Chapter Summaries

Plot points and events

• Li Xiang and Qin Zhong return to a Council Hall where Ye Qingyao reviews the Ghost Domain crisis. The invasion has spread along underground waterways across several provinces, and major factions have joined forces to contain it.
• Zhang Yunshang assigns Linjiang County’s sixteen Martial Guilds to clear routes toward Blackwater Ancient Town and protect supply convoys. Shocking Heron Martial Hall is responsible for a route through eight settlements and a mass graveyard. The expedition is scheduled to depart in five days, under strict wartime rules.
• Amid preparations and training, Li Xiang asks Ye Qingyao for leave to perform a family Profession ritual in a secluded house. He conceals that it is meant to unlock a rare Profession.
• On an auspicious night for sacrifices and burials, Li Xiang performs the ritual to awaken a paper effigy by painting its eyes with cinnabar and rooster blood. He must sit facing it until dawn without speaking or moving.
• The effigy subjects him to a series of seductive and emotional illusions, but Li Xiang withstands them. His friends keep watch outside, while Chu Tian identifies the rite as one for unlocking the rare Profession Paper Effigy Maker.
• At dawn, the effigy burns away in ghostly flames. The Book of a Hundred Trades glows blue and confirms Li Xiang has unlocked the Profession.

Character developments and interactions

• Zhang Yunshang demonstrates strong leadership, coordinating the county’s scattered forces and organizing a disciplined response.
• Ye Qingyao is practical and demanding, but respects the importance of Li Xiang’s advancement ritual and grants his leave. Her teasing about his supposed romance contrasts with her serious concern for the mission.
• Li Xiang balances military preparations, training, and a risky personal advancement. His composure and irreverent humor help him resist the effigy’s temptations.
• Qin Zhong is loyal and cautious, arranging a watch over Li Xiang despite others’ doubts.
• Chu Tian uses memories left by a failed attempt to possess him to recognize the ritual’s true purpose.
• Shopkeeper Sun, John, Lin Xuanshu, and Haitang add expertise, speculation, and humor to the watch; Sun senses that something has interfered with the ritual, though he cannot explain it.

Significant themes

• Collective responsibility and wartime discipline: The county’s survival depends on cooperation between combatants, tradespeople, and major factions.
• Risk and sacrifice: Rare Professions are difficult to unlock, and their rituals carry dangers learned through others’ costly failures.
• Composure against temptation: Li Xiang’s success comes from maintaining focus through supernatural trials.
• The uncanny power of crafts: Paper-effigy making blurs the boundary between art, spirit, and life, hinting at a Profession that can make the false commune with the real.

Key plot points and events

• Li Xiang advances to Lv11 Paper Effigy Maker, inheriting his previous Embalmer and Painter experience. His new traits let him commune with spirits and make paper creations more welcoming to ghosts; his abilities include folding creations into portable slips and using a specially bound doppelgänger to take a fatal blow in his place.
• He tests the abilities: a paper girl gains faint awareness, can move, and can be folded and restored. He also binds his birth date and time into a Paper Doppelgänger, creating a limited but powerful extra life.
• Li Xiang sees six blood-red stars that Qin Zhong cannot see; Qin instead sees nine purple stars. Ye Qingyao explains that these are celestial signs marking the achievements and dangers of different Profession paths. Star counts reflect a path’s standing, while color signals its nature. Physiognomy Cultivation’s six red stars warn of sinister fates and catastrophic old age; Martial Cultivation’s nine purple stars indicate a comparatively safe and prestigious path, despite one fallen pioneer.
• Preparing for the group’s expedition to Blackwater Ancient Town, Ye Qingyao teaches Li Xiang Half-Step Crushing Fist, a killing technique that also nourishes the body. He practices until he gains insight and begins to circulate qi and blood through his liver meridian.
• On the auspicious day chosen by Shopkeeper Sun, Li Xiang and Qin Zhong meet the others at an abandoned Land God Temple. Shopkeeper Sun reveals a dry-well entrance leading to an underground river and the tomb’s main chamber. The group sets out to rob the tomb of a Former Dynasty prince.

Character developments and interactions

• Li Xiang grows more capable and resourceful, gaining a spirit-linked escape mechanism and discovering that the stars he sees may reflect his own Profession path. He is excited by Half-Step Crushing Fist’s combination of practical combat power and bodily benefits.
• Qin Zhong provides a contrasting perspective on the stars, seeing the Martial Cultivators’ purple array rather than Li Xiang’s red ones. He trains alongside Li Xiang and joins the expedition.
• Ye Qingyao acts as both guide and mentor: she explains the Profession system and its risks, warns Li Xiang against pursuing dangerous paths too far, then shifts their focus to immediate training and teaches him the fist technique.
• Shopkeeper Sun leads the tomb expedition, while Haitang, John, and Lin Xuanshu arrive in altered or distinctive outfits, suggesting each is preparing for a dangerous undertaking.

Significant themes

• Power and its cost: Professions offer strength and advancement, but their paths can carry inherited dangers and tragic fates.
• Preparation and survival: Li Xiang’s doppelgänger, martial training, divination, and the group’s disguises all reflect the need to prepare for lethal threats.
• Knowledge passed down: Profession pioneers leave “stars” as guides for later practitioners, while martial arts evolve through generations of masters.
• Balancing violence and cultivation: Half-Step Crushing Fist is presented as both a combat art and a method of maintaining health.

Key plot points and events

• Li Xiang secretly buries a Paper Doppelgänger marked with his birth details, keeping a precaution in reserve before joining the tomb expedition.
• The group—using aliases built around “Heaven”—enters a dry Underground River that leads to a Demonkin prince’s Corpse-Transformation Tomb. Shopkeeper Sun explains that the tombs used Dragon Qi to transform the dead into immortal zombies and were stocked with wealth stolen from ordinary people.
• Haitang warns that the prince may be guarded by people buried alive and turned into corpse puppets or zombies. Shopkeeper Sun believes the target is manageable and that Demon City’s strongest figures are away dealing with a crisis.
• The group discovers that ninjas and onmyoji from the Eastern Seas have reached the tomb first. They have broken through its stone door and found an Eagle-Headed Sacred Statue on the altar.
• Shopkeeper Sun orders an attack. The two groups clash: John uses his Magician ability to vanish and kills a ninja with a playing card; Lin Xuanshu duels another ninja; Haitang and Shopkeeper Sun fight while concealing their more distinctive abilities.
• Qin Zhong is badly outmatched by a powerful hand-to-hand fighter. Meanwhile, an assassin attacks Li Xiang from behind. Li Xiang evades the Kunai, counters with a crushing punch, and kills the assassin with his blade—the first person he has killed. Before he can rejoin the battle, another enemy attacks.

Character developments

• Li Xiang remains cautious and resourceful, having planted a decoy before the expedition. In combat, instincts trained by Ye Qingyao let him survive an assassin’s attack. His first killing leaves him unexpectedly calm, and he resolves to develop more combat Professions so he will not be vulnerable among his guarded allies.
• Shopkeeper Sun displays his ambition to strip Demonkin tombs of their wealth, but also demonstrates practical expertise and leadership when the group reaches the tomb.
• Haitang shows a strong moral revulsion toward the Demonkin’s use of living people as eternal servants. The Eastern Seas intruders provoke intense killing intent in her, though she restrains herself until the group acts.
• Lin Xuanshu fights like a Swordsman despite being a Daoist, revealing his appetite for combat while keeping his other abilities hidden.
• John confidently uses his Magician technique, The Vanishing Man, to strike the first decisive blow.
• Qin Zhong proves overmatched by the Eastern Seas fighter and must call for help.

Significant themes

• Caution and concealed identities: The aliases, Li Xiang’s decoy, and the veterans’ refusal to reveal their full abilities reflect a world where trust and information are dangerous.
• Greed and exploitation: The tomb embodies the Demonkin’s oppression in life and death, while Shopkeeper Sun frames grave-robbing as reclaiming wealth taken from the people.
• Violence and survival: The sudden ambush forces the group into a lethal fight, and Li Xiang’s first kill marks a practical step into the brutality of their world.
• Preparation and power: Li Xiang recognizes that survival depends on having multiple skills and keeping hidden advantages.

Character interactions

• The team’s joking aliases establish camaraderie, but their secrecy also makes Li Xiang wary of how little they reveal.
• Shopkeeper Sun briefs the group and leads the way; Haitang challenges his confidence by emphasizing the dangers inside the tomb.
• Once the Eastern Seas group is found, Shopkeeper Sun chooses attack over negotiation, and the others follow.
• Lin Xuanshu claims an opponent for himself, while Shopkeeper Sun eventually responds to Qin Zhong’s cries for help.
• Li Xiang’s fight turns the expedition from a planned raid into immediate personal combat, ending with another enemy closing in.

This passage is an author’s announcement and appeal, not a story chapter.

• Key events: The author says Qiqi has kept her promise by publishing 80,000 words across fifteen chapters on the first day. More chapters will be released later that day in exchange for monthly passes.
• Character development: None is described; Qiqi is mentioned only as having fulfilled a promise.
• Themes: Reader support, appreciation, and the importance of rankings and monthly passes for a new book.
• Interactions: The author thanks readers repeatedly and urges them to vote with their monthly passes to help the book climb the new-book rankings.

Key plot points and events

• In the burial chamber, Li Xiang defeats a Sasaki-family swordsman by sensing a pause in his technique and using a vibrating strike to disarm him, then kills him.
• Lin Xuanshu kills a ninja with a Daoist immobilizing spell, then abandons his pretense of being only a swordsman and combines talismans, Daoist arts, and swordplay against the remaining attackers.
• Shopkeeper Sun reveals his Portable Inn, which summons ten powerful former-dynasty zombies. He identifies himself as a surviving Soul Herder and leads the zombies and his shovel in the fight.
• John reaches the Eagle-Headed Sacred Statue, only to discover it is counterfeit. The Eastern Seas fighters realize their raid has been for nothing and retreat, carrying the fake.
• The group conceals the battle by staging the chamber as a mutual massacre. They then loot the side chambers, where Drunken Dragon Incense has kept the zombies dormant.
• John explains that he spotted a hidden tracking mark on the statue: the fake was bait intended to set the Demonkin and Eastern Seas forces against each other.
• The group moves to the main burial chamber. Shopkeeper Sun warns that its Golden Silk Nanmu coffin is heavily trapped and prepares to open it.

Character developments and interactions

• Li Xiang demonstrates growing martial skill and tactical perception; he also gains experience in both swordsmanship and corpse-related professions. He learns that Shopkeeper Sun’s familiarity with the tomb comes from his Soul Herder lineage.
• Lin Xuanshu struggles with his desire to be a pure swordsman, recognizing that he instinctively relies on Daoist abilities. He ultimately accepts his full capabilities and fights openly with both disciplines.
• Shopkeeper Sun reveals his identity as a vengeful survivor of the Soul Herder purge and shows both supernatural power and practical ruthlessness.
• John proves to be a sharp observer and an expert at disposing of bodies and staging crime scenes; he teaches Qin Zhong how to create a “perfect crime.”
• Haitang remains composed and decisive, guiding Li Xiang through the cleanup with practiced expertise.
• The group shifts smoothly from battle companions to professional collaborators, hiding evidence and dividing up the tomb’s spoils.

Significant themes

• Hidden identities and layered professions: The group’s abilities and histories go far beyond their apparent roles.
• Survival and pragmatism: Victory is followed not by celebration but by concealment, looting, and planning.
• Deception and misdirected ambition: The counterfeit statue and tracking mark expose how greed can be manipulated into conflict.
• Tradition versus personal growth: Lin Xuanshu’s conflict between his ideal of swordsmanship and his Daoist nature reflects the difficulty of defining oneself by a single path.

Key plot points and events

• Shopkeeper Sun breaks the Nine-Dragon Corpse-Locking Nails on the tomb’s main coffin. Inside lies a childlike zombie dressed as a prince, despite the genealogy identifying the occupant as a forty-one-year-old Fourth Realm Demon Cultivator Grandmaster.
• Haitang proposes that the prince used a rejuvenation technique to reduce his body to a child’s form and hoped to gain a second life through the tomb’s Dragon Qi.
• As the zombie begins to wake, Li Xiang uses Soul-Summoning Hand to calm it and put it back to sleep. The others mistake his abilities and spiritual sensitivity for proof that he is an Innate Profession Holder.
• Shopkeeper Sun claims the zombie for himself, while the group divides the tomb’s treasures. Li Xiang and Qin Zhong each receive an expected share worth about seven thousand Silver Dollars.
• The next night, Li Xiang returns to the tomb to perform the unlock ritual for the Feng Shui Master Profession. He buries himself in the coffin wearing burial clothes and holding Altar-Sealing Wood.
• The ritual begins as Earth Qi, Dragon Vein Qi, and Corpse Qi flow into him—but the energy is dangerously concentrated in his heart, dantian, and brain. Li Xiang realizes it may be turning him into a zombie.

Character developments and interactions

• Li Xiang demonstrates quick judgment and unusual spiritual skill, but keeps its true source—the Book of a Hundred Trades—secret. He allows the Innate Profession Holder misunderstanding to serve as cover. Despite his sudden wealth, he prioritizes gaining strength and undertakes a risky ritual.
• Shopkeeper Sun is vindicated in his confidence that they found the correct tomb, then eagerly takes the zombie as a potentially powerful Refined Corpse. He also manages the sale and division of the loot.
• Haitang identifies the likely rejuvenation technique and takes charge of deciding what to do with the zombie.
• Qin Zhong is astonished by the discovery and thrilled by his share of the treasure.
• Lin Xuanshu remains cautious, drawing on past experience with mistaken tomb identifications, and prepares to fight when the zombie stirs.
• The group’s reaction to Li Xiang’s intervention shifts from surprise to admiration, while Shopkeeper Sun tries to recruit him.

Significant themes

• The pursuit of immortality and power: The prince’s extreme attempt to cheat death mirrors Li Xiang’s own drive to advance, though Li Xiang’s path is also perilous.
• Appearance versus reality: A childlike body conceals an ancient Grandmaster, and Li Xiang’s supposed innate gift is actually the result of his Profession abilities.
• Risk and ambition: The treasure brings opportunity, but Li Xiang’s Feng Shui ritual may transform him into the very kind of creature the group has just encountered.
• Trust and practical cooperation: The group negotiates ownership and shares, formalizes their agreement, and then goes their separate ways.

Key plot points and events

• Trapped in a prince’s coffin inside the Corpse-Transformation Tomb, Li Xiang initially begins absorbing Dragon Vein Qi contaminated with Corpse Qi. The poisonous energy starts turning him into a zombie, so he prepares to escape.
• His Golden Cicada awakens and filters the mixture: it consumes the corrupt Corpse Qi and stores the pure Dragon Vein Qi, which it then releases into Li Xiang. The energy strengthens his body, awakens his Dragon Spine, and rapidly advances his Boxer profession.
• Over several days, Li Xiang’s Boxer level rises from Lv7 to Lv9. His bones, skin, blood, and overall vitality improve, while his gains gradually slow. Unaware of the consequences, he continues draining the Dragon Vein beneath the tomb.
• Meanwhile, the Shocking Heron Martial Hall prepares to help clear the haunted Official Roads to Blackwater Ancient Town. Ye Qingyao leads the group after sparring with—and thoroughly beating—Qin Zhong, then leaves Li Xiang a message to join them when he emerges.
• Ma Teng, Lu Jin, and several young talents from Tianjin enter Linjiang Demon City to deliver the demand that its forces help clear the roads. The city’s elders resent this further drain on their already limited strength but agree, knowing they cannot oppose the warlords.
• The Demon City’s leaders discover that the Dragon Qi sustaining their city is rapidly disappearing. They suspect theft and order an investigation. The reader knows Li Xiang’s cultivation is causing the loss.

Character developments and interactions

• Li Xiang moves from panic to confidence once the Golden Cicada saves him. He becomes increasingly exhilarated by his rapid progress and treats the tomb’s Dragon Qi as a resource he is entitled to use, oblivious to the danger this poses to the Demon City.
• The Golden Cicada reveals a crucial ability: it can separate deadly Corpse Qi from Dragon Vein Qi and convert the latter into nourishment for Li Xiang.
• Ye Qingyao shows her authority and commitment as senior disciple, taking responsibility for training the students before the dangerous mission. Her enthusiasm for fighting is played for humor through her sparring with Qin Zhong.
• Qin Zhong shifts from jokester to capable mission leader during the briefing, but remains reluctant—and physically outmatched—when Ye Qingyao insists on sparring.
• The Demon City elders reveal their vulnerability and frustration under outside pressure. The Chief Steward counsels submission to the human authorities, while the Sixteenth Elder openly resents their demands.
• The Tianjin visitors display differing attitudes toward Demonfolk: Liu Yuan is openly contemptuous, while Shen Qinghe advises caution and courtesy. Lu Jin keeps the group focused on its mission.

Significant themes

• Power and its cost: Li Xiang’s extraordinary advancement is secretly undermining the Demon City’s survival.
• Survival under oppression: The Demonfolk must accept human demands because they lack the strength to resist.
• Transformation and inheritance: Dragon Vein Qi reshapes Li Xiang’s body and awakens a latent draconic aspect, while the Demon Dynasty’s history likewise centers on a clan transformed by Dragon Qi.
• Discipline amid danger: The martial hall prepares through teamwork and training, emphasizing that survival on the haunted roads will depend on following orders.
• Dramatic irony: Li Xiang celebrates his progress as Demon City leaders search for the unknown thief draining their Dragon Qi.

Plot points and events

• On his fifth day in the coffin, Li Xiang’s Golden Cicada reaches a breakthrough after days of filtering Dragon-Vein Corpse Qi. The refined energy surges into his spine, fully awakening and advancing his Dragon Spine trait from Beginner to Intermediate.
• The improved trait makes his spine more flexible and powerful, strengthens his resistance to mental pressure, improves vitality and recovery, and lets it transmit force efficiently for a second burst of power. Li Xiang realizes that absorbing Dragon-Vein Corpse Qi has effectively started him on the Grandmaster refinement path early, giving him an exceptional constitution without formal Martial Cultivator training.
• The Golden Cicada soon grows sluggish, forcing Li Xiang to push it back to work. On his sixth day underground, his Boxer Profession is Lv9 at 70/90 experience, only twenty points from Lv10. He anticipates a major transformation and the opening of Boxer branch paths.
• In Linjiang, Zhang Yunshang’s transplanted heart begins pounding violently at intervals. Doctor Sophia finds no medical problem and attributes it to the heart adjusting to its new body. Zhang privately suspects a connection to the heart’s original owner, but also thinks of Li Xiang and quickly dismisses the idea.
• Zhang reviews the relief effort and notes that Ye Qingyao’s team is clearing its assigned stretch efficiently. She remains puzzled by Ye’s unexplained hostility toward her. Frustrated by delays from Demon City, Zhang orders Lu Ten Thousand—whose family has ties there—to be sent in.
• In Demon City, the elders discover that Dragon Vein Qi has been draining rapidly for six days. A Western energy detector locates the source underground north of Riverside City, at a Longevity Tomb. The tomb may hold Prince Qing Xuanji, a legendary prodigy who became a Grandmaster at fourteen before dying under Heavenly Retribution. The Chief Steward orders an expedition to investigate and stop the drain.

Character developments and interactions

• Li Xiang grows stronger and more ambitious, recognizing that his unusual circumstances have placed him among the rare prodigies who can begin physical refinement early. He treats the Golden Cicada like an overworked but indispensable partner, scolding it when its output drops.
• Zhang Yunshang shows her disciplined, practical side by prioritizing public work despite her unsettling symptoms. Her heart’s unexplained reactions may link her to Li Xiang or its former owner. She also notices Ye Qingyao’s hostility and responds to Demon City’s delays with political resolve.
• The Demonfolk elders shift from anger and suspicion to urgent action once the energy trail is identified. Their concern over the city’s defenses motivates them to confront the tomb directly.
• Sophia reassures Zhang after examining her, while Zhang’s staff rushes to support her during the episode. In Demon City, the Chief Steward restrains the furious Sixteenth Elder, hears the Seventeenth Elder’s suspicions, and then leads the response.

Significant themes

• Power through endurance and transformation: Li Xiang’s painful refinement turns prolonged hardship into exceptional strength.
• Ambition and resourcefulness: He gains access to a path usually reserved for elite heirs through unconventional means.
• The cost of exploiting the past: Dragon Vein resources, once intended to revive the dead, are now being drained, threatening present-day defenses.
• Unseen bonds and mysteries: Zhang’s transplanted heart reacts mysteriously, hinting at a connection that neither she nor the others yet understands.

Chapter summary

• Li Xiang reaches Boxer Lv10. After seven days inside the coffin, he forces the Golden Cicada to absorb one last mouthful of Dragon-Vein Corpse Qi. The energy returns to him as he crosses the level threshold, unlocking Ice Skin, Jade Bones.
• His body is transformed. Ice Skin makes his blood and qi flow more smoothly, preserves his vitality, and strengthens his resistance to poisons and miasma. Activating Jade Bones hardens his skeleton and greatly improves his ability to transmit force and unleash explosive power. Li Xiang is delighted by his newfound durability and believes he could now face stronger opponents head-on.
• Five advanced professions become available: Warrior, Beast-Spirit Walker, Fighter, Martial Monk, and Yin Fist Master. Each requires a second profession and a demanding ritual. Li Xiang rejects or hesitates over several paths: Beast-Spirit Walker risks eroding his humanity; Fighter requires a hundred consecutive Arena victories; Martial Monk demands three years of strict vows; and Yin Fist Master’s corpse-based powers could turn him into something inhuman.
• He chooses Warrior as his primary goal, with Beast-Spirit Walker as a backup. Warrior suits his preference for a balanced, orthodox path, and he already has the advancement manual given to him by Hong Tianbao. He also believes the Book of a Hundred Trades will help him develop his own Martial Principles. Physician is Warrior’s prerequisite; Li Xiang notes that Physician and Cook could also unlock Medicinal Cuisine Chef.
• Demonkin arrive at the tomb. Just as Li Xiang is waiting to unlock Feng Shui Master, intruders break into the burial chamber. Their party is led by the Chief Steward of Linjiang Demon City, accompanied by the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Elders and armed Demonkin.
• The visitors find the tomb looted. They discover empty chambers, removed Luminous Pearls, and traces suggesting that two groups of tomb robbers passed through—one of them from the Eastern Seas. The Sixteenth Elder angrily accuses the Eastern Seas people of betraying their cooperation, while the Chief Steward remains grim and heads toward Prince Qing Xuanji’s central coffin, fearing the prince’s remains may have been disturbed.

Character developments and interactions

Li Xiang’s physical breakthrough strengthens both his confidence and his sense of direction: he weighs each profession’s benefits against its costs and settles on a principled path rather than the most immediately powerful one. The Demonkin elders reveal their anger and suspicion toward the Eastern Seas people, while the Chief Steward’s concern for the prince’s remains signals that the coffin—and Li Xiang inside it—is about to become the focus of their attention.

Significant themes

The chapter contrasts power with its price: several advanced paths promise strength but threaten to compromise the practitioner’s humanity, morality, or safety. It also emphasizes self-cultivation and chosen principles, as Li Xiang favors a path requiring personal insight over shortcuts. The abrupt arrival of the Demonkin shifts the story from solitary advancement to an impending confrontation.

Key plot points and events

• In the Main Burial Chamber, the Demon City’s Chief Steward and two elders examine Prince Qing Xuanji’s magnificent Prince-level Longevity Tomb. With Dragon Vein Qi leaking from the coffin, they decide they must open it, even if the Prince has risen as a corpse.
• A voice from inside asks what year it is and who Qing Xuanji and the speakers are. The Chief Steward suspects the voice may truly belong to the Prince, so he and the others kneel and address the coffin respectfully.
• Inside, Li Xiang pretends to be Qing Xuanji, buying time until his Feng Shui Master profession unlocks. He claims to be the Demon Dynasty’s “Foremost Warrior,” but the Sixteenth Elder recognizes that this conflicts with the historical record and warns the Chief Steward.
• The Chief Steward tests the speaker by mentioning the official account that Qing Xuanji died at forty-one. Li Xiang counters that he is only fourteen—a closely guarded truth. Convinced, the Chief Steward celebrates the Prince’s apparent return and asks about the secret of longevity.
• Li Xiang’s Feng Shui Master profession unlocks. He gains Qi Observation, Earth Vein Affinity, and the abilities Ghost Wall and Transplant Flowers and Graft Trees. The new senses let him perceive the chamber’s qi and feel connected to the earth; he realizes the profession can use terrain and even seize a defeated enemy’s fading Fortune.
• The Chief Steward grows suspicious again: despite the Prince’s supposed revival and extraordinary talent, no power has emerged from the coffin. He orders the elders to open it. They wrench off the lid, and everyone freezes at what they see.

Character developments

• Li Xiang stays composed under pressure, using information supplied by Shopkeeper Sun to impersonate Qing Xuanji convincingly. Once his profession unlocks, he becomes more confident in his new abilities, though he is unsettled by their potentially predatory use of Fortune.
• The Chief Steward shifts from reverence and hope to suspicion. He believes Li Xiang’s answer about being fourteen, but ultimately prioritizes verifying the coffin’s occupant.
• The Sixteenth and Seventeenth Elders begin in awe of the tomb and fear of disturbing its occupant. The Sixteenth Elder spots a contradiction in Li Xiang’s story; both elders then carry out the Chief Steward’s order to open the coffin.

Significant themes

• Appearance versus truth: Li Xiang’s performance convinces the Demonfolk, but inconsistencies and the Chief Steward’s scrutiny keep his identity at risk.
• Faith, history, and hidden knowledge: Qing Xuanji’s real age is a secret, and one accurate detail transforms the group’s skepticism into belief.
• Power and its moral cost: Feng Shui Master offers Li Xiang formidable tools, but the ability to take another’s Fortune suggests that advancement may depend on exploitation.
• Loyalty versus necessity: The Demonfolk honor their legendary Prince, yet the crisis of the leaking Dragon Vein compels them to disturb his tomb.

Character interactions

• The elders discuss their lesser prospects for burial and envy Qing Xuanji’s exceptional tomb, while the Chief Steward recalls the Prince’s legendary status.
• The Chief Steward approaches the coffin with formal deference and leads the others in kneeling; Li Xiang exploits their reverence to stall.
• The Sixteenth Elder privately alerts the Chief Steward to the “Warrior” claim, prompting a cautious test. Li Xiang passes by revealing the secret age.
• After the Chief Steward’s faith returns, his suspicion resurfaces; he orders the elders to open the coffin, ending the chapter on a cliffhanger.

Plot points and events

• Li Xiang lies in Prince Qing Xuanji’s coffin after absorbing Dragon-Vein Corpse Qi. Using his Ice Skin, Jade Bones, Thousand Faces trait, a matching mask, and fake zombie teeth, he makes himself appear to be the long-dead prince.
• The Chief Steward and two elders initially suspect an intruder, but the prince’s convincing appearance, aura, and imperial Dragon Qi persuade them. The elders collapse in fear, and the Chief Steward gives a full ceremonial bow.
• Li Xiang insists they address him as “Lord Warrior.” The Chief Steward interprets this as confusion caused by the prince’s long sleep and accepts the title.
• Li Xiang complains about being disturbed. The Chief Steward blames earlier tomb robbers from the Eastern Seas, and Li Xiang joins in insulting them, strengthening the group’s sense of shared allegiance.
• The Chief Steward proposes taking Li Xiang to Linjiang Demon City, where he hopes the prince’s presence will restore the city’s fortunes. Li Xiang recognizes that the elders may have ulterior motives but wants to reach the city’s Treasury. He feigns reluctance, saying he is tired.

Character developments

• Li Xiang proves resourceful and controlled, improvising a convincing disguise and maintaining his role under scrutiny. He also reveals a pragmatic, opportunistic streak: he intends to exploit the elders’ reverence to gain access to the city’s wealth.
• The Chief Steward shifts from suspicion to fervent submission once convinced of Li Xiang’s identity. Though he presents himself as a loyal servant, he privately considers using the prince if he proves weak.
• The Sixteenth and Seventeenth Elders move quickly from readiness to attack to terror and obedience, reflecting the Demonkin’s deeply ingrained respect for imperial blood.

Significant themes

• Appearance and deception: Li Xiang’s disguise and performance show how convincingly identity can be manufactured.
• Hierarchy and inherited authority: The elders submit instinctively to the apparent imperial prince, regardless of his actual abilities.
• Mutual manipulation: Li Xiang plans to exploit the elders, while the Chief Steward hopes to control or use him for the city’s benefit.
• Political resentment and prejudice: Shared contempt for Eastern Sea people helps Li Xiang bond with the Demonkin retainers.

Character interactions

• Li Xiang’s apparent imperial status transforms the elders’ hostile scrutiny into submission.
• The Chief Steward tries to establish a deferential relationship while steering Li Xiang toward the Demon City.
• Li Xiang uses the retainers’ resentment of Eastern Sea tomb robbers to build rapport, while carefully concealing his real identity and intentions.

Plot and events

• Li Xiang’s zombie identity is accepted after he complains of stiffness and wanting to sleep. The Chief Steward orders Elders Sixteen and Seventeen to carry his coffin gently to Demon City.
• Hidden inside, Li Xiang uses three copper coins to divine his prospects. The result suggests danger and complications, but ultimately good fortune.
• In Zhao Family Village, Ye Qingyao and Qin Zhong fight and clear Lesser Ghosts. Ye explains that the Ghost Clan evolved from mutated beings within the corpse of the ancient Dead Dragon, Dijiang. She recounts the Ghost Dynasty’s past invasion and how the Lord of All Nations defeated it, establishing City Gods to guard the boundary between the living and dead. The current outbreak began after Blackwater’s City God disappeared.
• The coffin procession reaches Demon City, where Li Xiang uses Qi Observation to discover the city is built around the Jade Toad Gazing at the Moon, a powerful Feng Shui formation and natural treasure that gathers Dragon Qi and Lunar Essence. He senses a dangerous, mysterious red presence inside the toad. The formation also grants him Feng Shui Master experience.
• The procession’s arrival astonishes the Demonkin, who see two elders carrying a coffin under the Chief Steward’s escort. At the palace, Li Xiang recognizes Shopkeeper Sun’s voice: Sun appears to be posing as Lu Jin and is dealing with a woman named Miss Zhang.

Character developments and interactions

• Li Xiang remains cautious and resourceful, concealing his awareness while investigating Demon City from inside his coffin. His fortune reading reassures him, though the city’s hidden secret increases his concern.
• The Chief Steward readily adapts to Li Xiang’s needs and treats him with conspicuous deference. The two elders eagerly obey, viewing coffin-carrying as an honor.
• Ye Qingyao’s knowledge and composure establish her as an informed guide to the Ghost Clan’s history. She worries about Li Xiang, while Qin Zhong jokes about his luck and complains about the danger; Ye dismisses his complaints and sends him back to work.
• Li Xiang’s recognition of Shopkeeper Sun suggests an unexpected connection between the Demon City plot and familiar characters.

Significant themes

• Hidden worlds and buried history: The Ghost Clan’s origins and past conquest reveal how much of the world’s history has been concealed.
• Order and its fragility: City Gods once maintained balance, but one disappearance created an opening for catastrophe.
• Hierarchy and power: Demonkin’s unquestioning deference reflects the city’s rigid social structure, while Li Xiang’s apparent status commands exceptional treatment.
• Fortune amid danger: Li Xiang’s divination promises possible gains, even as the ominous secret within the Jade Toad foreshadows greater peril.

Plot points and events

• Shopkeeper Sun, disguised as Lu Jin, returns to Linjiang Demon City to press for help. The Demonkin elders resent the pressure, but Chief Steward Jin identifies the figure in a coffin as Prince Qing Xuanji, supposedly an awakened ancestor of the Lu Family.
• Li Xiang is inside the coffin, disguised as the prince. When the elders demand that Shopkeeper Sun kneel, he complies to protect his cover. Chief Steward Jin then keeps him in Demon City rather than let him return to Zhang Yunshang, assigning him to serve the “prince.”
• Li Xiang is taken to the Dragon-Nurturing Hall, where its powerful Feng Shui formations and proximity to the Jade Toad accelerate his training. Once alone, he drops his stiff performance and begins studying the formations.
• At a secret council, the Demonkin leaders admit they are unsure whether the prince is genuine. They decide to watch him closely; if he proves real, they will invest heavily in him so he can become a Corpse King and command the dormant zombie army. They also plan to delay and dilute their contribution to Zhang Yunshang’s campaign, and discuss countering her influence without provoking open war.
• Shopkeeper Sun secretly visits Li Xiang and reveals that he, too, is an impostor. After comparing notes, the two admit they are both seeking the Demon City Treasury. Sun says it contains a legendary treasure: Newton’s Apple.

Character developments and interactions

• Li Xiang maintains his princely disguise under intense scrutiny, then relaxes in private and takes advantage of the Dragon-Nurturing Hall to advance his Feng Shui skills. He and Shopkeeper Sun recognize one another as fellow schemers.
• Shopkeeper Sun endures the humiliation of kneeling to preserve his disguise, then is effectively detained and ordered to serve Li Xiang. Despite this setback, he secretly reconnects with Li Xiang and reveals his own treasure-hunting agenda.
• Chief Steward Jin is calculating and politically cautious. He welcomes the supposed prince while keeping a close watch on him, and favors stalling Zhang Yunshang rather than risking a direct confrontation.
• Wang Lu and the other elders show fierce pride and hostility toward outside pressure, but remain divided between suspicion of the prince and hope that he can restore Demon City’s power.

Significant themes

• Deception and mistaken identity: Li Xiang and Sun both impersonate others, while the Demonkin mistake an impostor for a long-awaited prince.
• Power, loyalty, and hierarchy: The Lu Family’s inherited servitude shapes its relationship with Demon City, and the elders insist on ritual submission even amid political maneuvering.
• Pragmatism and political brinkmanship: Demon City seeks to preserve its strength by delaying obligations and avoiding a war it may not survive.
• Opportunity amid danger: Li Xiang turns his precarious cover into a chance to train, while both impostors pursue the city’s hidden wealth.

Key plot points and events

• Shopkeeper Sun tells Li Xiang that Linjiang Demon City’s Treasury holds a ten-year Newton’s Apple, a low-grade fruit that can grant a modest epiphany to a Third-Realm practitioner. The Demonfolk have left it unused because it is too weak for their imperial-blooded elites, reflecting their habit of hoarding resources rather than helping lesser demons.
• Sun proposes that Li Xiang create a distraction while he breaks into the Treasury. They initially argue over the division of the loot but agree to split it fifty-fifty.
• Expecting Sun might cheat him, Li Xiang produces a Lawyer-certified contract. Both men sign, binding themselves to the deal. Sun then disappears to prepare.
• The next morning, Li Xiang poses as the resurrected Prince Qing Xuanji, apparently meditating beside the Jade Toad. The Chief Steward misreads his behavior as a sign of extraordinary talent and assumes he is using the toad—the Demon City’s formation eye—to recover his strength.
• That afternoon, Li Xiang begins repeatedly headbutting the Jade Toad, drawing the city’s elders and officials. During the commotion, one of his fangs is knocked out.
• A series of explosions erupts at the Treasury. The Chief Steward and elders rush there, leaving Li Xiang behind—exactly the distraction Sun needed.

Character developments and interactions

• Li Xiang proves cautious, pragmatic, and hard to deceive: he negotiates firmly and uses a binding contract to prevent Sun from reneging. He then willingly makes himself the spectacle needed for the plan.
• Shopkeeper Sun is resourceful and confident about infiltrating the Treasury, but his attempted low offer—and the scheme Li Xiang suspects he was considering—show that he is not fully trustworthy.
• The Chief Steward is devoted to the supposed prince and optimistic about restoring the city’s power. His assumptions about Li Xiang’s “cultivation” reveal how easily the city’s leaders misinterpret the performance.
• The elders are aged, anxious, and quick to blame one another. Their response to the explosions shows how effectively Li Xiang’s stunt draws them away from the Treasury.

Significant themes

• Self-interest and institutional decline: The Demonfolk’s refusal to share a useful resource with lesser demons reflects the selfishness and rigid hierarchy blamed for the Demon Dynasty’s fall.
• Trust must be secured: Li Xiang treats even a temporary ally warily, insisting on clear terms and a legally binding agreement.
• Appearance versus reality: The leaders interpret Li Xiang’s deliberate antics as profound cultivation, while his apparent madness is actually a calculated distraction.
• Resource and power disparities: Newton’s Apples vary greatly in value, and the city’s elderly, declining leadership underscores its loss of strength and talent.

Plot and events

• The Demonkin discover that the Treasury’s most valuable bloodline-locked relics are safe; thieves took mostly money, records, manuals, and a strange old green apple. A concealed, carefully dug tunnel and abandoned, talisman-bound zombies reveal that the burglary was a diversion.
• The Chief Steward realizes the real target was Prince Qing Xuanji. Back at the plaza, the guards are found trapped in Li Xiang’s bewildering formation, praising an imaginary “Lord Warrior.” When Wang Lu breaks the spell, they discover the Prince has vanished.
• The Demonkin search the city without success. Learning that Lu Jin is also missing, they conclude the Lu Family helped abduct the Prince. The Chief Steward orders troops to confront the family, convinced the missing figure was the genuine prince.
• Outside the city, Li Xiang escapes through an underground fissure. He washes away the Corpse Qi, burns his disguise, divines that he is safe, and returns to his courtyard. His ordeal has greatly increased his strength and advanced several abilities. He postpones meeting Shopkeeper Sun to split the spoils until it is safer.
• Elsewhere, Zhang Yunshang hears that a large Demonkin force is heading toward Riverside. Mistaking their mobilization for support against the ghosts, she credits Lu Jin with persuading them and prepares to welcome the troops and use them at Blackwater Ancient Town.

Character developments and interactions

• Li Xiang proves resourceful and composed, using Feng Shui skills, disguise, and careful cleanup to escape undetected. He reflects on his newfound power and plans to reunite with Senior Sister Ye and Senior Brother Qin.
• The Chief Steward shifts from relief over the Treasury’s intact treasures to panic over the missing Prince, then to anger and suspicion of the Lu Family. He suppresses the Seventeenth Elder’s speculation about an internal traitor, fearing it will undermine morale.
• Wang Lu reacts fiercely to the apparent theft and helps break Li Xiang’s formation with a powerful roar.
• Zhang Yunshang revises her dismissive opinion of Lu Jin, imagining him a brilliant political operator, though her confidence rests on a mistaken understanding of the Demonkin’s motives.
• The Demonkin guards’ confusion and terror, followed by their deference to the Chief Steward, highlight the rigid hierarchy and pressure within the city.

Significant themes

• Misdirection and mistaken assumptions: The Treasury raid hides the true escape, and both the Demonkin and Zhang Yunshang misread events.
• Power and political rivalry: The Prince is viewed as a strategic asset, while suspicion quickly turns toward the Lu Family and the competing Demon Cities.
• Competence concealed by reputation: Li Xiang succeeds through planning, while Zhang sees unexpected talent in Lu Jin—without knowing the full story.
• Irony: The Demonkin mobilize for revenge, but Zhang interprets their force as an offer of military aid.

Key plot points and events

• With Lu Changsheng away at Blackwater Ancient Town, Lu Zongyuan enjoys being in charge of the Lu Family and tries to manage its affairs.
• Lu Jin reports that someone impersonated him again: after leaving the Heavenly Fragrance Tower on a mission to Demon City, he blacked out and woke in a ruined temple, stripped to his underwear. He fears the impostor has caused serious trouble.
• Lu Zongyuan dismisses the danger and turns his attention to Zhang Yunshang, whom he sees as a threat to the Lu Family’s influence. He plans to ally with Demon City against her.
• Demon City’s Chief Steward and a large armed delegation arrive at the Dragon Gate Escort Agency, demanding the return of Prince Qing Xuanji. They accuse Lu Jin of helping outsiders destroy their Treasury and abduct the Prince.
• Lu Zongyuan denies involvement and insists the culprit must be another impostor. The Demonkin reject his explanation, pointing to the culprit’s Lu Family token and knowledge of Demon City.
• As the confrontation nears violence, a Tianjin Clique adjutant arrives with a message from Zhang Yunshang: Lu Jin has supposedly persuaded Demon City to send troops, earned a promotion to Staff Officer, and is expected at a victory banquet.
• The Demonkin interpret the announcement as proof that the Lu Family stole the Prince and offered him to Zhang Yunshang for political gain. The Chief Steward orders an attack, and Demon Aura envelops the agency.
• Meanwhile, Li Xiang senses the Demonkin’s killing intent but stays out of the dispute, continuing his martial training. His practice earns experience and new insight, bringing him closer to unlocking the Warrior Profession.

Character developments and interactions

• Lu Zongyuan begins confident in his authority, dismissing Lu Jin’s fears and believing he can manage Demon City through old ties. His confidence collapses when the adjutant’s announcement makes the accusations appear true.
• Lu Jin is frightened and desperate to prove he was impersonated. His father initially treats him as a coward, then promises to handle the Demonkin—but the promotion announcement makes his situation far worse.
• The Chief Steward and Wang Lu arrive expecting the Lu Family to surrender the Prince. Their anger grows when Lu Zongyuan denies knowing anything, and the apparent promotion of Lu Jin convinces them they have been betrayed.
• Li Xiang remains an amused observer. He recognizes the likely scapegoating of Lu Jin and focuses on his own development rather than intervening.
• The chapter’s central clash is between Lu Zongyuan’s attempts at cordial diplomacy and the Demonkin leaders’ demand for accountability; Wang Lu’s insults and threats turn the meeting into a near-immediate battle.

Significant themes

• Mistaken identity and scapegoating: Lu Jin is repeatedly blamed for actions allegedly committed by his impostor.
• Fragile political alliances: The Lu Family’s ties to Demon City and Zhang Yunshang pull it in conflicting directions.
• Power and status: Lu Zongyuan’s brief enjoyment of authority is undermined by forces he cannot control.
• Appearance versus truth: The adjutant’s message may describe the impostor’s actions, but the Demonkin take it as definitive proof of the Lu Family’s betrayal.
• Comic irony amid danger: Lu Jin’s repeated misfortune and the suspiciously perfect timing of the promotion announcement bring humor to an escalating crisis.

Key plot points and events

• Demonkin Chief Steward Jin Sangui leads more than a hundred elites to confront the Lu Family, but Elder Yin and Yang—Ge Hunxiao and Zhong Shenxiu—arrive and suppress them with their combined Yin-Yang Shears.
• Jin accuses the elders of abducting Prince Qing Xuanji and conspiring with rival Demon Cities. They deny it: their assignment is to protect Linjiang City and enforce the Beiyang Commander-in-Chief’s conscription order. They bind the demonkin and send them to the Ghost Calamity front at Blackwater Ancient Town.
• The elders reveal that they knowingly accepted the danger of returning to the front, while Jin is silenced after condemning their choice. They also warn that the prince is safe in the Imperial City.
• The adjutant tells Lu Zongyuan that the Lu Family will receive credit for its “loyalty,” cementing its public reputation as a turncoat. Li Xiang recognizes Zhang Yunshang’s maneuver: she has removed a threat, secured the Lu Family’s allegiance, and strengthened the front line.
• At a subdued banquet honoring Lu Jin’s promotion, he delivers a strained speech about duty to the dynasty and its people. Guests praise him as a strategist, while Li Xiang sees that the Lu Family is now trapped in its new alliance.
• After the banquet, Zhang Yunshang summons Li Xiang to her office. The young Gu Cultivator from the Miao Frontier is also present. Zhang identifies Li Xiang’s martial-hall training and work as an embalmer; the chapter ends as she begins to explain why she called him.

Character developments and interactions

• Ge Hunxiao and Zhong Shenxiu are introduced as formidable, devoted partners whose combined power far exceeds either one alone. They willingly face conscription and danger rather than retreat into hiding.
• Jin Sangui is suspicious and confrontational, interpreting events through conspiracy and self-interest. His inability to act against the elders exposes the power gap between them.
• Lu Zongyuan is humiliated by the public branding of his family as politically disloyal and longs for the absent family ancestor to take charge.
• Lu Jin is promoted but feels terrified and trapped rather than triumphant; his formal speech masks his dread.
• Li Xiang observes events with strategic insight and humor, then agrees to meet Zhang despite his earlier efforts to avoid her.
• Zhang Yunshang demonstrates political skill and authority, turning the crisis to her advantage and summoning Li Xiang for an undisclosed purpose.

Significant themes

• Sacrifice and duty: The elders accept a perilous front-line role because they believe some obligations must be met even when the outcome may be death.
• Power and coercion: The conscription order forces even powerful figures into service once they reveal themselves.
• Political maneuvering and unintended consequences: Zhang turns the demonkin’s attack into a win, but the Lu Family’s new status comes at the cost of autonomy and reputation.
• Misunderstanding and projection: Jin’s elaborate accusations reveal how suspicion can distort events, while others’ praise of Lu Jin similarly mistakes fear and circumstance for brilliant strategy.

Plot points and events

• Li Xiang uses divination on Zhang Yunshang and sees her Fortune in turmoil: death and misfortune mingle with vitality, while a phoenix-like figure struggles through fire and seems poised for rebirth. He senses that her heart transplant has radically altered her fate.
• Zhang introduces Miao Xiyue, a shy Gu Cultivator from the Five Poisons Gate whose green toad, Dabao, she fiercely protects. Because other teams refuse to work with Gu Cultivators, Zhang offers Li Xiang extra supplies, personnel, and access to powerful Demonkin if his martial hall takes Miao in.
• Li Xiang divines that accepting Miao will bring great fortune, so he agrees. Western lawyer John drafts binding contracts for the resources and Miao’s membership. Li Xiang and John trade barbs while pretending not to know each other well.
• After Li Xiang leaves, Zhang asks Miao to watch him. She also consults surgeon Sophia, who reports no unusual energy or link between Li Xiang and Zhang’s transplanted heart. Zhang remains convinced that her heart reacted to him for a reason.
• At the Shocking Heron Martial Hall, Li Xiang introduces Miao to the students, who are frightened of her and Dabao. He gives her a quiet room and tells her not to release her insects around them.
• Li Xiang spends the night training several Professions, then divines that it is safe to visit Shopkeeper Sun. Disguised in Nightrunner Garb, he travels to an abandoned mortuary and follows a zombie to Sun’s underground chamber, where a fragrant green fruit awaits.

Character developments and interactions

• Li Xiang remains cautious and pragmatic: he uses divination before making commitments, secures a valuable alliance for his martial hall, and continues grinding Profession experience despite his exhaustion. His banter with John hints at a concealed history and mutual trust beneath their public distance.
• Zhang Yunshang shows authority and strategic generosity, but privately grows increasingly preoccupied with whether Li Xiang is connected to her new heart. Her confidence in that suspicion persists despite Sophia’s clinical findings.
• Miao Xiyue is timid and socially isolated, yet affectionate and protective toward Dabao. Her new membership places her among people who initially fear her.
• John acts as the legal adviser, using his Lawyer Profession to make the agreements magically binding. His easy teasing contrasts with Li Xiang’s blunt suspicion.
• Sophia offers a comic, overly frank assessment of Li Xiang’s physique before clarifying that she found no medical abnormalities.

Significant themes

• Fate, transformation, and uncertainty: Zhang’s turbulent Fortune suggests that the heart transplant has changed her destiny, while Li Xiang repeatedly consults divination to navigate risk.
• Prejudice and belonging: Miao is rejected because of her profession’s reputation, and the martial hall’s students initially respond to her with fear.
• Pragmatism and trust: Contracts and shared benefits help forge an alliance even where suspicion and social distance remain.
• Preparation and ambition: Li Xiang relentlessly trains and develops multiple Professions while pursuing larger opportunities.

Plot points and events

• Li Xiang meets Shopkeeper Sun and learns that the Demonkin of Linjiang were captured in a coordinated operation. Sun credits Zhang Yunshang’s cunning and the intervention of the Yin-and-Yang Grandmasters, whose involvement may serve their own attempt to advance toward Sagehood.
• The two divide the goods stolen from the Demon City Treasury: Li Xiang takes half the money, the trade manuals, and half the pills; Sun takes the Demonkin genealogies, which he claims may help locate future tombs. They split a Newton’s Green Apple, using costly talisman paper to preserve its power.
• Li Xiang returns to the martial hall with his share, including valuable cultivation resources that may accelerate his progress.
• That night, a thunderstorm strikes west of the city. Sun emerges from the ruins of a City God Temple, having survived by shedding a protective disguise—the Centenarian Skin. Revealed as the young Jin Gui from Ink Fragrance Studio, he admits he stole a jade pendant from the Demonkin Treasury and considers the lightning a worthwhile price.
• At dawn, Li Xiang’s group prepares to depart with supplies and support from the Horizon Carriage Company and Riverside’s Cape Horse Company. During the journey, Li Xiang asks Miao Xiyue to teach him beast-taming, hoping it may help him advance his Boxer Profession.

Character developments

• Li Xiang shows increasing ambition and practical judgment: he recognizes the value of the spoils, accepts a fair division, and openly uses his Paper Effigy storage technique. He seeks to learn beast-taming to broaden his advancement options.
• Shopkeeper Sun / Sun Jingui is revealed as a powerful, secretive figure whose apparent old-man identity is a disguise. His willingness to risk heavenly punishment for the pendant exposes his obsession with a larger, still-unknown goal.
• Miao Xiyue is affectionate and protective toward her bonded toad, Dabao, but wary of Li Xiang’s interest in beast-taming.
• Zhang Yunshang and the Yin-and-Yang Grandmasters are framed as strategic players whose actions in the Demonkin purge may serve broader ambitions.

Significant themes

• Power and hidden agendas: Public events conceal private schemes, from the Demonkin purge to Sun’s theft.
• Risk and advancement: Powerful opportunities—such as the Green Apple, Sagehood, or the pendant—come with danger and cost.
• Knowledge as leverage: Manuals and genealogies are valuable not only for learning but also for anticipating opponents and locating hidden tombs.
• No path is invincible: Sun’s warning to Li Xiang emphasizes that every Profession has vulnerabilities and counters.

Character interactions

• Li Xiang and Sun negotiate the spoils with mutual suspicion but honor their contract, maintaining a pragmatic partnership.
• Sun admires Li Xiang’s rapid growth while privately warning that the younger man remains inexperienced.
• Dong Zhao and Tang You join Li Xiang’s expedition, reflecting cooperation among allied martial and transport groups.
• Miao Xiyue stops Dabao from trying to lick Li Xiang, then questions whether he wants to learn beast-taming in order to steal her pet.

Plot points and events

• Miao Xiyue mistakes Li Xiang’s questions about beast taming for romantic interest. Once he clarifies, she agrees to teach him in exchange for a Demon Grain Pill.
• Hua Jingshan identifies the pill as a rare, carefully refined product once used to provoke Demon Beasts. He explains the philosophical differences between Medicine and Elixir Cultivators, while admiring the pill’s balance of potency and toxicity.
• Miao Xiyue’s “beast-taming lesson” is simply to speak sincerely to a beast, befriend it, and offer food. She can do this because she is innately able to understand beasts and attract them—a gift others cannot learn. Her Five Poisons support her explanation, and her toad, Dabao, snatches and eats the pill.
• Hua reveals that Master Hong arranged for him to teach Li Xiang medicine. Liang accepts, and Miao Xiyue offers to teach herbs and poisons for more pills, only to retreat when she learns Hua is teaching for free.
• During two days of lessons, Li Xiang studies medical theory and unlocks the Physician profession. Its Hanging Gourd trait improves his perception of medicinal properties and lets him assess health through Qi Observation.
• A sudden blizzard erases the road and disorients the horses. Li Xiang’s usual geomantic senses fail; divination warns of lethal danger ahead. He orders the convoy northeast toward the mountains instead of waiting or continuing along the road.
• Wang De, a Demonkin helper, openly challenges Li Xiang’s decision. Miao Xiyue reveals she secretly implanted Gut-Rending Gu in the Demonkin at the journey’s start and makes Wang suffer until he submits. Li Xiang tells her not to kill him, and the convoy proceeds without further objection.
• The group reaches a pine forest and encounters an enormous Snow Ridge White Tiger. Li Xiang draws his knife and steps forward to face it.

Character developments and interactions

• Li Xiang pursues practical knowledge, honors his bargain with Miao despite the lesson’s limited usefulness, and gratefully accepts the medical training arranged by Hong Tianbao. His new Physician abilities add another dimension to his perception. Under crisis, he makes a decisive call based on divination and his reading of the danger.
• Miao Xiyue is blunt, socially awkward, and deeply devoted to her poisonous pets. She treats the Demonkin’s disobedience as grounds for using Gu, displaying both her formidable professional ability and her unsettling lack of concern for their comfort. Her attempt to sell further lessons ends in comic disappointment.
• Hua Jingshan emerges as a patient, principled mentor. He respects Elixir Cultivation despite professional differences and teaches Li Xiang generously because Hong arranged it.
• Wang De moves from arrogant resistance to fearful compliance after Miao demonstrates her control over him.
• Li Xiang and Miao develop a functional, if uneasy, rapport: he values her intervention but must restrain her from killing Wang. Miao and Hua also clash lightly over teaching and payment, with Hua’s free instruction undercutting her sales pitch.

Significant themes

• Innate gifts versus learned skills: Miao’s beast affinity cannot be copied, while Li Xiang advances through disciplined study.
• The value of mentorship and preparation: Hong quietly plans for Li Xiang’s future, and Hua’s teaching helps unlock a needed profession.
• Power, authority, and cooperation: The blizzard tests Li Xiang’s leadership, while Miao’s coercive Gu forces the dissenting Demonkin to follow orders.
• Risk and judgment: Li Xiang must act with incomplete information, weighing a dangerous mountain route against a divined threat on the road.
• Professional philosophies and balance: Hua’s discussion contrasts the Elixir Cultivators’ pursuit of potency with Medicine Cultivators’ concern for harmony and the body’s limits.