Chapter Summaries

Key plot points and events

• The second round of the Immortal Clerk examination begins: the hundred students are teleported into a lifelike projection of the Black Cloud Mountain Range, where they must hunt demon beasts and survive its hazards.
• Ji Li defeats an early-stage One-Horned Wild Boar with magnetic force. Its killing intent enters his body, strengthening both his spell arts and physical toughness.
• Chu Bai quickly kills a Second-Layer Shadow Leopard with his perfected Formless Cloud Hand. He discovers that, unlike in the outside world, the realm’s killing intent boosts cultivators rather than corrupting them.
• Lacking a dedicated tracking technique, Chu Bai uses Golden Eye Illusion-Breaker to detect concentrations of killing intent and the Fire Element Ring to cover ground rapidly.
• He reasons that stronger beasts gather higher on the mountain and finds a pack of five Ironclad Boars: two at the Third Layer and three at the Second.
• Rather than avoid the dangerous pack, Chu Bai attacks decisively. His high-grade Origin-Bearing Cauldron crushes the three weaker boars and pins the leaders. When their mud armor stops his Spirit Water Needles, he exploits the wounds with a barrage of cloud fists, kills one leader by tearing out its heart, and brings down the last with Mountain-Crushing Shoulder.
• The battle ends in fewer than a hundred breaths. Chu Bai absorbs the killing intent from all five beasts and decides he must climb higher for greater gains.

Character developments

• Ji Li turns his recent loss to Chu Bai into renewed motivation. He remains proud and focused on direct competition, and the killing-intent enhancement confirms the value of hunting.
• Chu Bai demonstrates major growth since his earlier tournament: his perfected techniques and improved cultivation let him defeat strong enemies with confidence. He also shows tactical flexibility, combining detection, mobility, artifact power, elemental synergy, and close combat.

Significant themes

• Growth through adversity: Defeat and dangerous battles sharpen the competitors rather than break them.
• Power and adaptation: Chu Bai compensates for weak tracking with speed and observation, then adjusts when his first attack fails.
• The realm’s reversed rules: Killing intent, normally dangerous to cultivators, becomes a source of strength within the projection.
• Risk versus efficiency: Chu Bai accepts a formidable fight because a quick pack hunt promises greater rewards than searching for isolated beasts.

Character interactions

• Ji Li and Chu Bai do not meet in this section, but their contrasting responses to competition are established: Ji Li seeks straightforward one-on-one battles, while Chu Bai pursues efficient, high-yield hunting.
• Chu Bai’s interaction with the boar pack is entirely combative; he uses overwhelming force but also responds carefully to their defenses and counterattack.

Key plot points and events

• The exam’s three rounds are designed to work together: students must hunt Demon Beasts in the second round to absorb Killing Intent, which strengthens them enough to use high-grade Magical Artifacts effectively in the final Arena battles.
• Vice Dean Lu He worries that unrestricted cooperation will let established groups target isolated prodigies such as Chu Bai and Ji Li. Judge Li argues that alliance-building, adapting to danger, and exploiting others’ strengths are part of the survival skills the exam is meant to test. He believes exceptional individual strength can still overcome numbers.
• Third-year Chen Wangming leads two classmates in a coordinated hunt. Their earth defense, restraining vines, and Chen’s Flowing Light Shuttle let them defeat five Shadow Phantom Cats and divide the Killing Intent. Encouraged, Chen considers recruiting more students—and possibly eliminating lone geniuses—to build a stronger team.
• Chu Bai continues climbing the mountain, quickly defeating lesser beasts and recovering rapidly through his cultivation technique and Fate Destiny. He recognizes that Killing Intent creates a snowball effect: greater strength makes it easier to kill, which brings further strength.
• Chu Bai confronts four powerful Azure Savage Bulls. Using the Metal-Bearing Seal to forge a golden blade around his fist, he combines its cutting force with his Spell Arts and Fire Element Rings, kills the beasts, and absorbs their dense Killing Intent. The energy begins turning blood-red, signaling that he is nearing the threshold of Killing Intent Becomes Astral Force. Still hungry for more power, he presses onward.

Character developments and interactions

• Judge Li reveals his pragmatic, unsentimental view of the exam: success depends not only on talent but also on luck, judgment, alliances, and crisis management.
• Lu He remains concerned about fairness and the risk that cooperation will disadvantage solitary students, though Judge Li’s rationale challenges his assumptions.
• Chen Wangming emerges as a calculating but capable organizer. He builds trust through teamwork while already considering how a larger alliance could gain an edge over stronger competitors.
• Chu Bai grows increasingly confident as he masters the link between Killing Intent and artifact power. His fighting style evolves when he adapts the Metal-Bearing Seal’s weapon-forming ability to his own techniques.

Significant themes

• Strength and cooperation: Teamwork can help weaker students survive, but alliances also invite ambition and betrayal.
• Pragmatic merit and survival: The exam values adaptability in a dangerous, politically complex world, not just individual combat skill.
• Power as a snowball: Killing Intent amplifies fighters and their artifacts, rewarding those who gain an early advantage.
• The cost of competition: The rules make danger, unequal opportunity, and the temptation to eliminate rivals central to the path forward.

Key plot points and events

• Ji Li overwhelms a fellow examinee who begs to be spared. He insists that cultivators are competitors, defeats him in fewer than ten exchanges, and absorbs the baleful intent the student had gathered. The student is teleported out by the Spirit Realm’s protection, while Ji Li takes his low-grade magic sword.
• Seeing how much stronger the baleful intent has made him, Ji Li decides that hunting other examinees will be faster than hunting Demon Beasts.
• Chen Wangming leads a seventeen-person alliance toward the upper slopes. He has built the group partly by eliminating students who refused to join, but worries that its members will eventually fight over limited rewards. He persuades them to target powerful contenders, hoping to improve their chances in the coming Arena round.
• Before the alliance reaches the summit, a tremendous roar rolls across the mountains. Its pressure shakes the group and alarms even Chen Wangming, suggesting a formidable creature is nearby.
• Chu Bai reaches the summit first and detects several powerful, mid-stage Demon Beasts. He chooses to ambush a huge Tiger Demon, but its keen senses foil his approach. The beast’s sound-wave roar and fiery charge injure him, though his shield and healing seal help him recover.
• Chu Bai and the Tiger Demon fight fiercely, each wounding the other. When the tiger commits to a direct killing charge, Chu Bai activates the Origin-Bearing Cauldron. Empowered by his accumulated killing intent, it pins the demon to the ground.

Character developments

• Ji Li grows more powerful and increasingly ruthless. He treats former classmates as obstacles and now sees examinees themselves as prey.
• Chen Wangming emerges as a calculating organizer: he uses force to build his alliance and ambition to keep it together, while concealing his self-interest behind appeals to unity.
• Chu Bai shows confidence and tactical discipline. He willingly challenges a stronger foe but studies its behavior, uses his artifacts and techniques effectively, and waits for an opening before deploying his strongest weapon.

Significant themes

• Competition and survival: The examination turns classmates into rivals, and cooperation can be as temporary as hostility.
• Power compounds: Baleful intent strengthens successful hunters, widening the gap between the strong and everyone else.
• Ambition versus danger: Students risk elimination or serious injury for a chance at advancement, while stronger prey promises greater rewards.
• Strategy and restraint: Raw strength matters, but timing, judgment, and knowing when to use an advantage are crucial.

Character interactions

• Ji Li rejects his classmate’s plea for mercy and defeats him, illustrating the examination’s brutal competitiveness.
• Chen Wangming rallies his team by directing their shared resentment and ambition toward the top contenders.
• Chu Bai faces the Tiger Demon alone, matching its attacks with defensive, healing, and offensive techniques before trapping it with the cauldron.

Plot points and events

• Chu Bai reaches the summit first and kills a middle-stage Qi Refining Tiger Demon. He trades a shoulder wound for a swift finishing blow, then absorbs a large amount of Killing Intent.
• Instructor Zhou Changkong worries that Chu Bai’s lead and valuable magical artifacts will make him a target. Instructor Lei admires Chu Bai’s tactical judgment and believes he can defend himself.
• Chu Bai explains his strategy: Demon Beasts—and therefore the Killing Intent they provide—are limited, so he has claimed the resource-rich summit to control the next phase of the competition. After recovering in a hidden cave and replenishing his healing seals, he waits for other contenders.
• Nearby, four students are fighting a wounded beast when Chen Wangming arrives with a seventeen-person squad and tries to claim it. A student challenges Chen’s promise to share the reward, exposing the alliance’s lack of trust.
• The dispute erupts into battle. Because no one wants another fighter to land the beast’s final blow, both sides hold back, allowing it to escape.
• The beast stumbles into Chu Bai’s ambush range. He kills it instantly with his full array of magical artifacts and takes its Killing Intent, provoking the fury of both groups—especially Chen Wangming.

Character developments

• Chu Bai is shown to be calculating as well as powerful: he plans around scarce resources, conserves his strength, and waits for the right opportunity. His readiness to seize the wounded beast highlights his opportunism and confidence.
• Zhou Changkong remains protective and cautious, fearing Chu Bai’s isolation will leave him vulnerable.
• Instructor Lei shifts from concern to confidence in Chu Bai’s instincts and fighting ability.
• Chen Wangming appears manipulative and coercive, trying to control the beast’s reward through threats and questionable promises. His authority weakens when his allies begin to doubt him.

Character interactions

• Zhou and Lei debate whether Chu Bai’s success will make him a target; Lei ultimately backs Chu Bai’s judgment.
• Chen attempts to recruit or intimidate the four students, but their leader rejects him and undermines his squad’s trust.
• The two groups’ mutual suspicion prevents them from coordinating, inadvertently giving Chu Bai the chance to take the reward.

Significant themes

• Scarcity breeds conflict: As beasts and their Killing Intent become limited, competition shifts from hunting to confrontation between students.
• Trust and self-interest: Chen’s fragile alliance falters because rewards cannot be reliably shared, and each fighter fears being cheated.
• Strategy over brute force: Chu Bai gains an advantage through timing, preparation, and exploiting others’ hesitation.
• Ambition and vulnerability: Chu Bai’s conspicuous success gives him power but also makes him an obvious target.

Key plot points and events

• After stealing the Tiger Demon’s Killing Intent, Chu Bai escapes a furious attack by Chen Wangming and more than a dozen cultivators. His Fire Element Ring helps him evade their spells, while his Origin Guard Shield absorbs the attacks; he then taunts them and flees.
• The four students initially trapped by Chen’s group use the distraction to escape rather than risk joining the fight.
• Chen and his allies pursue Chu Bai through the forest, trying to slow him with vines, gravity, and repeated spells. Chu Bai’s efficient spiritual-energy control lets him keep running and even counterattack.
• As more cultivators arrive at the summit, the area becomes a chaotic arena of simultaneous battles. Chen’s group lands a powerful combined attack, but Chu Bai’s dense Killing Intent greatly reduces its force, leaving him with only minor scrapes.
• Chu Bai retaliates with a Spirit Water Needle that curves around a defender and eliminates a distracted wood cultivator. Chen’s group is shaken but continues the pursuit.
• The chase brings Chu Bai to Ji Li, who is already fighting an elite team alone. Seeing Chu Bai lead more than a dozen pursuers, Ji Li realizes he may collect more Killing Intent than Ji Li if left unchecked.
• Ji Li unleashes his previously unused Flying Sword against Chu Bai’s pursuers. The strike eliminates one cultivator and scatters the rest, but Chu Bai recognizes that Ji Li is competing with him—not rescuing him. Both are eliminating others to accumulate Killing Intent before their eventual confrontation.
• Abandoning his plan to exhaust and pick off the pursuers gradually, Chu Bai forms armor from his Metal-Bearing Seal, reinforces himself with his shield, and charges back into the scattered group, daring them to stop him.

Character developments and interactions

• Chu Bai shows tactical restraint as well as growing confidence: he avoids fighting a large group head-on, withstands their attacks, and exploits openings. Once Ji Li disrupts his strategy, he chooses to attack decisively.
• Chen Wangming shifts from rage to alarm as Chu Bai proves unexpectedly durable and dangerous. He tries to keep his group together by insisting Chu Bai can still be worn down.
• Ji Li is revealed as a direct rival rather than an ally. His concern that Chu Bai might gain more Killing Intent prompts him to strike at the pursuers and compete for the remaining resource.
• The four trapped students take advantage of the chaos to escape, prioritizing survival over loyalty or revenge.

Significant themes

• Competition and self-interest: Even apparent assistance is driven by the struggle to gather limited Killing Intent.
• Strategy over brute force: Chu Bai survives through speed, careful energy use, and choosing when to fight; Ji Li likewise acts to improve his position.
• Escalating rivalry: Chu Bai and Ji Li avoid confronting each other directly for now, but their race to eliminate other cultivators foreshadows a final showdown.
• Power and perception: Chu Bai’s unusual defenses and precise attacks unsettle opponents who assume he is merely a normal Qi Refining cultivator.

Plot points and events

• Chen Wangming’s seventeen-person group and Ji Li’s seven-person opponents converge, hoping their combined numbers can overwhelm Chu Bai and Ji Li.
• Chu Bai prevents the groups from regrouping. He pins nearby fighters with the Origin-Bearing Cauldron’s gravity field, then eliminates Chen Wangming with a barrage of Formless Cloud Hand strikes.
• As killing intent accumulates, Chu Bai’s Seven Killings Fate Destiny awakens. He cuts through attackers with greater speed and ferocity, while Ji Li uses his Sky-Stepping Secret Art and Magnetic Force to intercept foes and steal some of Chu Bai’s intended kills.
• The two rivals race to eliminate the assembled fighters. Their relentless attacks reduce the force of more than twenty students to a single terrified survivor.
• Elsewhere, Lü Qing, Wang Qingli, and Wu Jianfei wonder whether Chu Bai has been eliminated. A distant clash between two immense auras reveals that he is still fighting—alongside Ji Li.
• Chu Bai and Ji Li both accumulate nearly black killing intent. Just as they prepare to fight one another over the last survivor, nine bell peals announce that the top ten have been decided and the round is over. The Spirit Realm then begins to dissolve.

Character developments

• Chu Bai becomes increasingly formidable as killing intent strengthens his defenses, speed, and awakened Fate Destiny. His ruthlessness is matched by composure and precision in battle.
• Ji Li shows fierce pride and a competitive streak, abandoning defense to keep pace with Chu Bai. Their rivalry drives him to fight with reckless intensity.
• Chen Wangming loses control of his group’s situation and is eliminated after his earlier exertion leaves him unable to withstand Chu Bai’s full assault.
• Lü Qing, Wang Qingli, and Wu Jianfei recognize Chu Bai’s strength and regret the possibility that he might have been eliminated; their concern underscores his growing reputation.

Significant themes

• Survival and shifting alliances: Once the Demon Beasts are gone, temporary cooperation gives way to human conflict over the remaining places.
• Rivalry and ambition: Chu Bai and Ji Li turn the battle into a contest of speed and kills, each refusing to let the other take the lead.
• Power gained through violence: Killing intent directly amplifies both fighters, making each elimination fuel further destruction.
• Control and helplessness: The final survivor’s fate rests entirely with the two combatants, until the judges’ announcement abruptly ends the contest.

Character interactions

• Chen Wangming urgently calls for an alliance, but Chu Bai isolates and defeats him before the groups can unite.
• Chu Bai and Ji Li repeatedly interfere with one another’s kills, exchanging taunts and competing openly despite facing common enemies.
• The final survivor becomes the unwilling focus of their rivalry, with both preventing the other from claiming him.
• Lü Qing, Wang Qingli, and Wu Jianfei discuss Chu Bai’s absence and speculate that Ji Li may have eliminated him, before the distant battle proves otherwise.

Key events

• The Spirit Realm collapses, revealing that only ten contestants remain. Chu Bai, Ji Li, Lü Qing, Wang Qingli, Wu Jianfei, Jiang Yingqiao, and the others have all secured Immortal Clerk positions, regardless of the coming Arena results.
• The crowd and instructors celebrate Chu Bai’s unprecedented achievement: after only one year at the Dao Academy, he has earned a place among the top ten by defeating veteran third-year students through strength and skill.
• The eliminated contestants are left shaken, especially Chen Wangming, who still remembers being killed effortlessly by Chu Bai in the Spirit Realm. He resolves to recover his Dao Heart before the regular Graduation Examination.
• Judge Li praises the contestants, particularly Ji Li’s dominance and Chu Bai’s extraordinary growth, then bestows White Ordination on all ten.
• White Ordination grants formal standing in the official system, access to the Great Zhou Law Net and its Fortune, and removes the cultivation restrictions Chu Bai had faced—opening the way for him to advance through Qi Refining.
• The contestants are told their final rankings will determine appointment grades and rewards. After a half-hour break, they will compete in a seven-round, double-elimination Arena tournament.
• Chu Bai and Ji Li silently acknowledge that they expect to meet in the final. Both begin regulating their breath before the matches, while Chu Bai wonders whether his newly strengthened black Killing Intent will let him unleash his magical artifact’s full power.

Character developments and interactions

• Chu Bai becomes the celebrated focus of the ceremony, recognized as a historic first-year contender. Despite his fame and new Ordination, he remains focused on testing his power and preparing for Ji Li.
• Ji Li is affirmed as Chu Bai’s chief rival: an established, dominant prodigy whose strength makes the anticipated final uncertain.
• The other nine contestants accept their secured positions with relief but remain eager to compete for the best rankings.
• Instructor Lei, Zhou Changkong, and Ji Yu share pride in Chu Bai’s accomplishment, with the instructors recognizing it as a first in the academy’s history.
• Chen Wangming struggles with the psychological impact of defeat but tries to keep it from damaging his future prospects.
• Judge Li and Vice Head Lu He explain that earning a position is only part of the process: the remaining matches will determine the contestants’ standing and future benefits.

Significant themes

• Achievement through strength and perseverance: Chu Bai’s rise is presented as earned, not luck.
• Recognition and advancement: Ordination turns achievement into official status and tangible cultivation benefits.
• Ambition and rivalry: With elimination pressure gone, the contestants fight for honor, rewards, and proof of their Dao Hearts.
• Uncertainty before a decisive contest: Chu Bai and Ji Li are expected to reach the final, but the chapter leaves its outcome open.

Key plot points and events

• The ten surviving candidates rest before the examination’s final arena round.
• Chu Bai tests the Metal-Bearing Seal, demonstrating its ability to change from weapon to shield and armor. A nervous candidate who survived by avoiding fights watches him and Ji Li with fear.
• Freed from the cultivation restrictions by receiving White Ordination, Ji Li breaks through from the Qi Refining Third Layer to the Fourth Layer just before the round begins.
• Superintendent Su worries the breakthrough could make the contest unfair, but Judge Li rules that Ji Li’s official status allows it and praises his talent, courage, and decisiveness.
• Ji Li reveals that he broke through partly because Chu Bai has become a genuine threat. He intends to eliminate any chance of losing the final victory.
• The other candidates react to Ji Li’s new strength. Lü Qing, his longtime rival, is discouraged; Wang Qingli worries that Chu Bai now faces a daunting disadvantage.
• Chu Bai continues mastering his newly acquired artifacts and considers how his strengthened spiritual power lets him use them more effectively. He remains composed despite Ji Li’s breakthrough.
• Chu Bai sees that his Origin Guard Shield is just short of the Perfected Level and begins focused practice, hoping to improve it before the battle. He ends determined to fight Ji Li regardless of the difference in cultivation.

Character developments and interactions

• Ji Li shifts from confident veteran to a competitor who recognizes Chu Bai as a serious rival. His daring breakthrough reflects both his exceptional foundation and his determination to protect his three-year standing.
• Chu Bai demonstrates calmness, adaptability, and resolve. Rather than panic over Ji Li’s higher cultivation, he concentrates on mastering his tools and improving his defense.
• Lü Qing remains proud and competitive, but Ji Li’s effortless-seeming breakthrough makes him reassess the gap between them.
• Wang Qingli is relieved that Chu Bai survived the previous round, yet becomes anxious about his chances against Ji Li.
• Judge Li supports Ji Li’s right to advance and praises the candidates’ promise. Superintendent Su raises concerns about fairness but does not interfere.
• The surviving candidate’s fear of Chu Bai and Ji Li underscores the intimidating reputation both have earned.

Significant themes

• Preparation and earned strength: Ji Li’s breakthrough rests on years of cultivation, while Chu Bai relies on battle-earned experience and continued practice.
• Rules versus fairness: Ji Li’s advancement is legal because White Ordination lifts the restriction, even though it changes the balance of the contest.
• Rivalry and resolve: Ji Li acts to secure victory; Chu Bai refuses to be discouraged and commits to facing him.
• Growth under pressure: The brutal earlier rounds sharpened Chu Bai’s skills and pushed his Origin Guard Shield toward a transformative new level.

Key plot points and events

• Judge Li explains that the last half-hour before the Arena matches is a test of resolve: the candidates must keep striving despite Ji Li’s breakthrough to Qi Refining Fourth Layer. Chu Bai’s persistence inspires the others to renew their efforts.
• Repeatedly practicing [Origin Guard Shield], Chu Bai reaches sudden insight and perfects the Spell Art. Its five elements fuse into a golden shield that resists elemental counters and can absorb some of an opponent’s spiritual power to strengthen itself.
• The final round begins, with candidates fighting through successive bouts and losers moving to a bracket for lower rankings.
• Chu Bai defeats his familiar sparring partner Wang Qingli in ten moves, using the [Origin-Bearing Cauldron] to disrupt her defense before sending her safely out of the Arena. He then quickly beats the aggressive Wu Jianfei, whose offense leaves him vulnerable.
• Ji Li overwhelms Jiang Yingqiao with his Magnetic Force and defeats Lü Qing in five moves. His new cultivation level and accumulated Killing Intent make him far stronger than in their earlier contests.
• After sweeping their opponents, Chu Bai and Ji Li emerge as finalists. The square falls silent as their long-anticipated final showdown is about to begin.

Character developments

• Chu Bai responds to the pressure of Ji Li’s breakthrough with focused determination rather than despair. Perfecting his defensive Spell Art gives him a significant new advantage and reinforces his confidence.
• Ji Li remains the tournament’s dominant force, now strengthened by his advance to Qi Refining Fourth Layer and his accumulated Killing Intent.
• Lü Qing and the other candidates regain their competitive spirit after seeing Chu Bai refuse to give up.
• Wang Qingli accepts her defeat graciously and encourages Chu Bai to do well in the final.

Significant themes

• Growth under pressure: Ji Li’s breakthrough pushes Chu Bai to improve, while Judge Li frames adversity as a test of talent and resolve.
• Perseverance and courage: The candidates choose to fight for their rankings rather than surrender in the face of stronger opponents.
• Preparation and mastery: Chu Bai’s disciplined practice turns into a decisive breakthrough, showing the value of sustained effort.
• Respectful rivalry: The competitors take their battles seriously while accepting outcomes with dignity.

Character interactions

• Judge Li’s challenge to the candidates rekindles their fighting spirit; Lu He, in turn, praises the way pressure has brought out Chu Bai’s potential.
• Chu Bai and Wang Qingli face each other as familiar sparring partners. They exchange respectful words, fight earnestly, and part on friendly terms.
• Ji Li’s rematches with Jiang Yingqiao and Lü Qing demonstrate how thoroughly his power advantage has grown.
• Chu Bai and Ji Li finally face one another across the Arenas, their contrasting auras signaling the decisive contest to come.

Key plot points and events

• Chu Bai and Ji Li begin the final Arena clash at full force, unleashing their strongest artifacts and techniques from the outset.
• Ji Li’s flying sword and Cloud-Shaking Bell meet Chu Bai’s golden armor and Origin-Bearing Cauldron. Though Ji Li has reached the fourth level of Qi Refining, Chu Bai’s five-element energy lets him match Ji Li’s greater power.
• Ji Li attacks with a magnetic spear, but Chu Bai’s Origin Guard Shield absorbs part of its energy before both techniques break apart. Chu Bai then evades Ji Li’s magnetic pull and counters.
• Each fighter recognizes that a prolonged battle favors Ji Li, whose spiritual reserves are greater. Both resolve to end the fight with one decisive opening.
• Ji Li deliberately feigns a mistake to lure Chu Bai close. Chu Bai sees through the trap but charges anyway, betting on a decisive strike.
• Ji Li reveals Magnetic Origin: Twin Poles Heavenfall, a destructive field of attraction and repulsion that shreds Chu Bai’s attacks and injures him.
• Chu Bai uses the field’s pull to close the distance, then transforms his spiritual energy into Innate Geng Metal Qi and fires Golden Eye Illusion-Breaker at point-blank range.
• Ji Li tries to escape with Magnetic Repulsion, but reacts too late. The beams pierce his defenses and chest, throwing him to the Arena’s edge. The storm stops, and the contest’s outcome is decided in Chu Bai’s favor.

Character developments

• Chu Bai demonstrates exceptional adaptability, battle instincts, and willingness to accept injury for a winning chance. He recognizes Ji Li’s trap yet deliberately risks entering it, trusting his own hidden technique.
• Ji Li reveals a devastating secret technique and proves tactically astute, but his confidence falters when Chu Bai’s final attack puts him face-to-face with death.
• Lü Qing and Wu Jianfei, both accomplished contestants, watch in awe. Comparing this fight with their earlier bouts against Ji Li and Chu Bai, they realize the finalists had held back before and feel the gulf between their abilities more sharply.

Significant themes

• Tactics over raw strength: Chu Bai’s precise counters and elemental adaptability offset Ji Li’s superior cultivation and spiritual reserves.
• Risk and resolve: Both fighters seek a quick finish, but Chu Bai’s willingness to press forward through pain enables his victory.
• Hidden power and revelation: The fight escalates as each man unveils techniques kept in reserve, changing the balance at crucial moments.
• The cost of comparison: Lü Qing and Wu Jianfei’s admiration is mixed with discouragement as they reassess their own achievements beside the finalists.

Character interactions

• Chu Bai and Ji Li engage in a rapid exchange of attacks, counters, feints, and strategic decisions; each anticipates the other’s intentions, but Chu Bai ultimately turns Ji Li’s trap to his advantage.
• Lü Qing and Wu Jianfei reflect together on their losses and the finalists’ extraordinary level, recognizing that their own earlier matches never reached this intensity.
• The crowd and instructors react with shock to Ji Li’s previously unseen magnetic technique, then fall silent as Chu Bai’s final strike lands.

Plot and events

• Chu Bai defeats the higher-cultivation Ji Li in the examination’s final, brutal match. Though badly injured by Ji Li’s Two Poles Skyfall, Chu Bai survives and wins with a decisive strike.
• The crowd celebrates him as the Dao Academy’s first-year champion. Judge Li formally announces Chu Bai as the Immortal Official Examination’s winner.
• Chu Bai receives the champion’s rewards: one hundred Spirit Stones and the choice of one high-grade magical artifact. He selects the Fire Element Ring for its speed and usefulness in both combat and travel.
• All students who earned Immortal Clerk positions are granted access to the Dao Academy’s secret Keep One Scripture, which cultivates the Divine Soul and can strengthen a Qi Refining cultivator’s Divine Sense.
• The other successful examinees receive lesser artifacts and Spirit Stones. After the ceremony, they congratulate Chu Bai, and his instructors praise his courage and performance.
• Ji Li regains consciousness after being treated. The defeat unsettles him, and Judge Li then summons the ten successful candidates to begin their formal entry into Great Zhou’s officialdom.

Character developments

• Chu Bai proves his strength, judgment, and resilience. He recognizes that his victory depended on preparation, his artifact advantage, mastery of Spell Arts, and the instinct granted by his Seven Killings Fate Destiny. The rewards and official position mark a major advance in his cultivation and career.
• Ji Li experiences defeat for the first time. His confidence in an undefeated path is shaken, though he had not underestimated Chu Bai; he must confront the limits of his ambition and preparation.
• Wang Qingli and Lü Qing accept their own eliminations without resentment and offer Chu Bai sincere congratulations. Wang Qingli’s regard for him grows.
• Instructors Lei and Zhou Changkong show relief, pride, and admiration. Zhou’s restrained praise reflects how much Chu Bai’s achievement honors both student and teacher.

Themes

• Victory through preparation and adaptability: Chu Bai wins through accumulated advantages and a timely decision, not luck alone.
• The cost of ambition: Ji Li’s pursuit of invincibility—including risking his Dao Path—makes his defeat especially painful.
• Recognition and advancement: The rewards, secret scripture, and official ordination show how achievement can open access to power and opportunity.
• Resilience and humility: Chu Bai remains upright despite severe injuries, while the defeated Ji Li must begin reckoning with failure.

Character interactions

• The crowd’s cheers and the formal award ceremony publicly affirm Chu Bai’s accomplishment.
• Chu Bai exchanges respectful congratulations with fellow competitors and thanks his instructors for their guidance.
• Instructor Lei teases and praises Chu Bai’s reckless final charge, while Zhou Changkong offers a quiet, heartfelt endorsement.
• From the healing area, Ji Li watches Chu Bai celebrated and privately reflects on his defeat.
• Judge Li’s summons shifts the successful candidates from celebration toward their new roles as Immortal Clerks, charged with wielding the Law Net and patrolling the realm.

Chapter Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• After winning the Immortal Official Examination, Chu Bai and the other nine victors are summoned to the Quiet Chamber by Judge Li and the academy’s vice deans.
• Judge Li explains that the White Ordination they received is both official status and a gateway into cultivation. Unlike ordinary students, who receive fixed posts through the Heavenly Examination, they have become Immortal Clerks.
• Immortal Clerks begin at a low rank but can choose positions across any of the Celestial Court’s thirty-six departments. Their mobility gives them far greater long-term potential than ordinary officials.
• The victors are offered three days to choose their assignments:
  • The powerful Merit Office, which evaluates officials’ merits and faults and influences promotions.
  • Positions within the Dao Academy, such as stewards, offering stability, resources, and continued study.
  • Other departments of their choosing.
• Outside the chamber, the victors discuss their options. Lü Qing favors the Merit Office because of its authority and usefulness in supporting his family. Wang Qingli prefers remaining at the academy, where a peaceful scholarly life suits her wood-attribute cultivation.
• Chu Bai considers both options but realizes neither would fully benefit his special Fate Destiny, [Seal and Ribbon Mutual Generation, Forge Fate Through Merit and Fault], which rewards him for accumulating merit and defeating evil.
• He decides not to choose hastily. Instead, he will investigate Great Zhou’s various departments before selecting a path that allows him to personally earn major merits and confront powerful criminals or demons.
• Back in his dormitory, Chu Bai uses the Spring-Rejuvenation Seal and Breath Regulation to recover from the examination.
• When his roommates return, he reveals that he passed the Immortal Official Examination and has graduated early. They initially think he is joking, but Jiang Kuo recognizes the battle-worn aura around him and realizes the claim is true.
• The roommates react with shock, admiration, humor, and envy. They spend the evening discussing Chu Bai’s achievement and their own ambitions, aware that their paths will soon diverge.

Character Developments

• Chu Bai becomes more strategic and self-aware. Rather than accepting the most prestigious or secure position, he evaluates how each choice interacts with his unique Fate Destiny and future goals.
• Lü Qing is shown to be practical and family-minded. He values authority mainly because it could help him obtain resources and provide for his family.
• Wang Qingli demonstrates a preference for peace, scholarship, and steady cultivation over political power or combat.
• Jiang Kuo proves observant and perceptive, being the first roommate to recognize that Chu Bai’s claim is genuine.
• Zhou Tong and Chen Shi respond with humor and camaraderie, but ultimately express sincere admiration and support for Chu Bai.
• The three roommates reveal their own aspirations: Chen Shi seeks a modest but comfortable official position, Zhou Tong hopes to become a formation master, and Jiang Kuo quietly aims for greater advancement.

Significant Themes

• Freedom versus stability: Immortal Clerks can pursue broader advancement, while academy positions offer safety and continuity.
• Choosing one’s path: The chapter emphasizes that status alone is not enough; success depends on selecting a role suited to one’s abilities, ambitions, and opportunities.
• Power and bureaucracy: The Merit Office represents institutional influence, since controlling evaluations and promotions grants substantial authority.
• Merit and destiny: Chu Bai’s special Fate Destiny makes the relationship between righteous deeds, official recognition, and personal cultivation especially important.
• Friendship and separation: Chu Bai’s early graduation marks the beginning of a gradual divergence from his roommates, giving their final night together a bittersweet quality.
• Ambition and social mobility: The Immortal Clerk qualification offers talented cultivators a chance to rise beyond the limitations of fixed, lower-ranking posts.

Character Interactions

• Judge Li formally explains the significance of Immortal Clerk status and presents the victors with their career choices, while Vice Dean Lu He offers the academy as a gentler alternative.
• Chu Bai consults Lü Qing and Wang Qingli, learning how their personal values shape their decisions.
• His conversation with his roommates shifts from disbelief and teasing to awe and respect after they realize he truly defeated third-year elites.
• Chu Bai jokingly demands that they call him “senior,” preserving the warmth and familiarity of their friendship despite his sudden rise.
• Their final late-night discussion reinforces both their bonds and the growing distance between their future paths.

Key plot points and events

• Chu Bai formally graduates after winning first place in the Immortal Official Examination. With his White Ordination, he becomes an Immortal Clerk awaiting appointment, leaving behind his status as a Dao Academy student.
• His achievement spreads quickly, inspiring awe and envy among his classmates. Li Han, a fellow Anping native, regrets letting jealousy create a rift between them and realizes he has lost the chance to build a useful friendship.
• Government offices compete to recruit Chu Bai, offering attractive salaries and posts. He politely declines because their duties or locations do not fit his ambition to gain merit through action.
• Zhang Cheng, Anping County’s Commandant, visits and offers Chu Bai a leadership post in the newly merged Demon-Suppression Office. The office is understaffed and handles cases involving cultivators and demons, promising Chu Bai plenty of opportunities to fight and earn merit. Chu Bai asks for time to consider.
• At a later meeting, the examination’s successful candidates choose their paths: three join Judge Li’s Merit Office, Ji Li postpones his appointment to temper himself, and Wang Qingli and another student remain at the Academy as stewards.
• Chu Bai announces that he will return to Anping County as a Patrol Banner Commander in the Demon-Suppression Office.

Character developments and interactions

• Chu Bai moves decisively from student life toward public service. He prioritizes practical opportunities for cultivation and advancement over comfort or prestige, while also showing gratitude and loyalty to those who helped him.
• Li Han confronts his past jealousy and regrets distancing himself from Chu Bai, but ultimately accepts that their lives have diverged.
• Zhang Cheng is astonished by Chu Bai’s rapid rise, then makes a sincere recruitment pitch. Their old connection and Zhang’s earlier support weigh heavily in Chu Bai’s decision.
• Ji Li, humbled by his defeat, chooses to delay taking office so he can strengthen his character. Deputy Dean Lu He approves of his resilience.
• Judge Li recruits three candidates enthusiastically but respects the others’ choices. The deans support Chu Bai’s decision rather than pressuring him to stay.

Significant themes

• Ambition and meaningful work: Chu Bai chooses a demanding post with room to earn merit over safer, more prestigious roles.
• Regret and missed chances: Li Han’s reflections show how pride and jealousy can damage relationships—and how opportunities may not return.
• Defeat as growth: Ji Li treats failure as a chance to refine his Dao Heart.
• Gratitude and loyalty: Chu Bai’s return is driven partly by his desire to repay Zhang Cheng’s past faith in him.
• Different paths to the future: The graduates make distinct choices, each suited to their circumstances and aims.

Plot and key events

• Before leaving the Dao Academy, Chu Bai visits the teachers who guided him, showing gratitude and remembering the bonds he formed there.
• He confirms his decision to join the Anping County Demon-Suppression Office. Zhang Cheng is delighted by his exceptional examination record but recognizes that Anping may only be a temporary step in Chu Bai’s career.
• Chu Bai meets fellow Anping native Hu Hao, a modest recent graduate who has taken a junior constable’s post. The three travel home aboard Zhang Cheng’s Foundation Establishment flying shuttle.
• During the journey, Zhang warns that Anping has become troubled: fishing boats are disappearing near the Three-Bath River, with rumors of a Great Demon beneath it. Hu Hao is especially concerned because the river is near his home.
• Chu Bai practices the Keep One Scripture and finally breaks through, awakening Divine Sense. He can now perceive cultivators’ spiritual energy and strength, though his range is only about one zhang.
• Using his new perception to examine his own cultivation, Chu Bai notices that his water- and earth-element spiritual energies are weaker in quality than his metal, wood, and fire energies. He decides to replace them with better materials in the future, without risking his currently stable foundation.
• The shuttle reaches Anping. Chu Bai reflects on how much his outlook has changed since he left as a student. Zhang gives both recruits time to visit their families and tells them to report to the office in three days for their badges, uniforms, and formal welcome.

Character developments and interactions

• Chu Bai leaves the academy with gratitude and confidence, but without arrogance. His breakthrough in Divine Sense marks a major step in his cultivation; he responds to the shortcomings he discovers with patience rather than haste.
• Zhang Cheng is proud to recruit Chu Bai and treats him considerately, while also cautioning the recruits about the county’s worsening dangers. He expects Chu Bai may eventually outgrow the post but hopes to benefit from his service in the meantime.
• Hu Hao is humble and straightforward about his modest ambitions: a secure job will lift his poor fishing family out of hardship. He and Chu Bai quickly establish a friendly, mutually respectful relationship, and the river threat makes his homecoming more anxious.
• The group’s conversations connect their shared county origins with the responsibilities awaiting them. Zhang urges the two former students to support each other as they begin service.

Significant themes

• Gratitude and parting: Chu Bai’s farewell emphasizes the lasting value of teachers and the relationships formed during his education.
• Ambition and ordinary security: Chu Bai’s exceptional promise contrasts with Hu Hao’s practical desire for a stable life and a better future for his family.
• Growth and changing perspective: Returning to Anping from above reflects Chu Bai’s personal and spiritual progress; the city that once seemed immense now appears smaller.
• Preparation amid danger: Chu Bai’s cultivation breakthrough and Zhang’s warning foreshadow the challenges the recruits will face at the Demon-Suppression Office.
• Balance and refinement: Chu Bai’s discovery of uneven elemental energies highlights the importance of a sound foundation and gradual improvement.

Plot points and events

• Chu Bai visits his teacher, Daoist Zhang, after returning to Anping County. He explains that he has not come on leave: he passed the Immortal Official Examination, earned a place as an Immortal Clerk, received a White Ordination from Judge Li, and has therefore completed his Dao Academy studies early.
• Daoist Zhang is astonished to learn that Chu Bai reached Qi Refining Third Layer in one year and placed first in the examination. He verifies Chu Bai’s cultivation and ordination, then celebrates his achievement.
• Chu Bai explains why he chose a post in Anping County’s newly formed Demon-Suppression Office: practical work against demons will strengthen him, he knows the county, and he wants to repay Zhang Cheng for supporting him during his county examination.
• Daoist Zhang warns that county politics are divided among County Magistrate Qian Shen, the powerful local clans led by the deputy magistrate, and Zhang Cheng’s smaller, reform-minded faction. The office merger gives Zhang Cheng more authority but threatens others’ interests, making resistance likely.
• Zhang advises Chu Bai to avoid factional entanglements and protect his clean record. In particular, he must refuse gifts and favors, which could create obligations that later compromise his judgment. Daoist Zhang also identifies several influential families for him to watch.
• After leaving, Chu Bai uses his Fire Element Ring with Firestep Dash to travel rapidly toward his village. He plans to spend the next three days with his family, study the Keep One Scripture, and strengthen his newly awakened divine sense before beginning work.

Character developments and interactions

• Chu Bai demonstrates humility toward his teacher, gratitude toward Zhang Cheng, and a clear sense of purpose. Though he understands the political dangers, he intends to focus on his duties, cultivation, and fighting demons rather than seek factional advantage.
• Daoist Zhang moves from alarm at the thought that Chu Bai has left the academy to pride in his student’s exceptional progress. His admiration is paired with practical concern: he offers candid guidance about official politics, integrity, and the dangers of accepting favors.
• Their warm teacher-student reunion combines affection and celebration with a serious mentor’s preparation of his pupil for public service.

Significant themes

• Merit and ambition: Chu Bai’s rapid cultivation and examination success open the way to an official career.
• Integrity in public service: Gifts and personal favors can become debts that undermine future judgment; a clean record is essential.
• Gratitude and character: Chu Bai’s desire to repay Zhang Cheng reflects the moral importance of remembering those who helped him.
• Independence amid political conflict: Chu Bai’s ordination gives him a measure of freedom from local power brokers, and Daoist Zhang urges him to protect that independence.
• Growth through practice: Chu Bai sees dangerous, practical work—and continued study—as essential to developing his abilities.

Key events

• Chu Bai returns to Azure Cloud Village in a flash of speed, astonishing villagers who recognize him as an immortal master.
• He reunites warmly with his parents and younger siblings, sharing lighthearted stories rather than details of his dangerous battles or achievements. His family celebrates his early graduation and upcoming post at the Anping County Demon-Suppression Office.
• The clan elder visits with gifts and gratitude for Chu Bai’s family. He reveals that Chu Bai’s uncle, Chu Huaiyuan, has been invoking Chu Bai’s name—and his success in the Dao Academy examination—to promote his cloth business.
• Chu Bai chooses not to dwell on his uncle’s past schemes, but firmly orders that he stop using Chu Bai’s name. As an incoming officer, Chu Bai could be implicated if his reputation were used to solicit favors.
• That night, Chu Bai practices the Scripture of Guarding the One. The strain forces him to stop after five cycles. He estimates that minor mastery is still months away and resolves to cultivate his soul regularly while working toward the Qi Refining Fourth Layer.

Character developments and interactions

• Chu Bai shows affection and humility at home, allowing his parents to enjoy their pride without burdening them with complicated details. He is more detached from old family grievances, yet takes a clear, responsible stand when his uncle’s conduct could threaten his office.
• Chu Xianglin and Li are overjoyed by their son’s apparent rise to government service. Their mixed feelings about Chu Huaiyuan reflect both his past help and the family’s lingering hurt.
• The clan elder shifts from anxious deference to excited respect once he learns Chu Bai’s actual appointment. He pledges to make Chu Huaiyuan stop using the connection.
• Chu Huaiyuan, though absent, is revealed to have profited from his nephew’s reputation, prompting a boundary rather than a renewed family quarrel.

Significant themes

• Home and humility: Despite his growing power, Chu Bai finds peace and warmth among his family.
• Power and social status: His cultivation and official appointment transform how villagers and the clan elder treat him.
• Forgiveness with boundaries: Chu Bai lets past grievances go but refuses to let them create future trouble.
• Steady cultivation and ambition: He recognizes both the limits of his soul training and his improved aptitude, setting his sights on the next breakthrough.

Key plot points and events

• After three days of preparation, Chu Bai leaves home for Anping County. On the way, his practice of the Scripture of Guarding the One sharpens his spiritual awareness enough to detect and avoid a concealed animal trap. He realizes that cultivating his soul may help keep him alive in danger.
• Chu Bai and Hu Hao arrive at the newly merged Demon-Suppression Office, where Chief Zhang Cheng formally appoints Chu Bai Patrol Banner Commander, Subordinate Ninth Rank. The independent post answers directly to Zhang and carries authority to patrol, investigate misconduct, and hunt demons. Hu Hao is assigned as an ordinary guard in the Third Squad.
• Chu Bai’s Black Iron waist token connects him to the county’s law net, letting him detect baleful auras within a hundred zhang and locate colleagues nearby.
• At the supply counter, Clerk Liu gives Chu Bai preferential treatment but demands a bribe from Hu Hao by withholding his equipment. Hu Hao pays five taels to secure his armor and supplies. Chu Bai watches without intervening, recognizing Liu’s action as a test of his character and political stance.
• Hu Hao explains that the office is divided among rival factions: the First Squad serves the county magistrate, the Second is backed by powerful clans aligned with the deputy magistrate, and the Third is burdened with unwanted personnel and difficult work. Zhang Cheng has little influence over the first two squads and is relying on newcomers.

Character developments and interactions

• Chu Bai shows increased spiritual sensitivity, composure, and political caution. He accepts his appointment without reacting to the hostility around him, and lets Hu Hao handle the immediate bribe rather than revealing his intentions. He plans to focus on his official duties and avoid factional entanglements.
• Hu Hao is excited by his appointment but quickly learns that the office is corrupt and politically divided. Though frustrated by losing money, he listens to Chu Bai’s advice and resolves to do his work well.
• Zhang Cheng presents Chu Bai’s independent appointment as a mark of trust and gives him a role with investigative authority, though his strategic motives are not yet clear.
• Clerk Liu uses supplies to extract a bribe and probes Chu Bai’s response, becoming uncertain when Chu Bai neither challenges him nor joins in.
• Chu Bai encourages Hu Hao not to be discouraged by his placement in the neglected Third Squad, advising him to build his strength rather than rush into factional politics.

Significant themes

• Spiritual cultivation and survival: Greater awareness turns disciplined practice into practical protection.
• Corruption and factionalism: The new office is divided by political interests, and even basic equipment is used to enforce informal rules.
• Prudence and restraint: Chu Bai avoids acting impulsively or exposing his position before he understands the office’s power struggles.
• Merit and potential: Chu Bai argues that a difficult assignment need not define Hu Hao’s future; discipline and strength can create opportunities.

Key plot points and events

• Chu Bai enters the Demon-Suppression Office archives to review unresolved cases. The clerk, Wang De, initially treats him dismissively, but Chu Bai’s quiet use of Divine Sense frightens him into cooperating.
• Using the Keep One Scripture’s speed of thought and flawless memory, Chu Bai sorts through the office’s chaotic records and spots suspicious expenses in the case of a supposed fox demon in Liu Family Village.
• The file shows that Deputy Captain Wang Sanshui’s squad twice failed to catch the “demon” while claiming costly formation materials and damaged armor. Chu Bai suspects either fabricated reports for embezzlement or deliberate failure to keep collecting funds.
• Chu Bai takes the case as a practical first test of his authority, then disguises himself as a traveling scholar and heads to the village alone.
• In Liu Family Village, he finds frightened residents, a worthless talisman presented as an exorcism formation, and no clear signs of demonic activity. An elderly villager recounts the squad’s supposed encounter, but the account and the lack of blood or spiritual traces seem inconsistent with a real fight.
• Chu Bai detects poor-quality Demon-Luring Incense near a damaged chicken coop. The coop’s clean cuts also suggest human interference rather than an animal attack. Following the incense, he heads toward a ruined Mountain God temple to uncover the truth.

Character developments

• Chu Bai demonstrates calm authority, perceptiveness, and methodical judgment. Rather than openly confronting the corrupt official, he investigates discreetly and prepares carefully.
• Wang De shifts from lazy and contemptuous to anxious and deferential after experiencing Chu Bai’s intimidating Divine Sense.
• Wang Sanshui is not yet confronted, but the records and village evidence portray him as potentially corrupt and manipulative.
• The villagers, especially the elderly man, appear frightened and distrustful, having been left to believe a dangerous “Fox Immortal” threatens them.

Significant themes

• Corruption and institutional neglect: The disorganized archives and questionable case handling reveal an office weakened by blame-shifting and possible fraud.
• Appearances versus evidence: The supposed demon threat may be a staged performance, and Chu Bai relies on investigation rather than official claims or rumor.
• Authority earned through competence: Chu Bai seeks to establish his position by resolving a manageable case and exposing misconduct.
• Power used with restraint: He intimidates Wang De without violence and investigates the village without making a public show of force.

Character interactions

• Chu Bai’s restrained confrontation with Wang De establishes his authority and gets him access to the records.
• He speaks gently to the elderly villager, posing as a harmless traveler to gain entry and learn what happened.
• The villager’s fear contrasts with Chu Bai’s skepticism; his questions about the guards’ injuries help expose inconsistencies in their story.
• Chu Bai leaves the villager’s home determined to follow the incense trail and hold the responsible parties accountable.

Key plot points and events

• Chu Bai secretly investigates an abandoned Mountain God temple after reports of a fox demon. Using Divine Sense, he discovers that the “demon” is an ordinary, frightened fox kept in a cage. Two Demon-Suppression Office men are staging the threat with Demon-Luring Incense so Deputy Captain Wang Sanshui can fabricate expenses and pocket public funds.
• Chu Bai realizes the incense could attract a real demon from nearby Great Black Mountain. He stays hidden, waiting for Wang to arrive.
• Wang leads his squad in a noisy, staged “hunt,” then drops the act inside the temple and discusses how to claim allowances and falsify damage to their armor.
• The incense draws a genuine Qi Refining Mid-Stage Bloodthirsty Black Wolf. It bursts into the temple, killing one accomplice and severely injuring the other. The squad panics; Wang even shoves a subordinate into the wolf’s path as he tries to escape.
• Chu Bai intervenes, striking the wolf’s nose to interrupt its attack. He then confronts Wang for abandoning his duty and sacrificing a comrade. When Wang attempts to flee, Chu Bai’s Spirit Water Needle trips and wounds him, and Chu Bai rebukes him for becoming so weak.

Character developments

• Chu Bai is observant and controlled, quickly uncovering the fraud and anticipating its danger. He allows events to unfold, but steps in decisively when lives are threatened. His calm authority contrasts sharply with the squad’s panic.
• Wang Sanshui is exposed as corrupt and cowardly: he manufactures demon reports for profit, treats his squad as accomplices, and abandons them when a real monster appears.
• The squad members are shown as complicit in Wang’s scheme and unprepared for genuine danger. Their bravado evaporates when the wolf attacks.
• The two accomplices help maintain the fake demon story; one is killed and the other badly injured in the real attack.

Significant themes

• Corruption and abuse of authority: Wang exploits public funds and his position for personal gain.
• Appearance versus reality: A fake demon hunt becomes a real crisis, revealing the difference between staged heroism and true courage.
• Duty and cowardice: Chu Bai condemns the guards for fleeing and endangering a comrade, while his own intervention embodies responsibility.
• Recklessness and consequences: The officials’ scheme with Demon-Luring Incense brings the genuine danger they were pretending to fight.

Character interactions

• Chu Bai observes the conspirators in secret before confronting Wang once the danger exposes his misconduct.
• Wang commands the squad theatrically, then privately coordinates the fraud; when the wolf arrives, he urges Chu Bai to hold it off while he escapes.
• The squad’s panic culminates in Wang pushing one subordinate toward the wolf. Chu Bai saves the man with a timely strike, then restrains Wang and challenges his conduct.

Key plot points and events

• At the Mountain God Temple, the Bloodthirsty Black Wolf attacks the Demon-Suppression squad with a psychic howl, corrosive fire, and wind blades. Chu Bai’s powerful Divine Sense lets him resist the howl, read the wolf’s movements, and evade its attacks.
• Using Firestep Dash and Formless Cloud Hand, Chu Bai turns the wolf’s strength against it. He finishes it with a perfected Spirit Water Needle, transformed into piercing Geng Metal Qi, killing the demon in one strike.
• Chu Bai confronts Deputy Captain Wang Sanshui, whose scheme is exposed: he used Demon-Luring Incense and an ordinary fox to fake demon attacks, claim rewards, and keep Liu Family Village dependent on him. His fraud ultimately drew a real demon and cost squad members their lives. Chu Bai arrests him with the evidence and surviving witnesses present.
• That night, Chu Bai brings Wang Sanshui and the wolf’s corpse to Chief Zhang Cheng. Zhang recognizes the case as a chance to discipline the Third Squad and restore the Demon-Suppression Office’s authority. He promises Chu Bai full credit and plans to make the case public.
• Chu Bai reflects that he could have used Wang as leverage for personal gain, but rejects that course. His Forge Fate Through Merit and Fault Fate Destiny does not react to merely capturing a criminal; he concludes that real merit requires a formal conviction and punishment that fully removes the evil.

Character developments and interactions

• Chu Bai demonstrates exceptional combat skill, tactical perception, and confidence, but also a principled refusal to profit from corruption. He acts decisively, turns Wang over to his superior, and deliberately leaves Zhang Cheng room to lead the case.
• Wang Sanshui shifts from swaggering deputy captain to terrified captive. Faced with the wolf’s corpse and proof of his crimes, he collapses and accepts that his career is over.
• Zhang Cheng moves from exhaustion and frustration with entrenched office politics to renewed hope. He admires Chu Bai’s judgment as well as his strength, interpreting the arrest as both loyalty and a chance to assert authority.
• The surviving squad members, initially incapacitated and terrified, surrender and help bind Wang, hoping their cooperation will lessen their own culpability.

Significant themes

• Skill over brute force: Chu Bai’s Divine Sense and refined techniques let him overcome a stronger-looking opponent by reading and exploiting its weaknesses.
• Justice versus opportunism: Chu Bai rejects blackmail and backroom deals, choosing official accountability instead.
• Merit requires consequences: The chapter’s central moral and supernatural principle is that wrongdoing is not truly addressed until it is publicly judged and punished.
• Reform through decisive action: Wang’s arrest gives Zhang Cheng an opportunity to challenge corruption and restore order in the Demon-Suppression Office.