming.
• Wen Taiquan took Li Qing to the Mission Hall and explained the grades of missions and the requirement to complete a solo Grade C assessment.
• Li Qing asked Wen Taiquan whether the specialists had ever misidentified an Anomaly target.

Li Qing learned about the dangers and types of Anomalies before choosing a mission investigating ghostly cries at a burned-down mansion. After reading Elder Huang’s detailed case file, he decided to build a relationship with the expert for help surviving future missions.

• Wen Taiquan explained that mission classifications could be wrong, described the risks of casualties, and outlined the main types of Anomalies and aberrated cultivators.
• Li Qing chose the mission about cries coming from the ruins of the Water Transport Counselor Mansion’s Li Residence because it was considered troublesome but not very dangerous.
• Li Qing registered for the mission and read that the counselor’s family had been murdered before a fire, after which a Ghost Sound Anomaly began frightening nearby people and draining their vital energy.
• Li Qing learned that Elder Huang had prepared the detailed case file and was known as the Demon Extermination Hall’s Know-It-All.
• Li Qing told Wen Taiquan he wanted to befriend Elder Huang so he could seek advice and improve his chances of survival.

Li Qing surveyed the burned-out Water Transport Councilor Mansion by day, then returned at night to investigate its ghostly crying. He witnessed a terrifying scene from the mansion’s past as a sinister young man attacked the Li family, and more women emerged into danger.

• Li Qing explored the ruined mansion and studied its layout before leaving to wait for nightfall.
• At the Hour of the Rat, Li Qing heard eerie sobbing and entered the mansion under cover of the Shadow Art.
• Li Qing saw an apparition of Dujuan chatting with two maids before a scream broke the quiet scene.
• A red-eyed young man entered the courtyard carrying hearts and killed Dujuan by draining her blood and vital essence.
• The other women came out of their rooms, and the sinister man threatened to kill them.

Li Qing investigated the Water Transport Councilor Mansion and discovered that a Blood Demon Sect cultivator had killed its residents while searching for a secret letter, while an illusion-producing Anomaly had recreated the event. After destroying the spectral woman and reporting the evidence to Wen Taiquan, Li Qing learned he would receive a substantial reward and might be reassigned to Grade B.

• Li Qing followed an illusion of a Blood Demon Sect cultivator as he killed the mansion’s residents, recovered a secret letter, and burned the bodies and building.
• The scene shattered, and a spectral woman attacked Li Qing; he used the Spirit Summoning Tablet to destroy her and collected an Essence Stone and black talisman.
• Li Qing absorbed the Essence Stone’s vital essence, then wrapped up the talisman as evidence and left the mansion.
• A Ghost Mask Daoist discovered that his Illusion Ghost had been destroyed and complained that his Five Ghost Transportation would be delayed.
• Li Qing showed Wen Taiquan the talisman, identified the case as involving an illusion-producing Anomaly and the Blood Demon Sect, and recounted what he had witnessed.
• Wen Taiquan promised to report the case, secure Li Qing’s reward, and recommend his reassignment to Grade B.

Li Qing settled into life in Jade City, earned a promise of safe assignments, and helped the Demon Extermination Hall create a portrait of a suspected criminal. He then learned of the city’s many deadly anomalies and went to read a case file explaining why the Hall erased ordinary people’s memories.

• Li Qing heard that drought refugees in Jade City were dying in the Refugee Camp and Mass Grave, then went to the Demon Extermination Hall after breakfast.
• Li Qing gave Elder Huang Pear Blossom Brew in exchange for being told about easy, safe assignments, and Wen Taiquan hurried him away to meet a painter.
• Li Qing described the young man he had seen, and Mr. Hua used the details to draw a lifelike portrait.
• Li Qing read old case files with Elder Huang and learned that more than a hundred anomalies had caused over five hundred deaths in Jade City the previous year.
• Elder Huang directed Li Qing to Shelf C, file number thirty-eight, to learn why the Demon Extermination Hall erased ordinary people’s memories.

Li Qing studied how Anomalies could corrupt people through their memories, then used his merit to select three cultivation techniques from the Treasury Hall. He collected the techniques from Elder Fang the next morning, and the Jade Tablet changed as he picked them up.

• Elder Huang explained to Li Qing that memories of Anomalies could cause ordinary people and cultivators to undergo aberration.
• Wen Taiquan told Li Qing that his merit had been issued, and Li Qing received fifteen merit points.
• Wen Taiquan took Li Qing to the Treasury Hall, where Elder Fang gave him a catalog of cultivation resources.
• Li Qing selected the Six Viscera Spirit-Swallowing Technique, Painted Skin Transformation Technique, and Jade Bone Technique, and Wen Taiquan warned him that cultivating conflicting techniques was dangerous.
• Li Qing returned the next morning with Pear Blossom Brew, and Elder Fang handed him the three techniques.
• Li Qing picked up the techniques, and the Jade Tablet changed.

Li Qing refined Humanity's Overview Technique through his deductions and planned to gather the costly materials needed to perfect it. After soldiers headed toward Pujiang Port and a vast surge of blood-and-qi essence appeared at Jade City's South Gate, he returned to the Demon Extermination Hall, where news of the incident had yet to be explained.

• Li Qing concluded that Humanity's Overview Technique changed as he added methods refining essence qi from different organs, and he planned to obtain more techniques and spirit medicines.
• Li Qing considered trading cultivation methods with wealthy people for materials and continued inspecting Jade City for safe anomalies.
• Li Qing saw Garrison Commander Wang Jie lead soldiers toward Pujiang Port and wondered whether they were investigating the port's unresolved case.
• Li Qing noticed a huge surge of blood-and-qi essence at the South Gate and hurried back to the Demon Extermination Hall.
• Li Qing found people discussing the incident in the Mission Hall and asked Wen Taiquan what had happened.

Li Qing and Wen Taiquan learned that refugees were dying in a deliberately neglected camp, then joined a Grade-A mission to guard corpse buriers at the Mass Grave. Li Qing noticed the corpses’ blood had turned black far too quickly, and Wen Taiquan confirmed that this was abnormal.

• Wen Taiquan told Li Qing that a riot at the South Gate Refugee Camp had killed at least two hundred people because the Government Office was starving the refugees.
• An armored man offered a Grade-A mission to supervise corpse buriers at the Mass Grave, and Wen Taiquan signed himself and Li Qing up before Ying Taihua joined them.
• Wen Taiquan explained that the Mass Grave’s Ghosts and resentful corpses could endanger the corpse buriers, though the daytime mission was usually safe.
• At the Mass Grave, Li Qing examined the emaciated corpses and noticed their blood had turned black within half an hour.
• Li Qing asked Wen Taiquan how long corpse blood normally took to turn black, and Wen Taiquan replied that it took at least a day.

After discovering that the corpses’ blood had blackened unusually fast, Li Qing and Wen Taiquan escaped the burial grounds when ghostly wailing rose on the yin wind. A Faceless Ghost Shadow attacked Li Qing in Jade City, but he defeated it with the Spirit Summoning Tablet and Burning Blood Flame, leaving him close to completing the Spirit Blood Art.

• Li Qing and Wen Taiquan noticed that the recently dead corpses had blackened blood, and Wen Taiquan quietly promised to report the suspicious deaths.
• A yin wind carried ghostly cries across the burial grounds, so Ying Taihua led the corpse buriers and his companions back to Jade City without encountering an Anomaly.
• Wen Taiquan told Li Qing he would report the incident and that Li Qing should receive merit if the investigation confirmed a problem.
• A Faceless Ghost Shadow ambushed Li Qing in an alley, wailing to disorient him and freezing him with icy hands.
• Li Qing summoned the Flood Dragon phantom from the Spirit Summoning Tablet and burned the Faceless Ghost Shadow to nothing with Burning Blood Flame.
• Li Qing absorbed the Essence Stone the ghost left behind, raising his vital essence to four-fifths of the bloodline stage and leaving him one Essence Stone short of completing the Spirit Blood Art.

Li Qing traded the Black Water Profound Yin Art to Wang Kuohai for five century-old spirit herbs, then fled as the All-Under-Heaven Escort Agency was attacked. After the Blood Demon Sect’s assault was repelled, Li Qing collected merit points and obtained four more cultivation arts, whose arrival changed the Jade Tablet and let him begin cultivating.

• Li Qing gave Wang Kuohai the Black Water Profound Yin Art in exchange for five century-old spirit herbs and warned him about the art’s lifelong taboo.
• After a clash lit up the sky, Li Qing saw blood-red essence rise over the All-Under-Heaven Escort Agency and suspected someone had come to kill him.
• At the Demon Extermination Hall, Wen Taiquan told Li Qing that Blood Demon Sect members had been found in the Refugee Camp and that authorities had gone to confront them.
• By dawn, Li Qing learned that Young Master Blood Spirit had escaped after being defeated, while three Blood Demon Sect outer disciples had been killed.
• Li Qing collected twenty merit points and spent them on four cultivation arts, despite Elder Fang warning him not to cultivate incompatible techniques.
• The next morning, Li Qing received his new cultivation art and saw the Jade Tablet change, allowing him to cultivate.

Li Qing learned the first step of the Comprehensive All-Under-Heaven Humanity Art and sought Elder Huang’s help after suspecting the All-Under-Heaven Escort Agency’s attack was connected to him. He took a covert task to work in the Demon Extermination Hall, where he remained as news spread that the agency had been massacred and Wang Kuohai was missing.

• Li Qing studied the new cultivation art, which required five kinds of materials in groups of nine and could be cultivated in two steps.
• Li Qing told Elder Huang that the All-Under-Heaven Escort Agency had been attacked and suspected the assault was linked to his report about the Blood Demon Sect.
• Elder Huang secretly posted a Grade C task for organizing case files, and Li Qing accepted it to stay safely in the Demon Extermination Hall.
• Li Qing spent half a month working with Elder Huang in the Clerk Hall, compiling case clues into missions.
• News broke that more than a hundred members of the All-Under-Heaven Escort Agency had been killed and Wang Kuohai had disappeared, leaving Li Qing to wonder if he had survived or been captured.

Li Qing used the Jade Tablet to uncover the Blood Demon Sect’s conspiracy to smuggle rebels and weapons into Jade City and weaken its defenses ahead of a Northern Barbarian invasion. Wary of the danger, he offered to report the truth in exchange for four hundred-year-old spiritual herbs to strengthen his cultivation.

• Li Qing read a file about the Secretariat Office massacre, and the Jade Tablet revealed that the Blood Demon Sect had killed Official Li after he discovered its canal smuggling operation.
• The Jade Tablet showed that the Blood Demon Sect had staged the refugee riot to test Jade City’s defenses, while Commander Wang Jie secretly worked to help the sect break into the city for the Northern Barbarians’ invasion.
• Li Qing considered the risks of exposing the conspiracy and decided he needed more strength before getting involved.
• Li Qing asked Elder Huang how to obtain four different hundred-year-old spiritual herbs, and Elder Huang explained their cost and offered to make arrangements if Li Qing could pay.
• Li Qing told Elder Huang that he had discovered the truth and would report it in exchange for the herbs, and Elder Huang agreed to raise the request with his superiors.
• Li Qing reflected that the Demon Extermination Hall followed strict rules because Demon Extermination Captains could become dangerous Anomalies if driven to break them.

Li Qing revealed his deductions that Commander-in-Chief Wang Jie was colluding with the Blood Demon Sect, and Huang Tairen ordered him to stay in the Demon Extermination Hall and watch Wen Taiquan. Huang Tairen then secretly briefed Prefect Fang Qingyu about the threat to Jade City, while Chief Constable Fei Yangming learned that a man in black had met with the prefect.

• A mysterious figure identified Li Qing’s real name and recounted his past before asking him to share what he had discovered.
• Li Qing tied the cases together and accused Commander-in-Chief Wang Jie of colluding with the Blood Demon Sect.
• Huang Tairen identified himself as Jade City’s Demon Extermination Hall commander, accepted Li Qing’s information, and ordered him to remain in the hall and watch Wen Taiquan.
• Huang Tairen visited Prefect Fang Qingyu in disguise and told him the Blood Demon Sect and Wang Jie had wiped out Lord Li’s family and smuggled armed men and weapons into Jade City.
• Fei Yangming saw guards Wang Qi and Tang San leaving the front office and learned that a man in black had gone to see Fang Qingyu.

Fei Yangming investigated a masked visitor to Fang Qingyu, while conspirators planned to seize Jade City and aid a Northern Barbarian attack. Li Qing confirmed Wen Taiquan was a Blood Demon Sect agent and sent evidence to the commander.

• Fei Yangming questioned Tang San and Wang Qi about the black-robed man who had visited Fang Qingyu and ordered them to keep quiet.
• A secret letter led the conspirators to suspect Huang Tairen had visited Fang Qingyu, and they scheduled an attack on Jade City for three days later.
• Wen Taiquan tried to lure Li Qing out of the Demon Extermination Hall, but Li Qing stayed inside and confirmed his suspicions that Wen was a Blood Demon Sect agent.
• Li Qing reviewed three days of reports and discovered that the Hundred Flowers Pavilion served as a Blood Demon Sect information exchange.
• Li Qing gave his findings about Wen Taiquan to a mysterious informant to pass to the commander.

Huang Tairen and Fang Qingyu investigated suspicious activity in Jade City while Elder Huang gave Li Qing a Thunderbolt Fire Bead to protect himself. Fang Qingyu revealed that Fang Xibai’s secret analysis of city records suggested roughly a thousand more people were hiding in Jade City than officials had accounted for.

• Huang Tairen ordered the Hundred Flowers Pavilion watched and told his agents to identify everyone there who had contacted Wen Taiquan.
• Huang Tairen and Fang Qingyu’s sweep uncovered more than three hundred suspected Northern Barbarian bandits and at least eight unregistered cultivators, while Huang Tairen suspected Wang Jie of colluding with the Blood Demon Sect.
• Elder Huang gave Li Qing a Thunderbolt Fire Bead because he could not secure the promised spirit herbs, and Li Qing accepted it.
• Fang Qingyu told Huang Tairen that Fei Yangming was among three suspected spies and described how his teams had discovered many of the suspicious people.
• Fang Qingyu showed Huang Tairen Fang Xibai’s findings, which used records of waste, supplies, transport, and taxes to estimate that about a thousand extra people were in Jade City.

Fang Qingyu and Huang Tairen weighed how to stop Wang Jie and the Blood Demon Sect from seizing Jade City, while Li Qing secretly investigated the value of a Thunderbolt Fire Bead. He left Ten Thousand Treasures Hall knowing the bead was genuine but worth less than he had hoped, and suspected the crisis would unfold within days.

• Fang Qingyu told Huang Tairen that Wang Jie had hundreds of hidden people across Jade City, including Blood Demon Sect experts and two True Disciples, and warned that the city could soon fall into chaos.
• Huang Tairen proposed luring Wang Jie to a banquet at Yellow Flower Pavilion and capturing or killing him, and Fang Qingyu agreed to the plan.
• Li Qing used Shadow Art and an underground passage to evade the watcher monitoring him and travel to Hundred Gates Alley.
• At Ten Thousand Treasures Hall, Li Qing asked Tang Yiqiu to appraise his Thunderbolt Fire Bead, which Tang identified as genuine and valued at two century-old medicinal herbs.
• Li Qing left without trading the bead, while Tang Yiqiu realized he had been tricked into giving a free appraisal; Li Qing suspected events would come to a head within days.

Li Qing learned that cultivation techniques carried the karma of their Dao Lineages and worried that his independent path would leave him without advanced techniques. As the Demon Extermination Hall prepared to target Wang Jie at a banquet, Wang Jie and his ally decided to raise an army and seize Jade City at dusk.

• Li Qing discussed Dao Lineages and cultivation techniques with Elder Huang, who warned that mixed essence qi could ruin a cultivator’s path.
• A messenger summoned Li Qing and Elder Huang to join Commander-in-Chief Huang Tairen and nine black-robed figures.
• Huang Tairen used the Shift-Positioning Orb to transport the group and explained that they would ambush Wang Jie at a banquet hosted by Prefect Fang Qingyu.
• Wang Jie and a young nobleman concluded that the invitation signaled a trap and that their conspiracy had been exposed.
• The young nobleman ordered Wang Jie to raise the army at dusk and seize Jade City, planning to kill the officials gathered at the Yellow Flower Pavilion.

The Demon Extermination Hall assigned its captains to suppress a rebellion while exposing and arresting the Blood Demon Sect agent Wen Taiquan. Meanwhile, Wang Jie marched six thousand Garrison soldiers into Jade City and surrounded it, leaving Fang Qingyu and Huang Tairen facing the advancing cavalry at the Yellow Flower Pavilion.

• The Demon Extermination Hall ordered its captains to capture Blood Demon Sect cultivators and rebel soldiers, and the captains accepted their assignments.
• Wen Taiquan tried to flee using the Blood Burning Escape Technique, but an azure beam and a talisman restrained him.
• Wen Taiquan accused the Dao Lineages of denying him a Rebirth Pill because of his age and poor Root Bone, before the middle-aged man knocked him unconscious and carried him away.
• Fang Qingyu and Fei Yangming waited at the Yellow Flower Pavilion as Wang Jie led six thousand Garrison troops toward Jade City.
• Wang Jie's infantry seized the city's defensive positions and sealed all four gates while his cavalry charged toward the Yellow Flower Pavilion.
• Fang Qingyu and Huang Tairen saw the cavalry approaching and reacted with alarm.

Wang Jie rebelled and led a thousand cavalrymen against Fang Qingyu and Huang Tairen at the Yellow Flower Pavilion. After the pavilion was destroyed and the battle began, Huang Tairen invoked a Tiger Tally and prepared to show Wang Jie the Military School’s tactics.

• Wang Jie sent up a signal flare, prompting Fang Qinghua to lead ten cultivators from the Fang Clan residence to rescue Fang Qingyu.
• Huang Tairen assigned himself to fight Wang Jie while the others prepared to attack the rebel force, and Young Master Blood Spirit waited nearby for an opening.
• Wang Jie demanded Fang Qingyu and Huang Tairen surrender, then used Tiger Tally Augmentation to coordinate a thousand cavalrymen in a volley of arrows and a charge that demolished the Yellow Flower Pavilion.
• Huang Tairen emerged from the ruins and struck at Wang Jie's cavalry with a giant hammer, while Wang Jie countered with a red tiger from his spear.
• Young Master Blood Spirit attacked Huang Tairen with blood-red flames, but Fang Qingyu answered with an Azure Fire Phoenix and then moved to confront him.
• Huang Tairen summoned the Blood-Drinking Divine Spear, activated his Tiger Tally, and grew to three zhang tall as he prepared to fight Wang Jie.