Chapter Summaries

Yi Yang led the Pacification Guard and Nether Spring Office Patrol Guards into the Wu Family estate, where he confronted Wu Dingshan at a hidden tunnel beneath the Ancestral Hall. As Yi Yang sent his forces to pursue Wu Rong and search the estate, Wu Dingshan stood at the tunnel entrance to buy time for his fleeing clansmen.

• Yi Yang ordered Xu Min to open the Ancestral Hall's stone slab, and Wu Dingshan burst from the tunnel with a surprise attack that Yi Yang deflected.
• Yi Yang recognized Wu Dingshan and ordered Zhou Fangyu to block the tunnel's western exit, Wei Chang Geng to guard the other passages, and Xu Min to search the estate.
• Wu Dingshan attacked Yi Yang with seven sword strikes, but Yi Yang countered each one with the Nine Peaks Saber and forced him back.
• Wu Dingshan called for his clansmen to hurry, then planted himself across the tunnel entrance to hold off Yi Yang's forces.
• Wu Family Attendants, stewards, and martial clansmen emerged from the tunnel, with three third inner qi Attendants protecting stewards carrying iron chests.

Yi Yang killed Wu Dingshan and helped the Pacification Guards defeat the Wu Family’s remaining fighters, capturing Wu Rong and the surviving clan members. As Wu Rong surrendered, a force of over a hundred armed soldiers approached the estate.

• Yi Yang killed Wu Dingshan with two strikes of Nine Peaks Saber as the Wu Family fighters watched.
• Wu Rong rallied the Wu Family with the Heart-Shaking Art, while two death sworn fighters extinguished the courtyard’s lights.
• Yi Yang used his mental power to guide the Pacification Guards through the darkness as they cut down the Wu Family fighters.
• The Pacification Guards sealed the tunnel, and Zhou Fangyu returned with captured stewards and Wu Rong, who was forced to his knees.
• A force of over a hundred soldiers approached the estate, and Yi Yang read the writing on their banner.

The Evil Punishment Office arrived with over a hundred men while the Pacification Guard raided the Wu Family estate, and Xiao Zhengyan shielded Wu Rong from the investigation. Yi Yang confronted Xiao Zhengyan at the gate, where Xiao warned him that the Wu Family had powerful backing.

• Xiao Zhengyan led the Evil Punishment Office to the Wu Family estate, where he demanded to know who had authorized the Pacification Guard raid.
• Wu Rong broke free of his captors, clung to Xiao Zhengyan, and begged him to protect the Wu Family.
• Xiao Zhengyan recalled the Wu Family's gifts and influence within the Evil Punishment Office, then stepped forward to shelter Wu Rong.
• Yi Yang came out of the estate carrying Mysterious Abyss and challenged Xiao Zhengyan for obstructing the Pacification Guard's investigation.
• Xiao Zhengyan pointed to the Wu Family's status and connections, then asked Yi Yang whether he knew who stood behind it.

Yi Yang killed Wu Fangxu after Wu Fangxu threatened him, despite Xiao Zhengyan ordering him to stop. Yi Yang then revealed that Wu Jiu had colluded with the Nine Evil Sect and that Wu Fangxu was one of its members, leaving Xiao Zhengyan to reconsider his support for the Wu Family and Wu Rong to collapse in fear.

• Wu Fangxu rushed forward and cursed Yi Yang, boasting that the Wu Family patriarch stood behind him.
• Yi Yang seized Wu Fangxu by the throat and killed him by snapping his neck, ignoring Xiao Zhengyan’s demand to release him.
• Xiao Zhengyan unleashed his late true astral aura and prepared to attack Yi Yang.
• Yi Yang announced that Wu Jiu had colluded with the Nine Evil Sect and had been killed by Lord Yan of the Nether Spring Office.
• Yi Yang identified Wu Fangxu as a member of the Nine Evil Sect hiding in the Evil Punishment Office.
• Xiao Zhengyan loosened his grip on his sword as he considered Yi Yang’s claim, while Wu Rong collapsed in fear.

Yi Yang and Xiao Zhengyan clashed over control of the Wu Family after its collusion with the Nine Evil Sect was exposed. As the two forces prepared to fight, Pei Zongyue arrived with a verbal order from Chief Inspector Lu Quanan.

• Xiao Zhengyan kept Wu Rong in custody and ordered the Evil Punishment Office to claim jurisdiction over the Wu Family affair.
• Yi Yang refused to let Xiao Zhengyan's men enter the estate, then drew a saber scar across their path and warned them to cross it at their peril.
• Xiao Zhengyan stepped toward the scar as Yi Yang's allies and the Evil Punishment Office braced for a fight.
• Pei Zongyue landed between the two sides and announced that Chief Inspector Lu Quanan had issued an order.
• Pei Zongyue began to relay Lu Quanan's verbal orders while Xiao Zhengyan glared at Yi Yang.

Pei Zongyue delivered the Chief Inspector’s order giving Yi Yang full authority over the purge of the Wu Family, and Yi Yang began arresting its members and confiscating its wealth. The search uncovered a rare finger technique, which Yi Yang examined as his Heavenly Mandate panel recorded it as unpracticed.

• Pei Zongyue announced the Chief Inspector’s order, forcing Xiao Zhengyan and the Evil Punishment Office to withdraw and leaving Yi Yang in sole command of the Wu Family operation.
• Yi Yang ordered Xu Min to take Wu Rong into custody and detain every member of the Wu Family.
• Xu Min presented an inventory of the first four courtyards’ riches, including an Astral Condensation Pill, spirit crystals, Treasure Artifacts, and martial manuals.
• Xu Min showed Yi Yang the Profound Intent Calamity-Extinguishing Finger, a dangerous technique found in a hidden compartment in Wu Jiu’s study.
• Yi Yang ordered the search of the remaining courtyards and secret rooms and directed his men to seize the Wu Family’s branches, businesses, and people outside the compound.
• Yi Yang studied the technique’s circulation diagram as his Heavenly Mandate panel recorded it as not practiced.

After confiscating the Wu Family’s property, Yi Yang studied the Profound Intent Calamity-Extinguishing Finger and planned to use it as a decisive attack. News of the Wu Family’s destruction spread through Suining Prefecture, and Liu Peilin ordered lavish gifts for Yi Yang.

• Yi Yang returned to the Pacification Guard camp with his spoils and studied the first two stages of the Profound Intent Calamity-Extinguishing Finger.
• Yi Yang decided the finger technique could break an opponent’s protective astral energy and serve as a hidden attack in critical fights.
• News spread that the Pacification Guard had destroyed the Wu Family, that Wu Jiu had belonged to the Nine Evil Sect, and that Wu Rong had been arrested.
• Liu Peilin weighed his relief at the Wu Family’s fall against his fear of Yi Yang and the possibility that the Liu Family’s own dealings could be exposed.
• Liu Peilin ordered the head steward to prepare lavish gifts for Yi Yang and the Pacification Guard.

Ji Yunzhang and Wen Shiheng learned of Yi Yang’s role in destroying the Nine Evil Sect stronghold while Donglai County’s beast tide continued to threaten the city. Meanwhile, Yi Yang began cultivating the Profound Intent Calamity-Extinguishing Finger and planned to seek resources to speed his progress.

• Ji Yunzhang and Wen Shiheng read Pei Zongyue’s letters reporting the destruction of the Nine Evil Sect stronghold, the deaths of five Incense Masters, and Yi Yang’s authority over the remaining Wu Family matters.
• Ji Yunzhang and Wen Shiheng suspected that Yi Yang had hidden some of his strength, while the three Demon Beasts continued leading attacks against Donglai County.
• Ji Yunzhang decided to hold the defenses for three more days and then request reinforcements if they had not killed a Demon Beast.
• Yi Yang compressed his True Astral Force into his fingertips while practicing the first level of the Profound Intent Calamity-Extinguishing Finger, earning 60 progress points.
• Yi Yang decided that he needed resources to cultivate faster and began another practice session.

After mastering the first layer of the Profound Intent Calamity-Extinguishing Finger, Yi Yang honored the fallen Pacification Guards and reported the Clearwind Ridge battle and Wu Family assets to Chief Inspector Lu Quanan. Lu Quanan offered him a choice between seeking formal rewards from Qing Province or claiming one personal favor from the Chief Inspector.

• Yi Yang completed the first layer of the Profound Intent Calamity-Extinguishing Finger after seven days of training.
• Yi Yang promised the Pacification Guards that he would report every contribution from the Clearwind Ridge battle and considered whom to promote as Deputy Commander.
• Yi Yang learned from Liu Qing that Yan Wuyuan had left for Qing Province City and had placed the battle report entirely in his hands.
• Yi Yang gave Lu Quanan his account of the battle, emphasizing the Pacification Guards and Mysterious Abyss while concealing how he had countered Ding Xiang's Soul Attack.
• Yi Yang submitted the inventory of the confiscated Wu Family assets, and Lu Quanan praised his role in the victory.
• Lu Quanan offered Yi Yang a choice between submitting his achievements to Qing Province for assessment or receiving one favor that Lu Quanan would fulfill within his principles.

Yi Yang chose Lu Quanan’s personal intervention over reporting his achievements to Qing Province, then received permission to take another true art from the Armory and was gifted a Century Blood Lotus. He left for the Armory with the treasure, while Lu Quanan reflected on Yi Yang’s choice and put away an ancient Bronze Seal.

• Yi Yang weighed the uncertain rewards from Qing Province against Lu Quanan’s intervention and chose the second option, partly because he suspected Lu Quanan was connected to Pineclear Daoist.
• Lu Quanan promised Yi Yang could call on his intervention, praised his achievements, and allowed him to choose another true art from the Armory’s fifth floor.
• Lu Quanan gave Yi Yang a Century Blood Lotus, whose petals could aid body tempering and whose seeds could strengthen the soul.
• Yi Yang considered asking Lu Quanan about Pineclear Daoist but decided the time was not right and left the office.
• Lu Quanan remarked that Yi Yang had chosen the second option, examined an ancient Bronze Seal, then put it away.
• Yi Yang headed toward the Armory with the Century Blood Lotus tucked into his robes.

After celebrating the Pacification Guards’ victory at Clearwind Ridge, Yi Yang planned his cultivation and used Century Blood Lotus petals to strengthen his body. By the fourth day, he had brought Martial Extreme Dragon Elephant Body to the limit of minor attainment.

• Yi Yang joined the Pacification Guards’ victory feast, honored their fallen comrades, and promised that their contributions would be rewarded.
• Yi Yang told the guards that the Chief Inspector had confirmed their merits, and they pledged to follow him.
• Back in his room, Yi Yang studied Cloud-Leaping Crane and set priorities for cultivating it, Martial Extreme Dragon Elephant Body, and Heart Ape Mind Guarding Art.
• Yi Yang began tempering his body with Century Blood Lotus petals, gaining eight thousand cultivation points from the first petal.
• Over the next several days, Yi Yang practiced Cloud-Leaping Crane by day and consumed petals while training his body at night.
• By the fourth day, after using eight petals, Yi Yang’s Martial Extreme Dragon Elephant Body reached 80,000/80,000 at minor attainment.

Yi Yang broke through in the Martial Extreme Dragon Elephant Body and tested its immense strength and resilience, then used three lotus seeds to raise the Heart Ape Mind Guarding Art to major accomplishment. His expanded mental field and defenses made him wonder whether he could fight a True Astral Realm perfection expert on equal footing, while the Runic Bronze Ring at his chest began to glow faintly.

• Yi Yang found his newly strengthened body could heal rapidly, shatter training stones and an essencewood post, and withstand mid True Astral attacks.
• After giving his body time to adjust, Yi Yang used the first lotus seed to advance the Heart Ape Mind Guarding Art by fifty thousand points.
• Yi Yang consumed the second and third lotus seeds, then broke through to major accomplishment as the Golden-Furred Ape in his Sea of Consciousness grew to nearly ten feet tall.
• Yi Yang discovered that his mental perception formed a thousand-foot field and that a golden curtain protected his Sea of Consciousness.
• Yi Yang tested his mental power on a patrolling Pacification Guard and realized it could disrupt an opponent's consciousness, potentially creating an opening in battle.
• As Yi Yang rested with his eyes closed, the Runic Bronze Ring beneath his clothes began to glow faintly.

Abbot Xuanyi investigated a disturbance in the Demon-Sealing Cavern beneath the Golden Sun Temple and found that the seals on its entrance were weakening. He sent Kongyue to fetch Kongwu, then remained alone with the sealed cavern.

• Kongyue interrupted Xuanyi's meditation to report movement inside the Demon-Sealing Cavern.
• Xuanyi told Kongyue not to panic and went with him to inspect the cavern.
• Xuanyi examined the boulder sealing the fissure and found its golden ropes and runes deteriorating.
• Xuanyi ordered Kongyue to fetch Kongwu, who knew what to do.
• Xuanyi stayed behind, pressed his hand to the boulder, and murmured words no one could hear.

Kongyue learned that Abbot Xuanyi had sent Kongwu to gather eighteen devotees for the Demon-Sealing Cavern, where the missing Elder Xuanding was supposedly subduing a demon. After Xuanyi led the devotees below, Kongwu heard a laugh and smelled blood, while a strange distortion appeared in Xuanyi’s shadow underground.

• Kongyue told Kongwu that the abbot had summoned him to the Demon-Sealing Cavern, and Kongwu gathered eighteen devotees.
• At the cavern, Xuanyi said his junior brother Xuanding was close to subduing the demon and opened the sealed entrance.
• Xuanyi ordered Kongwu to take Kongyue to Donglai County to fight the beast tide and collect monster cores for the cavern.
• Xuanyi led the eighteen devotees into the fissure, and Kongwu heard a laugh and smelled blood just before the boulder sealed shut.
• Kongwu left for the temple, unaware that Xuanyi’s shadow briefly twisted as he led the devotees deeper underground.

After emerging from half a month of secluded cultivation, Yi Yang learned that a beast tide had breached Donglai County and was ordered to join Lu Quanan's counterattack. Before departing, he secured approval to execute Zhou Yang, Meng Qiming, and Zhao Hongyuan for selling his whereabouts to bandits, then ordered Xu Min to assemble the troops.

• Yi Yang finished cultivating, and Xu Min told him that Lu Quanan had summoned all officers at the True Astral Realm or above.
• Lu Quanan announced that a growing beast tide had breached Donglai County's northern wall and ordered a counterattack, taking Yi Yang, Xiao Zhengyan, and Pei Zongyue with him.
• Yi Yang raised the case against Zhou Yang, Meng Qiming, and Zhao Hongyuan, and Pei Zongyue confirmed that the evidence of their betrayal was conclusive.
• Pei Zongyue and several other officers supported resolving the case, while Xiao Zhengyan left without objecting.
• Yi Yang ordered the three prisoners executed publicly alongside the Wu Family members, and Pei Zongyue agreed to arrange it.
• Yi Yang returned to the Pacification Guard camp and ordered Xu Min to assemble the troops.

Yi Yang rescued Wan Liuyue and her injured junior brother from a Black-Maned Leopard in the Beast Ridge Mountains. After learning they claimed to be Profound Sword Pavilion disciples, he invited them to travel with his Pacification Guards toward Donglai County, and Wan Liuyue accepted.

• Yi Yang detected Wan Liuyue and her junior brother fleeing a Black-Maned Leopard and six Gray-Furred Badger Hounds.
• The Black-Maned Leopard struck Wan Liuyue, but Yi Yang arrived with the Pacification Guards and wounded the beast with a saber strike.
• The Black-Maned Leopard lunged at Yi Yang, who killed it with one slash of Mysterious Abyss, sending the six Gray-Furred Badger Hounds fleeing.
• Wan Liuyue thanked Yi Yang and said she and her junior brother were Profound Sword Pavilion disciples training in the mountains.
• Yi Yang introduced himself as the Pacification Guard Commander in Suining Prefecture City and invited the injured pair to travel with his group toward Donglai County.
• Wan Liuyue considered the offer, then accepted it.

Yi Yang exposed Wan Liuyue and her junior brother as impostors, then learned they belonged to the Heavenly Heart Sect of Qing Province and accepted Heart-Knocking Pills as compensation. As the party resumed its journey, he overheard Wan Liuyue admit that the pills had been given in exchange for her junior brother’s life.

• Yi Yang disarmed and restrained Wan Liuyue after noticing clues that she was not a Profound Sword Pavilion disciple, while Xu Min’s guards subdued her junior brother.
• Yi Yang confronted Wan Liuyue with the fact that neither of them appeared on the Profound Sword Pavilion’s roster.
• Wan Liuyue admitted that she and her junior brother were disciples of the Heavenly Heart Sect of Qing Province and offered three Heart-Knocking Pills as compensation.
• Yi Yang accepted the pills and told Wan Liuyue that his suspicion came from the Nine Evil Sect’s use of disguises, while expressing interest in getting to know her sect.
• As the party continued onward, Yi Yang overheard Wan Liuyue tell her junior brother that three Heart-Knocking Pills had been a small price to save his life.

Yi Yang returned to Donglai County after killing the Black-Maned Leopard and reported his findings to Lu Quanan. He revealed that two supposed Profound Sword Pavilion disciples were actually from the Heavenly Heart Sect.

• Yi Yang led his team into Donglai County carrying the slain Black-Maned Leopard, and residents celebrated the beast’s death.
• Ji Yunzhang and Wen Shiheng thanked Yi Yang for killing the leopard and declared their support in dealing with Zhou Yang and the other betrayers.
• Yi Yang entered the camp and told Lu Quanan about killing the Black-Maned Leopard during his trip up the mountain.
• Yi Yang revealed to Lu Quanan that two martial artists claiming to be Profound Sword Pavilion disciples had admitted they were from the Heavenly Heart Sect.

Yi Yang prepared to advance his cultivation while the Nine Evil Sect’s remaining Incense Masters activated the Ten Thousand Blood Demon-Transformation Ritual in the Beast Ridge Mountains. The ritual’s pulse reached the Demon-Sealing Cavern, where the seals began to weaken and a voice sounded from within.

• Lu Quanan told Yi Yang to leave the Heavenly Heart Sect alone and said he had its affairs in hand.
• Yi Yang checked that he was fifty thousand progress points from the late True Astral Realm, then swallowed two True Pills to cultivate.
• Two black-robed Nine Evil Sect Incense Masters discussed the elder’s order and began the Ten Thousand Blood Demon-Transformation Ritual at a Blood Pool.
• The ritual sent an invisible pulse through the Beast Ridge Mountains toward the Golden Sun Temple.
• The golden ropes sealing the Demon-Sealing Cavern trembled and dimmed, a crack formed in a rune, and a voice came from within.

Yi Yang broke through to late True Astral and joined a meeting after the sect teams returned from killing the True Astral demon beasts in the Beast Ridge Mountains. The meeting was interrupted by news that the Golden Sun Temple had attacked the Profound Sword Pavilion, leaving the elders to prepare to return.

• Yi Yang completed his breakthrough to late True Astral and demonstrated his external projection of astral energy.
• Xu Min reported that the three sects had returned after killing their assigned demon beasts, clearing five True Astral Realm threats from the Beast Ridge Mountains.
• Lu Quanan announced that the beast tide crisis in Donglai County had largely been resolved, then received an urgent dispatch from the Nether Spring Office in Suining Prefecture.
• Two Profound Sword Pavilion disciples reported that the Golden Sun Temple had breached their gates, killed Elder Zhao, and forced the Pavilion Master and stewards to defend the rear mountain.
• Lu Song verified the Pavilion Master's Green Jade Token as genuine while Han Zhengqing and the Golden Sun Temple disciples reacted to the accusation.