Chapter Summaries

Chapter Summary: “Top Scholar Garb Upon Him, Edict Backlash”

Key Plot Points and Events

• The Lightning-Wrapped Drum-Bearing Strongman repairs his damaged armor with lightning and mocks the weakening Devil Realm. His power shocks Zhang Wentian’s group because he is only a Fifth Rank Inner God yet can easily destroy an Upper Rank Devouring-Soul Devil Head.
• The Strongman strikes his drum three times, summoning divine thunder and spreading a vast lightning net across the mountaintop. The lightning disperses demonic qi and weakens the centipede puppets.
• At the same time, the Light-Chasing Sun-Shooting Celestial General fires a single arrow that splits into hundreds of light arrows. Each arrow pierces a centipede puppet’s skull, killing both the puppets and the giant centipedes controlling them.
• Zhang Wentian recognizes that the two Inner Gods possess extraordinary, possibly demon-breaking abilities. He orders his disciples and allies to use Edicts to suppress them and Li Qingxian.
• The first Edicts, aimed at forbidding the Inner Gods, have no effect. Zhang Wentian then leads dozens of cultivators in using Edicts to seal Li Qingxian’s mouth, bind his hands, and prevent him from giving commands.
• Just before the Edicts reach him, Li Qingxian transforms into the appearance of a top scholar, wearing a scholar’s cap and robe, a Red Flower at his waist, and a golden flower on his cap. His Fate Mansion activates the Four-Eerie Terrain Configuration, revealing an illusory imperial landscape filled with kneeling Eerie beings.
• Li Qingxian uses a twelve-jointed Green Bamboo Strip to reflect every Edict back to its caster. The attackers are bound by their own Edicts.
• He then issues his own Edict, declaring the people of Upper Mountain District guilty of defying Heaven’s mandate and betraying the people’s will. From that point onward, they are forbidden from using Edicts in the town, and violators will suffer deepened Eerie Qi and execution.
• When Zhang Wentian forces a Lower Rank guard to test the Edict restriction, the Edict explodes and fills the guard with Eerie Qi, transforming him into a huge, shapeless mass of stone and wood.
• Zhang Wentian’s backlash causes his cultivation to fall by an entire rank, leaving him barely at Fourth Rank. Enraged, he orders the Toxic Devil Prince puppet to attack.
• The puppet explodes, releasing a cloud of blood mist. From it emerges a gigantic green-haired hand making an orchid-finger gesture, which descends toward the fleeing crowd with terrifying force.

Character Developments

• Li Qingxian/Ye Han: Demonstrates increasingly profound control over the Eerie Realm and its laws. His transformation into a top scholar symbolizes both his authority and his ability to rival or surpass those who wield official Edicts. He turns the enemy’s greatest weapon against them and establishes control over Upper Mountain District.
• Zhang Wentian: His confidence and political authority are badly damaged. After relying on Edicts to suppress Li Qingxian, he suffers severe backlash and loses a rank of cultivation. His desperation drives him to unleash the Toxic Devil Prince puppet.
• Xue Heshan: Correctly identifies the danger posed by the Inner Gods and openly considers abandoning Zhang Wentian’s side, revealing his self-preserving nature.
• Good Fortune Born: Recognizes the overwhelming power of Li Qingxian’s techniques and becomes confused about Li Qingxian’s connection to the “top scholar” title, hinting at forgotten or distorted memories involving the Eerie Ground.
• Huang Tiantao: Shows concern for Li Qingxian and understands the danger of Edicts from his previous experiences in Eerie Town.
• The Inner Gods: Establish themselves as exceptionally powerful combatants. The Strongman specializes in lightning and suppressing demonic forces, while the Celestial General possesses astonishingly fast and precise ranged attacks.

Significant Themes

• Authority turned against its wielder: The chapter’s central reversal is that the Edicts used by Upper Mountain District’s rulers are reflected back upon them, exposing the fragility of authority based on coercion.
• The hierarchy of power: Zhang Wentian dismisses the Inner Gods because of their apparent rank, but their divine abilities allow them to defeat stronger-looking opponents.
• Legitimacy and governance: Li Qingxian’s Edict invokes Heaven’s mandate and the people’s will, contrasting genuine legitimacy with Zhang Wentian’s long-standing abuse of official power.
• Humiliation of the arrogant: Han Anbo’s observation summarizes the chapter: those who believe themselves superior enough to oppress others may eventually be crushed by an even greater authority.
• Identity and transformation: Li Qingxian’s top-scholar appearance blurs the boundary between human, official, deity, and Eerie being, suggesting that his identity and authority are far more complicated than they appear.
• The danger of overreliance on power: Zhang Wentian’s faction depends heavily on Edicts, and once that power is neutralized, their dominance collapses rapidly.

Character Interactions

• Zhang Wentian and Xue Heshan exchange hostile remarks about whether to flee, revealing mistrust within their alliance.
• Zhang Wentian attempts to coordinate his disciples and followers against Li Qingxian through mass Edict attacks.
• Huang Tiantao warns others about the Edicts, while the townspeople react with fear because they have personally experienced their power.
• Li Qingxian directly counters Zhang Wentian’s authority by issuing a superior Edict and publicly condemning Upper Mountain District.
• Zhang Wentian retaliates indirectly through the Toxic Devil Prince puppet, ending the chapter with a massive supernatural attack against the retreating group.

Chapter Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• Honest Devil Prince reveals the Blood Devil God scroll, summoning a gigantic black, snake-furred foot that crashes down on the enormous green-haired hand attacking the mountain.
• Li Qingxian orders the Night Guards and townspeople to retreat, using spirit talismans and wind-based magic to speed their descent.
• Zhang Wentian begins chanting a demonic invocation. Honest Devil Prince realizes he is using the Great God-Summoning Art and attempting to turn himself into a Devil God vessel through the power of numerous Ginseng Fruits.
• Li Qingxian throws Luo Jing’s Evil God Statue to the Lightning-Wrapped Drum-Bearing Strongman, who attacks Zhang Wentian alongside the Light-Chasing Sun-Shooting Celestial General.
• Zhang Wentian successfully transforms into the Myriad Forms Devil Master, a gigantic monster with elephant legs, a red-and-green body, thirty-six black-and-white arms, and Ginseng Fruits growing within his body.
• The Myriad Forms Devil Master launches a massive gray-black tornado toward Li Qingxian.
• The Evil God Statue awakens as the Black Evil God, disperses the tornado, and creates eighteen copies of itself. Together they form a barrier around the mountaintop and begin converting nearby people into Black Evil God statues.
• At the same time, many residents are demonized by the Myriad Forms Devil Master and turned into demonic servants. Most ordinary people fleeing the mountain are forcibly compelled to turn back and climb upward.
• Li Qingxian establishes an altar to the master of the Thunder Division and performs the Great Evil-Expelling Art of Summoning the Six Offices and Thirty-Six Thunder Dukes.
• Thirty-six Thunder Dukes descend around Eerie Town, and their presence breaks the control over the fleeing residents, allowing them to escape.
• The Myriad Forms Devil Master and Black Evil God attack in rage. Their divine consciousnesses are drawn away by the Thunder Dukes, leaving behind immense demonic power that collides and erupts.
• Li Qingxian’s Divine Pool Golden Liquid absorbs two masses of Devil God’s Might, but the strain causes him to collapse. Zhou Hen catches him as he loses consciousness.
• Gai Fengyou realizes the situation is dangerous: although Li Qingxian has temporarily subdued the crisis, his incarnation may have absorbed too much power, and the Grand Momentum Configuration may not hold for long.

Character Developments

• Li Qingxian demonstrates increasingly powerful command over divine, talismanic, and Thunder Division techniques. He acts decisively to protect civilians, counter the Devil Gods, and organize a large-scale escape.
• Zhang Wentian is revealed to have deliberately cultivated a monstrous transformation. His plan was not merely to summon a Devil God but to use the Ginseng Fruits to create a Devil God vessel, ultimately becoming the Myriad Forms Devil Master.
• Honest Devil Prince shifts into an urgent adviser, recognizing the danger of Zhang Wentian’s ritual and warning Li Qingxian about the consequences.
• The Black Evil God manifests through the statue and displays both protective and terrifying qualities, saving Li Qingxian from the tornado while simultaneously converting civilians into its own forms.
• Gai Fengyou gains greater respect for Li Qingxian’s abilities but becomes deeply concerned about the consequences of Li Qingxian absorbing Devil God power.
• Zhou Hen acts protectively by catching Li Qingxian after he collapses.

Significant Themes

• The danger of forbidden power: Zhang Wentian’s pursuit of transformation shows how the desire to control divine or demonic forces can destroy one’s humanity.
• Conflict between divine and demonic authority: The Myriad Forms Devil Master and Black Evil God represent competing corruptive powers, while Li Qingxian invokes the Thunder Dukes as a higher, more ordered force.
• Sacrifice and responsibility: Li Qingxian repeatedly risks himself to save civilians, ultimately collapsing after absorbing dangerous Devil God power.
• Loss of free will: Ordinary residents are forcibly turned into servants, statues, or unwilling participants in the demonic conflict.
• The unstable nature of divine power: Even supposedly protective gods, such as the Black Evil God, bring their own form of domination and transformation.

Character Interactions

• Li Qingxian and Honest Devil Prince cooperate against Zhang Wentian, with Honest Devil Prince identifying the ritual’s true purpose.
• Li Qingxian commands the Lightning-Wrapped Drum-Bearing Strongman and the Light-Chasing Sun-Shooting Celestial General to attack Zhang Wentian.
• Zhang Wentian’s transformation directly pits him against Li Qingxian and the Black Evil God.
• The Black Evil God protects Li Qingxian’s position but also competes with the Myriad Forms Devil Master for control over the people.
• Li Qingxian invokes the Thunder Dukes, whose intervention disrupts both Devil Gods and releases the controlled civilians.
• Zhou Hen supports Li Qingxian physically after the latter exhausts himself, while Gai Fengyou prepares to maintain the larger formation in his absence.

Chapter Summary: Devil God Shell

Key Plot Points and Events

• Zhang Wentian completes his transformation into a massive Devil God after consuming the remaining devil clouds and forming the Devil God Shell. His body grows to thirty pairs of arms, though the scars inflicted by his enemies remain unable to heal.
• Li Qingxian is incapacitated and carried away by Zhou Hen as the defeated group retreats to the Threshing Ground. The townspeople lose hope, believing their strongest leader has fallen.
• Zhang Wentian declares that his completed divine art will allow him to dominate the outside world once he escapes Eerie Town. He intends to kill everyone present and wait for future sacrifices if necessary.
• Han Anbo argues that Zhang Wentian still needs people to help him leave Eerie Town and rule afterward. He proposes that the survivors temporarily submit and cooperate, appealing to Zhang’s ambition.
• Zhang Wentian agrees, but only after threatening to implant Myriad-Insect Treasure Pills in everyone’s bodies, giving him control over their lives.
• Zhou Hen proposes testing Zhang Wentian’s strength. The Upper Rank experts agree to fight him, intending to surrender if they cannot win.
• Zhang Wentian attacks the Threshing Ground, using overwhelming physical power and Devil God flames. The experts fight collectively but are gradually injured or exhausted.
• Xue Heshan and Huang Tiantao eventually withdraw, leaving only Zhou Hen facing Zhang Wentian.
• The chapter ends with the realization that Zhou Hen has been deliberately holding back and stalling Zhang Wentian rather than fighting at full strength.

Character Developments

• Zhang Wentian: Fully embraces his Devil God transformation, becoming physically overwhelming but increasingly irrational. His ambition expands beyond Eerie Town, yet his newly gained power also makes him reckless and unstable.
• Zhou Hen: Reveals himself to be far more capable than he first appeared. His participation in the battle was largely a delaying tactic, suggesting he has a hidden plan or is waiting for an opportunity.
• Han Anbo: Demonstrates political intelligence and adaptability. Rather than relying on force, he manipulates Zhang Wentian by appealing to his ambition and practical need for allies.
• Huang Tiantao and Xue Heshan: Both participate in the desperate battle but are eventually forced to retreat after exhausting themselves.
• Li Qingxian: Remains unconscious or incapacitated, symbolizing the group’s loss of its former central pillar.
• The townspeople: Their despair and willingness to consider submission reveal how thoroughly Zhang Wentian’s victory has broken their morale.

Significant Themes

• Power versus reason: Zhang Wentian gains immense strength but loses control of his mind, suggesting that power obtained through demonic transformation carries a psychological cost.
• Survival and compromise: The survivors debate whether obedience is preferable to resistance, showing how fear forces people to accept humiliating or dangerous bargains.
• Ambition and manipulation: Han Anbo recognizes that Zhang’s grand ambitions can be used to influence him, while Zhang believes future glory outweighs present grudges.
• Hope hidden beneath defeat: Although the group appears powerless, Zhou Hen’s concealed strength and deliberate stalling imply that their situation may not be hopeless.
• Appearance versus reality: Zhang looks invincible, yet his wounds cannot heal, his judgment is deteriorating, and his need for sacrifices and followers exposes weaknesses beneath his new form.

Character Interactions

• The townspeople argue over whether rebellion was foolish, with some defending submission as the only path to survival.
• Han Anbo confronts Zhang Wentian indirectly, proposing cooperation while presenting the survivors as future supporters of Zhang’s empire.
• Yu Ping questions whether Han Anbo’s persuasion can succeed, prompting Han to explain that ambition makes Zhang receptive to arguments about future power.
• Zhang accepts the proposed alliance only by imposing magical control through the Myriad-Insect Treasure Pills.
• Zhou Hen challenges Zhang to a direct battle, while Huang Tiantao, Xue Heshan, and the other Upper Rank experts join him.
• During the fight, Zhang dominates the group through brute force, but Zhou Hen alone remains, revealing that the battle may have been part of a larger strategy.

Chapter Summary: “Reverently Invite My God”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Xue Heshan and Huang Tiantao analyze Zhou Hen’s sudden transformation. Once an ordinary soldier, Zhou Hen now possesses overwhelming strength, lightning-based movement, and highly refined martial techniques, suggesting that he received extraordinary guidance or an inheritance.
• While Li Qingxian remains unconscious, the six divine generals of the Kua’e Clan dissolve into the Divine Pool Golden Liquid, merging their power into his Devil God’s Might.
• The Thunder Dragon Fire Seal refines this power by burning away its evil influence. The remaining corrupted energy passes through the Heavenly Mandate Token and strengthens Li Qingxian’s Fate Mansion.
• Li Qingxian’s Devil God Fate Star, Ruler’s Fortune Bright Moon, Fate Stars, and Fate Spirits all grow rapidly. The Four-Aspects Fang Zun absorbs the core of Heavenly Mandate True Fortune, spreading powerful Fortune throughout his Fate Mansion.
• His Five Qi—composed of mana, Eerie Qi, Devil God’s Might, and divine power—becomes increasingly pure and powerful. The Thunder Dragon Fire Seal also expands and grows more ferocious after Li Qingxian comprehends the complete Thunder Jade Canon.
• In the battle outside, Zhang Wentian sends Zhou Hen flying, but Gai Fengyou unexpectedly reveals his true strength. Using spells, talismans, artifacts, and the Thunderfire Wheel, he keeps Zhang Wentian at a distance and prevents him from killing anyone.
• The Upper Rank experts realize that Gai Fengyou’s former image as a mediocre, scheming Fate Arts Master was largely an act. He had secretly preserved considerable strength while rebuilding the Fate of Wind Sect and supporting Li Qingxian in the past.
• Gai Fengyou’s intervention buys time for the other Upper Rank cultivators to recover. Working together under the protection of his Grand Momentum Configuration, they gradually stabilize the battle.
• As night falls, Zhang Wentian, enraged that he has exhausted much of his strength without killing anyone, prepares a forbidden technique. He summons Devil God power into his body, causing five faces and five Devil God totems to appear.
• He begins the ritual known as “Reverently Invite My God,” drawing Devil God auras from across Eerie Town.
• Some of the summoned power unexpectedly flows toward Li Qingxian and Good Fortune Born instead of Zhang Wentian. Good Fortune Born insists he does not understand what is happening, but Zhang Wentian accuses him of stealing divine might.
• Zhang Wentian attacks Good Fortune Born with a black beam that pierces his abdomen. As others rush to treat him, Zhang Wentian repeats the invocation, sending the five Devil God totems into the sky.

Character Developments

• Li Qingxian: Although unconscious, he undergoes major internal advancement. His Fate Mansion, Devil God Fate Star, Ruler’s Fortune Bright Moon, Five Qi, and Thunder Dragon Fire Seal all strengthen as corrupted divine power is refined and integrated.
• Zhou Hen: His dramatic rise from an average soldier to a powerful expert becomes a central mystery. His strength now appears to surpass that of Xue Heshan and Huang Tiantao, with a promising path toward the Second Rank.
• Gai Fengyou: Reveals himself as far stronger and more capable than his public reputation suggested. His apparent weakness and opportunism were likely deliberate disguises, and he is shown to be genuinely loyal to Li Qingxian.
• Good Fortune Born: Continues to act confused and defensive when Devil God power enters his body. His connection to the strange divine energy becomes increasingly suspicious, and Zhang Wentian directly targets him.
• Zhang Wentian: Despite being influenced by the Devil God, he retains enough reason to use strategy and powerful forbidden techniques. His frustration grows as Gai Fengyou and the other experts repeatedly frustrate his attacks.
• Xue Heshan and Huang Tiantao: Shift from skepticism to caution. They recognize that both Zhou Hen and Gai Fengyou have concealed extraordinary abilities and begin reassessing the entire cultivation world.

Significant Themes

• Hidden strength and deception: Several characters—including Zhou Hen and Gai Fengyou—are far more powerful than their former reputations suggested. The chapter emphasizes that apparent mediocrity may conceal long-term endurance and preparation.
• Transformation through power: Li Qingxian’s body and Fate Mansion evolve as divine, demonic, and Fortune-based energies are refined into a more unified force.
• The danger of divine power: Devil God energy is both a source of immense strength and a corrupting influence. The chapter highlights the need to purify and control it rather than simply wield it.
• Changing cultivation order: The older experts realize that the world has advanced while they were isolated in Eerie Town. Their confusion reflects a broader shift in the balance of power.
• Loyalty beneath appearances: Gai Fengyou’s secret assistance to Li Qingxian reveals that his seemingly cynical methods conceal genuine loyalty and strategic sacrifice.
• Unpredictable fate: The Devil God’s power does not flow entirely according to Zhang Wentian’s will, instead entering Li Qingxian and Good Fortune Born. This suggests that hidden forces or destinies are influencing the conflict.

Character Interactions

• Xue Heshan and Huang Tiantao discuss Zhou Hen’s unexplained advancement and later reassess Gai Fengyou after witnessing his strength.
• Gai Fengyou battles Zhang Wentian indirectly, keeping him at range while the other experts recover and regroup.
• Gai Fengyou’s past support of Li Qingxian is revealed through Good Fortune Born’s thoughts, strengthening the connection between the two.
• The Upper Rank experts become more respectful and wary of Gai Fengyou after recognizing his concealed abilities.
• Zhang Wentian openly accuses Good Fortune Born of stealing Devil God power and attacks him, escalating the conflict just as the forbidden summoning ritual begins.

Chapter Summary: “Five-Faced Devil God, Devouring Divine Might”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Zhang Wentian performs a terrifying summoning ritual, kneeling and repeatedly invoking the Devil Gods while a spatial rift opens above Eerie Town.
• Divine light seals the rift, preventing the Emperor Lords’ enemies—the Devil Gods—from directly entering the Eerie Realm. The cultivators initially believe Zhang Wentian has therefore lost his greatest source of strength.
• Instead, the remaining Devil God’s Might in Eerie Town gathers above the unconscious Li Qingxian and the wounded Good Fortune Born.
• A huge black tornado condenses into a hundred-zhang-tall, five-faced Devil God bearing the powers of the Black Moon, Great Annihilation, Whispering, Wisdom, and Blood Devil Gods.
• The manifestation appears to have broken free from Zhang Wentian’s control. Zhang Wentian wrongly concludes that Good Fortune Born is a hidden Devil Sect trump card and accuses him of concealing immense power.
• Zhang Wentian attacks the manifested Devil God with all thirty pairs of arms. The Devil God reveals its five faces and absorbs much of Zhang Wentian’s Devil God’s Might, badly damaging his arms and forcing him to flee.
• The Five-Faced Devil God then dissolves into demonic mist, entering both Li Qingxian and Good Fortune Born. The Night Guards attempt to intervene, but Gai Fengyou stops them, believing Li Qingxian has a deliberate plan.
• Good Fortune Born loses consciousness, apparently suffering backlash from the Devil God’s power. The cultivators continue attacking Zhang Wentian.
• Though severely weakened and injured, Zhang Wentian continues recovering. His body has effectively become a Devil God shell, allowing him to heal and gradually grow stronger.
• By nightfall, the Upper Rank cultivators realize that prolonging the battle will only make their situation worse, especially since Li Qingxian remains unconscious and cannot provide assistance.

Character Developments

• Zhang Wentian: His confidence turns to alarm when the summoned Devil God refuses to obey him and instead devours his power. Although his strength drops sharply and many arms are destroyed, his Devil God-enhanced body begins regenerating, making him an increasingly dangerous long-term threat.
• Good Fortune Born: He becomes the target of widespread suspicion after the Devil God’s Might gathers around him. Unable to explain that the power comes from Ye Sizheng, he is falsely accused of being a concealed Devil Sect weapon. He later collapses from demonic backlash.
• Li Qingxian: Remains unconscious but appears to be central to the summoning and the Devil God’s manifestation. Several characters suspect that the event is connected more closely to him than to Good Fortune Born.
• Gai Fengyou: Shows strategic insight by focusing on Li Qingxian rather than Good Fortune Born and preventing the Night Guards from disrupting the demonic mist’s entry into Li Qingxian.
• Honest Devil Prince: Avoids immediately blaming Good Fortune Born and instead studies Li Qingxian, suggesting that he recognizes the true source of the phenomenon.
• The Upper Rank cultivators: Continue their coordinated assault but become increasingly worried as Zhang Wentian heals and grows stronger.

Significant Themes

• False appearances and mistaken identity: Good Fortune Born appears to have fallen to demonhood, but the chapter suggests that Li Qingxian or Ye Sizheng is the true focus of the Devil God’s power.
• Loss of control: Zhang Wentian summons a power that ultimately severs itself from him, demonstrating the danger of relying on forces that cannot be fully controlled.
• Power absorption and transformation: The Devil God consumes Zhang Wentian’s strength, while Zhang Wentian’s body transforms into a regenerative Devil God shell.
• Strategic patience versus immediate action: The cultivators must decide whether to continue fighting, wait for Li Qingxian, or seek another solution before Zhang Wentian fully recovers.
• Suspicion and scapegoating: Fear causes the crowd to turn against Good Fortune Born without understanding the actual situation.

Important Character Interactions

• Zhang Wentian and Good Fortune Born: Zhang Wentian accuses Good Fortune Born of being Zhang Wentong’s hidden trump card and attacks him indirectly through the summoned Devil God.
• Zhang Wentian and the Five-Faced Devil God: The summoned entity rejects Zhang Wentian’s authority, absorbs his Devil God’s Might, and forces him to retreat.
• Gai Fengyou and the Night Guards: Gai Fengyou blocks their attempt to intervene, insisting that Li Qingxian’s condition may be part of a larger plan.
• Honest Devil Prince and Gai Fengyou: Both independently suspect that Li Qingxian, rather than Good Fortune Born, is central to the Devil God’s appearance.
• Upper Rank cultivators and Zhang Wentian: They resume their assault but realize that their attacks are not enough to prevent Zhang Wentian from recovering and becoming stronger.

Chapter Summary: “Righteous Qi Azure Mountain, Vast Righteous Qi Beyond the Heavens”

Key Plot Points and Events

• The battle in Eerie Town reaches a crisis as the exhausted fighters struggle against Zhang Wentian and the remaining Devil Cultivators and Heretical Cultivators. Injuries mount, and no one knows how to turn the tide.
• Three Literary Treasures emerge from Li Qingxian:

Righteous Qi Azure Mountain

The Willowwood Hairpin

The Grand Confucian scripture, Sacred Discourse

• These treasures summon an immense pillar of pure, milky-white Righteous Qi from beyond the heavens. Its calming power restores everyone’s minds and dispels exhaustion.
• The Willowwood Hairpin and Sacred Discourse sacrifice themselves, transforming into Righteous Qi and empowering Righteous Qi Azure Mountain.
• The treasure releases Beyond-Rank Righteous Qi across Eerie Town, severely suppressing the Devil Cultivators and Heretical Cultivators. Many survive only by swearing loyalty to Ye Sizheng and claiming allegiance to the righteous path.
• Zhang Wentian’s Devil God powers are exposed and destroyed. A gigantic finger formed from Righteous Qi pierces through him, causing his body to explode and dissolve.
• Li Qingxian awakens and realizes that the Righteous Qi purified the Devil God’s Might within him, removing the remaining influence of the five Devil Gods. His cultivation in Ascending Five Qi reaches its peak, bringing him close to advancing to Fourth Rank.
• However, Zhang Wentian unexpectedly reappears in a newly condensed Devil God shell. He claims that the Righteous Qi purified his demonic nature and turned his crisis into an opportunity, giving him a controllable divine ability and bringing him close to First Rank.
• Before Zhang Wentian can recover fully, Li Qingxian attacks with the Great Principle-Slaying Sword. Its power combines with numerous strange manifestations—yellow-clad rats, golden pythons, towns, mountains, purple lightning, and starlight—to overwhelm and kill Zhang Wentian’s shell.

Character Developments

• Li Qingxian is revealed to have deliberately appeared unconscious while secretly controlling the situation. He had absorbed too much Devil God’s Might, but the heavenly Righteous Qi purified and refined it, greatly strengthening his cultivation.
• His strategic intelligence becomes clear: he concealed his control over the Devil God’s Might and arranged for the Literary Treasures to summon the Righteous Qi, ensuring Zhang Wentian’s destruction while avoiding suspicion.
• Zhang Wentian demonstrates terrifying resilience. Even after being destroyed by Righteous Qi, he reforms as a more stable and controllable Devil God shell. Nevertheless, his arrogance and unstable foundation leave him vulnerable to Li Qingxian’s decisive counterattack.
• Honest Devil Prince and the other Devil Cultivators abandon their former allegiance when confronted by Righteous Qi. Their desperate oaths reveal their fear and willingness to compromise in order to survive.
• Gai Fengyou recognizes Li Qingxian’s hidden calculations and understands that Li’s true strength and origins remain concealed from nearly everyone.
• The surrounding Upper Rank experts are reduced to stunned observers, emphasizing the overwhelming level of the confrontation.

Significant Themes

• Righteousness as a natural counter to demonic power: Vast Righteous Qi directly purifies Devil God influence and destroys demonic bodies, though the chapter also shows that purification can unintentionally strengthen a sufficiently resilient enemy.
• Strategic concealment and intelligence: Li Qingxian’s greatest advantage is not merely strength but his ability to disguise his intentions and manipulate the battlefield.
• Crisis becoming opportunity: Both Li Qingxian and Zhang Wentian benefit from the purification process, showing how danger can produce advancement depending on one’s nature and ability.
• Survival versus loyalty: The Devil Cultivators’ oaths expose the fragility of their convictions when faced with overwhelming power.
• Hidden power and incomplete knowledge: Only a few characters understand the true origin of Righteous Qi Azure Mountain, preserving Li Qingxian’s secrets and future strategic advantage.
• The balance between demonic and righteous forces: The chapter presents righteousness and demonic power not as simple opposites, but as forces that can transform, suppress, or even unexpectedly empower one another.

Important Character Interactions

• The fighters debate whether Ye Sizheng can help, only to discover that his supposed helplessness was part of a larger hidden plan.
• The Devil Cultivators react to Righteous Qi Azure Mountain with fear, then publicly swear loyalty to Ye Sizheng to escape its purifying force.
• Zhang Wentian attempts to attack Li Qingxian but is annihilated by the descending Righteous Qi finger.
• After reforming, Zhang Wentian boasts about his new Devil God shell and thanks Ye Sizheng, but Li Qingxian immediately interrupts him with the Great Principle-Slaying Sword.
• Gai Fengyou silently analyzes Li Qingxian’s scheme, recognizing that Li has concealed both his capabilities and the true source of the Literary Treasure’s power.

Chapter Summary: “Great Grace and Great Virtue”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Li Qingxian defeats Zhang Wentian with a single attack, causing him to collapse despite his immense Devil God power.
• White lights rise from Zhang Wentian’s body and enter the ancient well, suggesting that his stolen power or accumulated fortune has returned to its source. The Eerie Mist also begins to disperse.
• Li explains that Zhang Wentian had devoured countless commoners. Acting as Director of the Night Guard Patrol Bureau under the sovereign’s authority, Li executed him and used a Fate Artifact to sever Zhang’s connection to the Ginseng Fruits, allowing them to return to the Ginseng Fruit Tree.
• Li stores Zhang Wentian’s enormous Devil God shell, which Gai Fengyou identifies as a valuable material that could be refined into a First Rank Devil God incarnation.
• Li announces that the chief culprit has been eliminated and offers pardon to those who surrender. Honest Devil Prince and the other cultivators immediately declare Li the new town mayor, though Li rejects the title. Instead, he formally takes control of the Eerie Town as Marquis of Far-Reaching on behalf of the kingdom.
• The group travels to the mountaintop to inspect the greatly enlarged Ginseng Fruit Tree and the ancient well. They find thousands of fruits but no trace of the people who had previously been there, implying that they were consumed or otherwise absorbed by the eerie phenomenon.
• Good Fortune Born awakens after being left behind on the threshing ground. Seeing Li and the others departing without him, he feels humiliated and faints again.
• Li proposes a method for curing the Eerie Town:
  1. People suffering from Eerie Transformation must eat enough Ginseng Fruits to restore their bodies.
  2. Everyone must throw valuable possessions, money, and treasures into the ancient well to build up power and hopefully dissolve the Eerie Ground.
  3. If that fails, the town must follow a slower, more honest path of labor—farming, crafting, repairing roads, and offering part of the results to the well.
• Li begins distributing Ginseng Fruits according to the severity of each person’s affliction. Those with Middle Nine Eerie require numerous fruits, but their transformations gradually disappear.

Character Developments

• Li Qingxian emerges as a decisive and morally conscious leader. Although others treat him as a savior and try to elevate him as town mayor, he rejects personal glorification and emphasizes lawful authority, collective effort, and responsibility.
• Li also shows humility by insisting that the healed townspeople thank the Ginseng Fruit Tree rather than him. He views himself as merely the person distributing the remedy.
• Honest Devil Prince and the other Devil and Heretical Cultivators shift their loyalty toward Li, enthusiastically supporting his authority after Zhang Wentian’s death.
• Good Fortune Born survives but is abandoned and emotionally devastated. His belief in his own extraordinary luck is undercut by the fact that everyone leaves him behind.
• The transformed youth displays compassion and moral discomfort, recognizing that the Ginseng Fruits originated from former townspeople. Li reassures him that using the fruits to survive through a rightful and restorative process is different from Zhang Wentian’s selfish exploitation.

Significant Themes

• Legitimate authority versus tyranny: Zhang Wentian used power to consume and control others, while Li claims authority through lawful duty and concern for the people.
• Humility and proper credit: Li refuses worship and redirects gratitude toward the Ginseng Fruit Tree and the collective means of salvation.
• Redemption through honest labor: The proposed third method—farming, craftsmanship, and repairing the town—presents productive work and communal contribution as the most honorable solution.
• The moral complexity of survival: Eating the Ginseng Fruits is disturbing because they were created from people, but Li distinguishes necessary, regulated use from Zhang Wentian’s greed-driven abuse.
• Restoration and collective responsibility: The town’s recovery depends not only on Li’s intervention but also on everyone surrendering resources and working together.
• Fortune and humiliation: Good Fortune Born’s survival contrasts with his abandonment, suggesting that luck without loyalty, purpose, or social bonds offers little real protection.

Character Interactions

• Gai Fengyou advises Li to preserve Zhang Wentian’s Devil God shell, highlighting its value.
• Li commands the crowd with clemency but warns that continued resistance will be punished severely.
• Honest Devil Prince publicly reinforces Li’s authority, while the Night Guards and townspeople follow in stunned silence.
• Yu Ping and Han Anbo provide a brief comic moment as Yu senses he has forgotten something—likely Good Fortune Born—yet continues walking.
• Li addresses the healed middle-aged man’s gratitude by redirecting it away from himself.
• Li comforts the nauseated youth, explaining that survival obtained through a rightful path does not carry the same guilt as Zhang Wentian’s predation, and invites him to help rebuild the town afterward.

Chapter Summary: “Eating Ginseng Fruit”

Key Plot Points and Events

• The three children whose eyes had been sewn shut by the Blue-Clad Men eat eighteen Ginseng Fruits each. Their wounds and corruption vanish completely, restoring them to normal.
• Li Qingxian distributes Ginseng Fruits to everyone who still shows even faint signs of corruption, insisting that they eat them despite their reluctance.
• He explains that Ginseng Fruits must be consumed carefully to reveal the truth of the past, present, and future. Unlike at the earlier Mountain Banquet—where eating them meant consuming flesh—these fruits now represent “eating gods.”
• After eating, the survivors experience powerful cravings and recognize the danger of consuming too many. Li Qingxian recalls the Filthy Beggar’s warning that excessive consumption causes people to cease being human.
• Li Qingxian begins the second method of removing the aberrations by throwing thousands of Ginseng Fruits into the ancient well. The well releases fragrant, milky-white mist, but the first sacrifice appears insufficient.
• He orders everyone to surrender all remaining Ginseng Fruits, threatening execution for anyone who hides them. Several people comply, including Xue Heshan, who initially conceals fruits but eventually pours out more than a thousand.
• Other members of the Upper Mountain District continue secretly surrendering hidden supplies. Li Qingxian then has Huang Tiantao and Zhou Hen ambush and kill two Upper Rank cultivators who were still concealing fruits.
• Using Fate Arts, Li Qingxian identifies additional people hiding Ginseng Fruits. Huang Tiantao and Zhou Hen execute twenty-seven people, including servants, guards, nobles, and noble children.
• More hidden Ginseng Fruits are poured into the well, causing the crowd’s attitude to shift from confusion and suspicion toward anger at those who had withheld the fruits.

Character Developments

• Li Qingxian becomes increasingly authoritative and ruthless. He acts as both healer and judge, using his knowledge of Fate Arts to detect deception and enforcing cooperation through threats and executions.
• The three children are physically restored and express deep gratitude toward Li Qingxian and the Ginseng Fruit Tree.
• The survivors confront the addictive nature of the fruits. Although they enjoy them intensely, many recognize that continued consumption would threaten their humanity.
• Xue Heshan is exposed as selfish and dishonest when he initially withholds Ginseng Fruits. Under pressure, he apologizes and gives up his hidden stock.
• Huang Tiantao and Zhou Hen demonstrate their loyalty to Li Qingxian and their willingness to carry out his harsh orders without hesitation.
• The Upper Mountain District’s elites are revealed to possess vast private reserves of Ginseng Fruits, highlighting their wealth, secrecy, and exploitation of communal resources.

Significant Themes

• Healing versus corruption: The Ginseng Fruits can cure physical wounds and aberrant corruption, but their excessive use creates a new threat by eroding humanity.
• Temptation and addiction: The fruits produce overwhelming pleasure and cravings, showing how easily salvation can become dependence.
• Collective survival versus selfishness: The community’s survival requires everyone to surrender their private reserves, while hoarding threatens the entire group.
• Authority and coercion: Li Qingxian’s leadership depends increasingly on fear, surveillance, and execution rather than trust.
• Class inequality: The elites possess enormous hidden stores of Ginseng Fruits, while ordinary townspeople remain unaware of the resources controlled by powerful families.
• Justice and vengeance: The deaths of the hidden hoarders are framed as punishment for Zhang Wentian’s crime and as an outlet for the crowd’s lingering anger.

Character Interactions

• The restored children repeatedly kowtow to Li Qingxian and the Ginseng Fruit Tree in gratitude.
• A Night Guard questions whether he needs to eat a fruit, prompting Li Qingxian’s explanation of their deeper significance.
• The survivors discuss the fruits’ taste, effects, and addictive pull, revealing shared fear and temptation.
• Li Qingxian confronts the entire group and demands complete honesty, directly pressuring Xue Heshan and others.
• Huang Tiantao and Zhou Hen act on Li Qingxian’s secret instructions, killing those who continue to hide their supplies.
• The crowd watches the executions and the revealing of hidden reserves, gradually turning against the wealthy and deceptive members of the Upper Mountain District.

Chapter Summary: “Loyalty Without a Second Thought”

Key Plot Points and Events

• The white mist disperses, but the Eerie Town remains unchanged. Li Qingxian concludes that the only remaining option is to feed valuables into the ancient well until it accumulates enough power to dispel the eerie.
• He begins by emptying vast quantities of military supplies from his Heaven-and-Earth Bracelet, including weapons, armor, arrows, and horse equipment. The Night Guards are astonished by the amount—enough to equip tens of thousands of soldiers.
• Li Qingxian then sacrifices his stored food: grains, vegetables, livestock, and other provisions. He explains that he had originally stockpiled these supplies in preparation for aiding the River Guard Army and defending the borderlands.
• When the well still shows no visible effect, he throws in construction materials and household goods, including furniture, fabric, timber, bricks, stones, and sand. The others joke that he is not preparing a rebellion but founding an entire nation.
• Li Qingxian next considers Prince of Chu’s enormous Fortune Goldfish Pouch, containing treasures, gold, silver, jade, magical artifacts, cultivation manuals, and royal possessions. After removing only a few useful Fate Materials, he throws the rest into the well.
• Mountains of wealth and more than a thousand magical implements pour into the ancient well. Even powerful cultivators and sect leaders are stunned by his extravagance.
• Much of the Heavenly Profound Sect’s accumulated wealth is also sacrificed. Despite the enormous offerings, the Eerie Town remains unchanged.
• Li Qingxian finally throws most of the ripened Ginseng Fruits into the well, retaining only three. The chapter ends with no apparent result, suggesting that the well requires even more power or that a hidden condition remains unmet.

Character Developments

• Li Qingxian is portrayed as extraordinarily well-prepared, wealthy, decisive, and willing to sacrifice nearly everything to save the trapped group. He presents every act of consumption as an expression of loyalty and public service, though his vast reserves make others suspect that he could independently equip an army or establish a country.
• His reputation grows among the Night Guards and upper-rank cultivators. They regard him as both frighteningly resourceful and genuinely reliable.
• Gai Fengyou remains calm and amused, viewing Li Qingxian’s actions as a minor display of power. His confidence suggests that Li Qingxian possesses even greater reserves and abilities than those currently revealed.
• Meng Huaichuan openly finds the situation hilarious, while Li Qingxian’s former subordinates avoid commenting, clearly aware of how much wealth he has accumulated.
• Huang Tiantao, Xue Heshan, and other powerful figures are humbled by the scale of Li Qingxian’s discarded wealth, recognizing that even sects and lifelong treasure hunters could not easily match it.
• The unseen forces governing the Eerie Realm become alarmed and frustrated. They acknowledge that Li Qingxian’s method is unprecedented and eventually decide to alter their treatment of him, restrict his future access to Eerie Grounds, and reward him with accumulated resources.

Significant Themes

• Loyalty and self-sacrifice: Li Qingxian repeatedly frames his actions as serving the state, the army, and the people, emphasizing that wealth is meaningless if it cannot be used to save lives.
• Resourcefulness and preparation: His earlier habit of stockpiling military equipment, food, construction materials, and treasures becomes the key to solving the crisis.
• Wealth versus usefulness: Gold, magical artifacts, and sect treasures are portrayed as expendable when lives are at stake. Li Qingxian treats material possessions as tools rather than personal attachments.
• Excess and satire: The chapter humorously exaggerates Li Qingxian’s wealth. His “loyal” actions resemble rebellion, nation-building, or plundering on an enormous scale, creating a contrast between his modest explanations and the absurdity of what he gives away.
• Power challenging established systems: By exploiting the ancient well in a way no one anticipated, Li Qingxian disrupts the Eerie Realm’s established rules and even threatens the authority and resources of its unseen rulers.

Character Interactions

• The Night Guards repeatedly praise Li Qingxian’s loyalty, while privately marveling at the suspiciously large amount of military equipment and provisions he possesses.
• Li Qingxian reassures the group that his stockpiles were intended to aid the nation, and the others eagerly accept this explanation—partly because they depend on him for survival.
• Meng Huaichuan jokes about Li Qingxian’s overwhelming generosity, while his old subordinates remain silent rather than expose how extraordinary his preparations are.
• Huang Tiantao compares Li Qingxian’s wealth to the spoils of a lifetime of tomb robbery, and Xue Heshan observes that even a major sect would not willingly waste such riches.
• The unseen rulers of the Eerie Realm debate Li Qingxian’s actions, grudgingly recognizing both his immense merit and the danger he poses to their balance of power.

Chapter Summary: “Leaving Eerie Town”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Li Qingxian realizes that removing Eerie Town’s curse requires far more power and resources than expected. To increase his contribution, he throws ordinary Fate Stars into the ancient well.
• Each Fate Star produces a smaller “Fate Star Ginseng Fruit.” When Li Qingxian discovers that these fruits possess unexpected value, he uses more than a thousand Fate Stars, covering the tree with new fruits.
• Concluding that he must make a greater sacrifice, Li Qingxian offers the Obelisk National Fortune Fate Mountain—an extremely powerful and dangerous object feared even by Zhou Xuanshan.
• The sacrifice succeeds. Lightning strikes the mountain, and a deep-blue door appears, signaling that the eerie curse has been lifted and providing an exit from the Eerie Realm.
• Although the crowd initially fears the door may be another trap, a voice from above confirms that the curse has ended and urges everyone to leave immediately.
• Li Qingxian organizes the evacuation. The Night Guards go ahead, while he remains at the rear to ensure no one is left behind.
• Zhou Hen retrieves the injured Good Fortune Born, whose eerie transformation has mostly faded, though he remains covered in fur and has changed from a sun bear into an ape-like human.
• The survivors express their gratitude to Li Qingxian. Xue Heshan gives him a Gratitude Jade Pendant promising aid from both Xue Families, while Meng Huaichuan acknowledges Li’s help and other characters offer tokens and treasures.
• After everyone else has departed, Li Qingxian collects all the Ginseng Fruits into his Heaven-and-Earth Bracelet and finally leaves through the blue door.
• Once he is gone, Eerie Town repairs itself completely and awaits a new group of inhabitants. Meanwhile, the Prince of Chu’s Residence in the Divine Capital is covered in mourning clothes, hinting at a significant tragedy or death elsewhere.

Character Developments

• Li Qingxian demonstrates resourcefulness, decisiveness, and generosity. He sacrifices a powerful Fate Mountain to save everyone, yet also shows prudence by preserving valuable Fate Materials and collecting the Ginseng Fruits for future use.
• His leadership becomes more evident as he takes responsibility for the evacuation and insists on remaining behind until everyone else has escaped.
• Li remains suspicious and cautious despite the apparent success, sensing that the exit and the voice guiding them may conceal something unusual.
• Good Fortune Born survives but suffers a lasting physical transformation, retaining fur and an ape-man appearance even after the curse is lifted.
• Xue Heshan and Meng Huaichuan openly recognize Li’s contribution, strengthening their relationships with him through promises of repayment and mutual support.
• Gai Fengyou becomes even more devoted to the Imperial Lord, believing that Li’s success is connected to the Lord’s intervention.

Significant Themes

• Sacrifice and responsibility: Li gives up a powerful personal artifact to rescue the trapped survivors, placing collective survival above his own interests.
• Leadership and trust: The survivors follow Li’s instructions without hesitation, reflecting the authority and trust he has earned.
• Gratitude and repayment: The survivors’ gifts and promises emphasize the importance of remembered favors, even when memories may be altered after leaving the Eerie Realm.
• Uncertainty and hidden danger: The strange politeness of the guiding voice, the unusual exit, and Li’s suspicions suggest that escaping Eerie Town may not be the end of the danger.
• Transformation and lingering consequences: Although the curse is lifted, Good Fortune Born’s altered body shows that the experience has left permanent effects.
• Cycles and renewal: Eerie Town restores itself and prepares for new inhabitants, suggesting that its horrors operate in an ongoing, repeating cycle.

Character Interactions

• Li works closely with Han Anbo, who helps acquire the large supply of Fate Stars.
• He directs Zhou Hen to rescue Good Fortune Born and personally reassures him by refusing to dwell on his altered condition.
• Xue Heshan gives Li the Gratitude Jade Pendant and promises that the Xue Families will risk themselves to repay him.
• Meng Huaichuan confirms that his previous gift, the Hundred Paths Diagram, already serves as his thanks.
• The Night Guards follow Li’s evacuation order, reinforcing their loyalty and confidence in his command.
• Li’s final apparent exchange with the heavens is comic and mysterious: after thanking the Imperial Lords, he seems to hear an irritated voice telling him to “get lost,” though he assumes it was his imagination.

Chapter Summary: “The Great Momentum Had Taken Shape”

Key Plot Points and Events

• The elders of Heaven’s Mandate Sect learn that Ye Han has safely emerged from Eerie Town and obtained a Beyond-Rank Divine Fate Star, which is nearly fully nurtured.
• They conclude that Ye Han’s earlier failures and trials were necessary preparation for this breakthrough. Although his Fortune has temporarily declined from prolonged exposure to the Eerie Ground, they believe his foundation remains intact and that he will soon open the Mandate Path.
• The sect decides to investigate the leak of its inheritance. The Fifth, Seventh, and Ninth Elders are assigned to use a Beyond-Rank Fate Artifact to trace the source.
• Heaven’s Mandate Sect also focuses on the upcoming chief outer disciple contest of Heaven Momentum Sect. They intend to ensure that Duan Tianji wins, allowing him to obtain the Dao Establishment Mountain Crown.
• The elders discuss possible competitors, including Li Qingxian, Slanted-Eye Dog Head, and hidden sect successors. They are willing to threaten, kill, or bargain with whoever wins the contest to secure the Crown.
• The elders also plan to reclaim the Demon-Suppressing Pagoda from Liu Feijiu, but decide not to attack directly because the incomplete pagoda could still seal them. Instead, Duan Tianji may approach Liu Feijiu after gaining the chief disciple position and take control through deception or negotiation.
• Outside Divine Capital, a ragged beggar approaches the northern gate, while Li Qingxian awakens in a dark space after receiving mysterious white light and dew that seem to strengthen his Fortune, resembling Merit.
• Li Qingxian returns with the other survivors of Eerie Town. Their memories are blurred, but they remember that he made the greatest sacrifice and contribution to dispelling the eerie phenomenon.
• The survivors recall Li Qingxian throwing away enormous treasures and possibly defeating a powerful demon lord. Their admiration for him is instinctive and profound, almost like reverence for a legendary savior.
• In contrast, everyone instinctively distances themselves from Ye Han, sensing that he was connected to the terrifying demon lord within the eerie phenomenon.
• Night Guard officials open the barricades and begin identifying the returning survivors, including Li Qingxian, Huang Tiantao, and Meng Huaichuan.

Character Developments

• Ye Han: His status rises dramatically after acquiring the Beyond-Rank Divine Fate Star. Heaven’s Mandate Sect considers him destined to open a unique, peerless Mandate Path. However, the survivors’ fear and rejection of him suggest that his connection to the demon lord has damaged his reputation and may conceal dangerous changes.
• Li Qingxian: He emerges as the true central hero of the Eerie Town incident. Although his memories are incomplete, others remember his enormous sacrifices and believe he saved them. The mysterious light entering his body may have enhanced his Fortune or granted him a Merit-like power.
• Duan Tianji: He becomes Heaven’s Mandate Sect’s favored candidate for the chief outer disciple position and is expected to obtain the Dao Establishment Mountain Crown.
• Liu Feijiu: He remains in control of the Demon-Suppressing Pagoda and is treated as a potential obstacle. The elders consider manipulating Duan Tianji into reclaiming it.
• The elders of Heaven’s Mandate Sect: They become increasingly aggressive and strategic, preparing simultaneously to investigate the inheritance leak, secure the Dao Establishment Mountain Crown, and recover the Demon-Suppressing Pagoda.

Significant Themes

• The formation of destiny and momentum: Ye Han’s breakthrough is viewed as the culmination of accumulated trials, suggesting that setbacks may serve a larger destined purpose.
• Sacrifice versus recognition: Li Qingxian sacrifices vast resources and possibly risks his life, yet his own memory of the event is incomplete. Others remember his heroism even when he cannot fully understand it.
• Manipulation of fate and power: Heaven’s Mandate Sect uses divination, political maneuvering, coercion, and potential assassination to control major opportunities.
• Memory and distorted truth: The Eerie Town survivors remember only fragments, leaving the true events uncertain and allowing different interpretations of heroism, betrayal, and danger.
• Fear of hidden corruption: Ye Han’s association with the demon lord causes the survivors to distrust him, raising questions about what happened to him inside Eerie Town.
• Institutional ambition: The sect’s pursuit of the Dao Establishment Mountain Crown and Demon-Suppressing Pagoda demonstrates its determination to dominate both spiritual advancement and political power.

Important Character Interactions

• The Heaven’s Mandate Sect elders collectively assess Ye Han’s achievement and coordinate their next moves.
• They debate how to handle rival factions, potential contestants, and Liu Feijiu, revealing their willingness to use both diplomacy and violence.
• Li Qingxian reunites with the survivors, who instinctively look to him as their savior despite their fragmented memories.
• Huang Tiantao and other survivors openly praise Li Qingxian’s sacrifices and contribution.
• The survivors collectively recoil from Ye Han, suggesting a sharp divide between his official success and the others’ personal fear of him.
• Night Guard officials approach the group and begin confirming the identities of those who returned from Eerie Town.

Summary of “A Heap of Tokens”

Key Plot Points and Events

• After returning from the Eerie Town, Li Qingxian and the survivors are stopped by Sun Dashang, who explains that the death of the Prince of Chu has caused turmoil throughout Qi. The court is investigating the incident, and the survivors are ordered to remain in place until the Black Lantern Bureau brings them to the Night Guard for questioning.
• The court plans to employ a National Fortune Heavy Artifact under the direction of the long-serving Grand Preceptor, Old Immortal Fate, suggesting that the investigation will be extremely serious.
• Most survivors have lost their memories of the Eerie Ground and cannot recall what happened to the Prince of Chu. However, they retain emotional impressions, including grief, fear, gratitude, and hatred.
• Ye Han remembers that the Prince of Chu killed Uncle Sheng and suspects that he himself may have killed the Prince. He is also confused by his strong sense of gratitude toward Li Qingxian, despite previously treating him as an enemy.
• The survivors begin recovering fragmented memories. A young child recalls being rescued, taught cultivation, and accepted as Li Qingxian’s disciple.
• Xue Heshan asks whether Li Qingxian possesses any tokens he gave away as repayment for kindness. Li pretends to search his Heaven-and-Earth Bracelet and produces a large collection of treasures.
• One by one, the survivors recognize their own heirlooms and tokens among Li’s possessions. Their belongings prove that Li Qingxian helped them in the Eerie Ground and that they willingly gave him these items in gratitude.
• Ye Han recognizes his mother’s Flying-Crane Jade Pendant, further confirming that Li saved him or assisted him greatly.
• Several cultivators discover that injuries have been healed, cultivation ranks have risen, and new lightning-related abilities have been gained. These benefits are also traced back to Li Qingxian, and the recipients publicly thank him.
• Huang Tiantao realizes that Li possesses extraordinary methods capable of improving other people’s strength and talents. His desire to befriend Li grows, while others—especially demonic and heretical cultivators—feel an instinctive reverence toward him.
• The chapter ends as carriages marked with black lanterns arrive, signaling the beginning of the official investigation.

Character Developments

• Li Qingxian: His reputation rises dramatically. Although his memories and actions in the Eerie Ground remain unclear to others, the many tokens and benefits he distributed establish him as a savior, benefactor, and leader. His influence extends even to people who once opposed him.
• Ye Han: His hostility toward Li Qingxian weakens as he recovers memories of Li’s aid and recognizes the personal token Li possesses. He remains cautious but begins to feel guilt and indebtedness toward Li.
• Huang Tiantao: He shifts from merely obeying orders to actively wanting a closer relationship with Li, recognizing Li’s hidden power and strategic value.
• Xue Heshan and the other survivors: Their fragmented memories return through the objects they gave Li. Their gratitude becomes concrete, and they openly acknowledge Li’s assistance.
• The child disciple: His recollection reveals that Li not only saved people but also took responsibility for them by teaching and guiding them.
• The Honest Devil Prince: He silently concludes that aligning himself with Li was likely the reason he survived the Eerie ordeal, increasing his respect and suspicion toward Li.

Significant Themes

• Memory versus emotional truth: Although the survivors’ explicit memories have been erased or distorted, their emotions and possessions preserve the truth of what occurred.
• Gratitude and indebtedness: The heap of tokens serves as physical evidence of Li’s kindness and the debts others owe him.
• Transformation of enemies into allies: Former opponents, including Ye Han and demonic cultivators, begin to respect or revere Li after discovering his actions.
• Hidden power and reputation: Li’s influence is revealed indirectly through the improvements, treasures, and loyalty of others rather than through his own claims.
• The consequences of the Eerie Ground: The survivors have returned changed—physically stronger, emotionally scarred, and burdened by incomplete memories of a catastrophic event.
• Political danger: The Prince of Chu’s death places everyone under suspicion, while the approaching Black Lantern Bureau suggests that Li’s growing influence will soon face official scrutiny.

Character Interactions

• Sun Dashang warns Li and the others to remain still and cooperate with the court.
• Ye Han internally reassesses his relationship with Li, balancing gratitude against lingering mistrust.
• Xue Heshan directly tests Li’s claim of having helped him by identifying his family’s Gratitude Jade Pendant.
• Huang Tiantao and others identify heirlooms in Li’s possession and publicly acknowledge their debts.
• The children are comforted by Han Anbo and the others, while one child identifies Li as his master.
• Zhou Hen and other Thunder Division members discover that Li improved their cultivation and abilities, prompting them to thank him.
• The surrounding imperial forces, initially acting as guards, begin to admire Li as the tokens reveal the extent of his accomplishments.

Chapter Summary: “A Sixth-Rank Eunuch Who Asked the Question”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Zhou Xuanshan, a First-Rank Grand Fate Arts Master and Sect Master, arrives after the survivors return from the Eerie Town. His special concern for Li Qingxian draws everyone’s attention.
• Zhou asks Li whether he encountered the deceased Prince of Chu. Li gives a cautious, politically respectful answer, claiming his memories are unclear while affirming his loyalty to the imperial authority.
• Zhou reveals that he and Old Immortal Fate intend to use a National Fortune Heavy Artifact to investigate Prince of Chu’s death. Before leaving, he secretly gives Li three talismans:
  • One for emergency transport to the Mountain Fate Sect.
  • One containing important intelligence about recent events in the Qi Kingdom.
  • One to help him evade a Lie-Calling Insect.
• The Black Lantern Bureau begins interrogating everyone who escaped the Eerie Town. Li secretly seals parts of his own memories, particularly those involving Prince of Chu, so that his apparent uncertainty becomes genuine.
• Guo Xiang questions Li about how he entered the Eerie Town. Li claims Ye Han threw the Grim-Faced Spider King into the capital out of personal revenge, rather than acting under Prince of Chu’s orders.
• Li describes the Eerie Town as divided into Upper and Lower Mountain Districts, governed by disorder and lacking law or justice. He vaguely recounts forming alliances, clashing with Ye Han, cooperating with him, confronting the town mayor, and eventually killing the mayor while trying to unravel the eerie.
• Li produces three Human-Faced Fruits, claiming they were the final fruits remaining after countless others were used to open the Eerie-Unraveling Gate. He hands them over to the Black Lantern Bureau.
• A seemingly unimportant Sixth-Rank eunuch reacts subtly to the fruits and asks how many Li obtained. Li answers carefully, insisting that only three remained and suggesting that a deduction could prove he possesses no more.
• The interrogation continues, with Li maintaining his deliberately incomplete and evasive account.

Character Developments

• Li Qingxian: Demonstrates increasing political caution and deception. He conceals key memories, manipulates his answers, and watches the interrogators with his Spirit Eye. He notices the eunuch’s unusual reaction, showing his growing perceptiveness.
• Zhou Xuanshan: Reveals strong trust and concern for Li by personally meeting him and secretly providing protection, intelligence, and an escape route. His actions imply that Li is important to the Mountain Fate Sect and may be in serious danger.
• Guo Xiang: Balances personal familiarity with official duty. Although friendly toward Li, he emphasizes that the investigation must serve the emperor and court, making clear that their relationship will not exempt Li from scrutiny.
• Sixth-Rank Eunuch: Initially appears insignificant but reveals hidden interest in the Human-Faced Fruits. His involuntary physical reaction suggests he knows their importance or has a personal motive concerning them.
• Ye Han and Prince of Chu: Their roles remain uncertain. Li frames Ye Han’s actions as personal vengeance and keeps his knowledge of Prince of Chu’s death deliberately vague.

Significant Themes

• Loyalty versus self-preservation: Li outwardly professes loyalty to the imperial court while secretly protecting himself and concealing the truth.
• Political suspicion and hidden power: Zhou’s attention toward Li causes officials to reassess Li’s status, while the investigation into Prince of Chu’s death threatens to expose dangerous alliances.
• Memory and truth: Li’s sealed memories blur the boundary between genuine ignorance and calculated deception. His testimony shows how truth can be controlled through selective recollection.
• The value of seemingly insignificant people and objects: The Sixth-Rank eunuch’s question suggests that low-ranking figures may possess hidden influence, while the Human-Faced Fruits may be far more important than they appear.
• Law and disorder: The Eerie Town’s lawless structure contrasts with the strict interrogation taking place afterward, emphasizing the tension between chaotic supernatural realms and imperial authority.

Character Interactions

• Zhou treats Li with unusual familiarity and offers him covert protection, causing the surrounding officials to speculate about their relationship.
• Li and Zhou exchange carefully coded remarks about Prince of Chu, both avoiding direct statements while acknowledging the political danger of the subject.
• Guo Xiang interrogates Li as both an acquaintance and an imperial investigator, while Li responds cooperatively but carefully controls what he reveals.
• Li observes the Sixth-Rank eunuch more closely than the others and recognizes that the eunuch’s apparently casual question about the Human-Faced Fruits is significant.

Chapter Summary: “Three Elders Lost in Thought”

Key Plot Points and Events

• After Guo Xiang, a Sixth-Rank eunuch, and a Night Guard officer question Li Qingxian, he agrees to remain in the carriage and cooperate with the investigation into Prince of Chu’s death and the surrounding events.
• Investigators interrogate Ye Han and find his testimony deeply unreliable. He consumes all three of their Lie-Calling Insects, suggesting that he is deliberately concealing the truth.
• Ye Han’s connection to Prince of Chu, the Grim-Faced Spider King, his past betrayals, and the demonic mutations on his body make him highly suspicious. The investigators stop short of judging him but conclude that something is seriously wrong.
• At Heaven’s Mandate Sect, the Seventh and Ninth Elders—and another elder—vanish while using the Celestial Evolution Star Disc. Their disappearance leaves behind Eerie Qi, alarming the entire sect.
• The elders review a magical recording and see a strange divine light carry the three men away. They speculate that the incident may involve an Eerie Ground or even a Beyond-Rank force.
• The sect debates whether to summon the sect master or proceed against the Four-Direction Guard in Divine Capital. Although they have already lost three elders, they remain determined to seize the Eight Trigrams Starwatching Tower and expel Heaven’s Mandate Sect’s enemies. The First Elder eventually decides to act personally, but the group agrees to wait several days.
• Meanwhile, the three missing elders emerge unharmed through a paper door in Eerie Town. Believing they have easily overcome the eerie phenomenon, they mock its techniques and begin exploring the town.
• They climb to the mountaintop, where they find an ancient well and a newly planted sapling in soft soil. Treating these as the key to escaping, they make a wager and perform divinations. The chapter ends with all three elders staring at the sapling in deep confusion.
• In Divine Capital, investigations continue and reports are copied and sent to multiple powerful institutions. Li Qingxian discovers that his Communication Talisman Disc cannot function inside the carriage, so he reads earlier messages and Zhou Xuanshan’s reports instead.
• He learns that Prince of Chu’s use of the Grim-Faced Spider King caused widespread outrage and accusations of witchcraft. After the prince’s death, Divine Capital falls into chaos.
• The Clan Affairs Office initially appears responsible for investigating the prince’s death but unexpectedly withdraws, claiming that the imperial family should not become involved with an Eerie Ground.

Character Developments

• Li Qingxian remains composed and cooperative despite prolonged interrogation. His careful review of intelligence shows his caution, curiosity, and growing awareness of the political implications of Prince of Chu’s death.
• Ye Han is portrayed as increasingly untrustworthy. His lies, ability to defeat the Lie-Calling Insects, history of repeated betrayals, and demonic physical changes suggest that he is hiding a major secret.
• The elders of Heaven’s Mandate Sect display confidence bordering on arrogance. They initially dismiss the danger of the Eerie Ground, but their confidence begins to falter when their divinations produce an inexplicable result.
• The First Elder struggles between maintaining authority and responding to an unprecedented threat. His hesitation over whether to summon the sect master reveals the sect’s uncertainty and fear of losing face.
• The three trapped elders remain proud and competitive, turning their escape into a wager. Their growing confusion at the well and sapling hints that they may have underestimated the eerie phenomenon.

Significant Themes

• Pride versus genuine understanding: The elders assume their combined strength makes them invincible, yet they cannot even understand the place they have entered.
• Deception and hidden truth: Ye Han’s lies and the uncertain circumstances surrounding Prince of Chu’s death emphasize how difficult it is to distinguish truth from manipulation.
• Institutional caution and political calculation: Heaven’s Mandate Sect and the Clan Affairs Office both weigh reputation and political consequences before acting.
• The limits of power: Even powerful Fate Arts Masters and magical artifacts prove vulnerable to forces beyond their understanding.
• Eerie phenomena as punishment or warning: The elders interpret their imprisonment as either an Eerie Ground’s retaliation or a warning from the Eerie Realm, linking supernatural events to larger political and moral consequences.

Character Interactions

• Li Qingxian cooperates with multiple investigators, while the officials compare notes and collectively assess Ye Han’s credibility.
• The Heaven’s Mandate Sect elders debate how to respond to the disappearance of their comrades, balancing fear, pride, and strategic necessity.
• The three trapped elders interact lightheartedly, competing over who can break the phenomenon first and wagering rare treasures.
• Li Qingxian indirectly engages with the wider political conflict by reading Zhou Xuanshan’s reports and analyzing the Clan Affairs Office’s withdrawal from the case.

Chapter Summary: “Respectfully Invite the Eerie Realm Emperor”

Key Plot Points and Events

• In the Cabinet, court officials review evidence surrounding the Prince of Chu’s death.
• Most testimony praises Li Qingxian for risking his life to save others, resolving the Eerie Town calamity, and upholding justice despite the dangers of the Eerie Ground.
• By contrast, Ye Han is portrayed as reckless and malicious. Officials accuse him of:
  • Killing or contributing to the deaths of fellow investigators.
  • Losing the Prince of Chu’s Golden Seal.
  • Using the Grim-Faced Spider King in Divine Capital to harm officials.
  • Colluding with the demonized town mayor.
  • Possibly killing the Prince of Chu and benefiting from the Heavenly Mandate True Fortune.
• Although nearly all evidence and circumstantial reasoning point toward Ye Han, the officials admit that there is no definitive proof. The supernatural nature of the Eerie Ground makes ordinary testimony insufficient.
• The court therefore decides to summon Old Immortal Fate and other Grand Fate Arts Masters, activate the National Fortune Heavy Artifact, perform a Fate Star Sacrifice, and “respectfully invite” the Eerie Realm Emperor to reveal the true murderer. Its declaration would be treated as irrefutable evidence.
• Second Grand Secretary Jie Linfu demands the harshest punishment for the killer, reflecting the political and emotional outrage caused by the Prince of Chu’s death.
• The Northern Pacification Marquis’s entire household is arrested and imprisoned because of Ye Han’s actions. The Marquis submits a memorial expelling Ye Han from the family register and disowning both him and his mother.
• While being held in a Black Lantern Bureau carriage, Ye Han overhears that his mother’s grave has been destroyed and that the Ye Family has completely severed ties with him.
• Shocked and desperate, Ye Han confronts the guards, then collapses into despair. He insists that he tried to become a good person but believes everyone—from the Prince of Chu to the court and his own family—has forced him toward ruin and possibly the Devil Sect.
• After reviewing the compiled testimonies for another day, the officials proceed with the ritual. At dawn, troops, officials, and yamen runners gather at the Earth Altar, while black-lantern carriages arrive and wait in silence.

Character Developments

• Li Qingxian: His reputation rises dramatically. Officials view him as a genuine hero whose courage, selflessness, and loyalty to justice were proven by the Eerie Town crisis. His achievements also attract Fortune, strengthening the argument that he could not have killed the Prince of Chu.
• Ye Han: His position deteriorates completely. He becomes the main suspect in the prince’s murder, loses his family, social standing, and any apparent path in orthodox cultivation or government service. His shock and repeated claims that he was “forced” reveal a growing sense of persecution, helplessness, and moral disorientation.
• Jie Linfu and the court officials: Their grief and political frustration over the Prince of Chu’s death harden into a desire for severe punishment. They are willing to employ powerful supernatural methods to obtain certainty.
• The Northern Pacification Marquis: By disowning Ye Han, he attempts to protect the family’s remaining honor and distance the household from Ye Han’s crimes.

Significant Themes

• Justice versus proof: The court widely believes Ye Han is guilty, yet belief and circumstantial evidence are not enough for a formal conviction. The chapter highlights the tension between political certainty and legal evidence.
• Reputation and public judgment: Li Qingxian is elevated as a model hero, while Ye Han becomes a symbol of corruption and disaster. Public opinion helps determine both men’s futures.
• Family loyalty and abandonment: Ye Han’s expulsion and the destruction of his mother’s grave represent the complete collapse of his familial identity.
• Fate, Fortune, and supernatural authority: The investigation depends not only on testimony but also on Fortune, divination, national artifacts, and the Eerie Realm Emperor. The court seeks truth through powers beyond ordinary law.
• The making of a villain: Ye Han believes he wanted to be good but feels repeatedly cornered by others. His despair suggests that rejection and persecution may push him further toward the very darkness people already expect from him.
• Political power and succession: The Prince of Chu had significant support among Literary Cultivation practitioners and influential families. His death threatens established political alliances and intensifies the court’s anger.

Character Interactions

• Cabinet officials collectively discuss and interpret testimony about Li Qingxian and Ye Han, with Yang Zhaoyun openly condemning Ye Han.
• Officials debate whether Li Qingxian could have killed the prince, ultimately rejecting the possibility because of his rank, the Night Guard’s loyalty, and the expected backlash from imperial Fortune.
• Jie Linfu expresses the strongest hostility toward the suspected murderer and advocates extermination of the culprit’s clans.
• Ye Han confronts two Imperial Guard attendants after overhearing their discussion. They explain the destruction of his family’s status, leaving him emotionally shattered.
• The court’s final response is an alliance between political authority and supernatural divination, culminating in the planned summoning of the Eerie Realm Emperor at the Earth Altar.

Chapter Summary: “Eerie Wood Imperial Token”

Key Plot Points and Events

• At the Earth Altar in the Divine Capital, officials, the Heaven’s Mandate Sect, and three Grand Fate Arts Masters prepare to invoke the Eerie Realm Emperor to identify the murderer of Prince of Chu, Tang Enqing.
• A ragged old beggar approaches the northern gate of the capital while singing the nursery rhyme, “Golden tiles, Golden Throne Hall, the emperor sees it all…”
• The people who escaped the Eerie Town gather at the altar. Most stand around Li Qingxian, while Ye Han is isolated after being expelled from his family and disgraced by his past actions.
• The three Fate Arts Masters establish a powerful ritual formation and successfully contact the Eerie Realm. The Eerie Realm Emperor sends down an Eerie Wood Imperial Token bearing the name Ye Han, declaring that only Ye Han existed in the Eerie Realm—not Li Qingxian.
• The token crashes into the altar, confirming Ye Han as the murderer of Prince of Chu. He is arrested and ordered to be imprisoned.
• Ye Han desperately denies the accusation and, driven by jealousy and resentment, accuses Li Qingxian of stealing royal Dragon Qi and killing Prince of Chu.
• Tao Shiguang supports the accusation and demands that Li Qingxian be investigated using the National Fortune Heavy Artifact.
• Old Immortal Fate examines Li Qingxian and proves that his Dragon Qi belongs to the former dynasty, not the current Qi Kingdom. Li Qingxian is therefore cleared, while Ye Han is condemned for making a false accusation and ordered to undergo severe torture.
• Ye Han is dragged away after his mouth is sealed. His Fate Mansion is overtaken by demonic power, with only three Fate Stars resisting the corruption.
• After the ritual ends, a tremendous crash comes from the northern city gate. The old beggar is revealed to be Xu Chuxin, a former top scholar who betrayed the Human Race and joined the Demon Race.
• Xu Chuxin, severely wounded beneath the collapsed gate, accuses someone of lying to him, then laments the beauty of Qi Kingdom before dying. Minister Wang Yihe recognizes him and rushes to his side.
• The volume ends with Xu Chuxin’s death and the mysterious implications surrounding his appearance in the Divine Capital.

Character Developments

• Ye Han: Experiences a moment of genuine self-reflection, recognizing that his repeated betrayals stemmed from lacking a true goal and pursuing short-term gains. He resolves to act with patience, kindness, and long-term purpose. However, when condemned, his remorse collapses into paranoia, envy, and hatred. His Devil God Fate Star demonizes his Fate Mansion, showing his descent toward complete corruption.
• Li Qingxian: Remains calm and composed despite being falsely accused. He allows the National Fortune Heavy Artifact to verify his innocence and gains further trust from those around him.
• Old Immortal Fate: Acts as the authoritative mediator of the ritual. Though initially respectful of the Eerie Realm Emperor, he personally verifies Li Qingxian’s Dragon Qi and decisively punishes Ye Han when the evidence proves his slander.
• Gai Fengyou: Shows that he anticipated the ritual’s outcome and views the attempt to invoke the Eerie Emperor as absurd. His false sympathy for Ye Han is sarcastic and deliberately provocative.
• Tao Shiguang: Reveals hostility toward Li Qingxian by exploiting the presence of the National Fortune Heavy Artifact to press a potentially dangerous accusation.
• Xu Chuxin: Appears as a tragic, mysterious figure from the past. Once a celebrated scholar, he now arrives wounded and disillusioned, suggesting unresolved grievances involving the Qi Kingdom or its ruler.

Significant Themes

• Self-knowledge and accountability: Ye Han correctly identifies the roots of his failures but proves unable to maintain his repentance when faced with punishment.
• Jealousy and scapegoating: Instead of accepting responsibility, Ye Han redirects his hatred toward Li Qingxian, blaming others and society for his downfall.
• Short-term gain versus long-term consequences: Ye Han’s past choices repeatedly bring temporary advantages but destroy his relationships, family, career, and future.
• Justice, authority, and political manipulation: The Eerie Realm’s judgment is treated as unquestionable, while officials attempt to use the National Fortune Heavy Artifact to advance political accusations.
• Fate and corruption: Ye Han’s Fate Stars reflect his moral collapse, with demonic power consuming nearly his entire Fate Mansion.
• Unresolved history and national decline: Xu Chuxin’s final appearance and lament for Qi Kingdom hint at deeper political betrayal, historical injustice, and threats to the state.

Important Character Interactions

• The officials and Fate Arts Masters collectively conduct the summoning ritual and interpret the Eerie Wood Imperial Token.
• Li Qingxian and Ye Han are positioned as opposites: Li is supported by the survivors and remains steady, while Ye is isolated and increasingly consumed by resentment.
• Ye Han directly attacks Li Qingxian verbally by accusing him of treason and murder.
• Tao Shiguang reinforces Ye Han’s accusation, but Zhou Xuanshan defends Li Qingxian’s Dragon Qi and challenges the claim that it belongs to the current dynasty.
• Old Immortal Fate investigates Li Qingxian personally, publicly clears him, and orders Ye Han’s punishment.
• Gai Fengyou’s ironic defense of Ye Han is rejected by everyone present.
• Wang Yihe recognizes and mourns Xu Chuxin, revealing an old scholarly connection between Xu and prominent figures such as Chief Minister Zhao and Zhou Chunfeng.

Chapter Summary: “Halted”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Near Divine Capital, the Heaven’s Mandate Sect sends several elders to intervene in the conflict with the Literary Cultivators.
• At a relay station north of the capital, the Third Elder encounters two maids serving the Martial King. The red-clothed maid challenges him on her mistress’s behalf and defeats him with a single overwhelming punch, destroying his carriage and severely injuring him.
• At the western gate, the Fourth Elder confronts Master Wu of the Nine Talismans Sect, who is drawing talismans at a porridge stall. Recognizing Master Wu’s status and strength, the elder chooses not to fight and withdraws.
• At the eastern gate, the Sixth Elder finds Minister of Rites Wang Yihe reciting classics outside a restaurant. He likewise avoids confrontation and returns to the sect.
• Back at the Heaven’s Mandate Sect, the elders discover that the Grand Elder has been trapped outside the mountain gate on a sheet of paper bearing the character “Halt,” a technique used by Zhao Yishan.
• The Grand Elder concludes that the Martial King, Master Wu, and Zhao Yishan have effectively united the Martial, Dao, and Literary Cultivators against the Heaven’s Mandate Sect. He orders the sect to temporarily retreat and wait for the sect master to emerge from seclusion.
• The sect decides to prioritize obtaining the Dao Establishment Mountain Crown, while continuing to support Duan Tianji’s ambitions and monitoring Ye Han, Li Qingxian, the leaked inheritance, and the Eerie Realm.
• In the West Imperial Prison, Ye Han realizes that he has learned a powerful Beyond-Rank martial technique capable of countering spells. He becomes convinced that his imprisonment is another trial rather than a dead end.

Character Developments

• The Martial King’s maids: The red and green-clothed girls demonstrate immense confidence and strength. The red maid defeats a Second Rank elder with one attack, showing the Martial King’s overwhelming influence.
• Heaven’s Mandate Sect’s elders: Their arrogance gives way to caution. After encountering multiple powerful figures, they recognize that the sect is temporarily outmatched and choose retreat over further confrontation.
• The Grand Elder: He acts pragmatically, accepting Zhao Yishan’s warning and refusing to endanger the sect master’s crucial cultivation. His priorities shift toward preserving the Dao Establishment Mountain Crown and waiting for stronger support.
• Master Wu: Though outwardly calm and scholarly, he reveals his hostility toward the Heaven’s Mandate Sect after the Fourth Elder leaves.
• Ye Han: Imprisonment strengthens rather than breaks his resolve. Discovering the anti-spell martial skill reinforces his belief that fate continues to favor him and that he can overcome the trial.

Significant Themes

• The balance of power: The chapter emphasizes that the Heaven’s Mandate Sect cannot act freely when several major factions cooperate against it.
• Strategic restraint: Rather than escalating the conflict, the sect withdraws and waits for its sect master, showing that survival and long-term planning take precedence over pride.
• Fate and destiny: Ye Han interprets his discovery in prison as proof that Heaven has not abandoned him. His role as the “Child of Heaven’s Mandate” remains central to the sect’s plans.
• Warnings and boundaries: The repeated interventions at the capital’s gates, culminating in the “Halt” mark, establish a clear warning: the Heaven’s Mandate Sect must stop pressing the conflict for now.
• Hidden strength beneath ordinary appearances: The maids, Master Wu, and Wang Yihe initially appear unremarkable, yet each represents formidable power or authority.

Character Interactions

• The Martial King’s maids confront and overpower the Third Elder, delivering both a physical defeat and a formal message of dismissal.
• The Fourth Elder and Master Wu engage in a tense but nonviolent standoff, with Master Wu’s presence alone preventing confrontation.
• The Sixth Elder observes Wang Yihe but retreats without testing him, recognizing the danger of provoking another powerful figure.
• The elders discuss the sect’s future strategy, including the sect master, Ye Han’s trial, Li Qingxian’s unusual Fortune, Duan Tianji’s ambitions, and the Dao Establishment Mountain Crown.
• Ye Han interacts only with the prison’s magical restrictions, but his internal response shows his continuing psychological struggle against adversity.

Chapter Summary: “Lu Han”

1. Key Plot Points and Events

• While imprisoned with his True Essence sealed, Ye Han continues contemplating martial arts and unexpectedly deepens his understanding rather than losing cultivation.
• He overhears jailers discussing his likely execution for causing the death of an imperial prince. Although some had argued for exile because of his talent and noble background, most officials now support his death.
• The jailers reveal that Heaven’s Mandate Sect is attempting to protect him, but the sect has weakened after losing elders and being driven from the Divine Capital by Complete-Understanding Duke and allied cultivators.
• Ye Han realizes that Heaven’s Mandate Sect may have manipulated his entire life: granting him opportunities, causing later misfortunes, and deliberately forcing him into a desperate situation so he would submit to them.
• Eunuch Lu Liangsheng, the powerful head of the Inner Factory and a trusted confidant of the ailing Emperor Taining, arrives at the prison.
• Lu removes the seals on Ye Han’s cultivation and confirms that Ye Han possesses Heavenly Fire True Intent.
• Lu reveals that he secretly prevented Ye Han’s trial from proceeding and offers to save him in exchange for two conditions:
  1. Ye Han must acknowledge Lu as his adoptive father.
  2. Ye Han must cultivate the Beyond-Rank Golden Jade Divine Skill, which requires Heavenly Fire True Intent.
• Recognizing this as perhaps his only path to survival and freedom from Heaven’s Mandate Sect, Ye Han accepts.
• Ye Han then renounces the Ye Family, changes his surname to Lu, and declares that he will become “Lu Han.”
• He asks only for the authority to oversee the execution of the Ye Family as revenge for their persecution of him and the desecration of his mother’s grave.

2. Character Developments

• Ye Han: Becomes more calculating, resolute, and openly vengeful. Rather than passively awaiting death or allowing Heaven’s Mandate Sect to control him, he chooses a new patron and identity. His bitterness toward the Ye Family crystallizes into a concrete demand for revenge.
• Lu Liangsheng: Is established as an immensely powerful political and martial figure. He is pragmatic and manipulative, offering salvation while demanding loyalty and the cultivation of a difficult divine technique. His interest in Ye Han stems from Ye Han’s Heavenly Fire True Intent.
• Heaven’s Mandate Sect: Is revealed as a possible long-term antagonist that manipulates gifted individuals and exploits those blessed with great Fortune. Its protection of Ye Han may be another form of control rather than genuine benevolence.
• The Ye Family: Their treatment of Ye Han is shown to have been cruel and abusive. They marginalized him despite his accomplishments, expelled him from the family, and destroyed his mother’s grave, making his break with them final.

3. Significant Themes

• Manipulation versus agency: Ye Han recognizes that both his suffering and opportunities may have been orchestrated by powerful organizations. His decision to ally with Lu represents an attempt to reclaim control over his fate.
• Survival and compromise: Ye Han accepts humiliation, a new identity, and uncertain obligations because survival is more important than family prestige or personal pride.
• Power and political protection: Legal judgment depends less on justice than on the influence of powerful institutions such as Heaven’s Mandate Sect, the imperial court, and the Inner Factory.
• Betrayal and revenge: The Ye Family’s rejection and mistreatment transform Ye Han’s family identity into a source of resentment. His demand to oversee their execution marks a decisive turn toward vengeance.
• Identity and rebirth: By becoming Lu Han, Ye Han symbolically dies as a member of the Ye Family and begins a new life under Lu Liangsheng’s protection.
• The cost of advancement: The Golden Jade Divine Skill offers great potential, but accepting it binds Ye Han to Lu Liangsheng and creates a new form of dependence.

4. Character Interactions

• Ye Han and the jailers: Their overheard conversation informs him of the political situation and confirms that his execution is likely.
• Ye Han and Heaven’s Mandate Sect: Although the sect does not appear directly, Ye Han mentally confronts its alleged manipulation and rejects becoming its puppet.
• Ye Han and Lu Liangsheng: Their meeting is a negotiation disguised as rescue. Lu tests Ye Han’s abilities and loyalty, while Ye Han carefully evaluates the political and personal cost of accepting Lu’s offer.
• Ye Han and the Ye Family: Though the family is absent, Ye Han recounts their abuse and formally severs all ties with them. His final request—to supervise their execution—turns their broken relationship into an explicit vendetta.

Key Plot Points and Events

• Li Qingxian and his friends meet at Zhang's Mutton Soup, discussing the decline in food quality.
• Li Qingxian receives three green, hairy peaches from Chief Minister Zhao, which he shares with his friends.
• They discuss rumors about Li Qingxian's recent appointment to the River Guard Army and the political intrigues surrounding it.

Character Developments

• Li Qingxian: Maintains his composure and discretion amidst political intrigues.
• Han Anbo: Shows knowledge of the political landscape and the military situation in the north.
• Zheng Hui: Reveals his understanding of the power dynamics within the military.
• Yu Ping: Demonstrates awareness of the political undercurrents affecting Li Qingxian's appointment.

Significant Themes

• Decline and change (evidenced by the decline in food quality and the political shifts in the military).
• Power dynamics and political intrigue (among the court officials and military leaders).
• Friendship and trust (among Li Qingxian and his friends, who share information and support each other).

Character Interactions

• Li Qingxian shares the peaches with his friends, demonstrating trust and camaraderie.
• The friends discuss Li Qingxian's appointment and the political maneuverings behind it, showing their concern for his well-being and their willingness to share information and insights.
• The friends' conversation reveals their individual knowledge and perspectives on the political and military situation, highlighting their unique roles and contributions to their friendship.

Chapter Summary: “Two New Books”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Zheng Hui and Han Anbo analyze the political implications of the Mo Blade Army’s poor performance and excessive costs. They discuss whether Li Qingxian will remain in the north, where he may take control of the army and contend with the River Guard Army, or be sent south to face the Eastern Ding Kingdom, Fate Arts Masters, and possibly the Dingnan Prince.
• Three prickly peaches sent by Chief Minister Zhao Yishan become a symbolic and suspicious gift. None of the men wants to touch them because their fuzz causes severe itching and rashes. Han Anbo forces Yu Ping to wash them, resulting in Yu Ping’s hands becoming red and irritated.
• Li Qingxian decides the group will prepare for one day and then travel north. On the way to the Fate Arts Teahouse, he remembers Shen Xiaoyi and the others being taken from the Shu Brocade Shop by the Grim-Faced Spider. He realizes that his gradual forgetting was likely connected to Eerie Town and concludes that the situation can be unraveled slowly.
• At the teahouse, Li meets Sect Master Zhou Xuanshan and explains the peaches. Zhou casually eats one, emphasizing that its meaning lies not in the fruit itself but in what follows.
• Li presents Zhou with two newly written books: Eerie Qi Mechanism Scripture and Weird Momentum Configuration Complete Understanding. These works establish entirely new branches or applications of Fate Arts.
• Zhou is astonished by the books’ contents and realizes that Li must have gained this knowledge by climbing Dao Establishment Mountain. He praises Li enthusiastically and predicts that Li will greatly advance the Fate Arts world.
• Li asks Zhou to share the discoveries with other Grand Fate Arts Masters under the pretense that they were created by an unnamed recluse. He refuses to hoard the knowledge, explaining that he is building on the achievements of earlier sages and wants to strengthen the entire Fate Arts Realm.
• Li reveals that the books are already outdated in his view and that he intends to publish revised editions correcting their errors.
• Zhou reflects that the Heaven’s Mandate Sect and Ye Han unintentionally caused Li’s misfortune in Eerie Town to become a great opportunity. He advises Li to return to Dao Establishment Mountain after reaching the peak of Fourth Rank or advancing to Third Rank to view the Myriad Ages Sea.

Character Developments

• Li Qingxian demonstrates growing strategic insight, recognizing political symbolism in Zhao’s peaches and understanding that his experiences in Eerie Town have produced valuable knowledge. He also shows humility and a strong commitment to advancing Fate Arts collectively rather than seeking personal glory.
• Zhou Xuanshan shifts from cautious authority figure to openly delighted mentor. His excitement over Li’s books reveals both his admiration for Li and his recognition that Li may transform the entire Fate Arts tradition.
• Yu Ping remains the group’s comic and lower-status figure. Despite having reached Entry Rank and becoming Li’s heavenly soldier, he is still bullied into unpleasant tasks and suffers the consequences of washing the peaches.
• Han Anbo and Zheng Hui function as perceptive political advisers, helping Li assess military appointments, factional tensions, and the hidden meaning of Zhao’s gesture.

Significant Themes

• Hidden political messages: The peaches represent a coded political signal whose meaning depends on future events, suggesting that gifts and seemingly trivial objects can carry major implications.
• Misfortune becoming opportunity: Li’s entrapment in Eerie Town, caused by enemies, ultimately enables him to develop groundbreaking Fate Arts.
• Knowledge versus secrecy: Li chooses to disseminate his discoveries instead of monopolizing them, prioritizing the long-term strength of the Fate Arts Realm.
• Humility and inherited wisdom: Li acknowledges that his achievements rest on the work of earlier sages, framing innovation as a continuation of tradition rather than purely individual genius.
• Fate and unintended consequences: Zhou emphasizes the unpredictable workings of destiny: attempts to harm Li inadvertently place him on a path toward unprecedented achievement.
• Power and responsibility: Li’s new knowledge may bring danger, but he accepts the risks because he believes its wider use is more important.

Important Character Interactions

• Han Anbo, Zheng Hui, and Li Qingxian discuss the military and political consequences of a possible northern or southern assignment.
• Han Anbo and Yu Ping have a comic confrontation when Han orders Yu to wash the dangerous peaches, mocking Yu’s new status and forcing him to perform the task.
• Li Qingxian and Zhou Xuanshan engage in a mentor-student-like exchange. Zhou interprets Li’s books, confirms his achievement, and advises him about Dao Establishment Mountain.
• Li and Zhou also debate whether the new Fate Arts should remain secret. Li argues for immediate publication and eventual revision, while Zhou initially questions whether he should conceal them.
• Zhou’s final praise establishes Li as a potentially transformative figure whose discoveries could reshape the Fate Arts world.