Recaps

Su Xinghe reviewed his martial progress before entering Qingzhou Prefecture City, where a hidden enemy began plotting to capture him alive. He and his companions found a place to rent near the Demon Suppression Bureau and prepared to settle in while awaiting the representatives of the four supreme powers.

• Su Xinghe assessed his cultivation, noting his advances in Water Conception, Red Lotus Treasure Vase Qi, and Head-Cleaving Technique, while his study of light and darkness remained uncertain.
• At Qingzhou City's gate, guards detected demonic aura near Su Xinghe's carriage, but he showed his Demon Suppression Bureau token and was allowed through.
• A middle-aged man received information about Su Xinghe and ordered a subordinate to arrange his secret capture, identifying his need for basic pills as a possible opening.
• Su Xinghe, Zhou Hao, and their companion explored the city and sought a private residence near the Demon Suppression Bureau while waiting for the four supreme powers' representatives.
• After a costly rental offer, Su Xinghe agreed that renting was preferable to buying, since he might have to flee again.

Su Xinghe went to the Qingzhou Demon Suppression Bureau Branch and discovered that three powerful figures were concealed inside, whose spiritual pressure he could withstand. The chapter ended with Gong Hao summoning him upstairs after identifying him as a newly recruited Demon Extermination Guard.

• A Martial Dao Bureau patrol tried to search Lu Sandao's house, but Lu Sandao revealed his cultivation and made the officers back down.
• The black-robed constable offered Zhou Hao an invitation to a costly exchange gathering, but Zhou Hao refused and sent the patrol away.
• Lu Sandao planned to hire servants while Su Xinghe left to visit the Demon Suppression Bureau Branch.
• The guards at the bureau recognized Su Xinghe's Grade-B token and let him enter.
• Su Xinghe used a mental secret technique to search the empty hall, provoking three powerful spiritual wills until Gong Hao intervened and called him upstairs.

Su Xinghe arrived at the Qingzhou Demon Suppression Bureau, where Gong Hao explained his rank, duties, benefits, and training priorities. Gong Hao introduced him to the other Commanders, and Wu Ganming gave Su Xinghe a pill as a gift.

• Su Xinghe found Gong Hao at the Bureau, and Gong Hao told him to address him as Commander and choose a codename.
• Gong Hao discussed Su Xinghe’s journey and the conflict between Lu Xuanji and the Li Family, which gave Su Xinghe time to settle in.
• Gong Hao explained the Bureau’s missions, training advice, contribution rewards, and the two paths available to its guards.
• Su Xinghe chose to focus on tempering his current realm, and Gong Hao took him to meet the other Commanders.
• Wu Ganming welcomed Su Xinghe and gave him a pill, after which Gong Hao introduced Commander Shangguan.

Su Xinghe exchanged his points for twenty-two Force-Tempering Pills at Qingzhou's Demon Suppression Bureau, where steward Kong Yuan tried to recruit him before Gong Hao intervened. As Su Xinghe left, three white-robed Grade-B Demon Extermination Guards blocked the entrance and challenged him over his Yi Thirteen Token.

• Su Xinghe exchanged all his points for twenty-two Sixth-Rank Force-Tempering Pills and accidentally repelled Kong Yuan's probing mental power.
• Kong Yuan introduced himself and invited Su Xinghe, using the alias Green Mountain, to join the logistics division.
• Gong Hao's mental fluctuation warned Kong Yuan not to poach Su Xinghe, and Kong Yuan withdrew.
• Su Xinghe considered his combat limits and decided not to join Kong Yuan before leaving the hall.
• Three white-robed Grade-B Demon Extermination Guards blocked the entrance, eyed Su Xinghe's jade gourd, and called him a country bumpkin who had lucked into the Yi Thirteen Token.

Su Xinghe clashed with Zhao Yichen, who demanded a ranking battle over Su Xinghe receiving the Yi Thirteen Token, but the commander scheduled the battles for the first of next month. Su Xinghe planned to strengthen his Head-Cleaving Technique before then, but at the Martial Dao Bureau he spotted a mission about the Lu Family massacre.

• Zhao Yichen challenged Su Xinghe and matched his amplified strike, then demanded a ranking battle.
• The commander said the ranking battles would take place on the first of next month and ordered Zhao Yichen to pay for the broken tiles.
• Su Xinghe considered how to prepare for the battle and saw that twelve days remained to improve his Head-Cleaving Technique.
• Su Xinghe went to the Martial Dao Bureau to buy pills and noticed a twenty-thousand-point mission investigating the Lin County Lu Family massacre.

Su Xinghe tried to buy Bone-Forging Pills at the Martial Dao Bureau, but his rank and lack of points limited him to ten. After leaving, he searched the western city for underground traders and was approached by someone offering pills.

• Su Xinghe saw that the Martial Dao Bureau sold pills cheaply but learned that Force-Forging Pills required access to the second floor and a higher-ranked identification plaque.
• Su Xinghe decided not to reveal his true cultivation and asked to buy fifty bottles of Bone-Forging Pills.
• The clerk limited Su Xinghe to ten pills because he had no Bureau points and had used his monthly Demon Extermination Guard quota.
• Su Xinghe left the hall and searched the streets for another source of pills, ignoring recruitment pitches and driving off ill-intentioned followers with his Sixth Rank aura.
• Near the western city gate, an unseen person quietly asked Su Xinghe whether he wanted to buy pills.

Su Xinghe bought Bone-Forging Pills from a girl who appeared to be connected to people watching for him, then discovered that a Red Lotus Branch grandmaster visited her alley. He returned home and used his pills to strengthen his body and practice the Head-Cleaving Technique.

• Su Xinghe met a young aspiring martial warrior selling Bone-Forging Pills and ordered ten bottles.
• Su Xinghe overheard the girl and an elderly woman identify him as the country bumpkin the higher-ups were seeking, but he bought one bottle and paid for it.
• Su Xinghe noticed he was being followed, shook off his pursuer, and returned to observe the alley from a nearby teahouse.
• Su Xinghe sensed a grandmaster visit the alley and recognized him as the Red Lotus Branch elder who had fought Zhan Yun at White Deer Cliff.
• Su Xinghe went home, consumed twenty-eight Force-Forging Pills, and practiced the Head-Cleaving Technique after using Bone-Forging Pills.

Su Xinghe improved his light-concealment secret art, then visited Kong Yuan to ask about cultivation resources and the Ghost Market. He learned that Kong had only two bottles of Bone-Forging Pills and that the Ghost Market lay far east of Qingzhou, by a river.

• Su Xinghe practiced First Insight into Light and Darkness until it reached hall-entering mastery, making him nearly invisible in darkness.
• Su Xinghe ate Demon Beast meat and cultivated through the night before deciding to delay his plans in the western city and focus on reaching Grandmaster.
• Su Xinghe visited Kong Yuan at the Demon Suppression Bureau and asked about pill supplies and the city's black market.
• Kong Yuan explained that the Bureau relied on the Martial Dao Bureau for pills and warned Su Xinghe against using Bone-Forging Pills for regular cultivation.
• Kong Yuan told Su Xinghe that the Ghost Market was beside a river more than eighty li east of the city.

Su Xinghe bought Bone-Forging Pills at the Ghost Market, killed four men who followed him, and mastered True Force Iron Armor while continuing to train the Head-Cleaving Technique. He then returned to the west-side alley to bait the people behind the pill sellers, setting up another meeting for that night.

• Su Xinghe assessed the Ghost Market, found a Beheading Gang insignia on a pill seller's boat, and bought thirty bottles of ninth-rank Bone-Forging Pills for six thousand taels.
• After leaving the Ghost Market, Su Xinghe killed four men who were following him and took their pills and Treasure Notes.
• Su Xinghe mastered True Force Iron Armor, tested its defensive strength, and trained the Head-Cleaving Technique through the night.
• Young Martial Warriors visited Su Xinghe's house to seek information about the year-end disciple recruitment gathering, and Su Xinghe learned that factions were already recruiting candidates.
• After exhausting his Bone-Forging Pills, Su Xinghe returned to the west-side alley and paid the girl for ten pills while ordering her to prepare fifty more that night.

Su Xinghe traced the Peaceful Heaven Sect’s influence to Chu Shibai, but Gong Hao warned him that the Red Lotus Branch had been dissolved and told him to focus on cultivation. After strengthening his Head-Cleaving Technique, Su Xinghe followed a girl who claimed to have brought Bone-Forging Pills outside the city, killed the martial warrior tailing him, and began interrogating her.

• Su Xinghe followed a Sixth-Rank martial warrior to the military camp and learned that Chu Shibai, a Grandmaster there, might be tied to the Peaceful Heaven Sect.
• Su Xinghe reported his suspicion to Gong Hao, who revealed that Princess Red Lotus had returned to the imperial capital and the sect’s Red Lotus Branch no longer existed.
• Angry that those responsible for past suffering had escaped justice, Su Xinghe trained his Head-Cleaving Technique until it advanced.
• A girl led Su Xinghe out of the city, claiming she had obtained Bone-Forging Pills, while a Sixth-Rank martial warrior followed them.
• Su Xinghe concealed himself, knocked out the girl, and killed the pursuing martial warrior with his Water Conception and saber.
• Su Xinghe wounded the girl to wake her and demanded that she tell him where she had planned to take him.

Su Xinghe ambushed Chu Shibai and revealed that his Water Conception could suppress the grandmaster’s Core Qi Domain. After Chu Shibai recognized him and tried to flee, Su Xinghe pressed the attack, but their battle continued as Chu Shibai fought back with overwhelming physical strength.

• Su Xinghe hid near the road and struck Chu Shibai from ambush, mangling one of his shoulders.
• Chu Shibai recognized Su Xinghe and attacked him with a concentrated palm strike.
• Su Xinghe unleashed Water Conception, suppressing Chu Shibai’s Core Qi Domain and restoring his own strength.
• Chu Shibai identified Su Xinghe’s power as a Law Domain and attempted to retreat.
• Su Xinghe attacked with Head-Cleaving Technique, but Chu Shibai blocked the saber and countered with a powerful punch.
• Su Xinghe intensified Water Conception and concealed himself with First Insight into Light and Darkness as the two clashed repeatedly.

Su Xinghe killed Chu Shibai, a Grandmaster and Qingzhou mobile warfare general, then concealed the evidence and learned that Chu had carried a token from an organization called Mending Heaven. As officials investigated and a mysterious streak of light headed south, Su Xinghe continued cultivating and strengthened his swordsmanship.

• Su Xinghe used the cover of darkness and the Water Conception to overwhelm Chu Shibai, whose threat to summon the imperial court triggered a stronger strike that killed him.
• Su Xinghe searched Chu Shibai's body, found pills and a Mending Heaven card listing its holder as a seventh-tier apprentice, and buried the four bodies.
• Officials reported Chu Shibai's disappearance and investigated, but Su Xinghe's concealed identity and lack of witnesses left them without leads, and the case went to the Military Department.
• Five days later, a streak of light shot south from a tower outside the imperial city while Zhou Hao and Lu Sandao stayed busy in the courtyard.
• Su Xinghe bought a few scarce pills, perfected Dripping Water Swordsmanship, and raised its Mountain-Piercing and Rainstorm techniques to a modest level of accomplishment.

After completing ten days of secluded cultivation, Su Xinghe attended the Demon Suppression Bureau’s ranking battles and met fellow Grade-B guards. Commander Shangguan Jing began the contests, and the chapter ended as two Grade-D guards started their match.

• Su Xinghe reviewed his improved combat abilities, then shared a feast with Lu Sandao and another man after ending his seclusion.
• Su Xinghe arrived at the Demon Suppression Bureau’s main hall, where Kong Yuan introduced him to Yu Zhuo and Fang Yuan as a Psychic Master.
• Su Xinghe told Yu Zhuo and Fang Yuan that he had obtained his Mental Secret Art by chance from the Heavenly One Sword Sect.
• Commander Shangguan Jing gathered the guards at the drill ground and asked whether any Grade-D guards wanted to initiate a ranking battle.
• Ding Eleven challenged the tenth-ranked Grade-D guard, Ding Ten, and the two began fighting inside Shangguan Jing’s Core Qi Domain.

Su Xinghe watched the Demon Suppression Bureau’s ranking battles before accepting Zhao Yichen’s challenge. He overwhelmed Zhao Yichen with his strength and Astral Qi, leaving the contest decided by a single saber strike.

• Ding Eleven defeated his opponent and exchanged rankings, while the other Grade-D challengers failed to win their matches.
• Grade-C challenges followed, and the Seventh-Rank fighters displayed powerful amplification techniques as Shangguan Jing intervened to prevent serious injuries.
• Su Xinghe agreed to Zhao Yichen’s challenge for Yi Thirteen’s ranking, despite warnings from Shangguan Jing and Kong Yuan.
• Zhao Yichen charged with True Force Iron Armor, but Su Xinghe stopped his attack with a single blow and shattered his armor with another.
• Su Xinghe used golden Astral Qi to cleave through Zhao Yichen’s restored armor toward his throat, leaving Zhao Yichen defeated.

Su Xinghe defeated Zhao Yichen, then faced Wu Cangqing, a young Demon Suppression Bureau guard who had awakened martial dao will. Wu Cangqing overwhelmed Su Xinghe with his opening spear strike, and the chapter ended as Su Xinghe activated his defenses against another attack.

• Shangguan Jing stopped Su Xinghe and Zhao Yichen's fight, declared Su Xinghe the winner, and removed Zhao Yichen from the domain.
• Wu Cangqing challenged Su Xinghe, and Shangguan Jing granted the challenge while Gong Hao and Wu Ganming bet on its outcome.
• An unseen illusory figure inspected Su Xinghe and considered seizing him, but chose to wait.
• Wu Cangqing introduced himself as a member of the Qingzhou Wu Clan and boasted of his awakened martial dao will.
• Wu Cangqing struck Su Xinghe hard enough to send him flying into the domain barrier, then launched another attack as Su Xinghe activated True Force Iron Armor and raised his saber.

Su Xinghe revealed his Water Conception during a ranking match, overwhelming Wu Cangqing and drawing the attention of the Demon Suppression Bureau commanders. After the match, the commanders competed to recruit and reward him, while he remained focused on martial cultivation.

• Su Xinghe used his Water Conception to pin Wu Cangqing in midair, and Shangguan Jing rushed in to stop the fight.
• A mysterious observer recognized Su Xinghe's Water Conception, canceled the arrest assignment, and decided to report his discovery to the Military Department.
• Gong Hao ended the ranking matches, then questioned Su Xinghe about when he had comprehended Water Conception.
• Shangguan Jing and Wu Ganming offered Su Xinghe homes, and Gong Hao tried to entice him with Yue Ni before Su Xinghe declined and said he was devoted to martial cultivation.
• Wu Ganming gave Su Xinghe fifty points and a vial, while Shangguan Jing and Gong Hao each presented him with another vial and Gong Hao arranged a welcoming feast.

Su Xinghe explored Qingzhou Prefecture's inner city, received valuable gifts from the commanders, and discovered that the Starry Sky Empire's biological-energy lamp was drained by Little White Bat. He refined Force-Forging Pills to complete the Force Condensation stage and advanced his sixth-rank realm to Liquid Transformation 15%, but still lacked enough astral qi to form a core.

• Su Xinghe learned from Wu Cangqing that the inner city’s technological goods came from the Starry Sky Empire and that the Desolate Region was a battlefield of ruins rather than a planet.
• At the banquet, Wu Cangqing gave Su Xinghe Bone-Forging Pills and foreign specialties, while the commanders showered him with gifts and Su Xinghe relied on Gong Hao for guidance.
• Su Xinghe returned to his rented house, where Little White Bat drained the biological desk lamp by sucking its energy, leaving him to wonder whether it came from Demon Cores of Outer Demons.
• Su Xinghe counted his gifts, including Force-Forging Pills, Bone-Forging Pills, an alloy saber, and Demon Suppression Bureau points, then cultivated through the night.
• Su Xinghe refined twenty-three Force-Forging Pills, completed Force Condensation, and circulated the Iron Body Art until his astral qi became concentrated essence, though he still lacked enough to form a core.

Su Xinghe continued strengthening himself while avoiding entanglement with Qingzhou’s factions, but Governor Han Zhi arrived at his home and began courting him for Qingzhou Academy. Su Xinghe remained unsure whether Han Zhi also knew of the Lin County Lu Family Massacre Case as the governor hinted that the Demon Suppression Bureau was an unsuitable place for his talent.

• Su Xinghe calculated that he needed 284 more Force-Forging Pills and resolved to challenge the top ten white-robed guards next month.
• Su Xinghe received many visitors after his victory, learned that others had attributed it to his Listening to Tides Art, and eventually turned away the factions seeking to recruit him.
• More than half a month passed, and a black carriage brought Qingzhou Governor and Qingzhou Academy head Han Zhi to Su Xinghe’s home.
• Han Zhi introduced himself as a fourth-rank Baleful Convergence expert, while constable captains prevented Lu Sandao and Zhou Hao from leaving the courtyard.
• Han Zhi praised Su Xinghe’s Water Conception and suggested that his talent was wasted in the Demon Suppression Bureau.

Han Zhi tried to recruit Su Xinghe as the Crown Prince’s study companion, but Su Xinghe refused and resisted Han Zhi’s attempt to force him to sign a document. Xu Lie intervened and drove Han Zhi away, leaving Su Xinghe recovering beside Gong Hao and the imposing newcomer.

• Han Zhi offered Su Xinghe wealth and glory by inviting him to serve as the Crown Prince’s study companion in the Eastern Palace.
• Su Xinghe declined, citing his sixth-rank cultivation and his position in the Demon Suppression Bureau.
• Han Zhi presented Su Xinghe with a parchment qualifying him for Qingzhou Academy’s martial examination and used force to try to make him sign it.
• Su Xinghe resisted Han Zhi’s killing intent until Xu Lie burst into the pavilion and struck Han Zhi with scarlet saber light.
• After Han Zhi fled, Su Xinghe recovered some Spirit Sea energy with the Listening to Tides Art and saw Gong Hao standing beside the blood-red-mist-shrouded Xu Lie.

Su Xinghe met Xu Lie, Qingzhou's Demon Suppression Bureau chief, after Xu saved him from a blood-baleful aura. Xu rewarded Su with points and merit, offered him access to the exchange catalog, and prepared to obtain the items he chose before his month-long visit ended.

• Xu Lie revealed himself after Su Xinghe awakened, and Gong Hao introduced him as Qingzhou's A-One Commander and bureau chief.
• Xu Lie moved Su Xinghe and Gong Hao into the bureau hall, then ordered Gong Hao to investigate how information about Han Zhi had leaked.
• Xu Lie reviewed Su Xinghe's file and gave him two million points, one major merit, and an A-One Token with additional resources.
• Su Xinghe chose five hundred sixth-rank Force-Tempering Pills, the Demon-Slaying Blade true art, Nine Revolutions of the Thunder Blade, and the Starfire Mental Secret Art.
• Xu Lie agreed to obtain the pills and two arts immediately, said he would travel to the Capital for Starfire, and set out to arrange Su Xinghe's lodging.

Su Xinghe moved into the Demon Suppression Bureau’s Guardian Tower, rapidly advanced his cultivation with Force-Forging Pills, and learned the Demon-Slaying Blade. After the monthly ranking battles interrupted his seclusion, he found that the guards he wanted to challenge were away on missions and returned to cultivate.

• Su Xinghe settled into his protected room in the Guardian Tower and began secluded cultivation with the Force-Forging Pills.
• In three days, Su Xinghe used all 295 pills and filled his dantian with liquid Astral Qi.
• Su Xinghe studied the Demon-Slaying Blade, a fourth-rank true art, and recorded it on his Fate Panel in under half an hour.
• After five more days of practice, Su Xinghe left seclusion for the monthly ranking battles and learned that the remaining 205 pills had arrived.
• Su Xinghe tried to challenge Yi Nine, but Shangguan Jing told him the top-ranked Grade-B guards were away on missions.
• Su Xinghe declined dinner invitations and returned to secluded cultivation.

Lu Xuanji investigated Su Xinghe’s past and traveled to Qingzhou, while Su Xinghe began breaking through to Grandmaster inside the Guardian Tower. Little White Bat devoured the tower’s energy core, and Dai Gu attacked Su Xinghe’s nascent domain as the breakthrough continued.

• Lu Xuanji received Su Xinghe’s dossier, found clues connecting him to his family’s massacre, and went to Qingzhou to investigate.
• Su Xinghe reached Perfect Mastery in Demon-Slaying Blade and began forming a core, spreading his nascent domain into the Guardian Barrier.
• The barrier struck back at Su Xinghe, and Little White Bat flew to the tower’s peak and devoured its energy core.
• Gong Hao disabled the barrier and ordered the guards away from the tower, while they realized Yi Thirteen was attempting a breakthrough to Grandmaster.
• Dai Gu arrived, noticed the missing energy core, and hurled his spear toward Su Xinghe’s nascent domain.

Su Xinghe completed his breakthrough to become a Core Embrace Grandmaster while the Demon Suppression Bureau fought off the Inspection Bureau’s attack on the Guardian Tower. His newly formed domain reached thirty zhang, and Gong Hao recognized that Su Xinghe had broken through.

• Gong Hao and Shangguan Jing confronted the Inspection Bureau’s Dai Gu and his forces as they tried to seize the tower and interrupt Su Xinghe’s breakthrough.
• The barrier blocking Su Xinghe’s breakthrough vanished, allowing his domain to spread and his Astral Qi to condense into Grandmaster True Essence.
• Su Xinghe circulated his new Core Embrace True Qi, strengthened his body, and formed a domain that soon reached thirty zhang.
• Su Xinghe sensed the battle outside the tower through his domain and recognized that Gong Hao and the others were protecting him.
• Gong Hao detected Su Xinghe’s powerful domain and asked whether he had broken through.

Su Xinghe broke through to fifth-rank core embrace and fought Han Zhi after the governor arrived to attack the Demon Suppression Bureau. Just as Han Zhi’s chains threatened him, Su Xinghe connected with Little Beggar through the Heavenly Will Sword Network and received permission to transfer its powers.

• Dai Gu tried to flee, but Gong Hao brought down his flying mount and pinned him in the drill ground.
• Su Xinghe used his mastered water conception to incapacitate many Inspection Bureau martial warriors, then leaped from the tower to join the fight.
• Han Zhi arrived and overwhelmed Su Xinghe and Gong Hao with his fourth-rank baleful convergence power.
• A scaled avian exotic beast appeared above Qingzhou Prefecture City, and Su Xinghe recognized the Heavenly Will Sword Network around it.
• Little Beggar contacted Su Xinghe through the network, and a brilliant orb granted his request to transfer permissions.

Su Xinghe borrowed martial saint-level power through the Heavenly Will Sword Network and used it to kill Han Zhi and several Inspection Bureau fighters. The network revoked his access, but Little Beggar’s remaining power helped him finish another enemy as the unseen forces behind the attack remained unclear.

• The Heavenly Will Sword Network surged through Su Xinghe, lending him martial saint-level power and greater mastery of water conception.
• Su Xinghe decided to seize the chance to kill Han Zhi, and his borrowed power destroyed Han Zhi’s chains before Su Xinghe split his skull with an alloy saber.
• Han Zhi accused Lu Xuanji of involvement before dying, prompting Lu Xuanji to flee toward the military camp.
• Su Xinghe ignored a warning not to slaughter Sky Patrol Palace members and killed an Inspection Bureau grandmaster, while the network revoked his access and his borrowed power faded.
• Little Beggar’s remaining power let Su Xinghe kill another Inspection Bureau grandmaster before the mountain phantom dissipated.