Chapter Summaries

Duan Rong brought Shang Xiangyu and a vast number of Filthy Blood Sect prisoners to the sect, where he took charge of the purge and was ordered to handle the case. As Yang Yi learned that Duan Rong had even captured Fu Yi, he realized the investigation had achieved what Yang Sixuan had sought for decades.

• Duan Rong captured Shang Xiangyu and brought him to the Mountain Stronghold, where Zhu He ordered the Filthy Blood Sect prisoners loaded onto two Cloud Feathered Mad Eagles.
• Duan Rong told Zhu He that Ding Ze was on his way with the fourth-level Filthy Blood Divine Skill manual, and Zhu He ordered Wu Shidao to ambush and capture him.
• At Iron Stone Peak, Zhu He relayed the Old Ancestor's orders: the Old Ancestor would personally interrogate Fu Yi, while Duan Rong would direct the Filthy Blood Sect case.
• Duan Rong ordered Yang Yi to make room in the dungeon and separate Shang Xiangyu from the other prisoners; Yang Yi recognized him as the fugitive he had long suspected of joining the Filthy Blood Sect.
• Fan Hongjiao remarked that Duan Rong had captured the Filthy Blood Sect's Sect Leader, and Yang Yi realized Duan Rong had found Fu Yi, whom Yang Sixuan had pursued for decades.

Duan Rong organized the interrogation of prisoners captured from several Filthy Blood Sect strongholds after Zhu He announced the Old Ancestor’s order placing him in charge of the case. Yang Sixuan learned that Fu Yi had been captured and, after hearing Duan Rong’s account, recognized how the Blood Lingzhi and Shang Xiangyu had led him through the sect’s hidden layers to Fu Yi.

• Fan Hongjiao brought more than a hundred people from Longchang Escort Agency to the dungeon, and Duan Rong ordered them held separately from confirmed Filthy Blood Sect prisoners.
• Lu Geng and Wang Yue arrived with prisoners from other strongholds, and Zhu He announced that Duan Rong would lead the case with authority over both departments.
• Duan Rong divided the available interrogators into six teams, while Yang Yi briefly left the dungeon to tell Yang Sixuan that Fu Yi had been captured.
• Yang Sixuan questioned Duan Rong about Fu Yi’s capture, and Duan Rong explained how Shang Xiangyu and the search for Blood Lingzhi had exposed the Filthy Blood Sect’s hidden core.

Yang Sixuan handed Duan Rong intelligence on Filthy Blood Sect hideouts, and Duan Rong’s raids uncovered a bandit stronghold tied to Jiang Hanyan’s past. After recognizing the three chiefs who had murdered her parents in a soul illusion, Duan Rong summoned Jiang Hanyan to the dungeon, where he was about to show her something concerning her.

• Yang Sixuan gave Duan Rong a memorandum listing Filthy Blood Sect hideouts and accepted that Duan Rong would take over the case and likely succeed him as Director.
• Wu Shidao ambushed Ding Ze in the Mountain Stronghold, knocked him unconscious, and took the fourth-layer secret manual of the Filthy Blood Divine Skill.
• Duan Rong learned that Yang Yi had captured 115 people, including Meng Zongqiu, Wu Mingfu, and Li Tang, the three bandit chiefs from Jiang Hanyan’s soul illusion who had killed her parents.
• Duan Rong ordered the three chiefs held separately and summoned Shen Mizhi, then sent her to bring Jiang Hanyan to him.
• Duan Rong told Jiang Hanyan that a matter concerned her and led her deeper into the dungeon.

Jiang Hanyan tortured the men who had murdered her father and abused her mother, extracting intelligence that helped Duan Rong dismantle the Filthy Blood Sect. After reporting the case to Lü Yinlin, Duan Rong claimed Fu Yi’s hidden treasure, the Myriad Crow Separation Fire Scarf, and left with it.

• Duan Rong showed Jiang Hanyan that Meng Zongqiu, Wu Mingfu, and Li Tang were imprisoned in the dungeon, and she recognized them as the men she had long sought revenge against.
• Duan Rong left the three prisoners to Jiang Hanyan, who tortured them until they revealed intelligence about the Filthy Blood Sect.
• Jiang Hanyan gave Duan Rong the intelligence, and he used it to arrange further arrests before completing the case files and reporting the sect’s defeat to Lü Yinlin.
• Lü Yinlin praised Duan Rong’s role in destroying the Filthy Blood Sect and offered him a reward.
• Duan Rong asked for Fu Yi’s treasure that evaded Divine Sense Scan, and Lü Yinlin gave him the Myriad Crow Separation Fire Scarf.
• After Duan Rong left, the Blood Infant emerged from the shadows and asked Lü Yinlin why he had not simply refused to give up the treasure.

Duan Rong refined the Myriad Crow Separation Fire Scarf and discovered it could conceal him from Divine Sense and hide his cultivation. After Yang Sixuan resigned and Duan Rong became Director of the Judgment and Rectification Department, Yang Yi submitted his own resignation, which Duan Rong rejected on Yang Sixuan’s behalf.

• Duan Rong refined the Myriad Crow Separation Fire Scarf and tested its abilities to conceal his body from Divine Sense and disguise his cultivation.
• Zhu He accepted Yang Sixuan’s resignation and appointed Duan Rong Director of the Judgment and Rectification Department with the elders’ approval.
• Yang Sixuan packed his books and left his bamboo building after telling Yang Yi to work hard and visit him in the mountains.
• Duan Rong returned congratulatory gifts and reviewed the department’s case files while planning to arrange its affairs before traveling to the Dharma Appearance Sect.
• Yang Yi submitted a resignation letter, and Duan Rong returned it, saying he rejected Yang Yi’s resignation on Yang Sixuan’s behalf.

Duan Rong arranged for Fan Hongjiao to oversee the Judgment and Rectification Department during his absence and prepared to travel to Yong Province in the Western Regions to investigate the Dharma Appearance Sect. Unable to obtain the sect’s intelligence through Zhu He, he asked Jiang Hanyan for it, and she agreed despite knowing it meant betraying her master.

• Yang Yi put away his resignation memorial and returned to his work after Duan Rong’s words eased his anger.
• Duan Rong persuaded Zhu He to appoint someone to oversee the Judgment and Rectification Department while he entered seclusion, and Zhu He sent Fan Hongjiao to manage its daily affairs.
• Duan Rong told Xiao Yu he planned to cultivate in Yong Province, then asked Fan Yuan about intelligence on the Dharma Appearance Sect.
• Fan Yuan explained that the Office of Transmission likely had deep connections with the Dharma Appearance Sect, though Lin Youjian had refused Zhu He’s proposed intelligence exchange.
• Duan Rong decided to seek the intelligence from Jiang Hanyan, and she admitted it was under her control and agreed to bring it to him despite the cost to her relationship with her master.

Duan Rong traveled in disguise to Xidu Prefecture to investigate Yong Province and the Dharma Appearance Sect, then deliberately challenged the local beggars to draw out their boss. The lame beggar boss confronted him, and Duan Rong recognized him as the Second Level of Inner Breath figure described in Jiang Hanyan’s intelligence.

• Jiang Hanyan mistook Duan Rong’s request for covert-agent intelligence as a scheme for Zhu He, gave him the contact information, and left hurt and angry.
• Duan Rong secretly left Changliu Mountain Range with the Myriad Crow Separation Fire Scarf and traveled disguised as a beggar to Xidu Prefecture.
• Duan Rong entered Xidu Prefecture, observed its Buddhist customs, and learned about the Dharma Appearance Sect and the organized trade of begging.
• Two local beggars confronted Duan Rong over begging in their district, but he defeated them and waited for their boss.
• The lame beggar boss arrived with three men, and Duan Rong identified him as the Second Level of Inner Breath fighter described in Jiang Hanyan’s intelligence.

Duan Rong tested the lame beggar Yang Ruoshui before revealing his identity and confirming Yang's role as an agent in Xidu Prefecture. Yang identified Cunmu Hall and Yongning Temple's Guest Monk as their contacts, but revealed that Cunmu Hall—not the Guest Monk—was connected to the sect.

• Duan Rong fought off Yang Ruoshui's surprise attacks in the alley, then joined the beggars for a meal at their Dilapidated Temple.
• After nightfall, Duan Rong returned to find the beggars unconscious and confronted Yang Ruoshui with a token and matching Code Phrases.
• Yang Ruoshui recognized Duan Rong as his lord, and Duan Rong asked about the strongholds and hidden agents in Xidu Prefecture.
• Yang Ruoshui named Cunmu Hall, whose owner was Wang Xun, as a stronghold and Yongning Temple's Guest Monk as a hidden agent.
• Yang Ruoshui clarified that Cunmu Hall was connected to the sect, contrary to Duan Rong's expectation.

Duan Rong learned that Cunmu Hall had connections to the Dharma Appearance Sect through its craftsmen and planned to enter the sect through its next selection. After Wang Xun attacked him at a secret meeting, Duan Rong revealed his authority and questioned Wang Xun’s reliability, while Yang Ruoshui defended him.

• Yang Ruoshui explained how Cunmu Hall craftsmen could be selected to work within the Dharma Appearance Sect, and Duan Rong decided to use the workshop to gain entry.
• Yang Ruoshui contacted Wang Xun through a clapper rhyme and a signal, then arranged to meet him outside the city after dark.
• Wang Xun arrived at the Mountain God Temple and attacked Duan Rong, mistaking him for one of Yang Ruoshui’s beggars.
• Duan Rong effortlessly evaded Wang Xun’s palm, and Yang Ruoshui identified him as a sect lord carrying the Office of Transmission’s Black Stripe Token.
• Wang Xun apologized and knelt, while Yang Ruoshui defended his temperament and Duan Rong ordered Wang Xun to rise and answer.

Duan Rong entered Cunmu Hall under the name Jiang Qingyu to prepare for Yongning Temple’s craftsman examination, which was only two months away. After secretly devouring the Artifact Spirits of the workshop’s tools overnight, he made a second Buddha head that stunned Wang Xun with its lifelike quality.

• Duan Rong told Wang Xun to arrange an identity and a place in Cunmu Hall so he could prepare for the examination.
• Wang Xun introduced Duan Rong as the new craftsman Jiang Qingyu, and Duan Rong began practicing stone carving despite the craftsmen’s cold reception.
• Duan Rong completed a rough Buddha head, and Wang Xun judged it too unfinished to pass the examination.
• After the workshop closed, Duan Rong secretly devoured the Artifact Spirits of its tools and returned to his room to absorb them.
• The craftsmen found their tools rearranged the next morning, while Duan Rong practiced by carving another Buddha head.
• Wang Xun saw Duan Rong’s second Buddha head and was astonished by how lifelike it was compared with the first.

Duan Rong’s extraordinary craftsmanship convinced Wang Xun that he could pass Yongning Temple’s assessment, so Wang Xun arranged for Zhu Shicheng to register under Cunmu Hall instead. With the assessment approaching and Zhu Shicheng doubting his chances, Wang Xun summoned him to the back courtyard to give him final instructions.

• Duan Rong produced a series of remarkably refined carvings, and Wang Xun and the craftsmen came to regard Master Jiang as Cunmu Hall’s anchor.
• Wang Xun recommended Zhu Shicheng for Yongning Temple’s assessment and paid for his registration, while Duan Rong continued working without drawing attention to himself.
• Zhu Shicheng obtained his Registration Token, which Wang Xun checked before telling him to keep it safe for the assessment.
• During a month of preparation, Zhu Shicheng grew less confident as the other craftsmen mocked his chances.
• The day before the assessment, Wang Xun told Zhu Shicheng to leave the workshop and follow him because he had things to explain.

Wang Xun poisoned and killed Zhu Shicheng, then handed Zhu Shicheng's Registration Token to Duan Rong, who made the corpse vanish. At Yongning Temple's selection assessment, Duan Rong entered under Zhu Shicheng's identity and took the C-16 examination room, while Zhu Shicheng's childhood friend Wang Cheng noticed his name and went to his own exam.

• Wang Xun poisoned Zhu Shicheng with Osmanthus Cake, strangled him, and took his Registration Token.
• Duan Rong collected the Registration Token and erased Zhu Shicheng's corpse with the Law of Power, frightening Wang Xun with his disappearance.
• Duan Rong joined the crowded line at Yongning Temple's selection assessment and entered using Zhu Shicheng's identity.
• Duan Rong received plaque C-16 and went to the examination courtyard, where Wang Cheng recognized Zhu Shicheng's name on the room notice.
• Wang Cheng headed to his D-9 examination room, while Duan Rong entered C-16.

Duan Rong completed the first round of the Dharma Appearance Sect’s assessment, but Wang Cheng recognized him as an impostor taking Zhu Shicheng’s place and reported the suspected cheating to Shuiyue. Shuiyue stalled Wang Cheng while searching for a solution, then summoned Duan Rong after nightfall, leaving Wang Cheng convinced the accusation would earn him a reward.

• Duan Rong carved and gilded a Buddha head during the first round, and the soldiers collected it for assessment.
• Wang Cheng mistook Duan Rong for his childhood friend Zhu Shicheng, then noticed the examination record linked the candidate to Cunmu Hall and suspected a proxy examination.
• Duan Rong blamed Wang Xun for the identity leak and planned to speak with Shuiyue later that night.
• Wang Cheng reported the suspected cheating to Shuiyue, who had him write and fingerprint a detailed statement while delaying him until nightfall.
• Wang Cheng found Duan Rong in their shared lodging, and a soldier summoned Duan Rong to meet Shuiyue.

Duan Rong and Shuiyue decided to make Wang Cheng’s death look like a suicide after Wang Cheng reported Duan Rong for impersonating an examinee. Duan Rong hanged Wang Cheng during the night, and the officials began treating the death as a likely suicide the next morning.

• Shuiyue showed Duan Rong Wang Cheng’s written report and proposed killing him, staging his death as a suicide, and altering his Buddha head to support the story.
• Duan Rong agreed to kill Wang Cheng, and Shuiyue burned the report and prepared to tamper with Wang Cheng’s examination work.
• Duan Rong used a Divine Soul Illusion to render the other examinees unconscious, then hanged Wang Cheng from a roof beam and ended the illusion so Wang Cheng died struggling.
• The other examinees discovered Wang Cheng’s body in the morning, and monks and soldiers confirmed that he was dead.
• Shuiyue identified Wang Cheng and left with Master Doulun to inspect his Buddha head while officials questioned the examinees; Duan Rong claimed he had heard nothing.

Duan Rong dealt with the fallout from Wang Cheng’s death while waiting for the assessment results, which named Zhu Shicheng first. After ten more days of preparation, Duan Rong and Wang Xun headed to Yongning Temple for the candidates’ departure to the Dharma Appearance Sect.

• Master Doulun and Shuiyue brought Wang Cheng’s unfinished Buddha head to the monks’ quarters, and the chief superintendent ruled his death a hanging after hearing testimony and receiving the coroner’s report.
• Wang Cheng’s family collected his body and held a funeral, while Duan Rong reprimanded Wang Xun for failing to investigate the candidates and ordered him to watch the family and investigate Zhu Shicheng’s connections.
• Bai Gouzi checked the posted results and saw that Zhu Shicheng of Cunmu Hall had placed first.
• Wang Xun told Duan Rong that Wang Cheng had been buried, and Duan Rong kept out of public view while Zhu Shicheng’s relatives tried and failed to visit him at Cunmu Hall.
• Wang Xun brought Duan Rong by sedan chair to Yongning Temple, where the successful candidates were set to depart for the Dharma Appearance Sect.

Duan Rong arrived at the Dharma Appearance Sect with the other newly admitted craftsmen and traveled aboard the Compassionate Crossing Boat through the Mohe Desert to the sect’s oasis city. After Master Yidai brought them to their lodgings, Lao Qin explained their seven days of training and left them to spend the night before their first lesson.

• Duan Rong entered Yongning Temple with Wang Xun, met the other new admissions, and waited for the last three craftsmen to arrive.
• A Compassionate Crossing Boat carried Duan Rong and the other eight newcomers west, passing Yumen Pass and crossing the Mohe Desert.
• Duan Rong saw the remains of a cultivator who had died in Bitter Cultivation as the boat traveled through the desert.
• The monks brought the group to the Dharma Appearance Sect’s oasis city and led them to a remote three-story building.
• Master Yidai handed the newcomers over to Lao Qin, who described their seven-day training and showed them their study room and bunk room.
• Lao Qin left the hungry craftsmen dried buns and water for dinner, and Duan Rong ate a piece before going to rest.

Duan Rong learned about the Dharma Appearance Sect and secretly revealed his identity as a Black Stripe Token lord to Tang Xiong. He arranged for Tang Xiong to seek his assignment to the same group by presenting Yu Dai with Duan Rong’s Portrait of a Lady, which left Yu Dai captivated.

• Duan Rong listened to Yu Dai and the group leaders explain the sect’s rules and craftsmen’s work, then recognized Tang Xiong as a fellow from Cunmu Hall.
• Duan Rong showed Tang Xiong his Registration Token and later followed him to his residence, where he revealed the Black Stripe Token and exchanged Code Phrases with him.
• Duan Rong asked Tang Xiong to help place him in his group, and they planned to have Yu Dai name Duan Rong as a capable newcomer.
• After learning Yu Dai prized Portraits of a Lady, Duan Rong painted one for Tang Xiong to present as a gift.
• Tang Xiong brought the painting to Yu Dai, who examined it closely and became absorbed in admiration.

Duan Rong joined Tang Xiong’s team, secretly devoured ritual-artifact spirits, and acquired the Dharma Appearance Sect’s Golden Bell Shield. After realizing how far the sect’s cultivation arts surpassed those of the Taiyi Sect, he examined a booklet of craftsman assignments and found an entry that caught his attention: Four Great Wisdom Kings Statues.

• Yu Dai praised Duan Rong’s Portrait of a Lady and accepted it from Tang Xiong, then spent half the night admiring it.
• After seven days of training, Duan Rong joined Tang Xiong’s team under the name Zhu Shicheng and impressed the craftsmen with his skill.
• While repairing ritual artifacts, Duan Rong devoured several Artifact Spirits, including one that granted him the fourth-layer True Qi Realm Golden Bell Shield.
• Tang Xiong arranged a private room next to his own for Duan Rong, who practiced the Golden Bell Shield and reflected on the Dharma Appearance Sect’s overwhelming strength.
• Duan Rong visited Tang Xiong to ask about the sect’s craftsmen assignments, then found the Four Great Wisdom Kings Statues listed in Tang Xiong’s booklet.

Duan Rong investigated the Dharma Appearance Sect’s painted Four Great Wisdom Kings statues, hoping to find soul cultivation techniques beyond the Garbha Sutra’s limits. He learned that the mountain-sized statues he sought were in a restricted cave, but arranged to pursue access to Cave Three during repairs next month.

• Duan Rong asked Tang Xiong about the painted statues and learned that the Dharma Academy’s largest statues were kept in reserve and reached only a little over two men tall.
• Duan Rong examined a painted statue in the warehouse, confirmed it matched the Garbha Sutra statues apart from its paint, and found it had no artifact spirit.
• Duan Rong concluded the warehouse statues could not reveal the higher-level soul cultivation techniques he sought and learned that talisman formations made infiltrating restricted areas difficult.
• Tang Xiong told Duan Rong about three Great Statue Caves and the larger Mountain Body Great Statue Cave, whose four statues were repaired every six or seven years.
• Duan Rong learned the Mountain Body Cave had been repaired the previous year and asked Tang Xiong to secure the Cave Three repair job scheduled for next month.

Duan Rong devoured the four idol spirits in Cave Three and learned Great Vajra Realm Mandala Levels 19 through 21, which he compared with the Garbha Sutra. After realizing the techniques beyond Level 21 were in the Mountain Body Great Statue Cave, he decided to go there rather than wait years.

• Duan Rong read the painted idol’s Artifact Spirit panel, devoured it, and continued repairing its paint without drawing attention.
• Master Yueyun opened Cave Three’s talisman array, and Duan Rong left with Tang Xiong, hearing Buddhist Chants and noticing smoke from Grotto No. 1 along the way.
• Tang Xiong pointed out the Mountain Body Great Statue Cave and told Duan Rong its keeper was said to be in the Cave Illumination Realm.
• Over half a month, Duan Rong devoured the Artifact Spirits of all four idols in Cave Three and absorbed Great Vajra Realm Mandala Levels 19 through 21.
• Duan Rong compared the Great Vajra Realm Mandala with the Garbha Sutra and concluded he needed the techniques beyond Level 21 from the Mountain Body Great Statue Cave.
• Duan Rong decided to enter the Mountain Body Great Statue Cave while no monks were cultivating there, unwilling to wait six or seven years.