Chapter Summaries

Zhou An used his precise footwork to evade the Beast Sect Leader’s attacks, then defeated him by activating Object Juggling through a wooden wok. After the Beast Sect Leader died, Head Constable Xie warned Zhou An not to turn to crime.

• Zhou An dodged the Beast Sect Leader’s relentless claws and countered with the Butchering Ox Skill, but his attacks could not overcome the enemy’s regeneration.
• Division Magistrate Zhang and Head Constable Xie moved to help Zhou An, but he told them there was no reason for him to panic.
• Zhou An pressed a wooden wok against the Beast Sect Leader’s claws and activated Object Juggling, flipping and tossing the eight-meter-tall enemy.
• The Beast Sect Leader begged for his life and offered to teach Zhou An Beast Worship and the Blood Shadow Gate Secret Technique, but Zhou An continued until he died.
• Zhou An turned toward Division Magistrate Zhang and Head Constable Xie, and Head Constable Xie warned him not to go down the path of crime.

After Zhou An’s identity as a mysterious expert was exposed, Division Magistrate Zhang and Head Constable Xie promised to keep it secret and asked him to register quietly with the Demon Suppression Division. Zhou An returned to his routine of grinding skills, while Head Constable Xie’s service against the Beast Cult secured his promotion to the Division and left the Constable Captain position open.

• Division Magistrate Zhang and Head Constable Xie assured Zhou An they would conceal his identity, and Zhou An agreed to register secretly with the Demon Suppression Division.
• Division Magistrate Zhang promised Head Constable Xie that his merit would secure his entry into the Demon Suppression Division.
• Head Constable Xie and Division Magistrate Zhang completed the Beast Cult follow-up without exposing Zhou An, and Zhou An returned home to grind his skills.
• Zhou An discovered that Running no longer gained proficiency through ordinary running, then continued practicing skills at the yamen.
• Master Xu announced that Head Constable Xie had been promoted to the Demon Suppression Division and invited constables to register for the vacant Constable Captain position.

Zhou An registered his information with the Demon Suppression Division and refused both the vacant Constable Captain position and Division Magistrate Zhang’s invitation to join. He left determined to find a new way to improve his Soaring Dragon Steps proficiency.

• The constables celebrated the vacant Constable Captain position, but Zhou An said he had no interest in applying and left the yamen.
• Zhou An met Head Constable Xie at the Demon Suppression Division, and Xie offered to help him register discreetly.
• Division Magistrate Zhang showed Zhou An his registration record, which assessed him as among the very best of Third-Rate Experts.
• Division Magistrate Zhang invited Zhou An to join the Demon Suppression Division, but Zhou An refused because he wanted to avoid constraints and keep grinding proficiency.
• Zhou An left and thought of a specific method to develop his Soaring Dragon Steps proficiency.

Zhou An devised the Earth Mound Formation to train his Soaring Dragon Steps, practiced dodging its swinging dirt bags through the night, and gained proficiency. He went to the county office the next morning, where the constables were trying to impress the adviser for a promotion.

• Zhou An bought rope and burlap, filled cloth bags with loose earth, and hung them from the ceiling beams to create the Earth Mound Formation.
• Zhou An used an iron wok to set the dirt bags swinging, then practiced dodging them to train his Soaring Dragon Steps.
• Zhou An kept training until dawn, increasing his Soaring Dragon Steps proficiency to 1258/40000, though the dirt bags struck him repeatedly.
• Zhou An planned to practice the Soaring Dragon Steps at night and work on the Butchering Ox Skill and Object Juggling at the county office during the day.
• Zhou An arrived at the county office and saw the constables acting busy to improve their chances of becoming Constable Captain.

Zhou An reached level four in Butcher the Ox Knife after mastering the fine details of vegetable veins, gaining extraordinary precision and control over his blade. As he rested, he noticed that his qi had changed unexpectedly.

• Zhou An continued his routine training while an inconspicuous constable won the Constable Captain position by giving Master Xu gifts.
• Zhou An carved a wooden vegetable and realized that matching its veins and ridges was the key to making it indistinguishable from the real one.
• Zhou An carefully carved every detail, entered a state of intense focus, and raised Butcher the Ox Knife to level four.
• Zhou An tested his new blade control by slicing a vegetable into hair-fine strands without making it move, then concluded that his blade techniques had surpassed Chef Liu's.
• Zhou An rested after his carving stopped increasing proficiency, then abruptly noticed that his qi had changed.

Zhou An realized his qi was nearing the form of a Qi Sphere and learned that the Surveillance Division would inspect An Ding County before officials could take a written test. On his way to work, he saw a theater troupe singing the county magistrate’s praises and arrived at the yamen to find a shocking sight in the front courtyard.

• Zhou An sensed that his qi had changed shape and realized he was approaching the Second-Rate Expert realm.
• Zhou An and Yu Hang heard that the Surveillance Division would inspect local jurisdictions before officials could take the written test.
• Yu Hang told Zhou An that the new order would likely bring An Ding County’s county magistrate out of seclusion early.
• Zhou An spent the evening grinding Soaring Dragon Steps and Object Juggling, then went to report for duty the next morning.
• Zhou An saw a theater troupe perform a play praising An Ding County and suspected the county magistrate had hired them to impress the Surveillance Division.
• Zhou An arrived at the yamen and saw a shocking sight in the front courtyard.

Zhou An watched County Magistrate Chen punish Master Xu and Constable Captain Sun BuTou for bribery, then saw the court drum sounded for the first time since Chen took office. An old man was brought before the magistrate, who demanded to know why he had beaten the drum.

• Zhou An learned from Yu Hang that Sun BuTou had bribed Master Xu for his appointment and that County Magistrate Chen had uncovered their misconduct.
• County Magistrate Chen ordered Master Xu and Sun BuTou to receive twenty strokes for bribery and accepting bribes.
• After the constables cleared the courtyard, someone beat the court drum, prompting Chen to open court.
• The constables brought a frail old man before County Magistrate Chen, who asked who he was and why he had beaten the drum.

Village Chief Wang Shuan reported that every child in Clear Stream Village had vanished overnight, prompting County Magistrate Chen to send Master Xu, Constable Captain Sun, and several constables to investigate. Zhou An stayed behind to train his skills, while Yu Hang and the others reached the grief-stricken village.

• Wang Shuan told County Magistrate Chen that every child in Clear Stream Village had disappeared overnight despite the villagers searching for them.
• Master Xu suggested sending Constable Captain Sun and the constables to investigate, and County Magistrate Chen approved the plan.
• Constable Captain Sun selected several constables, including Yu Hang, but overlooked Zhou An, who returned to the kitchen to practice Object Juggling and consider a defensive life skill.
• Yu Hang and the others arrived at Clear Stream Village, where they heard crying and felt the village's bleak grief over the missing children.

Yu Hang investigated the disappearance of all the children in Clear Stream Village and learned that the villagers worshipped a River God. He suggested that the case might be connected to the River God and proposed investigating the Clear Stream River.

• Yu Hang felt a familiar chill as Village Chief Wang led the constables into the prosperous village.
• Yu Hang questioned a grieving couple, who confirmed that all the village's children had vanished overnight.
• The mother blamed the disappearances on the delayed River God worship, while her husband explained the village's annual custom.
• The constables compared their findings in the village square and found that the accounts matched Village Chief Wang's.
• Yu Hang suggested investigating the Clear Stream River because the disappearances might be connected to the River God.

Yu Hang and Sun BuTou investigated Clear Stream River as a possible clue in the children's deaths, but Niu Er found nothing during a brief search. Yu Hang suggested searching downstream, and the group returned to the county yamen with Village Chief Wang while Yu Hang remained uneasy about the river.

• Village Chief Wang objected to investigating Clear Stream River for fear of angering the River God, but Sun BuTou ordered the group to go there.
• Yu Hang felt a sudden chill as he looked at the calm river, though the other constables noticed nothing unusual.
• Sun BuTou ordered Niu Er, the strongest swimmer, to search the river, and Niu Er surfaced after several minutes without finding anything.
• Yu Hang explained that anything in the flowing river might have washed downstream, so Sun BuTou called off the search and planned a broader downstream investigation.
• Sun BuTou took Village Chief Wang back to the county yamen, and Yu Hang followed while still feeling uneasy about the river.

Zhou An and Yu Hang joined an overnight search of the river after the County Magistrate ordered swimmers to look for the missing children. Yu Hang was drawn toward the water by strange voices, and Zhou An discovered a drowned strange entity sitting on his shoulders as it revealed that someone had sealed the children in the river.

• County Magistrate Chen ordered Master Xu to organize an overnight river search, and Zhou An and Yu Hang volunteered as a team.
• While they watched the swimmers, Yu Hang heard children's voices and a woman's voice calling him toward the river.
• Zhou An knocked Yu Hang unconscious when he started walking toward the water, then sent the residents to rest nearby.
• Zhou An saw a drowned little boy sitting on Yu Hang's shoulders, and the strange entity made Yu Hang hear the children say they were dead and had been sealed in the water.
• The strange entity silently mouthed that it was cold, and Zhou An drew his saber to confront it.

Zhou An fought a strange boy who attacked from the river, then found Yu Hang and the villagers alive. As he prepared to report the children’s disappearances, a soaked bald man emerged from the woods and warned him about the water.

• Zhou An drove the strange boy into the river and evaded its giant hand and foul-water ropes without entering the water.
• Zhou An found Yu Hang unconscious but unharmed and confirmed that the villagers were safe, then suspected the missing children had died in the river.
• Zhou An decided to report the incident to the Demon Suppression Division and planned to coordinate his account with Yu Hang.
• A bald man emerged from the woods and began warning Zhou An to leave because of the danger in the water, then realized it had passed.

Zhou An detained Feng Ye, a corpse retriever hired in advance to recover bodies from the river where children had begun disappearing. He ordered Feng Ye to do the job and watched as Feng Ye prepared to enter the water in a paper boat.

• Feng Ye claimed he had come to retrieve bodies for an unknown client, and Zhou An realized the client might have anticipated the disappearances.
• Zhou An ordered Feng Ye to retrieve the bodies, reasoning that the hidden water entity could become a threat.
• Feng Ye tested the river with a wooden stick, which turned black from intense resentment, and said many people had likely died there.
• Feng Ye explained that he could confront the bizarre entity in the water and asked Zhou An to report him missing if he did not return after an incense stick burned.
• Feng Ye placed his paper boat on the river and began reciting a spell.

Feng Ye retrieved more than twenty children's corpses from the river but was forced to flee after the aberrations there fused into a powerful aggregate. The aggregate attacked Zhou An and began sinking back into the river, while Feng Ye froze the water's surface and warned that they had ten breaths to kill it.

• Feng Ye used his paper boat to enter the river and retrieve the children's corpses, destroying more than a dozen aberrations along the way.
• Feng Ye escaped to shore with the corpses and told Zhou An that the remaining aberrations had fused into an aggregate he could not defeat.
• A huge translucent sphere containing sleeping children's souls emerged from the river and sent a surge of water toward Zhou An.
• Zhou An dodged the aggregate's water droplets with ease while Feng Ye protected the villagers and Yu Hang.
• As the aggregate began sinking back into the river, Feng Ye froze the water's surface and warned Zhou An that he could hold it for only ten breaths.

Zhou An destroyed the amalgamated aberration with successive forms of blade light, and he and Feng Ye recovered the drowned children’s bodies. Before Feng Ye could track down their killer, the corpses burned to ash, and Zhou An sensed an expert behind them.

• Zhou An cleaved the amalgamated aberration in two, then sliced its halves into pieces that vanished as smoke.
• Feng Ye recovered a pile of drowned children’s corpses and said they should report the deaths to the Demon Suppression Division.
• Feng Ye took up a torch and prepared to use the River Soul-Tracking Method to find who had pushed the children into the water.
• The children’s corpses suddenly turned to ash, and Zhou An drew his blade after sensing an expert behind Feng Ye.

Zhou An confronted a Fire Prayer Master who had killed a Corpse Retriever and burned the children’s bodies, and she unleashed powerful flames against him. After learning she had killed the children for the sake of an unknown man, Zhou An vowed to sacrifice her to the Clear Stream River.

• A middle-aged woman appeared holding the severed head of her friend, admitted killing her, and revealed that she knew Zhou An.
• Feng Ye identified the woman as a Fire Prayer Master, and she burned the surrounding forest so Zhou An could not make wooden pots.
• The woman attacked Zhou An with a fire dragon, but he narrowly dodged it and struck back with a vortex of saber light.
• The woman burned away Zhou An’s saber attack and claimed she had killed even her lover for the sake of an unknown man.
• Zhou An asked Feng Ye to pursue the woman’s soul if he killed her, then vowed to sacrifice her to the Clear Stream River for killing the children.

Zhou An killed the Fire Prayer Master by trapping her in an enclosed space and depriving her of air, then had Feng Ye track her soul. The water mirror revealed that a black-robed woman had been manipulating events to get Zhou An’s body, leaving him shocked by the revelation.

• Zhou An sealed the Fire Prayer Master inside a sheet of blade light, where her flames quickly consumed the enclosed air and left her unable to fight.
• Zhou An cut the suffocating woman into fragments and asked Feng Ye to track her soul.
• Feng Ye used a burning stick to create a water mirror that showed the dead woman’s memories.
• The water mirror revealed a black-robed woman discussing how the Fire Prayer Master had killed more than a hundred children while trying to help someone rise.
• The black-robed woman said that she wanted Zhou An’s body and needed his strength, leaving Zhou An stunned.

Zhou An and Feng Ye uncovered a dangerous case involving a mysterious expert and a Corpse Retriever, prompting County Magistrate Chen to hand the investigation over to the Demon Suppression Division. Zhou An brought Feng Ye to Division Magistrate Zhang, whose condition surprised him.

• Feng Ye told Zhou An that the water mirror tracing had reached its limit, and Zhou An concluded that someone was targeting him.
• Zhou An insisted Feng Ye stay involved and waited for the constables to arrive, then blamed the incident on a mysterious expert.
• The constables reported the discovery to County Magistrate Chen, who ordered Zhou An to take Feng Ye and the case to the Demon Suppression Division.
• Zhou An reflected that a woman in black had made a deal with the mysterious man concerning him and decided to let the Demon Suppression Division investigate.
• Zhou An and Feng Ye entered Division Magistrate Zhang's room, where Zhou An was surprised by Zhang's state.

Zhou An learned that a Surveillance Division inspector had mysteriously died within An Ding County, putting the county and Division Magistrate Zhang at risk. After agreeing to help investigate, Zhou An returned home and decided to focus on gaining a new skill and increasing his strength.

• Division Magistrate Zhang told Zhou An that a member of the Surveillance Division had died without explanation on the road through An Ding County, and the Demon Suppression Division had found no clues.
• Zhou An offered Feng Ye's soul-tracking ability, but Feng Ye explained that he could only track souls connected to water.
• Zhou An told Division Magistrate Zhang he would help investigate the suspicious death and asked to be informed when new information emerged.
• Feng Ye stayed at the Demon Suppression Division to assist with the investigation while Zhou An headed home.
• Zhou An reviewed his skill progress and decided he needed a brand-new skill to strengthen himself.

Zhou An decided to learn blacksmithing to improve his defense and make useful equipment, then visited a local smith and offered to help protect the shop in exchange for beginner instruction. The blacksmith appeared interested in the proposal.

• Zhou An reviewed his skills and chose blacksmithing as a way to gain defensive equipment and tools.
• Zhou An practiced his skills, reported to the yamen the next morning, and went to a blacksmith shop after lunch.
• Zhou An asked the blacksmith to teach him beginner techniques and offered the protection of his constable position in return.
• The middle-aged blacksmith considered Zhou An's offer, and his eyes lit up slightly.