Chapter Summaries

Zhou An witnessed the Black-Clothed Woman’s past as Qing'er, learned how the Guild Master made her half-human and half-Bizarre, and saw Indulgence’s leader steal the Eight Unique Skills after killing the Guild Master. Back in Maple Forest Province, Zhou An named her Black Jade and later went to Director Hou for new intelligence about the escalating Nightmare outbreaks.

• The Guild Master negotiated with Indulgence’s people for seven days to study the Eight Unique Skills while other factions prepared to attack the Wind and Rain Pavilion.
• Zhou An followed the Guild Master underground and discovered that the little girl Qing'er was the Black-Clothed Woman’s younger self, already learning the Heaven Piercing Calculation and four other volumes.
• The Guild Master revealed that he had created Qing'er by joining a human skin to a powerful Bizarre Assembly, then sent her back into the Bizarre Assembly so she could survive and meet a future benefactor.
• Indulgence’s leader paralyzed the Guild Master, stole the four books, and left him to die, while Qing'er had already vanished through the Guild Master’s plan.
• Back in Maple Forest Province, Zhou An comforted the Black-Clothed Woman and named her Black Jade, then continued training while Nightmare outbreaks worsened across the province.
• Director Hou showed Zhou An a court order describing a new method for handling Nightmares that appeared to come from Great Yue, and Zhou An questioned whether it would work.

Zhou An helped Lord Hou and Chen Zhongshan prepare a plan to gather Maple Forest Province’s Nightmares inside Chen Zhongshan and defeat them before they grew stronger. After connecting the province’s civilians with Soul Threads and beginning the three-day gathering process, Zhou An privately asked Lord Hou whether Chen Zhongshan could be trusted.

• Lord Hou explained that Great Yue’s proposal to gather and purge civilians was impractical, then proposed collecting the Nightmares in Chen Zhongshan’s dreams instead.
• Chen Zhongshan explained that his Innate Realm Line Connector abilities could draw Nightmares through Soul Threads, though he would be unable to move while posing as both alive and dead.
• Zhou An agreed to help and flew Chen Zhongshan across Maple Forest Province, enabling him to connect Soul Threads throughout its prefectures and counties in three days.
• Chen Zhongshan entered a deathlike state and began drawing the Nightmares into his dream, while Lord Hou arranged personnel to join the operation.
• Zhou An stopped Lord Hou in private and asked whether Chen Zhongshan was trustworthy.

Zhou An exposed Chen Zhongshan’s plot to use Skillful Weaving of Silk to control the nightmare and helped foil Indulgence’s attack on Maple Forest Province. After Black Jade destroyed the nightmare and Chen Zhongshan’s stitched body fell apart, Zhou An followed a divination’s trail to pursue the real enemy.

• Zhou An discovered that Chen Zhongshan might wield Skillful Weaving of Silk and deduced that the danger grew when too many allies entered the dream, so he devised a plan with Director Hou and State Governor Lu.
• Three days later, Chen Zhongshan brought Zhou An and the others into his dream, but Director Hou, State Governor Lu, and the assembled forces exited while Zhou An and Black Jade remained behind.
• Chen Zhongshan revealed himself as an enemy of Indulgence and summoned a giant-faced nightmare, while Zhou An told him that the others had left to handle the threat outside.
• Black Jade used Skillful Weaving of Silk to seize control of the nightmare and destroy it, leaving Chen Zhongshan’s body to split apart in the waking world.
• A Demon Suppression Division member reported that Indulgence’s forces had appeared and were being hunted; Zhou An divined a trail from Chen Zhongshan’s corpse and flew off to pursue it.

Zhou An tracked down Cao Huan Dou, but an Indulgence protector took over Cao's body and attacked him with a powerful strike. Zhou An escaped by exploiting the attack's weakness, returned to grinding his skills, and the chapter ended as familiar smoke appeared before him.

• Zhou An followed a divination thread to Cao Huan Dou and severed his limbs before Cao could reveal Indulgence's secrets.
• The Zongxing Protector took over Cao Huan Dou's body, offered Zhou An a chance to join Indulgence, then unleashed a deadly attack when Zhou refused.
• Zhou An fled, dodged the tracking light, and realized the Zongxing Protector could not move; he lured the attack back into Cao Huan Dou's body and destroyed it.
• Zhou An returned to the Demon Suppression Division, declined Lord Hou's invitation to celebrate, and went home to train with Black Jade.
• Over the next several days, Zhou An practiced his skills and taught Black Jade to read and write; familiar smoke appeared before him beneath the moonlight.

Zhou An continued training while learning that the emperor’s birthday might bring him to the capital, as Yu Hang and the imperial court prepared for the gathering. The chapter ended with Zhou An’s Read a Hundred Scrolls and Sacred Spirit Demonic Body skills both reaching the requirements for their next levels.

• Zhou An advanced Fortune-Telling to Level 5 and planned to keep improving it alongside Read a Hundred Scrolls and Sacred Spirit Demonic Body.
• Yang Jianxin visited Zhou An, described his deepening bond with his sword, and delivered a letter warning that Zhou An might be invited to the emperor’s birthday celebration.
• Yu Hang reclaimed seventy percent of the wealth seized by Sky City Prefecture’s major families and planned to bring Zhou An local specialties and wine for the birthday gathering.
• Xingwu Emperor worried about inviting Zhou An, while Eunuch Wei urged him to prioritize Great Chu’s future over imperial dignity and revealed that he had already dealt with Zongxing Protector.
• Zhou An kept training as Black Jade showed signs of growing intelligence, and both Read a Hundred Scrolls and Sacred Spirit Demonic Body reached the requirements for their next levels.

Zhou An advanced his skills, tested Read a Thousand Scrolls against Black Jade, and celebrated New Year with her in Maple Forest Province. After welcoming New Year visitors, he learned that the strange and eerie could emerge during the holiday, including something called Nian.

• Zhou An chose Read a Thousand Scrolls, gained Spirit, Comprehension, and Reflection, and discovered that it could reflect attacks with an eightfold bonus.
• Zhou An used Black Jade's Heaven Piercing Calculation to test the skill and took control of her Eight Trigrams formation.
• Zhou An took Black Jade shopping for New Year, decorated their home, cooked a reunion meal, and stayed up with her to welcome the new year.
• State Governor Lu, Lord Hou, Meng Jiang, and Craftsmen's Bureau subordinates visited Zhou An with New Year greetings and gifts.
• Lord Hou warned Zhou An that strange and eerie things often appeared during New Year, such as Nian.

Zhou An discovered that Nian had killed Fu Jingui, his wife, and Xiao Tuanzi, then used Fortune-Telling to trace the anomaly to two men from the Barbarian Kingdom. He confronted them as they tortured a boy in a wine jar and began attacking them with the Cold Marrow Blade.

• Director Hou and State Governor Lu visited Zhou An, who learned that Nian anomalies emerged from New Year resentment and kept the Demon Suppression Division busy.
• Fu Jingui brought his family to thank Zhou An for helping cure Xiao Tuanzi, but Zhou An later found their bodies and learned Nian had killed them.
• Zhou An used Fortune-Telling to trace Nian's whereabouts, then left with Black Jade while the Demon Suppression Division collected the victims' bodies.
• Zhou An found two Barbarian Kingdom agents torturing a mutilated boy in a wine jar to provoke resentment and test how Nian appeared.
• The two agents mocked Zhou An and threatened Black Jade, so Zhou An drew the Cold Marrow Blade and unleashed blue-black blade light against them.

Zhou An captured two Barbarian Kingdom spies, avenged the abused child, and learned that the Prime Minister was dissatisfied with him before his summons to the capital arrived. After raising Thousand Mile Eye to its next level, Zhou An spotted Old Zhao sneaking toward his home and wondered why he had come.

• Zhou An defeated the fat and thin spies, poisoned them, and placed them in the wine jar with the tortured boy; the boy bit them before dying, and Black Jade destroyed Nian.
• Zhou An took the surviving spies to Lord Hou, who explained that the Chief Commander had warned him the Prime Minister was displeased with Zhou An and that the princes' return could bring trouble.
• At the Border Pass, the First Prince prepared skulls as a birthday gift for the Emperor and said he would give up competing for the Crown Prince position; he also planned to meet Zhou An.
• The imperial decree summoned Zhou An to the capital, and Meng Jiang prepared valuable gifts for the Emperor and Eunuch Wei on behalf of the Hengtong Merchant Guild.
• Zhou An chose Thousand Mile Eye, gaining improved vision that could see through obstructions, then noticed Old Zhao furtively approaching his home.

Zhou An accepted Zhao Blacksmith’s offer to pose as his disciple in exchange for Transformation Metal, forged it into a versatile ring, and advanced his skills and cultivation. As Zhou An reached the Innate Realm, the Second Prince prepared to use Yu Hang to pressure him when he arrived in the capital.

• Zhao Blacksmith offered Zhou An Transformation Metal in exchange for pretending to be his disciple before Zhao’s senior brother, and Zhou An agreed.
• Zhou An forged the Transformation Metal into a ring that could become a saber, wok, or armor, then practiced Controlling Water while awaiting his trip to the capital.
• The Second Prince learned Zhou An was coming to the capital and planned to suppress him through Yu Hang, whom he resented as the Prime Minister’s formal disciple.
• The Second Prince killed Yuan Shi after accusing him of extorting the people, then awaited Zhou An’s arrival.
• Zhou An chose Stirring Wind and Waves, used its Healing ability to mend a wound with water, and reached the Innate Realm with fiftyfold qi purity.
• Zhou An noticed that the unique endpoint in his Qi Body Little Person’s chest remained dim and unlit.

Zhou An discovered that his Qi Body Little Person copied his skills, doubling their effects, and learned that using Fortune-Telling began illuminating a point on its chest. As he traveled toward the capital for the Emperor's birthday, he arrived at a crowded post station, where two fighters deliberately moved toward his carriage and Black Jade's treasured chair.

• Zhou An found that his Qi Body Little Person copied his techniques, doubling their enhancements, and that grinding Fortune-Telling made the point on its chest faintly glow.
• Zhou An set off for the capital with Black Jade, while State Governor Lu, Lord Hou, and Meng Jiang saw him off and discussed the factions gathering there.
• Eunuch Wei questioned the Prime Minister about his hostility toward Zhou An, then spoke with the Chief Commander, who ordered the Demon Suppression Division to watch Zhou An and prevent deaths.
• Zhou An continued grinding Fortune-Telling on the carriage ride and stopped with Black Jade at a crowded post station.
• Two men arguing over a seat began fighting and deliberately shifted toward Zhou An's carriage, prompting Zhou An to tell Black Jade to leave one alive.

Black Jade punished two Empty Sky Gate thieves who had been hired by Yin Cloud Gate’s Young Gate Master to steal Zhou An’s birthday gift. Zhou An tracked the plot to Yin Cloud Gate and fought his way up the mountain, where Gate Master Yin Wu Jiang and his Elders faced his overwhelming wok technique.

• Black Jade used Heaven Piercing Calculation to turn the Empty Sky Gate thieves’ hands to ash, and they revealed that Yin Cloud Gate’s Young Gate Master had ordered them to steal Zhou An’s gift.
• Zhou An killed the thieves, learned Yin Cloud Gate’s location, and decided to visit the sect on the way to the capital.
• At Yin Cloud Gate, Yin Wu Jiang killed a disciple and planned to blame him for the theft, but Zhou An arrived and smashed the mountain gate.
• Zhou An reflected the disciples’ Yin Cloud Palm attacks back at them and walked through the sect as they fell in agony.
• Yin Wu Jiang and two Elders confronted Zhou An, but he summoned his Sacred Spirit Demonic Body and a giant wok, leaving them too afraid to answer his challenge.

Zhou An killed Yin Wu Jiang and the Young Sect Master after discovering their plot, then encountered Liao Chen, who revealed that the underground rifts and strange entities were real before turning against him. A more powerful strange entity emerged, and the forest transformed into a familiar street scene as Zhou An recognized that the one searching for her daughter had arrived.

• Yin Wu Jiang tried to deceive Zhou An by handing over a disguised disciple, so Zhou An killed him and made the surviving Elder the new master of Yin Cloud Gate.
• Zhou An caught the fleeing Young Sect Master, killed him, and confronted the monk Liao Chen in the forest.
• Liao Chen revealed that he belonged to the Wild Buddhist Sect and had lured Zhou An there to use a rift and a strange entity against him.
• Liao Chen opened a rift, but a stronger strange entity emerged and destroyed the first one before the forest changed into a ruined street filled with stalls.
• Zhou An recognized the transformed streets and realized that the one looking for her daughter had arrived.

Zhou An fought off the Bizarre Assembly when it came through a rift seeking Black Jade, then continued toward the capital as news of his strength spread. When more than twenty prodigies and their guardians challenged him on the road, he defeated and poisoned them without serious injury, promising an enormous surprise for the prodigies in the capital.

• The Bizarre Assembly appeared through a rift, and Zhou An fought it until his wok strike shattered half its giant eye before it escaped; Black Jade said Zhou An felt more familiar to her than the Assembly did.
• Zhou An told the coachman that Yin Wu Jiang, an Elder, and Yin Cloud Gate's young sect master had been executed, and word of his victory spread throughout Great Chu.
• Yu Hang celebrated Zhou An's fame while traveling toward the capital with Gongsun Yun, and he insisted that his friendship with Zhou An would not change.
• While Zhou An practiced Fortune-Telling in the carriage, dark-red snow fell across the road, where a Purple-Clad Girl and more than twenty faction prodigies challenged him, backed by their guardians.
• Zhou An used the snow to unleash blade radiance, defeating and poisoning every challenger without killing or seriously injuring them, then promised to give the capital's prodigies an enormous surprise.

Zhou An arrived in the capital and humbled the gathered prodigies by bringing in defeated challengers, then reunited with Yu Hang and visited Eunuch Wei at the imperial palace. Eunuch Wei welcomed him with the severed head of one of Indulgence’s Twelve Protectors, and Zhou An casually mentioned killing several Spirit Connection Realm cultivators.

• Zhou An defeated the Purple-Clad Girl’s group without killing them and hinted at a shocking entrance for the capital.
• At the city gates, Zhou An mocked the prodigies’ flashy displays, then had their defeated elders publicly admit their losses before sending them away.
• Zhou An reunited with Yu Hang and Ye Shuang, then cooked and drank with Yu Hang at his residence while the Second Prince grew jealous over Zhou An’s reputation.
• The next day, Zhou An took Black Jade to visit Eunuch Wei, who had arranged for him to enter the imperial palace and receive a banquet.
• Eunuch Wei showed Zhou An the head of an Indulgence Protector as a gift, then invited him to trim the plants in his courtyard.
• Zhou An told Eunuch Wei that he had killed several Spirit Connection Realm cultivators, leaving Eunuch Wei’s shears momentarily still.

Zhou An visited Eunuch Wei and the National Teacher, learning about the dangers awaiting him in the capital and discovering that the Second Prince planned to target Yu Hang. After deciding to answer that scheme with a move of his own, Zhou An arrived at the Hengtong Merchant Guild.

• Zhou An thanked Eunuch Wei, who explained that his three troubles were factional prodigies, the Second Prince, and visitors from Great Yue.
• Zhou An went to the Surveillance Division, where he met Shi Xiyuan, saw the bruised Yuan Qingyi flee, and visited the National Teacher with Ye Shuang.
• The National Teacher assured Zhou An he would not interfere in the princes' struggle and warned that the Second Prince meant to wear Zhou An down by targeting Yu Hang.
• Zhou An realized he could act against the Second Prince without interfering in the dispute between fellow disciples and left to prepare a countermeasure.
• Zhou An went to the Hengtong Merchant Guild, saying he intended to make a big move.

Zhou An met the Third Prince at the Hengtong Merchant Guild and joined him in confronting the Second Prince over his plans to target Yu Hang. After Zhou An intervened to protect the Third Prince during their roadside clash, the Third Prince challenged the Second Prince again as he tried to leave.

• Zhou An visited the Hengtong Merchant Guild, where Han Yuan told him that the Third Prince had arrived in the capital and agreed to summon him.
• The Third Prince arrived, and Zhou An proposed that they beat up the Second Prince because he intended to make trouble for Yu Hang.
• The Third Prince agreed to confront his brother, and Zhou An and the Third Prince found the Second Prince on his way back to the palace.
• The Second Prince challenged the Third Prince while forbidding their subordinates to interfere, but Zhou An blocked his attack and struck him in the chest.
• The Second Prince tried to leave, but the Third Prince challenged him again at Zhou An’s prompting.

Zhou An defeated and humiliated the Second Prince, forcing him to swear publicly that he would not target Yu Hang. The next day, powerful factions arrived in the capital, and a muscular man from the Zheng Family challenged Zhou An at his residence.

• The Second Prince ordered his experts to attack the Third Prince, but Zhou An reflected their attacks and defeated them.
• Zhou An slapped the Second Prince until he yielded, then made him shout that he would never target Yu Hang on his way back to the palace.
• The Second Prince decided not to target Yu Hang and planned to seek alliances among the arriving factions to deal with Zhou An.
• Zhou An returned home, found Yu Hang staying at the Prime Minister's Residence, and continued training his Fortune-Telling skill.
• A young man and Old Huang discussed Zhou An as the arriving factions traveled through the capital.
• A muscular man from the Zheng Family stopped outside Zhou An's residence and shouted for him to come out and die.

Zhou An defeated the faction prodigies who came to challenge him, but the Prime Minister intervened until Eunuch Wei arrived and forced the factions to kneel and apologize. After the confrontation, Yu Hang confronted the Prime Minister over targeting Zhou An, and the Prime Minister invited him inside to explain.

• Zhou An defeated the Zheng Family prodigy with a reflected attack, then overwhelmed the gathered prodigies with his saber lights.
• The Prime Minister attacked Zhou An with a written essay, but Eunuch Wei destroyed it and declared himself Zhou An's backing.
• Eunuch Wei made the faction elders and their prodigies kneel and admit they were wrong before ordering them to leave.
• Eunuch Wei warned Zhou An about the remaining Great Yue factions and prodigies, then left ahead of the Emperor's birthday.
• Yu Hang confronted the Prime Minister over targeting Zhou An, and the Prime Minister invited him into his room to explain.

Yu Hang learned why the Prime Minister had targeted Zhou An: he was preserving Great Chu’s appearance of internal discord to deter its enemies, while privately indulging his grudge against his old companions. Zhou An then visited the Capital Artisan Bureau, where Ding BuSan offered to enlarge his money pouch in exchange for help dealing with a traitor from Casting Gate at the Emperor’s birthday celebration.

• The Prime Minister told Yu Hang that the founder of the Eight Unique Skills had been killed for trying to confront the rifts, and explained that his apparent feud with other leaders was meant to protect Great Chu’s strategic image.
• Yu Hang refused to leave the Prime Minister’s school, then returned home and shared the secrets about the founder and the rift with Zhou An.
• Zhou An and Yu Hang discussed the rift, after which Zhou An continued practicing Fortune-Telling and made progress toward filling the glowing point on the Qi Body Little Person.
• Xu Bing brought Zhou An to the Capital Artisan Bureau, where Ding BuSan confirmed Zhou An’s connection to Zhao BuSi and offered to double the capacity of his money pouch.
• Ding BuSan asked Zhou An to help the Bureau save face during the Emperor’s birthday celebration by dealing with a traitor from Casting Gate who had fled to Great Yue and appeared in the capital.

Ding BuSan asked Zhou An to help the Casting Gate reclaim its honor from Zhang Bu Wu, and Zhou An negotiated a deal that included a larger money pouch, access to the stolen armor, Transformation Metal, and a weapon for Yu Hang. As Zhou An arrived at the imperial palace for the Emperor’s birthday banquet, visitors from Great Yue discussed challenging him.

• Ding BuSan explained that Zhang Bu Wu had defected to Great Yue with the Casting Gate’s irreplaceable armor and asked Zhou An to help defeat Zhang Bu Wu’s disciple in a wager.
• Zhou An refused Ding BuSan’s initial offers, then demonstrated his Body Forging ability and agreed to help in exchange for a larger money pouch, access to the armor, Transformation Metal, and a weapon forged for Yu Hang.
• Ding BuSan modified Zhou An’s money pouch and promised to deliver Yu Hang’s weapons, while Zhou An spent the night grinding Fortune-Telling at Yu Hang’s home.
• Zhou An traveled to the imperial palace for the Emperor’s birthday banquet and was assigned a temporary residence.
• Monk Kongwen resolved to disgrace Zhou An with the help of Kongchen Temple’s Buddha Child, despite warnings from the prince and the Taoist priest.
• The gathered talents from Great Yue discussed Zhou An after arriving at the palace.