Chapter Summaries

Jie Daohan halted Xiao Baijiao’s funeral procession and demanded that her coffin be opened for inspection, prompting Xiao Yu and the Yuan Shun Escort Agency escorts to resist. The constables and escorts faced off around the coffin as Duan Rong and Zhao Mu stood with Xiao Yu.

• Jie Daohan ordered Wei Ming to inspect the mourners and coffin bearers as they left the city, then stopped the procession and demanded that Xiao Baijiao’s coffin be opened.
• Ruan Fengshan hesitated to oppose Jie Daohan after he invoked the Taiyi Sect, leaving Xiao Yu feeling abandoned by the Yuan Shun Escort Agency.
• Xiao Yu drew her Clear Cold Saber and refused to let Jie Daohan open the coffin, so he ordered the constables to surround her.
• Duan Rong stepped beside Xiao Yu, rallied the escorts by recalling their debt to Old Xiao, and drew his Oxtail Saber.
• The escorts drew their sabers and surrounded the constables, while Zhao Mu threatened to fight anyone who harmed Xiao Yu.

Duan Rong helped prevent a clash between Yuan Shun Escort Agency’s funeral procession and the constables at the West City Gate, where Xiao Baijiao’s coffin was allowed to pass. At the county yamen, Jie Daohan reported that Xu Ruhu and Jie Lei had both been poisoned with Corpse Rot Poison, while Shen Yanliu and Fan Yuanhai debated whether Jie Daohan was involved in their deaths.

• Ruan Fengshan calmed the escorts and assured Jie Daohan that Xiao Baijiao’s coffin held no criminal, allowing the funeral procession to leave through the West City Gate.
• Duan Rong stood in front of Xiao Yu during the standoff, and she and Zhu Xiaoqi led the coffin out of the city.
• Jie Daohan ordered Wei Ming to take two men and watch the burial, then rode to the county yamen after Clerk Qin summoned him.
• Shen Yanliu told Jie Daohan that an informant had watched Xiao Baijiao’s body being sealed in the coffin, while Fan Yuanhai accused Jie Daohan of arranging Xu Ruhu’s escape and killing him and Jie Lei.
• Jie Daohan reported that Xu Ruhu and Jie Lei had both been poisoned with Corpse Rot Poison, which Shen Yanliu recalled from the earlier Whale Tiger Gang case.

Fan Yuanhai decided to report the Xiangu County case separately while Duan Rong attended Xiao Baijiao’s burial and noticed Xiao Yu’s remarkable Cloud Serpent Step. Yang Zhen then sought Duan Rong out to tell him that Lei Ge had died.

• Fan Yuanhai refused Shen Yanliu’s offer to submit a joint memorial and planned to report the case to the sect on his own.
• Fan Yuanhai returned to Spring Breeze Inn and planned to write his memorial before visiting Flower Shadow House.
• Duan Rong attended Xiao Baijiao’s burial, where a sudden sunshower scattered the mourners and revealed Xiao Yu’s Mastery Level Cloud Serpent Step.
• Duan Rong saw Yang Zhen waiting for him at Yuan Shun Escort Agency and went with him to drink at his home.
• Yang Zhen drank without eating until Duan Rong stopped him, then told him that Lei Ge was dead.

After learning that Xu Ruhu had been caught in Jinmao Alley, Duan Rong visited its brothels to investigate and discovered that Xu Ruhu had stayed in a neighboring courtyard. He fled before Liu Hong could seduce him, leaving his search for more information unresolved.

• Yang Zhen told Duan Rong that Lei Ge had broken Xu Ruhu out of prison and that both men had died beneath Jie Lei's house.
• Duan Rong learned that Constable Xie had encountered Xu Ruhu at a pleasure house in Jinmao Alley.
• Duan Rong entered a brothel in Jinmao Alley and paid the owner for a new girl named Liu Hong.
• Duan Rong questioned Liu Hong, who said Xu Ruhu had stayed for seven or eight days in Chunmei's room in the neighboring courtyard.
• Duan Rong escaped from Liu Hong and left the brothel without consummating anything.

Duan Rong searched Chunmei’s room for something Xu Ruhu had hidden and eventually found a human-skin scroll concealed in a roof beam. He recognized it as the Garbha Sutra, which contained twelve layers.

• Duan Rong booked Chunmei for the night and questioned her about Xu Ruhu.
• Chunmei told Duan Rong that Xu Ruhu had stayed in her room and that Constable Xie had confronted him there.
• Duan Rong knocked Chunmei unconscious and searched the room but found nothing in its walls, furniture, or floor.
• After waking near dawn, Duan Rong spotted movement on a roof beam, climbed up, and discovered a hidden compartment.
• Duan Rong removed a human-skin scroll from the compartment and recognized it as the twelve-layer Garbha Sutra.

Duan Rong recovered the twelve-level Garbha Sutra and discovered that Xu Ruhu had falsified most of the four-level version. After hiding the scrolls and deciding to use the fake manual as bait, he ate breakfast while contemplating the Divine Soul Technique.

• Duan Rong left Chunmei unconscious in the guest room, took the human-skin scroll, and slipped away from Jinmao Alley.
• Duan Rong retrieved a second scroll from the hollow in an elm tree and compared it with the one he had taken from Xu Ruhu’s hiding place.
• Duan Rong realized the manuals matched only at the first level and concluded that Xu Ruhu had deceived Jie Lei with a dangerous fake version.
• Duan Rong hid the twelve-level scroll in a beam and returned the fake four-level scroll to the tree hollow, intending to use it as bait.
• Duan Rong ordered wontons and six steamed buns at a breakfast stall while thinking about the Divine Soul Technique.

Duan Rong weighed the risks of constructing a mandala for the Garbha Sutra, then focused on cultivating the Bone Shrinking Skill while waiting for his Mental Strength to advance. An invitation from Xi Men Kan Kan drew him to the Xi Men residence, where Duan Rong suspected the family had recently gained its wealth.

• Duan Rong decided not to rush into building a mandala and confirmed that his Mental Strength was still Level 1.
• Duan Rong practiced the painful Bone Shrinking Skill in his dormitory until a knock interrupted him.
• The gatekeeper delivered an invitation signed by Xi Men Kan Kan and Jiang Qingyu, and Duan Rong accepted after learning Xi Men was the son of a major proprietor behind the county's three Crude Drug Stores.
• Shi Liang escorted Duan Rong by carriage to the Xi Men residence.
• Duan Rong inspected the carriage's mismatched decorations and concluded that the Xi Men Family were probably nouveau riche.

Duan Rong visited Xi Men Kan Kan at Snow Covered Residence and painted a picture that delighted him. Xi Men Kan Kan then revealed a concealed Erotic Picture, and Duan Rong realized its hidden-ink technique could help him construct a hidden mandala and begin cultivating the Garbha Sutra.

• Shi Liang led Duan Rong into Snow Covered Residence, where Jiang Qingyu and Xi Men Kan Kan were playing Go.
• Xi Men Kan Kan asked Duan Rong to paint something better than the works he had received from Jiang Qingyu and Xia Shuangshuang.
• Duan Rong painted Xi Men Kan Kan riding a tiger to fight a python, and Xi Men Kan Kan praised the picture enthusiastically.
• Xi Men Kan Kan showed Duan Rong a scroll whose black marks vanished when heated by a candle, revealing an Erotic Picture beneath.
• Duan Rong recognized the concealed-ink technique as a way to make a hidden mandala and begin cultivating the Garbha Sutra.

Duan Rong challenged Xi Men Kan Kan to make a better erotic painting in exchange for a bottle of his special potion, then painted an explicit work of his own. Xi Men Kan Kan was stunned by the result and asked whether Duan Rong had painted it himself.

• Xi Men Kan Kan explained that Lao Qin had made a potion that made paintings transparent for two shichen, and Duan Rong asked to have some.
• Duan Rong provoked Xi Men Kan Kan into betting a bottle of potion that he could create a better erotic painting, with the hour of the Dog set as the deadline.
• Duan Rong returned to the Yuan Shun Escort Agency and spent nearly a shichen painting an explicit close-up.
• As the hour of the Dog approached, Xi Men Kan Kan prepared to go to the agency, but Duan Rong arrived at Snow Covered Residence with the painting.
• Xi Men Kan Kan saw the painting, praised it as a masterpiece, and asked Duan Rong if he had painted it himself.

Duan Rong obtained Xi Men Kan Kan’s potion and secretly removed the first layer of the Garbha Sutra from the human-skin scroll so he could study it. After memorizing its instructions, he began preparing a hidden mandala, leaving the Immovable Wisdom King’s image concealed within a landscape painting.

• Xi Men Kan Kan worshipped Duan Rong’s spring palace painting, gave him the potion and payment for the painting, and stayed behind to study it.
• Duan Rong returned to his former courtyard, cut the first-layer cultivation method from the human-skin scroll, hid it in Xiao Baijiao’s sachet, and restored the rest of the scroll.
• Duan Rong went to Yuan Shun Escort Agency, studied the Garbha Sutra’s mantras, hand seals, and breathing method, and memorized them.
• Duan Rong learned that the Garbha Sutra required a mandala built from images of the Four Great Wisdom Kings and painted their forms.
• Duan Rong used Xi Men Kan Kan’s potion to conceal the Immovable Wisdom King’s image within a landscape painting, creating a Hidden Mandala.

Duan Rong entered the Luminous Consciousness Sea and discovered that the weapon spirits he had devoured hung in its sky while eighty-one tree spirits formed a glowing grove. He realized the tree spirits were being absorbed extremely slowly and suspected the sea’s rolling mist represented his thoughts.

• Duan Rong used the Four Great Wisdom Kings’ portraits to form a mandala and finally entered the Luminous Consciousness Sea.
• Duan Rong recognized the weapon phantoms in the southeastern sky as spirits from weapons he had devoured.
• Duan Rong found all eighty-one tree spirits rooted in the southwest, forming a dim cyan sea of light.
• Duan Rong observed that the tree spirits were being absorbed slowly and concluded that digesting one could take about a month.
• Duan Rong returned to the center of the sea and wondered whether its drifting mist was made of his thoughts.

Duan Rong cultivated the Garbha Sutra in his Luminous Consciousness Sea, where four Wisdom Kings emerged and drew mist into an Infant Light Shadow. The infant began consuming the light of the eighty-one tree spirits, and Duan Rong watched as the Tree Spirit Light Sea started to evaporate.

• Duan Rong settled the mist in his Luminous Consciousness Sea and stayed alert to the Garbha Sutra's warning not to cling to the joy of meditation.
• Duan Rong formed seals, and a roar cleared his mind as the mist sank and four immense Wisdom Kings appeared around him.
• Duan Rong chanted the cultivation art, causing the Wisdom Kings to inhale the mist and release strands of light that gathered into an Infant Light Shadow.
• Duan Rong saw eerie green light stream from the Tree Spirit Light Sea and enter the infant, rapidly solidifying its hollow body.
• Duan Rong watched the infant consume the tree spirits as the Tree Spirit Light Sea began to evaporate.

Duan Rong witnessed the Garbha Sutra’s infant shadow absorb the Tree Spirit Light Sea before Xi Men Kan Kan’s medicine wore off and the infant fell asleep. After waking, Duan Rong planned to advance his cultivation and went to visit Xiao Zongting, bringing a portrait of Xiao Baijiao, two roots of Old Mountain Ginseng, and two old hens.

• Duan Rong watched the infant shadow gather light into a cocoon as the divine statues vanished, then saw the infant fall into a deep sleep and the mist spread through the Luminous Consciousness Sea.
• Duan Rong discovered that more than twenty tree spirits had disappeared and realized that absorbing their light could greatly accelerate his Garbha Sutra cultivation.
• Duan Rong left the Luminous Consciousness Sea, put away the four Landscape Paintings, and slept until noon after the experience exhausted him.
• Duan Rong decided to visit Xiao Zongting and planned to obtain the prescription for the third level of inner breath.
• Duan Rong painted a portrait of Xiao Baijiao, had it mounted, bought two roots of Old Mountain Ginseng and two old hens, and carried them to Xiao Zongting’s courtyard.

Duan Rong visited Xiao Zongting and learned that he would enter the escort team early, with Xiao Zongting arranging for him to join Xiao Yu’s team. After Duan Rong left, Xiao Yu and Zhu Xiaoqi returned with offerings and learned he had brought gifts, including a painting for Xiao Yu.

• Duan Rong found Xiao Zongting grieving Xiao Baijiao’s death and gave him two old hens and two Old Mountain Ginseng roots.
• Xiao Zongting gave Duan Rong a prescription and told him the escort agency wanted him to join the team early because he had reached the Second Level of the Inner Breath Realm.
• Xiao Zongting arranged for Duan Rong to join the Second Escort Team under Escort Captain Sun and train under Xiao Yu, and warned him to stay inside because Kong Bin and Zhang Zheng had gone missing.
• Duan Rong gave Xiao Zongting a painting for Xiao Yu, then left for the dormitory after urging Xiao Zongting to take care of himself.
• Xiao Yu and Zhu Xiaoqi returned with offerings, and Xiao Yu took Xiao Zongting’s pipe away while scolding him for smoking too much.
• Xiao Zongting told Xiao Yu that Duan Rong had brought her a painting, leaving her surprised.

Xiao Yu was moved by Duan Rong’s lifelike painting of Xiao Baijiao, while Duan Rong trained his Bone Shrinking Skill and entered the Luminous Consciousness Sea to investigate how weapon artifact spirits changed there. The chapter left him back inside the vast sea, beginning his study of the Mo Dao’s artifact spirit.

• Xiao Yu unrolled Duan Rong’s painting of Xiao Baijiao, wept over its lifelike likeness, and placed it in her bedchamber.
• Duan Rong spent hours practicing the Bone Shrinking Skill, enduring intense pain until the Zi Hour before releasing the technique.
• Duan Rong chose a Mo Dao whose artifact spirit would grant Rakshasa Saber Technique Mastery, then devoured it to study its transformation in the Luminous Consciousness Sea.
• Duan Rong prepared the Four Surroundings Land, revealed the Four Great Wisdom Kings on his paintings, and used the Garbha Sutra to enter the Luminous Consciousness Sea.

Duan Rong discovered that the Mo Dao’s artifact spirit produced mist that merged into his thoughts, while tree spirits’ light threads formed a different kind of energy that could strengthen his Consciousness Sea. He cultivated the first layer of the Garbha Sutra, and the Infant Light Shadow absorbed the gathered light threads to become a luminous sphere before falling into deep slumber.

• Duan Rong found the nearly solid Mo Dao planted in the black earth and realized its mist was his thoughts, unlike the tree spirits’ blue-green light threads.
• Duan Rong understood that the Garbha Sutra could extract energy from his thoughts to enhance Mental Strength, and resolved to seek a place in Taiyi Sect’s disciple assessment.
• Duan Rong formed hand seals and chanted the Garbha Sutra, summoning the Four Great Wisdom Kings to swallow the sinking mist.
• The Infant Light Shadow drew in light threads from the Tree Spirit Light Sea, gradually becoming enclosed in a large, spherical luminous cocoon.
• Duan Rong sensed that the first layer of the Garbha Sutra was complete as the light gathering stopped and the infant fell into a deep sleep.

After reaching Level 2 Mental Strength, Duan Rong secretly devoured an Artifact Spirit that granted him the Five Tigers Herd Sheep Saber at Minor Accomplishment. He dreamed of a mysterious Yuan Shun Escort Agency man practicing the saber, then woke exhausted and wondered how long the Rank Two Artifact Spirit had taken to absorb.

• Duan Rong saw that the celestial body in his Luminous Consciousness Sea had absorbed fifty-one tree spirits and the Mo Dao Artifact Spirit, before the Four Great Wisdom Kings vanished and mist filled the world.
• Duan Rong left the Luminous Consciousness Sea and confirmed that his Mental Strength had reached Level 2 by reading a Long-Handled Simple Saber’s Artifact Spirit.
• Duan Rong went to a secluded courtyard in the Yuan Shun Escort Agency’s Front Courtyard and devoured a damaged Oxtail Saber Artifact Spirit that granted the Five Tigers Herd Sheep Saber at Minor Accomplishment.
• Duan Rong returned to his dormitory and fell asleep, dreaming of a Yuan Shun Escort Agency man practicing the saber with a copper-coin-sized mole on the back of his neck.
• Duan Rong woke after sleeping until daylight and wondered whether his low Mental Strength caused his deep exhaustion, while resolving to track how long a Rank Two Artifact Spirit took to absorb.

Duan Rong bought medicine to cultivate the third level of inner breath, but learned that the shop had limited Silver Frost Grass and worried that Xiangu County could not supply the rare Dragon Flame Grease needed for the second layer of the Garbha Sutra. Back at the escort agency, he practiced the Bone Shrinking Skill, took his medicine, and began the third-level circulation method, discovering that it required him to control two circuits at once.

• Duan Rong brought Xiao Zongting’s prescription to Ma Chu and learned the Crude Drug Store had enough Silver Frost Grass for only two doses.
• Duan Rong worried about finding Dragon Flame Grease for the Garbha Sutra and considered using Xi Men Kan Kan to obtain it privately.
• Duan Rong returned to the Yuan Shun Escort Agency, decocted one dose of medicine, and practiced the Bone Shrinking Skill for two hours.
• Duan Rong drank the medicine and began cultivating the third level of inner breath in the Martial Arts Field.
• Duan Rong discovered the third-level circulation method operated two crossing circuits simultaneously and realized it demanded strong Mental Strength and concentration.

Duan Rong broke through his Mental Strength bottleneck and began devouring a saber technique each night, while Jie Daohan investigated the Whale Tiger Gang’s old cases tied to Jie Lei’s death. At Spring Breeze Inn, an Office of Transmission Courier arrived and demanded to see Fan Yuanhai.

• Duan Rong devoured the Ghost Head Saber’s Artifact Spirit and gained minor accomplishment in the Avici Saber Technique.
• Jie Daohan reviewed old Whale Tiger Gang case files after learning the gang had vanished and its leader Zhou Shoushan and strategist Wu Hui were missing.
• Fan Yuanhai spent another night at Flower Shadow House, angering proprietress Xu Ru by spending his money there instead of at her inn.
• An Office of Transmission Courier asked Xu Ru whether Fan Yuanhai was staying at the inn and ordered her to lead him to Fan’s room.

Fan Yuanhai received an urgent Taiyi Sect order to investigate Xu Ruhu’s case and the suspected leak of the Garbha Sutra. Meanwhile, Xi Men Kan Kan visited Duan Rong at the Yuan Shun Escort Agency and persuaded him to leave for a meal, revealing that his martial arts were far stronger than Duan Rong had expected.

• A Taiyi Sect messenger broke down Fan Yuanhai’s door, verified his identity, and delivered his personal Sect Writ and a sealed letter.
• Fan Yuanhai read the order to investigate Xu Ruhu’s case and studied four portraits of the Four Great Wisdom Kings and the name Dragon Flame Grease.
• Duan Rong continued his intensive training at the Yuan Shun Escort Agency, practicing the Hun Yuan Stance and the collarbone technique while consuming second-tier artifact spirits.
• Xi Men Kan Kan entered the Middle Courtyard with his father’s guest-of-honor Waist Tag and invited Duan Rong to a meal.
• Xi Men Kan Kan pulled Duan Rong toward his waiting carriage, and Duan Rong realized his grip and martial arts were formidable.