Chapter Summaries

Key plot points and events

• Tang Changsheng trains at a local feng shui convergence, where Spiritual Qi is far richer than in the wilderness, while the Patrol Inspector’s Temple begins receiving modest incense offerings from Templefront Village.
• Realizing cultivation alone cannot protect him without spells or forces to back it up, Tang decides to build a full camp of Yin Soldiers. Fang Xin’s claims that he can supply hundreds or thousands of ghosts prove exaggerated; he can provide only a few at a time.
• Tang leads his soldiers on nightly raids, capturing ghosts rather than merely killing them. In under ten days, they seize more than a dozen Vicious Ghosts, raising his force past twenty.
• To grow faster, Tang lowers his standards and begins refining even weak Grudge Ghosts into Fifth-Rank Yin Soldiers. These recruits are less powerful but can improve over time through refinement and incense offerings.
• His force soon exceeds thirty soldiers, more than half of them Grade D. However, his earlier brutality has scattered or wiped out nearby War Ghosts, leaving few recruits in the surrounding area. Tang therefore decides to lead his full force deeper into the Ghost Domain.

Character developments

• Tang remains cautious but grows increasingly ambitious and decisive, recognizing that he needs both spiritual techniques and a substantial army to survive and eventually restore the General’s Temple.
• He becomes pragmatic about recruitment: unable to obtain enough strong ghosts, he accepts weaker ones and plans to raise their quality gradually.
• Du Song, an unusually intelligent ghost and Tang’s only Spirit Ghost, becomes the force’s leader, highlighting his exceptional value.

Character interactions

• Tang and Fang Xin maintain a practical arrangement: Fang receives incense offerings, while Tang benefits from the cultivation site. Tang also relies on Fang for recruits but grows skeptical of Fang’s boasts.
• Tang’s Yin Soldiers capture ghosts across the domain and bring them back for him to refine, transforming the force from a small unit into a growing army.

Significant themes

• Strength requires both cultivation and practical power: Dao Arts need spells as well as spiritual advancement, while Tang’s growing army provides security.
• Quantity versus quality: Tang compensates for a shortage of powerful ghosts by accepting weaker soldiers and relying on numbers and gradual improvement.
• The scale of the past: The General’s Temple once commanded formidable forces, making its restoration a daunting long-term goal and emphasizing the gap between its former power and Tang’s current army.

Key plot points and events

• Tang Changsheng recognizes how rare Du Song is: unlike most ghosts, he retained his intelligence after death. Intelligent ghosts make commanding his Yin Soldiers much easier.
• A peak Vicious Ghost leads an attack, but Tang and twenty elite Yin Soldiers defeat the raiders, killing their leader and capturing two survivors.
• Tang ventures deeper into the Ghost Domain and discovers a battlefield occupied by over a thousand Long-Haired Bandit ghosts, still arranged in their ancient military formation. Their combined killing intent makes them far too dangerous for his small, untrained force to challenge.
• A vast stream of ragged ghosts attacks the Long-Haired army. The army holds its ground, but never leaves the battlefield, apparently confined by an unseen boundary.
• Tang suspects the Long-Haired army was left there by the General’s Temple’s Founding Patriarch to guard a Netherworld Ghost Gate. Since it stays away from the temple’s central array, he returns to camp and avoids provoking it.
• As the Ghost Domain seems stable, Tang spends increasingly long periods cultivating in the “Immortal Realm.” He periodically visits Fang Xin, who supplies a few Vicious Ghosts at a time. Tang’s force grows to more than thirty Yin Soldiers.
• With more soldiers needed both to guard the Ghost Domain and eventually patrol the Nine Dragons Locking Heavenheart Array, Tang plans another visit to Fang Xin. The chapter ends as he returns at dawn and sees that a much larger new temple in Templefront Village has been completed.

Character developments

• Tang Changsheng grows more capable as a commander, using his Yin Soldiers effectively against ordinary attackers. The Long-Haired army’s disciplined formation, however, teaches him the limits of relying on individual strength without coordination.
• His initial urge to clear the Ghost Domain gives way to caution and calculated restraint. Once he believes the ancient army is containing a greater threat, he focuses on cultivation and strengthening his forces.
• Du Song’s intelligence is revealed as exceptionally valuable, highlighting the advantage Tang gains from having thinking ghosts among his troops.
• Fang Xin remains a practical source of recruits, though he cannot provide ghosts on the enormous scale he once claimed.

Significant themes

• Discipline versus raw numbers: The Long-Haired army’s formation lets it withstand seemingly endless waves of attackers, contrasting with Tang’s powerful but disorganized Yin Soldiers.
• Caution and strategic judgment: Tang’s decision to withdraw rather than test the army reflects his growing prudence.
• The value of intelligence and organization: Intelligent ghosts improve command, while coordinated battle formations transform a large force into a formidable one.
• A fragile sense of safety: The Ghost Domain appears manageable, but the suspected Netherworld Gate and its incoming ghost hordes suggest that the apparent calm rests on a dangerous containment system.

Character interactions

• Tang fights alongside his Yin Soldiers, relying on their support to defeat the War Ghost raiders.
• He avoids confronting the Long-Haired army and instead observes its battle with the ragged ghosts before retreating.
• Tang’s relationship with Fang Xin is transactional but ongoing: Tang visits for more Vicious Ghost recruits, which he considers essential to his expanding responsibilities.

Plot points and events

• Tang Changsheng returns to the newly built temple with Chen Wangshi and Little Pearl, who will live there and manage the cooking and cleaning. The temple is intended as his home; Fang Xin, the Patrol Inspector of Whitewater Creek, will eventually occupy its deity statue and receive its Incense Offerings.
• Fang Xin arrives in a sudden, chilling wind, eager to begin. He explains that claiming the temple will bring a “great tribulation”: rival ghosts, deities, or others may challenge his right to the sanctuary.
• Tang Changsheng asks whether the Mountain God of Fuyang Mountain will oppose Fang Xin. Fang Xin says the Mountain God has long neglected his duties, leaving subordinates to handle matters—and abuse their power.
• Fang Xin reveals that ghosts are illegally smuggled out of the ghost prison and sold. Many prisoners have no families to offer them tribute, and the corrupt jailers profit from their deprivation. He says this corruption is widespread and persists because officials can be paid off with Dharma Money.
• Tang Changsheng offers a possible advantage: his Reversing Sun and Moon Heavenly Mechanism Formation can briefly swap the mortal and Netherworld realms over a limited area. Though short-lived, it may help Fang Xin survive the coming challenge.

Character developments and interactions

• Tang Changsheng is confident in his spiritual abilities and willing to support Fang Xin, while his questions reveal that he is unfamiliar with the local Netherworld’s corruption. He responds to Fang Xin’s predicament by offering practical help.
• Fang Xin shifts from excited anticipation to concern about the dangers of claiming the temple. He is candid about the corruption surrounding him and reassures Tang that the Mountain God is unlikely to interfere.
• Chen Wangshi and Little Pearl are glad to see Tang Changsheng and welcome him back. They are to share the temple with him and take on household duties.
• Tang and Fang Xin speak as close allies: Tang teases Fang Xin’s impatience, then listens carefully and offers his formation as a strategic resource.

Significant themes

• Corruption and neglect: The Netherworld’s officials exploit prisoners, while higher authorities fail to oversee them.
• Money and power: Dharma Money can buy influence and even facilitate the sale of ghosts, underscoring the chapter’s title.
• Alliance and mutual benefit: Tang and Fang Xin’s partnership gives each a stake in the temple and its protection.
• Justice versus institutional failure: Tang is disturbed by the contrast between the corrupt Netherworld he encounters and the more orderly one he remembers.

Key plot points and events

• Fang Xin is excited when Tang Changsheng proposes building a smaller Reversing Sun and Moon Heavenly Mechanism Formation, a deadly defense that can turn night into daylight and disrupt attacking spirits.
• Tang explains that he recently learned the formation from the General’s Temple’s mountain-gate array. The original defense on Yin-Yang Mountain is badly damaged and unstable, but he believes he can construct a smaller version.
• The formation needs two cores: one of extreme yin and one of extreme yang. Fang Xin offers a Corpse-Soul Pearl, formed by a thousand-year-old zombie absorbing moonlight. Tang recognizes it as a powerful lunar treasure and accepts it, though they still lack the solar core.
• Tang then returns to his original purpose: he asks Fang Xin to help him obtain ghosts from the Ghost Prison. Fang Xin warns that the guards are wealthy and will not be impressed by ordinary offerings or weak Dharma Money.
• Fang Xin asks whether Tang has Sky Silver, the currency used by gods and immortals, made from purified Incense and Fire Prayer Power. Tang does not know the term, but pretends that he does.

Character developments and interactions

• Tang Changsheng shows strategic ambition and practical self-interest: he plans a defensive formation, accepts Fang Xin’s valuable pearl, and pursues ghosts for his own needs rather than acting from pure generosity. He also bluffs confidently when unfamiliar with Sky Silver.
• Fang Xin trusts Tang and is eager to support him, even offering to gather materials. His reluctance to part with the pearl shows its value, but he ultimately entrusts it to Tang and admits he cannot find the yang treasure.
• Their relationship is warm and brotherly: Fang Xin calls Tang “brother” and places his fortune and life in his hands, while Tang reassures him and agrees to work on the formation.

Significant themes

• Trust and reciprocity: Fang Xin’s generous support enables Tang’s plan, while Tang promises to deliver the formation.
• Resourcefulness and unequal power: Tang’s knowledge gives him an advantage, but his limited cultivation and weak offerings mean he must rely on allies and valuable artifacts.
• Appearances and deception: Tang’s smooth pretense about Sky Silver highlights the gap between what he knows and what he wants others to believe.
• Corruption and exploitation: The Ghost Prison guards’ wealth, gained by pressuring ghosts’ families for offerings, suggests that the Netherworld’s institutions are compromised.

Key plot points

• Fang Xin, convinced Tang Changsheng is a disciple of a powerful sect, agrees to take him to the Netherworld Office after consulting the Ghost Prison’s jailers. Tang says he will prepare Dharma Money.
• Tang returns to his own world, reasoning that although it is poorer than the “Immortal Realm,” he has more influence and access to resources there. He needs a supreme-yang artifact as the second anchor for the Reversing Sun and Moon Heavenly Mechanism Formation.
• He searches the Demon Web’s trading section, finds nothing useful, and posts a request. He considers asking Da Xiang for help, since Da Xiang has useful connections.
• Da Xiang reports that the first branch temple of the General’s Temple is ready for Tang to consecrate. Tang, increasingly aware of the value of Incense and Fire Prayer Power, decides the temples have become a priority.
• Before Tang can leave, two police officers visit the temple seeking his help. They report an alarming surge: more than a hundred suicides in just over a month, compared with roughly 213 in Lower River during the previous year.
• Tang recognizes that the deaths are highly abnormal and begins examining photographs of the victims. The chapter ends as he studies the first image.

Character developments and interactions

• Tang is cautious and pragmatic, weighing where he can most effectively gain resources and influence. His casual attitude toward the police case shifts to serious concern once he hears the figures.
• Fang Xin’s respect for Tang deepens; he is nearly certain Tang belongs to a major sect and agrees to help him.
• Da Xiang is enthusiastic about his work building branch temples and eagerly asks Tang to consecrate the first one.
• Tang respects the officers for their integrity. Liang Ge, the older officer, has retained a clear conscience despite years of police work; his younger partner is inexperienced but similarly upright.
• The officers approach Tang deferentially and present the case, hoping he can identify what ordinary investigation has not.

Significant themes

• Influence and access: Tang’s own world may lack the resources of the Immortal Realm, but his standing there gives him better chances to obtain what he needs.
• Integrity and spiritual character: The officers’ righteousness is reflected in their bright spiritual “light,” and Tang values their moral character.
• The uncanny behind ordinary life: A sudden spike in apparent suicides suggests a hidden crisis, shifting the story toward a supernatural mystery.

Plot points and events

• Tang Changsheng examines photographs of apparent suicides and notices that many corpses have the same eerie smile.
• He tells policemen Liang Ge and Cui Zhengfei that ghosts are responsible: Vicious Ghosts likely killed more than twenty healthy young adults, while Grudge Ghosts killed many frail or elderly people. He estimates that numerous ghosts are active in Lower River.
• Tang plans to inspect the bodies, but the policemen’s superior forbids them from helping and orders them back to the station.
• After overhearing the superior insult him, Tang retaliates with a call to a powerful contact. Trainee inspector Wu Anming is transferred to the records room, while Tang gains permission to enter the morgue.
• Tang no longer needs to inspect the bodies: he discovers the ghosts did not escape from the Ghost Domain beneath Yin-Yang Mountain, and the City God Temple shows no signs of change. The source of the outbreak remains unknown.

Character developments and interactions

• Tang Changsheng is perceptive and confident in his supernatural judgment, but also politically powerful and vindictive. He treats the career-damaging call as a minor matter and sees influence as a practical tool.
• Liang Ge and Cui Zhengfei have pursued the case on their own because their superiors dismissed it. They respect Tang, but must obey orders and return to the station.
• Wu Anming, the superior who blocks the investigation and insults Tang, is swiftly punished through Tang’s connections.
• Tang’s dealings with the policemen reveal the strained relationship between him and parts of the force, partly rooted in resentment over earlier police deaths and his influence over local affairs.

Significant themes

• Supernatural threat and uncertainty: The scale of the killings suggests a major ghost outbreak, but its origin is still unexplained.
• Power and connections: Tang’s single phone call can alter someone’s career, illustrating how influence operates in modern society.
• Bureaucracy and institutional limits: The policemen’s initiative is thwarted by cautious superiors, even as the danger grows.
• Personal resentment and authority: Tang’s retaliation is both personal and a defense of the General’s Temple’s standing.

Key plot points and events

• Tang Changsheng investigates scattered patches of Grievance Aura across Lower River City. Although the City God’s statues remain dormant, the situation has not visibly worsened—yet the origin of the ghosts remains unknown.
• A taxi driver, A Qiang, nearly causes a head-on crash after glimpsing a blood-covered figure by the roadside. Tang’s Yin Soldiers secretly steer the other car aside, preventing a fatal collision.
• Tang identifies the figure as a ghost that has been dead for less than seven days but has already become a Grudge Ghost. He is alarmed because such ghosts should be rare in the current age, and he has seen dozens of similar traces across the city.
• When the ghost threatens him, Tang destroys it with a talisman and his Demon-Slaying Ritual Sword, noting that his cultivation and talisman power have improved.
• A monk interrupts and questions Tang’s harshness. Tang suspects him of raising the ghosts, then learns he is Haifeng, abbot of Lower River Skanda Temple. Tang asks whether Haifeng has heard of the General’s Temple.

Character developments

• Tang Changsheng grows increasingly concerned and serious as he realizes the ghosts may be part of a wider, unusual outbreak. He also shows greater confidence in his recently improved abilities.
• A Qiang survives the near-accident but misinterprets the ghost as a spirit seeking a victim to replace it; he resolves to seek religious protection.
• Haifeng presents himself as compassionate and offers advice, but Tang’s accusation puts him on the defensive.

Significant themes

• A supernatural crisis emerging amid ordinary life: Ghosts are appearing on city streets and endangering unsuspecting people.
• Duty and protection: Tang and his Yin Soldiers act to prevent deaths, even when the public remains unaware of their intervention.
• Uncertainty and investigation: The source of the newly formed Grudge Ghosts—and their connection, if any, to exceptional cases such as Alina—remains unexplained.
• Competing religious authority: Tang’s tense exchange with Haifeng hints at rivalry or conflict between spiritual institutions.

Character interactions

• Tang’s unseen intervention saves A Qiang and the other driver, though A Qiang never learns who protected them.
• Tang confronts the Grudge Ghost; its fear of his power contrasts with its lingering hostility.
• Haifeng challenges Tang’s decision to destroy the ghost, while Tang responds suspiciously and sharply, setting up a possible confrontation between the two religious figures.

Key plot points and events

• Monk Haifeng recognizes Tang Changsheng as a master of the feared General’s Temple and immediately regrets confronting him. He explains that his Skanda Temple has existed for 150 years and was once permitted to remain by the General’s Temple.
• Tang questions Haifeng’s cultivation and motives. Haifeng admits he came out hoping to guide the city’s ghosts onward, but cannot realistically send them to the Western Paradise or into reincarnation.
• Tang leaves, focused on the many ghosts threatening the Lower River. He intends eventually to organize the area’s Daoist temples and Buddhist monasteries.
• After Tang departs, Haifeng spots a fast-moving Yin Soldier and realizes it must have been released by Tang. Impressed by its strength and lack of Grievance Aura, he concludes the General’s Temple is best equipped to deal with the crisis.
• Tang has already dispatched ten Ghost Soldiers to search the city. Over two nights, they kill several dozen ghosts, eliminating more than half of those in the city.

Character developments and interactions

• Tang Changsheng is suspicious of other cultivators in the General’s Temple’s territory, but relaxes once he learns Haifeng’s lineage was previously accepted. He is confident in his own rapid progress, yet recognizes that powerful cultivators may still be hidden elsewhere.
• Monk Haifeng shifts from anxious deference to frustrated concern: he wants to help the ghosts and share a clue about their sudden appearance, but Tang brushes him off. Witnessing the Yin Soldier leaves him awed and envious.
• Their exchange exposes mutual distrust between Buddhist and Daoist traditions. Haifeng tries to appeal to shared aims, while Tang rejects the idea that their approaches are interchangeable.

Significant themes

• A changed spiritual world: The Heaven and Earth Cataclysm has weakened religious institutions and left the old divine order—including reincarnation—unavailable.
• Sect rivalry and pragmatism: Longstanding divisions persist, but the crisis is too severe for either tradition to afford continued infighting.
• Power and responsibility: Tang’s formidable abilities make him the city’s most effective defender, while his urgent work leaves little room for conversation or cooperation.
• Uncertainty about hidden strength: Tang’s confidence is balanced by the possibility that stronger cultivators remain undiscovered across the vast Central Land.

Key plot points and events

• Monk Haifeng discovers that the man confronting him is Tang Changsheng of the General’s Temple, a feared power in Lower River. He explains that his Skanda Temple lineage has existed for generations and once received the General’s Temple’s support.
• Tang questions Haifeng’s cultivation and motives. Haifeng admits he hoped to guide the ghosts troubling the city, but Tang challenges whether he could truly send them to paradise or reincarnation.
• Unimpressed, Tang leaves to address the immediate danger. Haifeng tries to share clues about the sudden appearance of so many ghosts, but Tang does not hear him.
• A Yin Soldier flashes past. Haifeng recognizes it as an expertly made Daoist construct and concludes Tang must have sent it.
• Tang dispatches ten Yin Soldiers to sweep Lower River. Over two nights, they kill several dozen ghosts and eliminate more than half of those in the city.

Character developments

• Tang Changsheng is wary of other cultivators in his territory, but his confidence in his own rapid advancement reassures him. He is pragmatic and prioritizes protecting the city over discussion or inter-sect diplomacy.
• Monk Haifeng is initially frightened by Tang’s reputation, then humbled by the limits of his own power. Seeing the Yin Soldiers leaves him admiring the General’s Temple’s abilities.

Significant themes

• Sectarian rivalry: Southern and Northern Daoist traditions, as well as Buddhist groups, distrust and disparage one another, even as catastrophe has weakened them all.
• Power and responsibility: Good intentions are not enough to save the dead; guiding ghosts requires abilities Haifeng lacks.
• Practical action over status: Tang’s response to the crisis is direct and effective, while old rivalries and arguments offer little help against the threat.

Character interactions

• Tang and Haifeng meet with mutual wariness: Haifeng shows deference, while Tang questions his lineage and competence.
• Their exchange over “sectarian prejudice” exposes the traditions’ mutual contempt. Haifeng seeks Tang’s help and tries to pass on important information, but Tang leaves before hearing it.

Key plot points and events

• Tang Changsheng investigates the city’s unusually large ghost population, following clues to the Lower River City God Temple. Some of its ghosts and gods are still alive but asleep. He finds no immediate cause and leaves quietly, unaware that a dark figure watches him.
• Da Xiang picks Tang Changsheng up. They discuss rebuilding the General’s Temple, which once had eight branches across Lower River but now lacks enough disciples to staff them.
• They consider recruiting from the Three Families of Xiajiang and other sources, and bringing in Daoists from Great Chu to oversee branch temples in the meantime.
• Tang asks Da Xiang to find a powerful yang treasure to pair with his Corpse-Soul Pearl. Da Xiang identifies a Dragon Pearl atop the Skanda Temple’s pagoda as a possible match, though the temple may resist giving it up.
• They arrive at a newly prepared General’s Temple shrine. Tang decides to consecrate it immediately, rather than wait for an auspicious day, and begins preparing the ritual with a Jade Tablet.

Character developments and interactions

• Tang Changsheng remains vigilant about the supernatural disturbance, but prioritizes the sect’s longer-term needs as well. He recognizes that the temple needs more disciples and branch temples, and takes charge of consecrating the new shrine.
• Da Xiang shows loyalty and initiative: he has prepared the shrine, helps plan recruitment and staffing, and quickly recalls a potential source for the yang treasure. Tang trusts him and appreciates his work.
• Tang and Da Xiang discuss the General’s Temple’s revival as collaborators. Their exchange also reflects the need to balance recruitment from the Xiajiang families against preserving the sect’s independence.
• An unidentified dark figure silently observes Tang near the City God Temple, suggesting that his movements are being watched.

Significant themes

• Revival and institutional renewal: The General’s Temple is trying to recover its former reach despite limited manpower.
• Tradition versus practical constraints: The sect draws on established family ties but must recruit more broadly and rely on outside Daoists while training new disciples.
• Unseen danger and mystery: The unexplained ghosts, the sleeping City God officials, and the watcher point to a larger threat still unresolved.
• Preparation and ritual power: The new shrine and consecration mark a concrete step in restoring the sect’s presence and influence.

Key plot points and events

• Tang Changsheng completes the statue’s consecration by placing a secret jade tablet inside it, then performing a ritual with a lamp, incantations, and the Heavenly Heart.
• The ritual activates a lingering earth vein. Divine light attaches itself to the statue, giving it an imposing presence.
• Tang orders the disciples to offer incense. The temple’s reopening draws curious local residents, including elderly people who remember the General’s Temple’s former history.
• Tang refuses donations, instead giving an elderly woman a talisman for her rheumatism. As more visitors arrive seeking help, he offers talismans, readings, and patient attention.
• The growing incense offerings produce visible spiritual effects. Using the Three Realms Mirror, Tang sees a halo within the statue containing a tiny manifestation of the Protector King Divine General.

Character developments and interactions

• Tang Changsheng displays ritual expertise, confidence, and generosity. He notices a disciple’s alarm but does not react, and later calmly assists worshippers while refusing their money.
• The disciple is startled by the glowing tablet but keeps quiet, anxious not to jeopardize his valuable job.
• The elderly worshippers respond with reverence to the temple’s history and Tang’s connection to Yin-Yang Mountain. One elderly woman accepts his talisman gratefully.
• Tang and Da Xiang’s group work together in the ceremony, with Da Xiang leading the disciples in offering incense.
• The Divine General appears to answer the offerings by sending a fragment of his spirit into the statue.

Significant themes

• Ritual, faith, and spiritual power: The ceremony links the statue to hidden sacred knowledge, an earth vein, and the deity’s presence.
• Tradition and local memory: The reopened temple revives residents’ memories of the General’s Temple and its former worship.
• Service over profit: Tang rejects donations and prioritizes incense offerings and helping ordinary people.
• The relationship between worship and divine response: The rapid manifestation suggests the Divine General urgently needs incense and prayer power.

Key plot points and events

• Tang Changsheng stops using the Three Realms Mirror after briefly spying on a deity, recognizing that doing so is dangerous and taboo.
• He praises Da Xiang’s young helpers. Da Xiang explains that he recruited them as well-paid student employees, with regular practice and training required.
• Tang sees this as a practical way to staff the General’s Temple: recruit many workers, advance promising ones to outer disciples, and reserve inner discipleship—and the transmission of the complete lineage—for a select few.
• He urges Da Xiang to recruit forty or fifty more people and offers to help qualified inner disciples kindle their Heavenly Heart.
• Tang also offers to guide Da Xiang’s cultivation, acknowledging that Da Xiang has become his indispensable right-hand man.
• Da Xiang proposes that the temple enter the antiques trade using his remaining smuggling connections. Tang is tempted by the chance to acquire Magical Artifacts, despite the likely conflict with the existing smuggling ring.
• Tang decides the risk may be worthwhile: recovered treasures could help him build the Nine-Dragon Heaven-Locking Heart Array, which requires nine magical treasures as anchors.

Character developments and interactions

• Tang Changsheng shifts from concentrating on his own cultivation to planning the temple’s growth, recruitment, and influence. He also recognizes Da Xiang’s loyalty and importance, offering him personal cultivation guidance.
• Da Xiang demonstrates practical leadership by organizing student workers and bold ambition by proposing a move into the antiques trade. He is excited by Tang’s offer but feels envy over the rare achievement of kindling the Heavenly Heart.
• Their relationship grows more collaborative: Tang trusts Da Xiang to manage temple operations, while Da Xiang brings him opportunities and speaks candidly about risks.

Significant themes

• Tradition adapted to modern life: A religious order can recruit through ordinary employment while preserving strict training and spiritual ranks.
• Authority, succession, and safeguarding knowledge: Carefully controlled advancement protects the sect’s teachings and leadership lineage.
• Power and resources: Tang recognizes that Spiritual Qi and treasures matter more than secret methods in the modern world.
• Ambition versus danger: The antiques venture promises wealth and powerful artifacts but risks a direct clash with the smuggling ring.
• Preparing for a larger threat: The search for treasures is tied to Tang’s plan to construct a powerful array for an approaching calamity.

Key plot points and events

• Tang Changsheng reflects that gathering nine magical treasures for the Nine-Dragon Heaven-Locking Heart Array is now more achievable than it once was. He intends eventually to make the world his domain, but the General’s Temple is too weak and understaffed for that ambition.
• Tang and Da Xiang agree that the temple’s immediate priorities are Tang’s cultivation and training its disciples. Da Xiang worries that the commercial channels he has built may become useless if they wait five to ten years. Tang hints at a possible solution but does not explain it.
• Senior police official Fan Mingren arrives and asks Tang for help with a horrific serial-murder case. The police fear that publicity will cause panic.
• Tang agrees to assist, partly because Fan has previously cooperated with him and because Deng Ruiming recommended him.
• The murders are linked to Holy Salt, a dangerous drug originating from Ultimate Care that has begun spreading into Lower River.
• The victims were tortured to death, and each body was marked with a different but related symbol. Experts associate the symbols with the Long-Haired Bandits and their leader, Heavenly King Hong, who was said to possess a mysterious text.
• Recognizing the clues, Tang identifies the text as the Origin Way Heavenly Book.

Character developments

• Tang Changsheng shows long-term ambition but remains pragmatic: he knows his organization cannot yet support his plans. His concern about Holy Salt reveals his awareness that the drug is more than an ordinary narcotic.
• Da Xiang is focused on expanding the temple’s influence and worries that waiting will squander the channels he has established. He nevertheless accepts Tang’s priorities.
• Fan Mingren approaches Tang formally and cautiously, relying on their prior relationship and Deng Ruiming’s recommendation to secure his help.

Significant themes

• Ambition versus preparation: Tang dreams of controlling the world, but recognizes that institutional strength and trained followers must come first.
• The supernatural intruding into modern life: A contemporary police investigation leads toward cult-like rites and a legendary religious text.
• Dangerous knowledge and influence: Holy Salt’s spread suggests a broader threat, while the symbols hint that the murders may be tied to an old, mysterious tradition.

Character interactions

• Tang and Da Xiang discuss the General’s Temple’s future, balancing expansion against the need to cultivate and train.
• Fan Mingren appeals to Tang as both a police official and an old collaborator; Tang agrees to help.
• Tang questions whether the killings involve supernatural forces, then studies the evidence and connects the symbols to the Origin Way Heavenly Book.

Summary

• Fan Mingren recounts the Long-Haired Army’s origins and its role in Great Chu’s decline: the rebellion forced the empire to abandon overseas campaigns and colonies, contributed to the imperial family’s fall, and weakened the country for decades. The Founding Ancestor later returned from overseas, suppressed the uprising, and founded a new dynasty. A century later, the rebels’ legacy remains feared in Lower River.
• The symbols at the murder scenes remind Tang Changsheng of a ritual performed by Ultimate Care. He wonders whether the group might be descended from the Long-Haired Army, once a small branch of the Southern Demon Cult. He keeps this suspicion to himself and asks instead how the killings relate to Holy Salt.
• Fan explains that every victim had used Holy Salt, suggesting the killer may be targeting its users. Tang doubts the cases are that straightforward, drawing on his previous encounters with Ultimate Care and Holy Salt in Lufadan. He agrees to examine the bodies.
• At the morgue, Tang notices the same eerie, apparently happy smile seen in photographs of a victim tortured to death. The medical examiner reports that the victim’s kidneys were removed and placed beside blood-written symbols, and that the victim had taken a powerful hallucinogen before dying. Tang rejects the idea that the killer was merely sparing the victim pain: he suspects the organs removed across the cases correspond to the heart, liver, spleen, lungs, and kidneys—one from each victim.

Character developments and interactions

• Tang Changsheng shifts from guarded curiosity to active involvement. His experience with Ultimate Care makes him wary of the simple Holy Salt explanation, and his instincts tell him that the murders may connect to a broader danger.
• Fan Mingren is impressed by Tang’s knowledge and welcomes his help; he promptly offers to take him to the morgue.
• Tang and the police staff interact respectfully, contrasting with the hostility he faced from North American FBI agents in an earlier investigation. At the morgue, Tang challenges an officer’s casual interpretation of the killer’s motives.

Significant themes

• History’s lingering consequences: The Long-Haired Army’s rebellion continues to shape public fear and political memory long after its defeat.
• Uncertainty and hidden connections: Holy Salt, rising suicides, increasing numbers of ghosts, and the murders may be part of one larger pattern, though Tang has no proof yet.
• Appearance versus reality: The victim’s smile looks like happiness, but its presence on a tortured corpse makes it disturbing; the apparent mercy of the killer may likewise conceal a more deliberate purpose.

Plot points and events

• At the morgue, Tang Changsheng identifies a disturbing pattern: the victims’ organs do not belong to them but all come from one person.
• He explains that a cultist has killed five people and used their organs to replace his own, transforming himself into one of the Five Directions Yin Demons—a being between human and ghost. Burning the bodies would weaken the demon, though not destroy it.
• Fan Mingren orders the bodies burned, trusting Tang. Other officers doubt the explanation, worry about the evidence and victims’ families, and resent Tang’s past involvement in dangerous cases.
• Tang leaves the decision largely to the police, regarding the dispute as a test of their trust. He suspects the ritual is aimed at the General’s Temple and begins organizing a search.
• Da Xiang reports that local allies are looking for clues and that the new Twin Dragons Society is resisting their influence. Tang dismisses the gang as a minor concern.
• Tang and Da Xiang mobilize both legitimate and criminal networks across Lower River. Tang expects the killer to be found and vows that the culprit will not survive.

Character developments and interactions

• Tang Changsheng displays confidence in his supernatural knowledge and authority. He is protective of the General’s Temple’s territory, but also strategically tests the police and keeps his own role in any punishment concealed.
• Fan Mingren remains loyal to Tang, acting decisively despite the police force’s skepticism.
• The other officers reveal distrust of Tang and resentment over earlier casualties, exposing tensions within the police bureau and limits to Fan’s authority.
• Da Xiang shares Tang’s hostility toward whoever is behind the ritual and is ready to defend the temple’s territory. Their exchange shows mutual trust and coordinated intent.

Significant themes

• Faith versus skepticism: Tang’s warning is met with doubt because the officers lack firsthand experience of the supernatural.
• Power and authority: The chapter contrasts police procedures, Tang’s spiritual influence, and the reach of Xiajiang’s powerful families and networks.
• Territorial loyalty and conflict: Tang views the ritual as an attack on the General’s Temple’s home ground, making the investigation a defense of local power.
• Knowledge and danger: Understanding the ritual reveals the scale of the threat, but the body-burning measure can only weaken the demon, not end the danger.

Key plot points and events

• A blood-covered man in a temple blames Tang Changsheng and the “Holy Shepherd” for his suffering. He is trying to cultivate the Five Directions Yin Demons by peeling off his own skin and tormenting helpless captives. The violence remains mysteriously confined within the Buddha hall.
• Tang sends Da Xiang to negotiate with Skanda Temple for its Dragon Pearl, authorizing him to offer money and treasures from the General’s Temple’s vault. He stresses that the pearl should not be obtained through force or deception.
• Tang tests a packet of Holy Salt. It produces a powerful, uplifting sensation but nearly draws his soul toward a distant, apparently welcoming presence. He saves himself by igniting his Primordial Yang Divine Lamp, which forces his soul back into place.
• Tang burns the remaining salt in the lamp. This purifies and brightens its flame, and seems to accelerate the growth of the essence and soul developing in his Northern Pole Secret Aperture.
• Having recognized Holy Salt’s true danger, Tang vows not to let it spread in Lower River.

Character developments

• Tang Changsheng shifts from curiosity about Holy Salt to alarm and resolve. He shows both spiritual vigilance and willingness to accept personal cost to prevent its spread.
• Da Xiang takes Tang’s warning seriously and accepts responsibility for negotiating carefully over the Dragon Pearl.
• The bloodied man is revealed as a cruel, desperate practitioner, intent on revenge and willing to torture others in pursuit of demonic power.

Significant themes

• Temptation disguised as salvation: Holy Salt’s warm, sacred welcome conceals a force that can pull the soul away from its rightful place.
• Power and sacrifice: Cultivation can exact terrible costs from both practitioners and victims.
• Duty and responsibility: Tang resolves to protect Lower River, even though acting may bring serious consequences.
• Faith used as a mask: The chants and promises of bliss associated with Holy Salt contrast with its spiritual danger.

Character interactions

• Tang gives Da Xiang practical authority and resources while cautioning him to pursue the Dragon Pearl through fair negotiation.
• The bloodied man directs his hatred at Tang and the Holy Shepherd, while treating his immobilized captives as tools for his cultivation.
• Tang’s encounter with Holy Salt becomes a struggle between its seductive influence and the protective force of his Divine Lamp.

Key plot points and events

• Tang Changsheng decides to enlist Elder Deng Ruiming in stopping Holy Salt from entering Lower River. Deng agrees to push the police toward a severe crackdown, though both men recognize a complete ban is unlikely.
• Tang reveals that Holy Salt does more than intoxicate: it consumes a person’s soul. He believes it may be connected to Evil Gods and describes how prolonged use can destroy the soul entirely.
• His account helps explain the strange condition of people Tang encountered in Lufadan, including a woman whose Three Souls were gone and Seven Souls had become chaotic.
• Tang orders Zuo Xingfa, Zhang Dacheng, and the other leaders to cooperate with the crackdown and never handle Holy Salt themselves.
• Rather than rush into an unknown enemy’s plans, Tang resolves to strengthen his forces: he will finish the Reversing Sun and Moon Heavenly Mechanism Formation and refine his battalion of Yin Soldiers.
• Da Xiang reports that something is seriously wrong at Skanda Temple. Tang goes there to investigate.

Character developments and interactions

• Tang Changsheng shifts from trying to stop Holy Salt through force alone to pursuing both a practical police crackdown and greater personal military strength. His experience with Holy Salt also gives him new insight into the damage it causes.
• Deng Ruiming, whose grandson died from Holy Salt, is initially skeptical but becomes resolute after learning that it can destroy the soul. He agrees to use his influence with the police.
• Da Xiang demonstrates his judgment by recognizing that Skanda Temple’s problem is serious enough to warrant Tang’s personal attention.
• Tang and Deng’s shared grief and hatred of Holy Salt make them allies, though they must work within the limits of what they can publicly explain and enforce.

Significant themes

• The limits of law and authority: Even powerful leaders doubt they can eradicate a drug once it has spread; they can only attempt to contain it.
• Hidden spiritual danger: Holy Salt is revealed as a possible supernatural threat, not merely a harmful substance.
• Preparation and self-reliance: Tang chooses to build enough strength to withstand an enemy’s schemes rather than let that enemy dictate his actions.
• Religious destruction and conflict: The chapter ends by recalling how the Long-Haired Bandits destroyed temples, setting the broader religious history against the unexplained trouble at Skanda Temple.

Key plot points and events

• Tang Changsheng has researched the Skanda Temple and its Dragon Pearl, which he hopes to obtain. Though he regards the temple as a lesser power, he is careful not to underestimate it.
• The Skanda Temple has historic ties to the General’s Temple: its founder was sheltered by Chen Weian, a General’s Temple patriarch, during the Long-Haired Rebellion and later settled in the Lower River with permission.
• The chapter recounts Great Chu’s near-collapse during that era: foreign wars, internal rebellions, political conflict, and the Uyghur Rebellion left the country on the brink of ruin. Martial heroes and cultivators rallied to defend it, including Chen Weian and the General’s Temple.
• Because of this shared history—and because the General’s Temple values its reputation—Tang intends to acquire the Dragon Pearl through purchase or an exchange rather than force.
• He approaches the Skanda Temple, a shabby, centuries-old building near the seafood market. Its roof bears the image of two dragons playing with a pearl, identified as the Dragon Pearl.
• Before Tang reaches the temple, he encounters Da Xiang and a group of armed, dangerous-looking men, facing off against police officers. Liang Ge and Cui Zhengfei are among the officers, and both greet Tang uneasily.

Character developments and interactions

• Tang Changsheng is shown as cautious and politically astute: he studies his target’s history and tempers his desire for the Pearl with respect for the General’s Temple’s principles.
• Da Xiang appears with a sizable armed group, suggesting a serious confrontation is underway; he identifies the opposing group as police.
• Liang Ge and Cui Zhengfei recognize Tang and greet him with strained smiles, hinting at tension or trouble surrounding the standoff.
• Tang is surprised by the gathering and the weapons, but realizes the confrontation is not necessarily about him.

Significant themes

• Honor and reputation: The General’s Temple’s moral standing shapes Tang’s plan even when it conflicts with his personal interests.
• Historical bonds and obligation: The Skanda Temple’s origins and past loyalty complicate any attempt to claim its treasure.
• National crisis and resistance: The historical account portrays cultivators and martial heroes joining ordinary forces to defend a fractured country.
• Uneasy present-day conflict: The armed encounter between criminals and police foreshadows trouble just as Tang reaches the temple.

Plot points and events

• Tang Changsheng arrives near Skanda Temple and senses that something is wrong: the crowded district is unnaturally silent, and no one has entered or left since the previous night.
• Da Xiang explains that police and local gang members have already tried entering the area. Those who went in never returned, and there is a faint smell of blood.
• Tang uses the Three Realms Mirror to investigate the temple, then casts Solar Ghost-Slaying Talismans at an invisible barrier concealing it.
• The barrier breaks, revealing Skanda Temple as a horrific scene of slaughter, its walls and floors covered in blood and scattered body parts. Police, gang members, and Tang’s associates are sickened by the sight.

Character developments and interactions

• Tang’s suspicion and caution prove justified. He recognizes the danger, prevents others from entering blindly, and acts decisively to expose the illusion.
• Da Xiang serves as Tang’s alert and observant aide, identifying the smell of blood and confirming that the gathered men and police were already present.
• The police and gang members cooperate despite their mutual distrust because the situation is too serious to handle alone. Tang sees their cooperation—and his possible influence over both groups—as a chance to advance his goal of banning Holy Salt.
• Zuo Xingfa and the others struggle to endure the gore, prompting Tang to reflect that years of comfort have softened them.

Significant themes

• Deception and hidden danger: Skanda Temple’s clean, peaceful appearance masks a deadly reality.
• Fear and the supernatural: The missing residents and vanished search parties suggest a threat beyond ordinary crime.
• Pragmatic cooperation: Police and criminals set aside hostility when confronted with a crisis.
• The cost of violence: The shocking scene underscores the scale and brutality of the massacre.

Plot points and events

• Tang Changsheng sends five men to scout the Skanda Temple, giving them Protective Talismans. They enter an Illusion Realm, lose their way, and begin attacking one another.
• Tang uses a hand seal and incantation to bring them back to their senses. He then lights the Primordial Yang Divine Lamp and tells everyone to stay within its protective glow.
• As Tang leads the group toward the temple, they encounter a vast vision of a sea of blood. The lamp’s light forms a barrier around them but cannot dispel the vision.
• Tang recognizes that the phenomenon is not just an Illusion Realm but a Formation. He leads the group in a protective chant; their united voices strengthen the lamp, part the blood-sea illusion, and reveal the temple.
• As they approach, twisted faces appear on the temple doors, repeating: “The sea of suffering is boundless; turn back and find the shore.”

Character developments and interactions

• Tang is cautious and strategic: he uses subordinates to scout, keeps the police back as a reserve, and prepares for the possibility that the lamp will not overcome the Formation.
• His men and the police are initially terrified, but Tang’s protection and instructions help them regain confidence. Their chanting turns fear into collective resolve.
• Da Xiang questions Tang’s concern for the scouts; Tang explains that frightened ordinary people may be especially vulnerable to illusions—and that stray bullets could endanger him.
• The group becomes increasingly dependent on Tang’s leadership, following closely within the lamp’s light and obeying his command to chant.

Significant themes

• Fear and discipline: Panic makes the scouts dangerous, while clear leadership and a shared task help the larger group withstand terror.
• Collective strength: The group’s voices combine with Tang’s power to strengthen the lamp and make progress against the Formation.
• Caution and preparation: Tang succeeds not through reckless force but by anticipating obstacles and adapting when his first defense proves insufficient.
• Temptation to retreat: The temple’s warning invokes the idea of suffering and escape, foreshadowing a choice or challenge ahead.