Chapter Summaries

After transmigrating into the body of a yamen runner in Ping'an County, Xu Qingxiao learned that netherworld qi had left him with at most twenty-four hours to live. He rejected despair, took the first steps toward seeking a cure, and left his home with twenty-two hours remaining.

• Xu Qingxiao awakened to learn that a demonic fugitive had injured his body with netherworld qi, and Doctor Zhao gave him at most twenty-four hours to live.
• Doctor Zhao described three possible cures, but Constable Chen stopped him before he could explain the forbidden third method.
• Constable Chen promised to seek help from the county magistrate, while Xu Qingxiao privately held onto hope that the unspoken cure might be attainable.
• Xu Qingxiao drank the bitter medicine, practiced Upright Yang Fist, and improved enough to move more easily.
• Xu Qingxiao equipped himself with a short saber and bamboo hat, left his home in the rain, and had twenty-two hours remaining.

Xu Qingxiao visited Doctor Zhao in the storm to learn how he might survive the nether yin qi poisoning him. Doctor Zhao revealed that a pure yang unorthodox art could save him, but he could not say where to find one, and Xu Qingxiao left with a Blood-Replenishing Pill.

• Xu Qingxiao went to Doctor Zhao’s home and pleaded for a way to save his life.
• Doctor Zhao revealed that practicing a pure yang unorthodox art might counter the extreme yin poison, while warning that such arts often turned practitioners into demons or fiends.
• Xu Qingxiao decided the risk was worth taking and asked where he could obtain an unorthodox art, but Doctor Zhao did not know.
• Xu Qingxiao thanked Doctor Zhao for explaining the method and prepared to leave.
• Doctor Zhao gave Xu Qingxiao a superior Blood-Replenishing Pill to ease his suffering and help him move more freely.

Xu Qingxiao pieced together why the fugitive had come to Ping'an County and concluded that a Pure Yang Unorthodox Art might be hidden in the County Yamen’s Document Archive. He ended the chapter with an idea for getting inside.

• Xu Qingxiao swallowed the medicinal pill and searched his memories for a way to survive his Netherworld Qi.
• A fellow yamen runner brought herbs and told Xu Qingxiao that the fugitive had fled south to Ping'an County instead of escaping north.
• Xu Qingxiao recalled that the fugitive’s body had been wreathed in cold and reasoned that he had come seeking a way to dispel the backlash from his unorthodox art.
• The yamen runner said that extra guards had been posted at the Document Archive, which Constable Chen was overseeing.
• Xu Qingxiao concluded that the archive might contain the Pure Yang Unorthodox Art, then thought of a way to get inside.

Xu Qingxiao tricked Constable Chen into leaving the Document Archive by claiming he had spotted the fugitive, then searched for an unorthodox art before the guards returned. He found a concealed box and opened it, revealing the Golden Crow Body Tempering Art.

• Xu Qingxiao let the cold poison escape his body and told Constable Chen that the fugitive was hiding on North Hill.
• Constable Chen left with most of the guards to search for the fugitive, leaving two men outside the Document Archive.
• Xu Qingxiao persuaded the remaining guards to put him in the Archive, then searched its shelves and cabinets for an unorthodox art.
• Xu Qingxiao spotted a box on the rafters, knocked it down, and told the guards to stay outside when they heard the crash.
• Xu Qingxiao broke the box's brass lock and found a blue booklet titled Golden Crow Body Tempering Art.

Xu Qingxiao cultivated the Golden Crow Body Tempering Art, entered the Tenth Rank, and nearly became a demon when Golden Crow Killing Intent took hold. A mysterious palace suppressed the killing intent, but a fugitive then broke into the Document Archive.

• Xu Qingxiao read the Golden Crow Body Tempering Art and learned it could rapidly strengthen the body but risk burning him alive or turning him into a demon.
• Xu Qingxiao visualized the Three-Legged Golden Crow Sun Diagram and completed a round of body tempering, entering the Tenth Rank with a membrane across his body.
• Golden Crow Killing Intent appeared in Xu Qingxiao's mind and began to overwhelm him with murderous urges and negative emotions.
• A magnificent palace appeared in Xu Qingxiao's mind and used Sacred Words of the Confucian Dao to suppress and destroy the Golden Crow Killing Intent.
• Xu Qingxiao wondered whether the palace could cancel the side effects of Unorthodox Arts before cries announced that the fugitive was killing people.
• The fugitive from Southern Yu Prefecture smashed through the Document Archive's doors, sending the bailiff crashing inside.

Xu Qingxiao traded the Golden Crow Body Tempering Art for the fugitive’s Taiyin Meridian Condensation Art, then burned the Document Archive and staged an injury to conceal his recovery. After waking, he gave Constable Chen a false account that explained how the cold poison had vanished, but visitors from Southern Yu Prefecture arrived and demanded Chen’s attention.

• A fugitive from Southern Yu Prefecture confronted Xu Qingxiao and demanded his Pure Yang Unorthodox Art, so Xu bluffed that he could hold the man off until the yamen arrived.
• Xu Qingxiao and the fugitive exchanged the Golden Crow Body Tempering Art and the Taiyin Meridian Condensation Art, and the fugitive left with Xu’s manual.
• Xu Qingxiao found two runners dead, burned the Document Archive and its records, memorized the Taiyin Meridian Condensation Art, and injured himself before calling for help.
• Constable Chen and the others arrived, and Xu Qingxiao fainted after shouting that the fugitive had returned.
• Doctor Zhao confirmed that Xu Qingxiao’s cold poison was gone and his viscera were injured, and Xu pretended not to know why he had recovered.
• Xu Qingxiao told Constable Chen that the fugitive had found a book in the archive and struck him with a glowing, heat-filled palm, then a runner announced that people from Southern Yu Prefecture had arrived.

Xu Qingxiao prepared for Southern Yu Prefecture to investigate his recovery and rank, then was taken to the County Yamen jail for questioning. Lord Cheng confronted him with three questions, ending by asking whether he had stolen and practiced an Unorthodox Art.

• Doctor Zhao warned Xu Qingxiao that his recovery would arouse suspicion, but said he could only help by remaining silent.
• Xu Qingxiao decided to face the coming investigation and privately considered the Taiyin Meridian Condensation Art.
• Southern Yu Prefecture officers restrained Xu Qingxiao and took him to the County Yamen jail for interrogation.
• Lord Cheng asked Xu Qingxiao to confirm the timeline of his poisoning and report about the fugitive.
• Lord Cheng asked whether Xu Qingxiao had stolen and practiced an Unorthodox Art.

Lord Cheng interrogated Xu Qingxiao about practicing an unorthodox art and used apparent torture of Doctor Zhao to pressure him into confessing. Xu Qingxiao recognized the confession as a bluff, and County Magistrate Li arrived to take him away, though Lord Cheng still wanted to speak with him.

• Lord Cheng questioned Xu Qingxiao about how he had entered the ranks and expelled the cold poison, but Xu Qingxiao insisted he knew nothing about unorthodox arts.
• Lord Cheng had someone in a neighboring cell scream and claimed Doctor Zhao would be spared if he confessed what he knew.
• The apparent Doctor Zhao confessed that Xu Qingxiao had asked him how to save himself, and Lord Cheng demanded that Xu Qingxiao answer for it.
• Xu Qingxiao suspected the voice was an imitation, refused to confess, and demanded to confront Doctor Zhao.
• Lord Cheng admitted he had miscalculated as County Magistrate Li and the Ping'an County officials arrived; Li asked to take Xu Qingxiao away, but Lord Cheng requested a final conversation.

Lord Cheng and County Magistrate Li explained that unorthodox arts create an ever-growing demonic seed that eventually consumes the practitioner, leaving Xu Qingxiao to realize he might still be doomed despite avoiding them. After Xu Qingxiao was released, Cheng Lidong chose not to target him further and focused on capturing the fugitive.

• Lord Cheng explained that surviving the first use of an unorthodox art only allowed a demonic seed to grow until it eventually took over its practitioner.
• County Magistrate Li warned that the seed could not be destroyed and said the righteous paths forbade unorthodox arts because they inevitably produced demons.
• Xu Qingxiao panicked at the thought that his demonic seed might one day overpower him, while Lord Cheng invited him to seek work in Southern Yu Prefecture before leaving.
• County Magistrate Li ordered Xu Qingxiao released, and his colleagues told him that Doctor Zhao had been tortured and that the magistrate had prevented Xu Qingxiao from being interrogated.
• Cheng Lidong rejected Hooked-Nose's suggestion to kill or surveil Xu Qingxiao, citing County Magistrate Li's influence, and ordered his men to focus on capturing the fugitive.

Xu Qingxiao explored the Heaven and Earth Literary Palace in his mind and learned that the Golden Crow Killing Intent would reach Ninth Rank in three months, leaving him desperate to find a way to advance. After waking, he went to visit Doctor Zhao, whose apothecary had grown quiet after his arrest, and the apprentice welcomed him inside.

• Xu Qingxiao entered the Heaven and Earth Literary Palace and found seven unfamiliar statues, a blank Demon and Monster Compendium, and an empty pool.
• Xu Qingxiao read that the Three-Legged Golden Crow would reach Ninth Rank within three months and that suppressing it could let him condense Golden Crow True Flame.
• Xu Qingxiao realized he would need to reach Ninth Rank quickly or risk being possessed, but hesitated to cultivate the Taiyin Vein-Consolidation Art because it might create another demon's killing intent.
• Xu Qingxiao left the palace, slept until morning, and decided to visit Doctor Zhao with gifts because he felt guilty about the doctor's interrogation.
• Xu Qingxiao arrived at Doctor Zhao's quiet apothecary, where the apprentice greeted him and said the Shopkeeper wanted to see him.

Xu Qingxiao visited the wounded Doctor Zhao, thanked him for protecting his secret, and asked how Confucianism might suppress his demonic seed. Doctor Zhao sent him to Licentiate Zhou, who explained how Confucian cultivators gained literary qi.

• Xu Qingxiao found Doctor Zhao recovering from torture and thanked him for refusing to reveal his secret.
• Doctor Zhao warned Xu Qingxiao to protect innocent people if he ever lost control, and Xu Qingxiao promised he would not harm them.
• Xu Qingxiao asked Doctor Zhao about Confucianism, and Doctor Zhao suggested that righteous literary qi might suppress the demonic seed.
• Xu Qingxiao delivered qi-replenishing medicine to Licentiate Zhou and asked about Confucian cultivation.
• Zhou Ling explained that the Confucian Dao had ten ranks and that literary qi came from reading, writing works people appreciated, or comprehending the Dao.

Xu Qingxiao questioned Zhou Ling about the Confucian Dao and borrowed books from him, then returned home and read Sacred Words. The Literary Palace in his mind suddenly trembled, a majestic voice recited the essay’s opening lines, and Xu Qingxiao passed out.

• Xu Qingxiao asked Zhou Ling about the Confucian Dao’s powers against Demonic Evils, and Zhou Ling explained how Righteous Haoran Qi restrained them.
• Xu Qingxiao asked Zhou Ling to investigate the Literary Palace, and Zhou Ling lent him books by Grand Confucians.
• Xu Qingxiao returned home and learned that the magistrate had given him a month’s leave, daily roll call, medicinal herbs, and ten taels of silver.
• Xu Qingxiao began reading Sacred Words by the Literary Sage and spent four hours studying its first essay.
• The Literary Palace in Xu Qingxiao’s mind trembled as a majestic voice recited the essay’s opening lines, and Xu Qingxiao passed out.

Xu Qingxiao watched a handsome, amnesiac man emerge from a statue in the Heaven and Earth Literary Palace, then returned to reading after discovering time might pass differently inside the palace. After finishing Zhou Ling’s sixteen books, Xu Qingxiao condensed righteous haoran qi and entered the tenth rank of the Confucian Dao, the Qi-Nourishing Realm.

• Xu Qingxiao saw Misty Qi fill the pool and flow into a statue, which cracked apart to reveal a handsome young man.
• Xu Qingxiao questioned the man, who remembered only a horrific ancient battle and could not recall his own identity or explain the pool.
• Xu Qingxiao guessed the man had been a celebrated Confucian cultivator who sacrificed himself, but the man agreed only because the theory sounded plausible.
• Xu Qingxiao left the Literary Palace and noticed that more than four hours had passed outside despite spending longer within it.
• Xu Qingxiao read all sixteen books Zhou Ling had given him in less than ten hours, and righteous haoran qi surged into him as he reached the Qi-Nourishing Realm.

Xu Qingxiao discovered that he had reached the tenth rank of the Confucian Dao after reading sixteen books, though he decided to keep the Martial Dao as his main path. After practicing his martial arts and visiting Zhou Ling for guidance, he revealed his new rank, leaving Zhou Ling stunned when he confirmed the righteous Haoran qi around him.

• Xu Qingxiao realized he had entered the Confucian Dao’s tenth rank, attributed his progress possibly to the Literary Palace, and resolved to study Confucianism while keeping the Martial Dao as his focus.
• Xu Qingxiao practiced his nameless fist technique and the Pure Yang Art, but failed to condense any new blood qi during four hours of cultivation.
• Xu Qingxiao bought gifts and visited Zhou Ling’s home to ask questions about the Confucian Dao.
• Xu Qingxiao told Zhou Ling he had reached a rank, and Zhou Ling examined him with his righteous Haoran qi.
• Zhou Ling saw the faint white literary qi surrounding Xu Qingxiao and froze in disbelief.

After Xu Qingxiao attained a Confucian rank overnight, Zhou Ling accepted him as a student and cautioned him to remain humble. Zhou Ling also explained the Literary Palace and the five Literary Sages, leaving Xu Qingxiao intrigued by the Great Sage and the ancient Age of Utter Darkness.

• Zhou Ling recovered from his shock at Xu Qingxiao's overnight advancement and took pride in having guided a promising student.
• Xu Qingxiao credited Zhou Ling's help, and Zhou Ling warned him that his achievement was only a beginning and that talent did not guarantee future greatness.
• Zhou Ling said the Literary Sage had taught that complete enlightenment could let someone become a Sage overnight and cross all ten ranks.
• Zhou Ling gave Xu Qingxiao an ancient text, explaining that the Literary Palace was where a Sage lived, and Xu Qingxiao claimed he had heard of it from a storyteller.
• Xu Qingxiao asked about the Literary Sage, and Zhou Ling described five Sages, especially the First Literary Sage, whom scholars called the Great Sage for saving humanity in the Age of Utter Darkness.

Zhou Ling urged Xu Qingxiao to take the Southern Yu Prefecture Examination, and Xu agreed to accept his recommendation and study with him. On his way home that night, Xu Qingxiao suppressed a sudden flare of Golden Crow Power with his Righteous Haoran Qi, only to encounter the fugitive from Southern Yu Prefecture.

• Zhou Ling told Xu Qingxiao about the Great Sage and suggested he consult books at prefectural and provincial academies.
• Zhou Ling encouraged Xu Qingxiao to take the Prefectural Examination, explaining that his rank and Zhou Ling's recommendation would let him skip earlier examinations.
• Xu Qingxiao agreed to Zhou Ling's recommendation and planned to visit often to study, then declined Zhou Ling's offer to stay overnight.
• Zhou Ling warned Xu Qingxiao not to tell anyone he had attained a rank, especially his teacher's wife.
• On his way home, Xu Qingxiao felt his body burning and used Righteous Haoran Qi to suppress the Golden Crow Power.
• The fugitive from Southern Yu Prefecture appeared and asked whether Xu Qingxiao was cultivating two Unorthodox Arts at once.

Xu Qingxiao was confronted by an injured eighth-rank fugitive, who offered to help him advance beyond the danger of his Unorthodox Art in exchange for delivering a message and an item. Xu Qingxiao agreed and asked the fugitive to deal with a man surnamed Cheng, then remained alone in the woods to consider his predicament.

• The fugitive demonstrated his strength and led Xu Qingxiao to a deserted mountain, where he offered a way to reach higher ranks without relying on Unorthodox Arts.
• Xu Qingxiao questioned the fugitive’s claim, then agreed to deliver a booklet and the message, “Bright moonlight shines upon Bright Moon Mountain; fate's mysteries lie within yin and yang,” in Changping County within three months.
• The fugitive explained that the Golden Crow Body Tempering Art and its Demonic Seed threatened Xu Qingxiao whether he cultivated or stopped, and Xu Qingxiao asked him to deal with the man surnamed Cheng from Southern Yu Prefecture.
• The fugitive disappeared into the darkness, and Xu Qingxiao pondered alone for nearly an hour before leaving.

Xu Qingxiao burned the booklet after memorizing it, then learned from the handsome man that the Literary Palace could suppress Demonic Thought as long as his Confucian Dao kept pace with his cultivation. The man proposed inscribing poetry or essays within Xu Qingxiao’s body and offered a poem, leaving Xu Qingxiao to praise it despite privately thinking it was terrible.

• Xu Qingxiao found no useful information in the booklet, memorized it, and burned it to avoid discovery by the officers from Southern Yu Prefecture.
• The handsome man told Xu Qingxiao he remembered sealing a great demon before dying, though he still did not know his name.
• Xu Qingxiao explained his troubles with the Unorthodox Art, and the handsome man said the Literary Palace could suppress Demonic Thought if Xu Qingxiao’s Confucian Dao rank kept pace with it.
• The handsome man recalled that Xu Qingxiao could inscribe a poem or essay within his body each time he advanced a Confucian Dao rank.
• The handsome man composed a poor poem for Xu Qingxiao, who called it fine while silently criticizing it.

Xu Qingxiao engraved the Song of Righteousness in his Literary Pool, greatly expanding it and gaining purple righteous Haoran qi, a Sage Artifact, and the innate Divine Ability Speech. He awoke in his room at dawn and noticed a strange mark in the basin labeled Ping'an County.

• Xu Qingxiao rejected the handsome man's poem and learned how to engrave poetry into his body using literary qi.
• Xu Qingxiao engraved the Song of Righteousness, causing his Literary Pool to expand to three hundred and sixty feet and fill with purple righteous Haoran qi.
• The handsome man urged Xu Qingxiao to visualize a Confucian Literary Artifact, and Xu Qingxiao's design condensed into an emerald-green brush that he recognized as a Sage Artifact.
• Xu Qingxiao sensed the innate Divine Ability Speech and learned that his expanded Literary Pool gave him an exceptionally strong foundation in the Confucian Dao.
• Xu Qingxiao awoke in his room at dawn and noticed the words Ping'an County in the basin.

Xu Qingxiao discovered that burning the fugitive’s booklet revealed “Ping'an County,” then planned his next steps and cultivated the Golden Crow Body Tempering Art. At Zhou Ling’s home, he received books for the Prefectural Examination and was about to meet his senior brother, Chen Xinghe.

• Xu Qingxiao found the gilded words “Ping'an County” in the burned booklet, destroyed the words, and listed his priorities: improve his cultivation, leave for the Prefectural Examination, and investigate the fugitive’s purpose.
• Xu Qingxiao cultivated the Golden Crow Body Tempering Art for two hours, with his Righteous Haoran Qi suppressing its violent side effects, and condensed five powerful streams of Golden Crow blood and qi.
• After Xu Qingxiao left home, one of Cheng Lidong’s subordinates broke in, copied the unfamiliar writing on Xu’s desk, and slipped away without being noticed.
• Chen Xinghe traveled to Zhou Ling’s home after receiving his teacher’s urgent summons.
• Zhou Ling gave Xu Qingxiao 157 books to study for the Prefectural Examination and explained that Chen Xinghe, his senior brother, would help guide him.
• Chen Xinghe arrived and paid his respects to Zhou Ling, who led Xu Qingxiao out to meet him.