Chapter Summaries

At a banquet celebrating his breakthrough to Qi Refining Late-Stage, Chu Bai earned the respect of Anping County’s powerful families and refused their marriage overtures. He also declined a promotion so he could focus on the Qingzhou Heavenly Examination, confirming his ambition to Zhang Cheng.

• Chu Bai hosted a banquet at Wind-and-Moon Residence, honored his parents and Daoist Zhang, and received gifts and congratulations from Anping County’s powerful figures.
• Li Feng offered to maintain Chu Bai’s Spirit-Gathering Array, Han Xingmo pledged the Water Office’s support, and Pang Song presented him with the Hundred-Battle Armor on behalf of the Demon-Suppression Office.
• Chu Bai rejected marriage proposals and learned from Han Xingmo that officials had concealed the Three-Bath Lady’s crimes, prompting plans to assign the region an Orthodox Brook Water Earl.
• After the banquet, Zhang Cheng offered Chu Bai a promotion to Subordinate Eighth Rank Demon-Suppression Commandant, but Chu Bai refused to avoid the duties and political entanglements.
• Zhang Cheng realized Chu Bai meant to take part in the Qingzhou Heavenly Examination, and Chu Bai confirmed that he would try.

After Chu Bai committed to the Qingzhou Heavenly Examination, Zhang Cheng explained the deadly trials awaiting him and promised to ease his duties so he could prepare. Chu Bai began tempering his body with Mountain-Pacifying Platinum, then resolved to strengthen his cultivation, Divine Sense, and Spell Arts before the examination.

• Chu Bai told Zhang Cheng he intended to pursue Azure Ordination through the Qingzhou Heavenly Examination, and Zhang Cheng accepted him as a Mentor and reduced his Demon-Slaying Squad duties.
• Zhang Cheng warned Chu Bai that the Heavenly Ladder took place in a wild secret realm beyond the Law Net, where only a few hundred of tens of thousands of cultivators earned Azure Ordination and casualties exceeded thirty percent.
• After returning to Clearwind Courtyard, Chu Bai used the Iron-Bone Body-Tempering Method and Mountain-Pacifying Platinum to strengthen his bones through the night.
• Chu Bai's precise use of Divine Sense helped him repair minute flaws in his bones, improve his body-tempering proficiency, and unleash a powerful punch using only physical strength.
• Chu Bai donned the Hundred-Battle Armor and decided to combine his body, Divine Sense, and Spell Arts to prepare for the Heavenly Examination.

After the Principal Eighth Rank Brook Water Earl was assassinated near Anping County, Chu Bai was ordered to lead the Demon-Slaying Squad in sealing the Three-Bath River and investigating the attack. He reached the wrecked Divine Ship and guarded the scene as he waited for investigators from Great Wall Prefecture.

• At Han Xingmo’s promotion banquet, Chu Bai said he planned to leave daily Demon-Suppression Office duties to his subordinates and focus on the Heavenly Examination.
• Han Xingmo told Chu Bai that the newly appointed Brook Water Earl was traveling down the Three-Bath River and would soon arrive in Anping County.
• Chu Bai learned that the Water Earl’s Divine Ship had been split apart at First-Line Gorge and that the Water Earl, his escorts, and two Judges had all been killed.
• Zhang Cheng ordered Chu Bai to lead the elite Demon-Slaying Squad in securing the river and screening Rogue Cultivators and powerful clans near First-Line Gorge.
• Chu Bai left Pang Song in charge of public order while Han Xingmo’s River-Patrolling Strongmen sealed off the river and Chu Bai’s forces searched the banks.
• Chu Bai reached the wrecked Divine Ship, sensed sinister power in the black mist, and guarded the site as several watchers fled from his presence.

Chu Bai discovered that the Water Earl’s damaged Divine Dao Seal remained intact and suspected Qi Pan had been sent to destroy it. After capturing Qi Pan, Chu Bai entered the deadly black mist to retrieve the seal before it was lost.

• Chu Bai noticed Qi Pan’s suspicious eagerness to dive into the black mist and learned that Qi Pan had recovered miraculously from a near-fatal injury two years earlier.
• Chu Bai used his Divine Sense to find the damaged Divine Dao Seal beneath the wreckage and realized it could preserve evidence of the Water Earl’s killer.
• Qi Pan tried to dive into the river, but Chu Bai trapped and captured him while Han Xingmo froze the authority of Qi Pan’s River-Patrol Token.
• Chu Bai sent Zhang Cheng an urgent message about the intact seal, then plunged into the black mist and pushed toward the wreckage.

Chu Bai recovered the damaged Brook Water Earl Seal and refused to surrender it when Wei Chuan arrived claiming authority over the case. As the two sides prepared for a confrontation, officials in Anping debated the vacant Divine Seat, and Shi Guanchao suddenly rushed out after receiving a message.

• Chu Bai retrieved the cracked Brook Water Earl Seal from the wreckage and questioned captive Qi Pan, who warned that the seal was a death warrant and hinted at powerful forces behind the assassination.
• Han Xingmo stopped Chu Bai from probing further and urged him to preserve the scene until Office Head Zhang arrived.
• Wei Chuan arrived with Great Wall Prefecture officials and demanded Chu Bai hand over the evidence and prisoner, but Chu Bai refused and called for Zhang.
• Chu Bai and Han Xingmo rallied the Demon-Slaying Guards and River-Patrolling Strongmen against Wei Chuan, who sealed the local Law Net and threatened to seize the seal by force.
• At the County Yamen, Qian Shen rebuked office heads for arguing over the Water Earl’s vacant Divine Seat before the case was solved.
• Shi Guanchao received a message on his transmission token, turned grim, and hurried out of the County Yamen.

Chu Bai resisted Wei Chuan’s attempt to seize the golden seal and fought him to a draw despite the Foundation Establishment decree and Wei Chuan’s higher cultivation. Zhang Cheng arrived, broke the decree’s restriction, and arranged for both sides to return to the Anping Demon-Suppression Office to resolve the case.

• The Inspector’s Token invoked a Foundation Establishment decree that drove the guards back, but Chu Bai remained standing under its pressure.
• Wei Chuan attacked Chu Bai and demanded the seal, while Chu Bai used his defenses, body-tempering, Divine Sense, and precise Spell Arts to withstand him.
• Chu Bai and Wei Chuan fought through a hundred exchanges without either gaining the upper hand, as Wei Chuan’s inspectors confronted the local guards.
• Zhang Cheng arrived on his flying shuttle, broke the Law Net restriction, and challenged the Inspection Office’s treatment of Chu Bai.
• Zhang Cheng took the Divine Dao Seal, explained that the Water Earl’s spirit remained, and proposed that both sides return to the Anping Demon-Suppression Office.
• The token’s voice accepted Zhang Cheng’s proposal, Wei Chuan sheathed his blade, and Zhang Cheng ordered Han Xingmo to bring Qi Pan and the others to depart.

At the Anping Demon-Suppression Office, Qi Pan confessed that a rogue cultivator faction had ordered him to destroy the Brook Water Earl Seal, while Zhang Cheng suspected the Inspection Office had acted opportunistically rather than arranging the attack. Shi Guanchao revived the Water Earl’s remnant, but the god awoke without his memories and could not identify his attacker.

• Chu Bai reported the confrontation at First-Line Gorge, and Zhang Cheng concluded that Lord Sima likely tried to seize the seal after the attack rather than ordering the Water Earl’s assassination.
• Zhang Cheng used his Divine Sense to force Qi Pan to confess that rogue cultivators had recruited him after saving his life and ordered him to destroy the seal with a secret art.
• Qi Pan revealed that the faction had operated for decades beyond the Law Net’s reach and might have a Foundation Establishment cultivator behind it, prompting Zhang Cheng to warn Chu Bai to guard the seal.
• Shi Guanchao arrived and used his Pure Netherwater Dao Foundation and Official Seal to revive the Water Earl’s weakened divine form.
• Zhang Cheng activated the Merit-Recording Mirror and questioned the Water Earl, but the apparition asked who he was and Shi Guanchao discovered that his memories were gone.

Chu Bai preserved the Water Earl’s Divine Seal, thwarting Wei Chuan’s attempt to seize it, and the case was eventually handed over to Great Wall Prefecture. After months of quiet cultivation, Chu Bai reached Qi Refining Eighth Layer and received another Excellent merit rating.

• Zhang Cheng praised Chu Bai for protecting the Divine Seal, while Shi Guanchao took Qi Pan and the witless Water Earl into Water Office custody.
• Anping County staged a Welcoming the God Ceremony, placing the damaged seal inside a golden statue as the people’s prayers began to nourish the Water Earl’s remnant soul.
• Great Wall Prefecture took over the investigation, and Wei Chuan was demoted for improper procedure, though the true culprit remained unknown.
• Zhang Cheng explained that Wei Chuan had likely tried to transfer the vacant Divine Seat to a favored cultivator and warned Chu Bai that Lord Sima might resent them.
• Chu Bai cultivated to Qi Refining Eighth Layer during the ensuing peaceful months, while Lü Qing was promoted to a Merit Office steward in the Prefectural City.
• The Merit Envoy assessed Chu Bai’s record and awarded him an Excellent rating for protecting the seal and keeping his jurisdiction calm.

After balancing his Five-Element Cycle and learning the Shadow-Hiding Trace-Erasing Art, Chu Bai learned that the Legacy of the Dharma Transmitters had gathered at Chaos Bone Ridge. He led two hundred guards there and began a surprise attack, leaving the battle against Black Sheep poised to begin.

• Zhang Cheng gave Chu Bai the Abyssal Spring Pearl and a token to choose another secret art, and Chu Bai selected the Shadow-Hiding Trace-Erasing Art.
• Chu Bai used the Mountain-Pacifying Platinum and Abyssal Spring Pearl to perfect his Five-Element Cycle and strengthen his cultivation.
• Pang Song told Chu Bai that the Legacy of the Dharma Transmitters operated from Chaos Bone Ridge under a leader called Black Sheep.
• Chu Bai assembled two hundred guards and led them toward Chaos Bone Ridge, where he sensed more than a dozen Rogue Cultivators gathered near a dry well.
• Chu Bai concealed himself, killed a Qi Refining Fifth Layer sentry with a Spirit Water Needle, and signaled Pang Song and the guards to close the net.

Chu Bai led the Demon-Suppression Office troops in an assault on Chaos Bone Ridge and defeated Black Sheep’s initial attacks. Black Sheep fused himself with the Earth Vein to keep fighting, while Chu Bai’s relentless elemental Spell Arts wore him down and left him close to defeat.

• Chu Bai and two hundred guards attacked the True Spirit Society’s outpost at Chaos Bone Ridge, and Chu Bai dismantled Black Sheep’s vine attacks with precise Spirit Water Needles.
• Black Sheep trapped Chu Bai in Ten Thousand Trees Prison, but Chu Bai escaped with Firestep Dash and Formless Cloud Hand, then broke through Black Sheep’s defenses and wounded his shoulder with Golden Eye Illusion-Breaker.
• Black Sheep used Ancient Wood Suppresses the Origin to bind himself to the Earth Vein and ordered his surviving Rogue Cultivators to flee west with a talisman-wrapped long box.
• Chu Bai stopped Black Sheep from pursuing the escaping group, while Feng Qin and Hu Hao led the guards after the Rogue Cultivators and the treasure.
• Black Sheep became a massive wooden body sustained by the Earth Vein, but Chu Bai’s repeated fire, metal, and water attacks steadily burned and shredded him despite his rapid regeneration.

Chu Bai defeated Black Sheep and captured him alive, then absorbed the Divine-Path Merit stored in the Water Earl’s seal ribbon. Black Sheep’s interrogation exposed the True Spirit Society’s plan to seize divine origins and implicated corrupt officials, while Zhang Cheng prepared to take the testimony to the Prefectural City.

• Chu Bai destroyed Black Sheep’s wooden defenses, sealed his Spell Power, and captured him alive as the government troops defeated the other Rogue Cultivators.
• Chu Bai opened the recovered case, absorbed the Divine-Path Merit from the Water Earl’s seal ribbon, then returned the ribbon to Feng Qin as a relic for safekeeping.
• Chu Bai and Pang Song led the victorious troops back to Anping, where Zhang Cheng praised their success and said Chu Bai’s Excellent rating was secure ahead of the Heavenly Examination.
• Zhang Cheng interrogated Black Sheep, who revealed that the True Spirit Society sought the Water Earl’s Divine Path Origin to force a Foundation Establishment breakthrough.
• Black Sheep’s testimony implicated corrupt officials in the Great Wall Prefecture Inspection Office, and Zhang Cheng ordered him imprisoned before taking the evidence to the Prefectural City.

Chu Bai returned the Water Earl’s stolen Divine Path Origin, restoring the god and unknowingly binding him as a loyal retainer. After half a year of cultivation, Chu Bai reached the Ninth Layer of Qi Refining and prepared to spend ninety days training for the Qingzhou Heavenly Examination.

• After the Chaos Bone Ridge case ended, Chu Bai worried that the Divine Path Origin he had absorbed from the seal ribbon would expose him to scrutiny.
• Chu Bai summoned the Brook Water Earl and returned the stolen origin, restoring the god’s awareness and making him acknowledge Chu Bai as his master.
• Chu Bai ordered the Water Earl to keep watch over the Three-Bath River in secret while maintaining his public role as an Orthodox God.
• Over the next half year, the Water Earl gradually appeared to recover, the True Spirit Society became Qingzhou’s most-wanted Rogue Cultivator organization, and Chu Bai cultivated to the Ninth Layer of Qi Refining.
• Chu Bai offered to resign from his Demon-Slaying Token post, but Zhang Cheng let him keep it as a fallback and encouraged him to pursue the Heavenly Examination.
• Chu Bai handed his squad duties to Feng Qin and Hu Hao, returned to Clearwind Courtyard, and began his final ninety days of preparation for the Qingzhou Heavenly Examination.

After three months of final cultivation in Anping County, Chu Bai reached the Ninth Layer of Qi Refining and departed for the Heavenly Examination in Great Wall Prefectural City. He reunited with Lü Qing there, who was stunned by Chu Bai’s strength, as the examination approached.

• Chu Bai completed his retreat with a secure Ninth Layer of Qi Refining foundation and a body nearing the Qi Refining realm’s limit.
• Zhang Cheng gave Chu Bai his notes on surviving the examination’s lawless secret realms and warned him to prioritize staying alive.
• Chu Bai ordered the Brook Water Earl to protect Chu Family Village, gave Xiao Man a protective jade talisman, and celebrated his departure with his family and former squadmates.
• Chu Bai left Anping County on his Fire Element Ring and reached Great Wall Prefectural City.
• Lü Qing met Chu Bai at the Cloud-Climbing Pavilion, was astonished by his cultivation and Divine Sense, and invited him to visit their former Dao Academy teachers after the examination.

Chu Bai registered for the Qingzhou Heavenly Examination in Great Wall Prefecture, where his cultivation shocked the clerks and Wei Chuan. After meeting Su Mu, he learned that tens of thousands of candidates might be forced into as few as three dangerous secret realms, and he prepared himself for the ordeal ahead.

• Chu Bai registered for the Heavenly Examination, and two clerks questioned whether his rapid cultivation had left his foundations weak.
• Chu Bai encountered Wei Chuan, who concealed his resentment and hinted that they might meet in the secret realm.
• Chu Bai met Su Mu, a Qi Refining Perfection cultivator from Forest Sea County, and agreed to remember their conversation if they crossed paths in danger.
• Su Mu explained that candidates from Qingzhou’s Thirty-Six Prefectures would be randomly sent into wild secret realms and that recent rumors suggested there might be only three large realms.
• Chu Bai realized the crowded examination could become a bloody struggle for Azure Ordination and resolved to face Qingzhou’s other prodigies.

Chu Bai entered Qingzhou’s Heavenly Examination, learned that only five hundred of tens of thousands of cultivators could earn ordination, and drew a lot for the large Azure Nether Realm. He was swept into it alongside powerful competitors, ready to fight for a place.

• At Great Wall Prefecture’s Examination Office, Shen Xuance opened the Boundary Gate and sent Chu Bai and the other cultivators into the examination venue.
• A True Person announced that seven secret realms would open and that only cultivators who gained enough Merit and climbed the Heavenly Ladder could earn one of five hundred ordinations.
• Chu Bai spotted an elephant-headed Demon Cultivator who explained that Great Zhou had granted him White Ordination, revealing that demons could pursue official cultivation paths.
• The cultivators drew lots, and Chu Bai received an azure lot assigning him to the large Azure Nether Realm.
• Chu Bai entered the Azure Nether Realm alongside dozens of powerful competitors and brought himself to peak condition with the Origin Return Formula.

Chu Bai explored the Azure Nether Realm, where his cultivation methods let him withstand its baleful intent and hunt its monsters for Azure Nether Pearls. After discovering that the pearls awakened a ruined Land God statue, he gathered thirteen more and offered them, causing the statue’s eyes to light up.

• Chu Bai arrived in the Azure Nether Realm and found that he could absorb its baleful intent while other cultivators struggled against the realm’s gravity and corruption.
• Chu Bai killed a Nightmare Corpse Hound, earned one merit point, and discovered it had left an Azure Nether Pearl containing divine essence.
• Chu Bai hunted a Floating Mother and Headless Stone Golems, then avoided two cultivators fighting over Spirit-Transforming Grass.
• Chu Bai found a ruined Land God Temple and saw its statue respond faintly to an Azure Nether Pearl, so he resolved to collect more and make an offering.
• Chu Bai killed a pack of more than a dozen Nightmare Corpse Hounds and gathered thirteen Azure Nether Pearls.
• Chu Bai placed the thirteen pearls on the temple altar, and the Land God statue’s eyes lit up completely.

Chu Bai awakened a Land God who could survey the Earth Vein and guide him to spiritual treasures, then used that advantage to attack a guarded treasure site in the Azure Nether Realm. He killed one of three powerful abominations and escaped as the other two charged, claiming the site's first reward.

• Shen Xuance and He Wenyan learned that a Divine Flame Node had been lit in the Azure Nether Realm, giving Great Wall Prefecture a strong start in the examination.
• Chu Bai awakened a forgetful Land God by feeding it Azure Nether Pearls, and the spirit agreed to guide him and survey nearby Earth Veins.
• The Land God revealed a source of spiritual energy beneath an ancient Pill Kiln, where two Green-Furred Giant Apes and a mass of black fiery mist guarded the treasure site.
• Chu Bai sneaked past the apes and killed the black fiery mist with his techniques before the other abominations could react.
• Chu Bai collected three blue-green pearls and fled into the ruins as the two Green-Furred Giant Apes rushed toward him.

Chu Bai fed the weakened Land God Azure Nether Pearls, followed its guidance to defeat two Green-Furred Giant Apes, and harvested Blood Spirit Herbs from a hidden space beneath the Ancient Well Ruins. After the Land God briefly revealed bitterness toward past travelers, Chu Bai followed its directions deeper toward a lightning-shrouded palace, suspecting the Underground Palace held a greater treasure and unknown danger.

• Chu Bai gave all three Azure Nether Pearls to the Land God, restoring some of its strength and revealing a Blood Spirit Herb beneath the left corridor.
• Chu Bai fought and killed two Green-Furred Giant Apes after their coordinated attacks blocked his attempt to lure one away.
• Chu Bai found and harvested fourteen Blood Spirit Herbs, then ate one and used his fate destiny to refine its power, earning ten merit points.
• The Land God briefly spoke coherently and bitterly about travelers who took the realm's spiritual energy and abandoned him, then fell back into a vacant state.
• Chu Bai followed the Land God's directions deeper into the ruins, where the earth-vein energy led toward a lightning-shrouded palace and a suspected Underground Palace treasure.

Chu Bai entered the Underground Palace, fought the Sword Fiend Spirits, and took the Dark-Yellow Wu-Earth Essence, awakening the Ridge Vein Mountain God. After learning the Land God had guided him there in hopes of saving his former commander, Chu Bai agreed to try, but warned that he would flee with the Divine Dao Seal if the Mountain God turned demonic.

• Chu Bai survived the fivefold gravity and destroyed the Sword Fiend Spirits guarding the Underground Palace.
• The Land God explained that the Ridge Vein Mountain God had once ruled a thousand li as an Orthodox God appointed by Edict Investiture.
• Chu Bai found the Dark-Yellow Wu-Earth Essence and learned it could awaken the Mountain God's Divine Soul, while the Azure Nether Pearl could provide the energy needed to revive him.
• Chu Bai took the Earthly Treasure, shaking the Underground Palace and stirring the Mountain God, whose body had become a nest for Baleful Intent.
• The Land God confessed that he had led Chu Bai there to give his commanding officer a chance to live.
• Chu Bai agreed to try to save the Mountain God but said he would take the Divine Dao Seal and escape if the god turned completely demonic.

Chu Bai gathered Azure Nether Pearls from the examinees who rushed to claim the treasure, then returned to the Underground Palace to help awaken the corrupted Ridge Vein Mountain God. He offered more than a hundred pearls at the Divine Seat as the Mountain God’s corruption and the earth-vein tremors reached their limit.

• The earth-vein omen drew greedy examinees toward the Underground Palace, while the Land God warned Chu Bai that the Mountain God might fall completely to corruption.
• Chu Bai charged to the entrance and defeated Lin Yuanfei, taking his Azure Nether Pearls.
• Xia Xing, Lei Zhen, a cold-faced woman, and a towering man confronted Chu Bai, who demanded their pearls to stabilize the Mountain God.
• Chu Bai overwhelmed Lei Zhen and held off the woman and the towering man, forcing all four cultivators to leave their pearls and retreat.
• Chu Bai returned to the altar with more than a hundred Azure Nether Pearls and poured them out before the corrupted Mountain God.