Chapter Summaries

Plot points and events

• Tang Changsheng realizes the Daoist he killed was the junior disciple of the person who had used the Suppressing-Death Art against him. He briefly wonders why they were hiding in Primordial Yang Abbey and had targeted him, then decides not to pursue the matter.
• He tests the Bagua Mirror, hoping it will take him back to the General’s Temple, but it does not respond to moonlight or his Heavenly Heart. Instead, he uses it to capture a nearby ghost and opens a portal, returning to the temple.
• Unseen by Tang, ghostly figures gather at the spot where he vanished.
• Back in the temple, he resolves to refine the captured Yin Soldier as a guardian using the General’s Temple’s methods, which he considers superior to the blood-feeding technique used by the black-robed Daoist.
• He discovers a severe yin-energy bruise on his back. Rather than being alarmed, he infers that the Yin Soldier is powerful—possibly close to Vicious Ghost strength—and must possess a rare Ghost Artifact.
• After treating his wound with medicinal wine, Tang sets up a ritual altar in the courtyard and begins the refinement. When released, the Yin Soldier rushes to absorb the specially prepared incense smoke.

Character developments and interactions

• Tang Changsheng shows caution and practicality: he abandons investigating the Abbey, prioritizes returning to the safer temple, and recognizes the Yin Soldier’s strength as an opportunity rather than a threat.
• He is confident in the General’s Temple’s traditions, contrasting its disciplined methods of cultivating Yin Soldiers with the black-robed Daoist’s crude blood sacrifice.
• The black-robed Daoist remains present through the consequences of his choices: his blood-fed command and the powerful Yin Soldier he controlled.
• The Yin Soldier shifts from captured enemy to potential guardian. Though it wounded Tang, it responds eagerly to the incense during the first step of its refinement.

Significant themes

• Power and cultivation: A ghost’s strength, spiritual energy, and magical equipment determine its ability to affect the living.
• Tradition versus crude methods: The temple’s inherited practices promise a more obedient and useful guardian than blood sacrifice.
• Caution and opportunity: Tang treats danger seriously but seeks to turn the encounter—and his injury—into an advantage.
• Unseen supernatural forces: The figures gathering where Tang disappeared suggest that his escape may have consequences beyond what he knows.

Key plot points and events

• Tang Changsheng feeds the Yin Soldier incense, then burns the original willow-wood command. He transfers the spirit into a jade pendant using a talisman and his blood to counter the pendant’s intense cold.
• He has adapted a General’s Temple method: jade can better nourish a soul than willow, especially when placed in an earth-vein spiritual nexus. Yin-Yang Mountain has such a nexus, potentially allowing the Yin Soldier to grow stronger.
• The Yin Soldier is Grade E, about as dangerous as a Grudge Ghost, but it is close to becoming a Vicious Ghost and carries a Ghost Artifact that can injure the living.
• As Tang works, three armed tomb raiders climb the rain-soaked mountain. They are seeking a rumored great tomb and have been sent to investigate the General’s Temple.
• The men dismiss supernatural threats and plan to confront the temple’s mage. One openly intends to torture him, while the group sees the encounter as a way to assess the temple before taking on local crime boss Zuo Xingfa.

Character developments

• Tang Changsheng shows preparation and adaptability by replacing the dead Daoist’s method with the temple’s own technique. His handling of the pendant suggests confidence and practical knowledge.
• The three newcomers are established as experienced, violent criminals. Their skepticism about the supernatural coexists with caution, and they are willing to use guns—or murder—to get what they want.

Significant themes

• Tradition adapted for power: Tang repurposes an enemy’s Yin Soldier through the General’s Temple’s methods.
• Supernatural danger versus human violence: The raiders deny the occult, yet their weapons and cruelty pose an immediate threat.
• Escalating danger: Tang’s new control of the Yin Soldier coincides with armed enemies approaching the temple.

Character interactions

• Tang’s interaction with the Yin Soldier is one of control and refinement: he feeds it, transfers it to jade, and prepares to nurture it further.
• Among the raiders, the tall man and Chen Zi discuss the tomb and temple, while the knife-wielding man boasts of attacking the mage. Their shared confidence masks a degree of caution about the temple’s reputation.

Plot points and events

Three tomb robbers—Knife, Big Guy, and Chen Zi—reach the General’s Temple on the lush side of Yin-Yang Mountain, contrasting sharply with the barren Dead Man Mountain nearby. They intend to kill Tang Changsheng, the man they believe is inside.
The storm and the temple’s eerie appearance make them wary, but their caution gives way to greed when they notice the building is made from exceptionally valuable purple sandalwood. They also discover that its walls use an unusually costly, durable mixture of egg white, glutinous rice, cinnabar, and sulfur. Convinced the temple could make them rich, they decide to claim its valuables.
Finding the gate locked with a rare Nine-Child Combination Lock, they have Knife pick it rather than risk damaging it. He opens the gate—and the robbers are confronted by a towering, fearsome figure inside, with a blue-green face, fangs, and a Steel Whip.

Character developments and interactions

• The three robbers begin confident and murderous, but their greed quickly overtakes their original plan. They grow cautious when they realize the temple’s fittings and construction may be worth a fortune, treating its contents as if they already own them.
• Big Guy spots the valuable timber and points out that the temple’s age makes its construction puzzling.
• Chen Zi voices unease about the temple’s sinister atmosphere.
• Knife remains eager to attack, then carefully picks the lock to avoid damaging the treasure.
• The men reinforce one another’s greed and confidence, but the figure inside abruptly turns their intrusion into a threatening confrontation.

Significant themes

• Greed and entitlement: The robbers’ fascination with wealth makes them assume the temple’s treasures belong to them.
• Appearance versus reality: A shabby, remote temple conceals extraordinary materials and craftsmanship.
• Unease and danger: The violent storm, uncanny setting, and final apparition create suspense and foreshadow peril.

Key plot points and events

• Three armed outlaws enter the General’s Temple. A vision makes them think the statue has come alive: the Divine General strikes the big man, while the Yin Soldier kills Chenzi as he flees.
• Daozi resists the Yin Soldier with a blood-trailing knife and escapes down the mountain. Tang Changsheng calls the Yin Soldier back into the Soul Jade, where it retreats weakened by killing a living person.
• The big man, who had actually been shot several times, dies on the temple floor. Tang realizes how close he came to being killed.
• Tang explains that the spectacle was not an ordinary illusion: he drew on the lingering spirit of the Guardian Divine General, which his lineage has preserved despite the loss of Daoist power generations earlier.
• He offers incense to the statue and Soul Jade to restore their strength. Concluding that the attackers were hired by someone connected to Zuo Xingfa’s failed job, he calls Zhang Dacheng to investigate and deal with the armed outsiders.
• Zhang’s long silence makes Tang fear that the powerful underworld figure may no longer be willing to obey the temple. Zhang eventually agrees, and Tang—relieved but still angry—recognizes that the exchange was a high-stakes negotiation.

Character developments and interactions

• Tang Changsheng moves from calculated self-defense to anger and renewed confidence, but his private anxiety reveals that his authority is not secure. He relies on the temple’s supernatural defenses while also calling on local underworld power.
• The Yin Soldier proves dangerous but limited: it can kill, yet harming the living drains it.
• Daozi shows unusual resistance and resourcefulness, escaping where his companions die.
• Zhang Dacheng is established as a powerful figure whose loyalty Tang cannot take for granted. Their brief, tense call ends with Zhang’s pledge to act.

Significant themes

• The limits of supernatural power: Tang’s defenses can deceive and kill, but bullets remain a threat, and the Yin Soldier weakens when it attacks the living.
• Tradition and survival: The temple’s old spiritual power endures because generations preserved it, while Tang must also rely on present-day alliances.
• Power as negotiation: Tang’s authority depends not only on mystical force but on maintaining the obedience of influential people.
• Fear and hidden vulnerability: Tang appears composed after the deaths, yet the danger and the call’s suspense expose how precarious his position is.

Plot points and events

• Zhang Dacheng receives a call from the General’s Temple—the first in nearly twenty years—and summons his longtime lieutenants, Song Da and Ruan Wenhua.
• The three recognize the call as a sign that the Temple’s influence may be returning. They suspect Tang Changsheng, the Temple’s young master, has finally mastered his cultivation.
• Zhang orders Song Da to find and kill the outsiders who have entered their territory, intending to use his local network to eliminate them.
• Tang Changsheng explains why he previously avoided relying on the Temple’s former underworld allies: without supernatural power, they could turn against it. Now that he has illuminated his Heavenly Heart, he plans to restore the sect’s influence.
• Recognizing that confidence alone is not enough, Tang decides to prioritize his safety by refining Yin Soldiers. He searches a dead man’s body for clues, finds nothing identifying, and considers disposing of it at nearby Dead Man Mountain.

Character developments and interactions

• Zhang Dacheng moves from stunned apprehension to pride and decisive aggression, revealing his renewed loyalty to the Temple.
• Song Da and Ruan Wenhua, usually capable and composed, are shaken by the Temple’s return. Song quickly embraces Zhang’s order to hunt the outsiders.
• Tang Changsheng grows more confident in his abilities and ambitious about restoring the Temple, while remaining practical about his vulnerabilities.
• Zhang’s call brings his two trusted subordinates together; their shared history and understanding of the Temple’s power make the news especially alarming.

Significant themes

• Power and loyalty: The Temple’s control over its former allies depended on its supernatural strength.
• The return of an old order: Tang’s awakening signals a possible revival of the Temple’s centuries-old influence.
• Prudence alongside ambition: Tang aims to rebuild the sect but first focuses on personal protection and practical necessities.

Plot and events

• After killing two men, Tang Changsheng considers turning their souls into Yin Soldiers but decides he already has enough difficulty managing the one under his command.
• He carries the bodies to Dead Man Mountain, a barren ridge once known for wolves and scattered human remains, and throws them over a cliff where bodies have vanished before.
• Back at the remote General’s Temple, he scrubs away blood and other evidence, then burns and disposes of anything else that could link him to the killings.
• He spends the next several days training. His options are limited: the temple’s arts require substantial cultivation, while the weakened spiritual energy of the age makes progress slow. His immediate goal is to ignite his Heavenly Heart faster so he can use spells when needed.
• On examining his Yin Soldier after igniting his Heavenly Heart, Tang sees its true form: an armored soldier carrying a ring-pommel saber that is a Ghost Artifact. The soldier is technically Grade E, but its refinement has brought it close to the far more dangerous Grade D level.

Character development

• Tang is pragmatic and ruthless: he disposes of the victims’ bodies and methodically removes evidence, confident that the temple’s growing power will deter scrutiny.
• He is also ambitious and calculating in his cultivation. He recognizes his limitations but focuses on improving his Heavenly Heart and strengthening his existing Yin Soldier rather than taking on more.
• His excitement at discovering the Ghost Artifact reveals how much he values rare supernatural resources and the advantage they offer.

Character interactions

• No other living characters appear directly. Tang’s relationship with the Yin Soldier is central: he inspects it, recognizes its weapon as a Ghost Artifact, and appreciates that it is nearly a Vicious Ghost despite its Grade E classification.
• The victims are present only through Tang’s thoughts and the disposal of their bodies; he deliberately refuses to preserve their souls as potential servants.

Significant themes

• Power and impunity: Tang relies on secrecy, the remote temple, and the prospect of the temple’s renewed influence to protect himself from consequences.
• Cultivation amid decline: Traditional techniques remain potent, but depleted spiritual energy makes them difficult to practice.
• Tools and hierarchy: The Ghost Artifact dramatically changes the Yin Soldier’s threat, underscoring how equipment and refinement can matter as much as formal rank.
• Pragmatism and moral detachment: Tang treats murder, evidence removal, and supernatural advancement as practical problems to solve.

Chapter summary

• Tang Changsheng strengthens the Yin Soldier: He performs the Sweet Rain Spell, using a talisman-infused bowl of water to bathe the Yin Soldier in spiritual rain. The soldier is visibly renewed, though its Ghost Artifact remains unchanged. Tang places it in a wooden box beneath the General’s Deity Statue, where the mountain’s Yin-Yang ley-line energy and regular offerings should help it advance from E-grade to D-grade within a month or two. A stronger soldier could scout, communicate with spirits, enter dreams, and guard the temple.
• The temple’s former strength is recalled: Tang remembers that the General’s Temple once commanded five battalions of Yin Soldiers. Their patrols would have made it nearly impossible for enemies such as Da Xiang and Chen Zi to approach undetected.
• Zuo Xingfa becomes anxious: After hearing about the attack on the temple—and learning Tang contacted Zhang Dacheng instead of him—Zuo fears being discarded by the General’s Temple more than being controlled by it. He launches a search across Lower River but finds no clues. The city’s undercurrents quiet down after more than ten days.
• New arrivals investigate the missing criminals: Three burly men arrive in Lower River and go to the residential compound where Da Xiang, Chen Zi, and their associates had lived. Suspecting the area is watched, they avoid the house and leave without attracting attention.
• The watchers are killed: The next morning, Ruan Wenhua’s four men assigned to monitor the house are found dead, each with a precise cut to the throat. Ruan immediately reports the killings to Zhang Dacheng, who concludes that accomplices of the missing outsiders have arrived.

Character developments and interactions

• Tang acts with patience and confidence, investing in the Yin Soldier as a future asset.
• Zuo Xingfa’s dependence on the temple becomes clearer: he fears losing its favor as much as he fears its control.
• The three newcomers show discipline and caution, recognizing surveillance and avoiding a premature confrontation.
• Ruan responds promptly to the deaths by informing Zhang; Zhang quickly interprets them as evidence that the criminals’ allies are active.

Significant themes

• Power grows through cultivation and care: The Yin Soldier’s development depends on ritual, offerings, and the temple’s spiritual environment.
• Fear of abandonment and shifting loyalty: Zuo’s anxiety reveals how thoroughly the General’s Temple has shaped his sense of security.
• Hidden conflict and surveillance: The newcomers’ arrival and the watchers’ murders signal that the struggle surrounding Da Xiang and Chen Zi is escalating behind the scenes.
• Modernization amid lingering danger: Lower River’s cleaner environment and improved electric vehicles contrast with the covert violence unfolding in the city.

Plot points and events

• Ruan Wenhua and Song Da report to Zhang Dacheng that their men failed to spot three outsiders and were killed. Zhang orders them to find and eliminate the intruders before the incident reaches General’s Temple and reflects badly on them.
• Using his network and surveillance footage, Zhang identifies the outsiders as members of an international antiquities-smuggling ring, likely grave robbers. His men locate their car but cannot find the three men themselves.
• Ruan worries the outsiders may reach Yin-Yang Mountain. Zhang decides to use a problem involving a woman from the powerful Ling family as a reason to bring someone to General’s Temple.
• Meanwhile, Tang Changsheng has been absorbed in reading scriptures and refining Yin Soldiers, and only belatedly notices that Zuo Xingfa has been kneeling outside the temple for three days.
• Zuo begs forgiveness. Tang, surprised by the depth of his fear, pardons him and tells him to remember his duties.
• Zhang calls Tang, asking him to examine someone close to a friend. Tang briefly suspects this is another test of his authority, but reconsiders after witnessing Zuo’s submission. He agrees, warning that it will be the last time.
• Zhang ends the call more anxious than before, wondering whether General’s Temple has regained its supernatural powers.

Character developments and interactions

• Zhang Dacheng is shown as cautious, strategic, and protective of his standing. Unlike the impulsive Zuo Xingfa, he uses connections to investigate the outsiders and carefully frames his request to Tang.
• Tang Changsheng wrestles with how to assert authority while rebuilding ties with underground forces. Zuo’s deference reassures him, and he chooses to accept Zhang’s request without appearing uncertain.
• Zuo Xingfa is deeply humbled by his punishment and grateful for Tang’s pardon.
• Ruan Wenhua and Song Da remain Zhang’s loyal, contrasting aides: Ruan thinks strategically, while Song initially needs Zhang to explain the political consequences.
• Zhang’s respectful but firm call, and Tang’s guarded response, reveal mutual uncertainty: Zhang tests Tang’s capabilities, while Tang interprets the request through the fragile politics of restoring General’s Temple’s influence.

Significant themes

• Authority and reputation: Both Zhang and Tang worry that perceived weakness will invite challenges.
• Fear and loyalty: Zuo’s submission demonstrates the lingering power of General’s Temple’s reputation.
• Power and uncertainty: Zhang suspects Tang’s supernatural abilities may have returned, while Tang himself is still establishing his position.
• Control and political maneuvering: The search for the outsiders and the request concerning the Ling family are tied to broader efforts to manage relationships among rival forces.

Chapter Summary

Key plot points and events

• Zhang Dacheng believes the General’s Temple’s return to prominence may also benefit his company, though he recognizes that having a powerful patron can bring complications.
• Tang Changsheng spends the night preparing for Zhang’s expected challenge. Suspecting the visitor may be possessed or otherwise afflicted, he draws three Spirit Talismans.
• Before dawn, Tang climbs Yin-Yang Mountain to gather the sun’s first rays and practice the General’s Temple’s cultivation methods.
• With his Heavenly Heart now kindled, Tang can finally perceive the sun’s essence as a blazing presence and draw its energy into himself. Rather than merely circulating it through his body, he uses the sect leader’s secret method to temper his internal organs with Solar True Fire.
• He cycles the energy through the five organs, then supplements the practice with slow, demanding boxing forms. After gathering forty-nine breaths of solar qi, he reaches his limit.
• Tang reflects that the world’s solar energy is far weaker than that of the Immortal Realm, even though he can absorb much more of it here.
• A sleek electric helicopter arrives at the temple, drawing Tang’s admiration.

Character developments

• Tang Changsheng shows growing confidence and capability. His kindled Heavenly Heart has transformed his cultivation, allowing him to use a secret technique previously inaccessible to him.
• He remains cautious and dutiful: unsure of Zhang Dacheng’s intentions, he prepares to protect the temple’s reputation and help the visitor.
• Zhang Dacheng appears to be reconsidering the temple’s return as a potential advantage for his own business.

Significant themes

• Renewal and growing power: Tang’s newly kindled Heavenly Heart marks a major breakthrough in his cultivation.
• Tradition meeting modernity: Ancient spiritual techniques coexist with modern transportation and technology.
• Different levels of hidden knowledge: Ordinary disciples learn to cleanse the body with solar qi, while the sect leader’s lineage possesses a more advanced method.
• The limits of the setting: Tang’s comparison with the Immortal Realm emphasizes how diminished spiritual energy is in this world.

Character interactions

• Zhang’s decision to send someone to the temple creates an unspoken test of Tang’s competence and loyalty.
• Tang responds by preparing talismans and resolving to help, even though he does not know what the visitor’s problem will be.
• The arriving helicopter introduces a contrast between Tang’s ancient cultivation practice and the modern world surrounding the temple.

Key plot points and events

• Ruan Wenhua brings an unconscious young woman, Miss Wen, to the General’s Temple by helicopter and asks Tang Changsheng to save her.
• Tang recognizes that she is under a severe supernatural influence resembling an Effigy Curse. Though he initially doubts anyone still practices such arts, the case may also be a challenge to the temple’s authority in Lower River.
• He removes a wooden, bat-shaped necklace from her neck. She briefly appears to improve, but soon shows signs of terror in her sleep.
• Tang concludes that the curse is indeed an Effigy Curse, though its effects differ somewhat from the kind he knows.

Character developments and interactions

• Tang Changsheng proves observant and capable: he quickly identifies the likely curse and finds that removing the necklace eases Miss Wen’s condition, at least temporarily. His old-fashioned sense of duty makes him treat the case as both a rescue and a matter of the temple’s reputation.
• Ruan Wenhua is anxious for Miss Wen and places his trust in Tang.
• Miss Wen remains unconscious, but her changing expression and eye movements reveal that the curse is still tormenting her.
• The two attendants/bodyguards initially react warily when Tang opens her collar, then relax when she shows signs of improvement.

Significant themes

• Tradition and authority: The General’s Temple’s old rules still shape Tang’s choices, even though supernatural practitioners have become rare.
• Knowledge amid uncertainty: Tang recognizes the curse but is unsure who cast it or how it differs from familiar methods.
• Appearances versus reality: The ordinary-looking necklace may be central to a dangerous supernatural affliction; the modern helicopter also contrasts with the temple’s ancient practices.

Key plot points and events

• Tang Changsheng recognizes the girl’s symptoms as resembling the Effigy Curse, a rare form of witchcraft capable of harming even powerful people by driving their spirits from their bodies.
• He draws protective marks between her brows to seal her Heavenly Heart and prevent her principal soul from being lost. Her terror fades at first, but the curse then worsens: blue veins rise beneath her skin.
• Unable to prepare his own spiritual power in time, Tang uses the General’s Temple’s treasured, long-consecrated Soul-Soothing Incense. The girl’s pain subsides, and she falls into peaceful sleep.
• When her companions assume she has recovered, Tang insists she is still in grave danger. He orders them to remove all her clothes so he can continue treating her, leaving them stunned.

Character developments

• Tang Changsheng shows both expertise and humility: he identifies the likely supernatural cause, acts quickly, and recognizes the limits of his cultivation. He also respects the Temple’s inherited traditions, planning to replace the incense he used.
• The girl shifts from extreme terror and physical distress to apparent calm, though her condition remains unresolved.
• Ruan Wenhua and the bodyguards move from anxious observation to brief relief, then shock and confusion when Tang reveals the danger has not passed.

Significant themes

• Tradition and inheritance: The Temple’s old, consecrated incense has a value that money and modern luxury cannot replace.
• Limits of power and urgent improvisation: Tang cannot rely on his incomplete cultivation, so he turns to a carefully preserved ritual resource.
• Appearance versus reality: The girl’s peaceful sleep looks like recovery, but Tang warns that the threat is still present.
• Spiritual versus medical explanations: The chapter frames symptoms such as confusion and bodily distress through Daoist ideas of souls and spirits.

Character interactions

• Tang treats the girl while Ruan Wenhua and the bodyguards watch anxiously, afraid to interfere.
• He scolds the bodyguards for mistaking temporary relief for a cure.
• His abrupt order to strip the girl creates a moment of alarm and sets up the next stage of treatment.

Key plot points and events

• Tang Changsheng realizes the unconscious young woman has been afflicted by an ancient Witchcraft Curse, not ordinary possession. Though his cultivation is too limited to cure her easily, he orders her outer clothes removed so he can treat her.
• Ruan Wenhua leaves rather than risk being seen undressing a woman of such high status. The two bodyguards, awkward and nervous, struggle until Tang clarifies that only her outer clothing needs to come off.
• Tang notices the woman’s unusual beauty and recognizes her as an exceptionally rare vessel for a Dual Cultivation method. He restrains his interest, judging her too important to approach casually.
• He draws protective talismans over her vital points. Ordinary cinnabar fails, so he adds his own blood, temporarily strengthening the seals.
• Tang then places a prepared talisman on her head. Gray-black vapor and a long, insect-like shadow emerge from her nose and mouth; he traps the shadow inside a jade Life-Origin Tablet.
• The expelled substance gives off a revolting odor that nearly makes the bodyguards vomit. The jade tablet itself is intensely cold, and Tang struggles to hold it.
• The chapter ends with a reflection on souls and spirits: most dissipate before death, but violent deaths or deep resentment can leave an obsession that may become a Grudge Ghost or Vicious Ghost.

Character development and interactions

• Tang Changsheng demonstrates practical knowledge and resourcefulness, but also recognizes the limits of his current cultivation. His brief attraction to the woman’s potential as a cultivation vessel reveals temptation, which he deliberately suppresses.
• Ruan Wenhua is cautious and socially aware, avoiding involvement that could offend the woman’s powerful family.
• The bodyguards are disciplined but visibly uncomfortable with the task; their nervousness provides comic relief amid the dangerous ritual.
• Tang’s firm instructions contrast with the men’s hesitation, while his use of his own blood shows how far he is willing to go to make the treatment work.

Significant themes

• Power and limitation: Tang knows what must be done but lacks the strength to perform it effortlessly, forcing him to rely on preparation and sacrifice.
• The supernatural beneath history: Witchcraft and lingering spirits are presented as real forces behind events that official histories may only hint at.
• Restraint and temptation: Tang recognizes the woman’s rare value but chooses not to exploit her.
• Death and resentment: The closing explanation links violent or bitter deaths to the persistence of dangerous spirits.

Tang Changsheng seals a Grudge Ghost inside a jade tablet after extracting it from a girl afflicted by an Effigy Curse. The soul is suppressed with a Soul-Locking Talisman, but the tablet is dangerously cold, so he uses blood from his fingertip to control it. The girl’s breathing steadies, while the two elite bodyguards are left pale and nauseated by the foul smell produced during the ritual.
The trapped spirit appears in the water as a tiny, writhing human-shaped shadow, releasing black qi that quickly turns the basin dark. Tang orders the water changed, then uses a Moonlight True-Water Dust-Cleansing Talisman—originally made for refining Yin Soldiers—to purify the soul. His knowledge of the Lunar Form-Refining Method strengthens the talisman’s moonlight, which steadily strips away the black qi and weakens the spirit. Once the basin clears, Tang taps the jade tablet near the girl’s face, and faint shadows return to her body. She appears to be sleeping peacefully, and Tang tells the bodyguards they can take her away.
Tang remains composed throughout, though he shows satisfaction when the cleansing succeeds. The bodyguards’ fear and respect for him deepen, as do the awe of Ruan Wenhua and the others present. They do not fully understand the curse or Tang’s methods, but infer that he has confronted a sinister supernatural art.
Key themes: The chapter emphasizes the uncanny danger of curses that affect the soul, the power of specialized Daoist rituals to contain and cleanse spiritual corruption, and how mystery—especially around death and ghosts—creates fear and reverence. Character interactions: Tang directs the bodyguards through the ritual and later reassures them by declaring the girl safe; their obedience and growing awe contrast with his calm, matter-of-fact manner.

Key plot points and events

• The two bodyguards watch Tang Changsheng remove a curse from the injured girl. His apparent ability to handle souls terrifies and awes them; they leave respectfully, carrying the girl away and making an offering at the General’s Temple.
• Tang examines the girl’s sinister bat-shaped necklace and suspects it was used to cast an Effigy Curse. By breaking the spell, he has likely made an enemy of the practitioner who created it.
• Tang believes his actions were justified because the unknown practitioner operated in the General’s Temple’s territory without paying respects. Confident in his Yin Soldiers and his alliances with underworld bosses Zhang Dacheng and Zuo Xingfa, he returns to secluded cultivation.
• He practices igniting the Heavenly Heart, gradually improving until he can sustain its light for the duration of an incense stick—but then hits a plateau. He concludes that his accumulated Inner Qi is insufficient and wonders whether returning to the Immortal Realm is necessary. He also realizes that activating the Bagua Mirror likely depends on energy from the pearl in the Quiet Room.

Character developments and interactions

• Tang Changsheng gains the bodyguards’ fearful respect, but his confidence in his supernatural power also hardens into readiness to confront the necklace’s owner. Privately, he remains frustrated by his stalled cultivation.
• The bodyguards shift from having drawn their guns on Tang to treating him with deference and caution. Their fear is not just of death, but of the possibility that their souls could be controlled.
• The unknown practitioner remains offstage, but the broken curse alerts them that their work has been undone, setting up a possible conflict.
• Tang’s relationship with Zhang Dacheng and Zuo Xingfa appears strengthened: he expects their protection while he withdraws to cultivate.

Significant themes

• Fear of the supernatural: The prospect of losing control of one’s soul is portrayed as worse than death.
• Power and responsibility: Tang intervenes to save the girl, yet doing so violates the practitioners’ customs and risks provoking a rival.
• Cultivation as discipline and limitation: Progress requires patience and inner resources; Tang’s will alone cannot overcome his lack of Inner Qi.
• Tradition and territory: Tang’s defense of the General’s Temple’s standing shapes his decision to break the curse and confront any consequences.

Key plot points and events

• Unable to learn the source or limits of the mysterious pearl’s power, Tang Changsheng is cautious about crossing worlds. Still, after two days of preparation, he decides to stay in the other world for ten days or more to cultivate.
• Since the General’s Temple cannot be left unguarded—especially with a possible curse-user still at large—he prepares the guardian Yin Soldier to manifest safely in the Divine General’s hall, where the temple’s feng shui protects it from sunlight.
• Tang locks the temple, leaves incense and orders the Yin Soldier to guard it, then crosses through the Bagua Mirror.
• He arrives back in the same wilderness as before, at night. His flashlight and pistol have inexplicably stopped working, so he buries them and waits for dawn.
• Moonlight reveals that the woods are actually a vast graveyard. Ghostly lights rise from the graves, and numerous Grudge Ghosts begin emerging.
• With no Yin Soldier to protect him, Tang uses a folk technique: he repeatedly tells himself, “I’m a ghost,” trying to suppress his living presence.

Character development

• Tang is cautious and increasingly strategic: he plans for a longer stay, safeguards the temple, and investigates the unexplained failure of his modern equipment.
• When confronted with the graveyard and its ghosts, he is frightened but relies on his cultivation, composure, and knowledge of occult methods rather than panicking.

Character interactions

• Tang gives the guardian Yin Soldier incense and instructions to protect the temple, arranging for it to remain hidden in the hall while he is away.
• In the other world, Tang faces the emerging ghosts alone and attempts to conceal himself from them through self-hypnosis.

Significant themes

• Preparation versus uncertainty: Tang makes careful plans, but the pearl, the failed equipment, and the supernatural world remain unpredictable.
• The limits of technology: His flashlight and pistol are useless, leaving him dependent on spiritual knowledge.
• Crossing between worlds: The contrast between his comparatively mundane home world and the other world’s abundant supernatural dangers becomes sharper.
• Adaptation and belief: Tang’s “I’m a ghost” technique shows him using willpower and ritual to survive when ordinary defenses fail.

Plot points and events

• Tang Changsheng, his vitality suppressed, sneaks away from a hillside crowded with Grudge Ghosts. He avoids drawing their attention and reaches an abandoned estate.
• Hoping to find shelter, he enters a ruined house. When he hears a woman sobbing, he assumes she is using ordinary ghostly tricks and approaches confidently.
• He encounters a grotesque ghost woman who asks whether he was calling for her. Recognizing that she is far more powerful than a common Grudge Ghost—possibly a Vicious Ghost—Tang realizes he has provoked danger.
• His gun is broken and useless against her. He throws a stone, which passes through her as she dissolves into mist, then flees into the house and knocks down a pillar, bringing part of the structure crashing down.

Character developments

• Tang shifts from cautious fear among the massed ghosts to boldness in the estate, relying on his martial arts and belief that courage can deter ghosts.
• That confidence collapses when he recognizes the woman’s strength. He quickly adapts, abandons the idea of fighting her directly, and uses the collapsing house to aid his escape.

Significant themes

• Courage and its limits: Confidence may deter weaker ghosts, but it cannot overcome every supernatural threat.
• Survival through adaptability: Tang’s escape depends on recognizing when his usual defenses—courage, physical strength, and weapons—will not work.
• Atmosphere and the uncanny: Moonlit ruins and familiar human spaces become threatening through decay, silence, and the presence of the dead.

Character interactions

• Tang’s encounter with the ghost begins with his defiant challenge, but she answers with an unsettling question that suggests he has drawn her attention.
• Their brief confrontation becomes a one-sided test of power: Tang’s stone cannot touch her, so he retreats and brings the unstable house down behind him.

Key plot points and events

• Tang Changsheng escapes the ruined estate, only to find himself surrounded by dozens of Grudge Ghosts. The Vicious Ghost he encountered earlier catches up and blocks his way forward.
• He recognizes how dangerous the gathering is: Grudge Ghosts can drain vitality and luck, while Vicious Ghosts can appear openly and kill outright. His guardian Yin Soldier would be no match for them.
• When the female ghost threatens to tear out his heart, Tang sprays her with blood from his bitten tongue. The yang-charged blood burns her face and forces her back, but does not defeat her.
• As the other ghosts advance, Tang throws a consecrated Thunder Bead at the Vicious Ghost. It dissolves into smoke, frightening the surrounding Grudge Ghosts into retreating.
• Tang bluffs that he has another bead ready. The threat holds the ghosts at bay, though he has used one of only five powerful beads he brought with him.

Character developments and interactions

• Tang Changsheng is frightened but keeps his composure, analyzing the ghosts’ ranks and looking for ways to survive. He is resourceful and willing to fight rather than surrender, first using his own blood and then a Thunder Bead. His apparent confidence at the end is partly a bluff.
• The female ghost shifts from taunting Tang to attacking him in anger after he burns her face. Despite her formidable strength, the consecrated bead destroys her.
• The Grudge Ghosts initially surround Tang in silence and close in at the female ghost’s command, but scatter back when they witness the Thunder Bead’s power.

Significant themes

• Courage and resourcefulness under pressure: Tang survives by staying calm and using what he has, despite overwhelming odds.
• Knowledge as a survival tool: His understanding of ghostly ranks helps him assess the danger, even though it cannot guarantee safety.
• Scarcity and cost: The Thunder Beads are powerful but limited; each use consumes a rare resource.
• Appearance versus reality: Tang seems to defeat the ghosts with ease, but his success depends on a potent relic—and his final show of strength conceals how vulnerable he remains.

Plot points and events

• Surrounded by Grudge Ghosts, Tang Changsheng focuses under pressure and successfully kindles his Heavenly Heart.
• He uses the Daoist practice of Preserving the Spirit to visualize the General’s Temple’s Divine General. Though the projection is weak, it frightens the ghosts into fleeing. The effort quickly exhausts him, so he takes a restorative pill and leaves the dangerous area.
• Rather than return immediately, Tang decides to investigate whether this world’s spiritual energy is stronger than that of his own. He finds a secluded mountain cave stocked with supplies left by hunters and chooses it as a temporary retreat.
• He begins a routine of gathering the sun’s essence by day, the moon’s by night, and quietly refining his Heavenly Heart. The local spiritual energy seems exceptionally abundant.
• His practice causes an unexplained change in the General’s Temple: its Deity Statue glows and seems almost alive, while the Soul Jade conceals its light.
• The chapter closes by introducing the next stage of cultivation, the Spirit Terrace, needed to stabilize the Heavenly Heart and form a foundation for reliably casting spells.

Character developments and interactions

• Tang proves calm and resourceful in danger: fear sharpens his concentration, allowing him to awaken his Heavenly Heart and repel the ghosts.
• His determination to test the world’s spiritual conditions outweighs the safer choice of immediately going home. He is also practical, judging the cave and its provisions suitable for an extended stay.
• The ghosts, initially unwilling to retreat, flee once Tang’s projected Divine General appears. The chapter also hints at a mysterious connection between Tang’s cultivation and the Deity Statue in the temple, though neither is aware of it.

Significant themes

• Danger as a catalyst: Tang’s peril brings an unexpected surge of focus and potential.
• Cultivation as gradual discipline: Kindling the Heavenly Heart is a major achievement but only the first step; further stability is essential for practical spellcasting.
• The power of belief and visualization: Preserving the Spirit works through concentrated inner practice, even when Tang’s manifestation lacks real substance.
• A world rich in spiritual energy: Tang’s exploration raises the possibility that this realm offers better conditions for cultivation than his own.

Key plot points and events

• Tang Changsheng discovers that his apparent cultivation bottleneck was caused by the weak spiritual energy in his usual world. In the unfamiliar “Immortal Realm,” his cultivation advances rapidly.
• On a boat on the Lower River, the tomb raider Da Xiang realizes his protective spell or “Necklace” has been broken. He blames the raiders’ attempt to rob the dangerous tomb beneath Yin-Yang Mountain and warns that the General’s Temple is behind the pursuit.
• Before Da Xiang can challenge the temple, a dredger deliberately rams his boat. Zhang Dacheng and his team move in to capture the raiders.
• A large, fast-moving creature strikes one of the pursuers’ motorboats, overturning it. Zhang glimpses its iron-black back and is left wondering what it is.
• Meanwhile, Tang learns that he is in another world, Wu Hou State, and that Fuyang Mountain lies near its capital, Suxu City. After more than ten days of secluded cultivation, he returns to the General’s Temple exhausted and heads for its kitchen cellar.

Character developments and interactions

• Tang Changsheng grows more confident in his cultivation and treats the strange world as an “Immortal Realm,” showing little interest in its history or politics. He remains focused on cultivating.
• Da Xiang shifts from blaming the tomb raiders for their predicament to recognizing the General’s Temple as the force behind it, then becomes defiant toward the temple.
• Zhang Dacheng leads the operation against the raiders but is unsettled by the mysterious river creature.
• The tomb raiders appeal to Da Xiang for help; he warns them that their greed has brought them into danger. Zhang’s group coordinates the attack, while Song Da reports by radio that he intends to take the raiders alive.

Significant themes

• Cultivation and environment: Tang’s rapid progress shows that spiritual energy, rather than personal limitations, determines how quickly he can advance.
• Greed and consequences: Da Xiang suggests the raiders ignored warnings and disturbed a dangerous site for profit.
• Uncertainty and hidden forces: The broken spell, the temple’s unexplained power, and the creature in the river hint at dangers beyond ordinary human control.

Key plot points

• Tang Changsheng cooks a meal with fresh, expensive ingredients, using the task to relax after more than ten days of intense cultivation.
• Ling Xiaoyu, the young woman he previously rescued, arrives at the General’s Temple to thank him and offer incense.
• Tang is startled by her visit and wary of her apparent curiosity and unusual background, but invites her in rather than turning away a worshipper.
• Ling asks about the temple and its deity. Tang explains that it honors the Guardian Divine General, who protects people in danger, and says those in Lower River can call on him for help.

Character developments

• Tang remains devoted to cultivation and cautious about Ling, whom he finds exceptionally attractive but considers too troublesome to pursue. His weariness from seclusion, however, makes him unusually willing to welcome a distraction.
• Ling appears gentle and grateful, yet her persistent questions and wandering curiosity reveal a playful, inquisitive side that Tang suspects is more mischievous than it first seems.

Significant themes

• Appearance versus reality: Tang’s grimy appearance and apron clash with Ling’s imagined image of a mysterious, imposing master.
• Faith and protection: Tang describes the Divine General’s history of answering prayers and safeguarding the people of Lower River.
• Solitude versus connection: After prolonged isolation, Tang finds a welcome change in a visitor—even as he worries she may bring complications.

Character interactions

• Ling’s gratitude and curiosity draw Tang into a patient explanation of the temple, despite his private complaints. He presents himself as casually mercenary to discourage her fascination, while she continues asking questions and introduces herself.