Chapter Summaries

Li Ping'an and Old Ox enjoyed the sights and food of Jiangnan on their way to meet Jing Yu at the Yellow Crane Tower. Before reaching the meeting place, Li Ping'an reunited with Changqing, who joined him on the way there.

• Li Ping'an and Old Ox explored a Jiangnan village, watched a play, and spent the night beneath a bridge after finding the inns full.
• Two beggars tried to rob Li Ping'an, but he revealed a flying sword and sent them away.
• Li Ping'an reached the Yellow Crane Tower and ran into Changqing, who was selling noodles for travel money.
• Li Ping'an ate so much of Changqing's food that Changqing was left sitting beneath a bridge, dejected.
• Li Ping'an invited Changqing to accompany him to the Yellow Crane Tower, where he planned to eat and meet Jing Yu.

Li Ping'an, Monk Changqing, Jing Yu, and Old Ox reunited at Yellow Crane Tower, then helped Jing Yu find a house in Jiangnan. When a female ghost emerged from the well at Jing Yu's new home, Jing Yu restrained her and asked how she had died.

• Li Ping'an treated Monk Changqing to a meal at Yellow Crane Tower, where Jing Yu joined them and the three men and Old Ox drank through the night.
• The group left at dawn and woke beside the river, with Jing Yu wearing Changqing's underpants on his head.
• Li Ping'an, Changqing, and Old Ox accompanied Jing Yu as he searched for a house and chose a cheap one rumored to be haunted.
• Jing Yu moved into the house and invited the others to barbecue and drink in its courtyard.
• A female ghost emerged from the well, but after noticing the group's auras, she tried to retreat.
• Jing Yu immobilized the vengeful ghost, and Changqing offered to deliver her soul while Jing Yu asked how she had died.

After learning how a woman had been abused and killed, Li Ping'an, Jing Yu, Old Ox, and Monk Changqing drunkenly set out to punish Chu Ying, the notorious second son of the Dingyuan Marquis's Residence. Changqing killed Chu Ying and erased every trace, leaving the others stunned by how thoroughly he had handled it.

• Monk Changqing delivered the female ghost's soul and experienced memories revealing that Chu Ying had abducted and tortured her and many other women.
• Jing Yu urged the others to teach Chu Ying a lesson, and Li Ping'an agreed while they were drunk.
• Chu Ying left Drunken Fragrance Tower in his carriage, and the group dragged him out, covered his head with a sack, and beat him.
• After Changqing accidentally revealed their identities, he struck Chu Ying with a palm, killed him, destroyed his body and soul, and scattered the ashes.
• Li Ping'an admired Changqing's professional cleanup while Jing Yu worried about the consequences of killing Chu Ying.

After killing Marquis Dingyuan’s son, Li Ping'an, Jing Yu, and Monk Changqing split up and promised to meet again in ten years. Later, Li Ping'an tried to avoid trouble at a roadside stall, but Old Ox’s anger at a gang attacking a female constable pulled him into a fight, and he left the gang’s leader underfoot.

• Monk Changqing killed a bird that had witnessed the trio’s crime, and Li Ping'an, Jing Yu, and Changqing agreed to part ways and meet in ten years.
• Marquis Dingyuan searched for his missing son but could find neither his trace nor his soul.
• Li Ping'an and Old Ox drank at a roadside stall, where a female constable joined them.
• Thugs from the Flowing Moon Pavilion attacked the constable because she had investigated its human trafficking.
• Old Ox fought the thugs after one of them overturned Li Ping'an’s table and knocked the roast chicken to the ground.
• Li Ping'an stepped on the gang leader’s face, deciding that trouble had found him again.

Li Ping'an agreed to escort an escaped witness to Ning River after learning the case involved Chu Ying, Marquis Dingyuan's second son. As he left with the girl and Old Ox, the Flowing Moon Pavilion sent White Ghost to deal with the troublesome blind man.

• The Female Constable asked Li Ping'an to take the escaped witness and evidence to the Governor-General of the Two Jiangs, and he secretly accepted after stealing her money pouch.
• Li Ping'an found the girl hiding in the Female Constable's home and set off with her and Old Ox toward Ning River.
• The girl asked where Constable Zhou was, but Li Ping'an said he did not know and continued on without further explanation.
• At the Flowing Moon Pavilion, a middle-aged man learned that Li Ping'an was traveling with an ox and ordered White Ghost to deal with him.

Li Ping'an traveled with the rescued thirteen-year-old girl and told her he was an assassin as they sought shelter from the rain. When five armed men arrived at an abandoned farmhouse, he killed four and faced the sinister swordsman; after their duel, he calmly invited the girl to eat.

• Li Ping'an shared food with the girl and learned she had been abducted from Ning River and had hidden food to survive her captivity.
• The girl asked Li Ping'an whether he would take jobs for bad people, and he said that depended on the circumstances.
• Li Ping'an, the girl, and Old Ox took shelter in an abandoned farmhouse and shared roasted potatoes and soybean paste.
• A sinister young man and four companions entered the farmhouse, and one of them attacked Li Ping'an.
• Li Ping'an killed four attackers while protecting the girl, then fought the remaining swordsman in the dark.
• The fire flared back to life, and Li Ping'an told the frightened girl to eat.

Li Ping'an rescued the girl and brought her safely back to Ning River, defeating the men who tried to buy his cooperation. After Chu Ying's crimes were exposed and Marquis Dingyuan was stripped of his title, Li Ping'an and Old Ox returned to Shushan, where Li Ping'an planned to reward himself with a bath.

• At a roadside pavilion, Li Ping'an rejected the old man's bribe and fought back when the old man surrounded him with archers and attacked with flying swords.
• Li Ping'an had Old Ox protect the girl while he dealt with the attackers, then escorted her to her home in Ning River.
• Li Ping'an discovered Old Ox had been lured away by two thieves, but Old Ox returned with an ox bone and the thieves following him.
• Chu Ying was exposed for human trafficking and abducting young girls, disappeared, and was declared wanted; Marquis Dingyuan was stripped of his title and reduced to a commoner.
• Li Ping'an and Old Ox returned to Shushan, where Li Ping'an caught Run Tu posing as boss and beat him before settling in for a bath.

Li Ping'an joined Lin Xue and three fellow disciples in opening a shop at Shushan's new market, where he settled into a quiet routine. Two months later, Xiaodao asked him to guard his alchemist cousin, and Li Ping'an agreed.

• Li Ping'an resumed preparing and selling Mighty Pills after returning to Medicine Valley, while Qingfeng told him Shushan would open a new market.
• Lin Xue invited Li Ping'an to join her and three fellow disciples in opening a shop, and he agreed.
• Lin Xue and Li Ping'an's group secured a shop in the new market and opened it after completing their preparations.
• Li Ping'an spent the next two months cultivating, developing medicines, and occasionally visiting Medicine Valley.
• Xiaodao asked Li Ping'an to guard his cousin, an alchemist secretly selling pills made with stolen materials, and Li Ping'an accepted.

Li Ping'an guarded Zhao Shun during a risky pill trade and warned him that the rogue cultivators were testing his limits, but Zhao Shun later died after ignoring the advice. Five years later, Li Ping'an suspected that Lin Xue and other Heaven-Reaching Peak disciples were connected to the Evil Sect, and that something was wrong with Lin Xue's father, the peak master.

• Li Ping'an confronted three rogue cultivators who tried to keep Zhao Shun's pills without paying, and forced them to hand over the full price.
• Li Ping'an warned Zhao Shun to stop dealing with rogue cultivators, but Zhao Shun dismissed his advice and later asked him to serve as a guard again; Li Ping'an refused.
• Two months later, Xiaodao told Li Ping'an that Zhao Shun had been killed.
• Li Ping'an spent five more years living quietly in Shushan and noticed that Lin Xue and the shop's other partners were acting strangely.
• Li Ping'an concluded that Heaven-Reaching Peak disciples were in contact with the Evil Sect and suspected that Lin Xue's father, the peak master, was involved.

Li Ping'an rescued the gravely wounded Lin Xue after she fled Enforcement Pavilion disciples who accused her of stealing the sect's secret techniques. Worried that he was caught up in a threat to Shushan, he told Lin Xue he planned to resign and leave, though he had not decided when.

• Li Ping'an found Lin Xue wounded and poisoned in the woods and treated her with medicine and qi.
• Enforcement Pavilion disciples searched for Lin Xue, so Li Ping'an carried her to Medicine Valley with Old Ox.
• After recovering, Lin Xue tried to kiss Li Ping'an, but he used a silver needle to make her cough up the remaining poisoned blood.
• Lin Xue left Medicine Valley that evening and returned to the Marketplace two days later, appearing recovered.
• Li Ping'an told Lin Xue he wanted to resign and leave Shushan, and she reluctantly accepted his decision.

Li Ping'an settled into a new home away from Heaven-Reaching Peak and focused on cultivation, keeping his distance from the trouble there. At Situ Lei and Qin Miaomiao’s child’s celebration, he reflected on how others had moved on while he seemed left behind, and he refused Lin Xue’s invitation to return as a pharmacist.

• Li Ping'an left Medicine Valley with Old Ox and Run Tu, arranged temporary lodging through Xiaodao, and set up a home with animals and a garden.
• Elder Qingfeng visited Li Ping'an and suggested that staying away from Heaven-Reaching Peak was wise as trouble gathered there.
• Li Ping'an continued cultivating, but his progress in The Moon's Reflection on the Second Spring and his other techniques remained slow.
• A year later, Li Ping'an attended the hundred-day celebration for Situ Lei and Qin Miaomiao’s child and reflected on how their lives had changed.
• Lin Xue told Li Ping'an that the new pharmacist was not as good as he was and invited him to return, but he refused.

Li Ping'an continued searching for a breakthrough while carefully teaching Run Tu how to cultivate. Lin Lushan and Lin Xue defected from Shushan, throwing the sect into turmoil, and Li Ping'an stayed out of trouble while enjoying the quiet life in his courtyard.

• Li Ping'an failed to find the feeling needed for a breakthrough and taught Run Tu to cultivate cautiously.
• Run Tu told Li Ping'an he felt ninety percent confident about breaking through, and Li Ping'an warned him about unexpected dangers.
• Li Ping'an encountered Lin Xue beneath the moon, where she said she would never see scenery like that again.
• Lin Lushan, Lin Xue, and numerous disciples defected from Shushan after killing two elders and destroying eight medicine valleys.
• Shushan locked down the sect and questioned Li Ping'an, who cooperated and stayed in his courtyard with Old Ox and Run Tu.

Li Ping'an learned that Shushan and its allies were preparing to encircle the defector Lin Lushan, then was assigned to join the campaign. As the force set out for Three-Nothing Peak, the Huailu Academy Head used Words Become Law to clear a violent storm.

• At a teahouse, Li Ping'an heard that Shushan, Great Sui, Huailu Academy, and the Buddhist Sect planned to hunt Lin Lushan, and that Great Sui's Empress was expected to arrive.
• Li Ping'an stayed home until Run Tu and Old Ox reported that an old man was taking jujubes; the old man praised the fruit, and Jing Yu identified him as the Academy Head.
• Two days later, Shushan mobilized more than fifty thousand people, including ten Eighth Rank cultivators, and assigned Li Ping'an and others connected to Heaven-Reaching Peak to the fighting ranks.
• Liu Yun and the sect leaders addressed the assembled forces, which then boarded flying boats and set out for Three-Nothing Peak, where Lin Lushan was believed to be hiding.
• During a raging storm, the Academy Head spoke a word that made the rain disappear, while Situ Lei lamented Lin Lushan's fall and Li Ping'an silently sharpened his blade.

The major sects launched a brutal siege on Three-Nothing Peak, slaughtering the Evil Sect cultivators as Jing Yu broke through a cave's restraints. While Li Ping'an and the others guarded the perimeter, a disciple was suddenly struck in the throat by a deadly arrow.

• Two Evil Sect cultivators were killed as Three-Nothing Peak's Mountain-Guarding Grand Formation collapsed and the attackers stormed the mountain.
• Jing Yu broke into a cave with a sword strike and killed the Evil Cultivators inside, earning the Academy disciples' admiration.
• Li Ping'an played Go with Old Ox while the Shushan disciples guarded the perimeter, and Situ Lei reflected on his family.
• A disciple remarked that Li Ping'an could not cultivate and would die young, but a short arrow suddenly pierced the speaker's throat.

Evil Cultivators broke through Shushan’s encirclement, and Lin Xue and her former Heaven-Reaching Peak companions attacked the outer perimeter. Li Ping'an defended the disciples and killed Cheng Wen and Cheng Wu as the fight escalated.

• A giant spider burst from underground, exploded into poisonous mist, and an arrow nearly struck Situ Lei while the disciples tried to signal for reinforcements.
• Lin Xue cut down the signal and demanded that the Shushan disciples stand aside as Gao Tianxiong and other former disciples joined her.
• Gao Tianxiong attacked Situ Lei, but Li Ping'an severed his arrow and asked the fugitives to leave without killing the defenders.
• Gao Tianxiong ordered the group to kill the Shushan disciples, and Cheng Wen and Cheng Wu used their Soul-Suppressing Pearls to stun them and attack Li Ping'an.
• Li Ping'an recovered and beheaded Cheng Wen and Cheng Wu with the Staff-Sword.

Li Ping'an defeated Gao Tianxiong's group but refused to pursue Lin Xue, choosing to rest and play a game with Old Ox instead. Lin Xue and Gao Tianxiong then encountered the Buddhist monk Changqing, who faced them in battle.

• Li Ping'an broke through Gao Tianxiong's vines, killed a Sword Cultivator, and overwhelmed Gao Tianxiong with his blade.
• Lin Xue rescued Gao Tianxiong, and they fled into the night as Li Ping'an claimed he was injured and declined to chase them.
• Li Ping'an set up his game board and played with Old Ox while the other disciples rested.
• Lin Xue and Gao Tianxiong met Changqing in the woods, and Lin Xue attacked him with her sword.
• Changqing used Radiant Great Sun Tathagata against Lin Xue and Gao Tianxiong, after which silence returned to the woods.

After Shushan crushed Lin Lushan’s rebellion, Li Ping'an received a reward from Liu Yun and spent his free time sparring with Run Tu and Old Ox. The chapter ended with Li Ping'an catching Run Tu insulting his literacy and challenging him to spar again.

• Shushan killed Lin Lushan and most of his followers, while Lin Xue and four other disciples were imprisoned.
• Half a month later, Liu Yun personally rewarded the contributors, exchanged a brief conversation with Li Ping'an, and left Jing Yu to be punished for his awkward remark.
• Li Ping'an watched the Academy Head beat Jing Yu, then passed his free time cultivating, playing chess, and chatting with others.
• Li Ping'an began sparring with Run Tu so often that Run Tu complained to Old Ox about being beaten every day.
• Run Tu insulted Li Ping'an's literacy, and Li Ping'an appeared behind him and challenged him to spar.

Li Ping'an kept a diary of everyday events and his frustration over the gifts he had to give Situ Lei and Qin Miaomiao for their many children. After Qingfeng became Heaven-Reaching Peak’s new master, Li Ping'an attended the feast, found that every dish was his own bean sprouts, and heard Qingfeng offer him a place at the peak.

• Li Ping'an began keeping a diary and recorded daily events, including a cuju match, a market trip, and Qingfeng asking him for a massage.
• Li Ping'an grew angry as Situ Lei and Qin Miaomiao had more children, and he urged Old Ox and Run Tu to produce offspring so he could hold celebrations of his own.
• After practicing boxing, Li Ping'an took Old Ox and Run Tu to Heaven-Reaching Peak to celebrate Qingfeng's appointment as its new peak master.
• Li Ping'an heard the bronze bell and visualized its warmth moving through his body while he waited for the feast.
• Li Ping'an discovered that every dish at the feast was made with his bean sprouts, and Qingfeng told him they were all gone.
• Qingfeng invited Li Ping'an to join Heaven-Reaching Peak and offered the possibility of making him a formal disciple.

After Lin Lushan destroyed Heaven-Reaching Peak, Li Ping'an settled into its ruined Medicine Valley and decided to make the empty land useful by growing vegetables. He headed down the mountain with Old Ox and Run Tu, content with his easygoing life and promising Wu Mengxi he would welcome her when she was ready to slow down.

• Li Ping'an surveyed the ruined Medicine Valley and remembered Heaven-Reaching Peak's former prosperity.
• Li Ping'an cooked pork with vermicelli and catfish with eggplant, and Qingfeng eagerly ate while admitting he had no plans beyond drinking and sleeping.
• Li Ping'an decided to plant the Medicine Valley and bought inexpensive vegetable seeds after Qingfeng said he had no money for spirit medicine or Spirit Herb seeds.
• Li Ping'an went down the mountain with Old Ox and Run Tu to buy vegetables and supplies.
• Li Ping'an met Wu Mengxi, encouraged her to rest from her difficult cultivation, and said he would wait for her to join him in taking life easy.

Li Ping'an built a comfortable new house on Heaven-Reaching Peak while Qingfeng was away, then demanded compensation for supporting them both. Qingfeng offered to take Li Ping'an as a nominal disciple, but said he first had to defeat an inner disciple and complete a task at the Merit Pavilion.

• Li Ping'an began building a new house with Old Ox and Run Tu after the other disciples refused to help.
• Two months later, Qingfeng returned and was astonished by the ornate house, its running hot and cold water, and the lively yard.
• Qingfeng claimed the house as a fitting residence for the peak lord and settled onto its bed.
• Li Ping'an threatened to stop working because he had been paying for their food and daily expenses himself.
• Qingfeng offered to make Li Ping'an a nominal disciple, provided he defeated an inner disciple and completed a designated Merit Pavilion task.