Chapter Summaries

Changqing revealed that he had been investigating massacres in Lüzhou and asked Li Ping'an, Jing Yu, and Run Tu to check on a surviving girl in Longevity Town. As they traveled, pursuers attacked their boat, and Li Ping'an sped away, suspecting the massacres involved more than ordinary evil sects.

• Jing Yu and Li Ping'an carried Changqing out of the prefect's residence, where Changqing explained that he had come to Lüzhou to investigate repeated massacres.
• Changqing told them that a wounded girl who survived a village massacre was in the care of Xu Banxian in Longevity Town, and asked them to find her.
• Li Ping'an, Jing Yu, Run Tu, and Old Ox set out by boat for Longevity Town while Jing Yu and Run Tu excitedly discussed their investigation.
• Li Ping'an noticed two men watching them from a larger ship and urged Old Ox to speed up the boat.
• Three pursuers used the Water Escape Technique to chase them, but Old Ox accelerated with the beef jerky and left the attackers behind.
• Li Ping'an suspected someone had overheard their conversation with Changqing, while Jing Yu complained that Li Ping'an made him look like a joke.

Li Ping'an and Old Ox reached Longevity Town, where Jing Yu went to meet a survivor of the Massacre Case while Li Ping'an enjoyed the town’s famous noodles. After sensing a familiar aura on a boat, Li Ping'an found Liu Yong, who revealed that he was secretly investigating the Lüzhou Massacre Case for the Secret Guards.

• Li Ping'an read about alchemy as the group traveled toward Longevity Town.
• Jing Yu and Run Tu went to find the Massacre Case survivor, while Li Ping'an and Old Ox stopped to eat Longevity Noodles.
• Li Ping'an sensed a familiar aura aboard a boat and abruptly appeared inside it.
• Li Ping'an reunited with Liu Yong, whom he had not seen since their parting in Great Yu's Capital ten years earlier.
• Li Ping'an and Liu Yong revealed that they were both investigating the Massacre Case, and Liu Yong explained that he had joined the Secret Guards eight years earlier.
• Li Ping'an offered Liu Yong wine so they could talk.

Li Ping'an learned that Liu Yong had been demoted and investigated the massacre, but the surviving girl was too injured for questioning. When a group of cultivators threatened Longevity Town, Li Ping'an swiftly defeated them and took the black-robed elder away.

• Liu Yong told Li Ping'an that factional strife had cost Xiahou Shang his posts and left Liu Yong demoted and reassigned.
• Li Ping'an examined the surviving girl and warned that using the Soul-Collecting Technique could leave her unable to wake.
• Jing Yu and Run Tu guarded the area while Li Ping'an tried to rest.
• A short cultivator and six one-armed swordsmen prepared to attack Longevity Town despite the black-robed elder's warning.
• Li Ping'an sensed the threat, shattered the flying swords with his body, and appeared behind the black-robed elder, who realized Li Ping'an's power was beyond his own.
• Li Ping'an took the black-robed elder away, then returned as Jing Yu and Run Tu scolded him for wandering near their traps.

Li Ping'an and his companions left Longevity Town with four witnesses after Liu Yong reported that their secret-guard contacts had vanished, suggesting officials were involved in the Lüzhou conspiracy. Forced by a supernatural downpour to shelter in an abandoned village, they discovered signs of another massacre while a powerful, well-dressed man watched them from a nearby pavilion.

• Liu Yong told Li Ping'an that the secret guards' contact network in Lüzhou had been cut off and their contact person had disappeared.
• After the little girl recovered, Li Ping'an, Jing Yu, Run Tu, Old Ox, Liu Yong, and the three captured men left Longevity Town with her as witnesses.
• Old Ox ate the horse and pulled the carriage as the group traveled south, but a chilling torrential rain forced them to seek shelter in an abandoned residence.
• Jing Yu identified signs of a massacre in the village, and Li Ping'an observed that someone had disposed of the bodies afterward.
• A middle-aged man in luxurious robes watched the group from a hillside pavilion and judged that Li Ping'an had at least sixth-realm cultivation.

Li Ping'an and Jing Yu fought an ambush arranged by the Empress's men while trying to protect their witnesses. Li Ping'an engaged a peak seventh realm martial warrior, and Jing Yu's group escaped on the flying sword Fine Rain with the witnesses and captives.

• Li Ping'an and Jing Yu discovered the encirclement and prepared to fight their way out, while Li Ping'an ordered Old Ox, Run Tu, and Liu Yong to protect the witnesses.
• Li Ping'an defeated the young umbrella-holder with two punches, then identified a peak seventh realm martial warrior waiting behind him.
• Li Ping'an attacked the brocade-clad middle-aged man with his saber, but the white-robed martial warrior shattered the saber light and challenged him to fight.
• Jing Yu fought off the attackers as Xuan Crossbow arrows rained down, while Run Tu praised his swordsmanship and Jing Yu was struck in the backside by an arrow.
• Old Ox, Jing Yu, and Run Tu gathered the witnesses and captives onto Fine Rain, and the flying sword shot away as the pursuers gave chase.

Li Ping'an fought off pursuers while Jing Yu and the others fled, and monks sent by Changqing rescued them. Half a month later, Li Ping'an attended the Lin Family young master's wedding, where a storyteller began revealing the truth behind the Lüzhou Massacre Case.

• Li Ping'an used the Fusang Saber to hold off three attackers and give Jing Yu and the others time to escape.
• Jing Yu warned that the group would not reach Zhangzhou before their pursuers caught up.
• A group of monks led by one standing on a lotus met Jing Yu and the others, saying Changqing had sent them.
• Half a month later, Li Ping'an used five copper coins to buy paper and wrote a wedding congratulation for Master Lin's son.
• At the wedding feast, a storyteller asked the audience whether they knew the truth behind the Lüzhou Massacre Case.

After the Lüzhou incident, Li Ping'an encountered a mother and child whose supernatural wind he stopped, while stories about the Three Heroes of the Nine Provinces spread. In Capital City, Liu Yun prepared to commend the heroes but learned Li Ping'an would not attend, and chose formal attire instead.

• A storyteller recounted Lü Liang’s attempted sacrifice of fifty thousand people and praised Jing Yu, Changqing, and Li Ping'an as the Three Heroes of the Nine Provinces.
• Li Ping'an stopped a pale woman’s child from summoning a sinister wind, and the pair fled after realizing he could see them.
• The storyteller thought he spotted Li Ping'an in the crowd but lost sight of him.
• In Capital City, Liu Yun prepared to commend the people who had resolved the Lüzhou incident and carefully selected her clothes and makeup.
• A maid told Liu Yun that Li Ping'an had sent word he was entering seclusion and could not come to Capital City, so Liu Yun chose auspicious attire.

Li Ping'an, Jing Yu, and Changqing wandered together and intervened when they saw retainers surrounding a mother and daughter. After the Three Heroes of the Nine Provinces defeated the retainers and the white-robed swordsman, they confronted the young gentleman in brocade and took his valuables.

• Li Ping'an, Jing Yu, and Changqing drank together, then stumbled out to relieve themselves; Changqing accidentally left merit behind by drinking from a wine bottle he had used as a chamber pot.
• Jing Yu and Changqing rushed toward a street commotion, but drunkenly attacked each other before joining forces to defeat the retainers surrounding a mother and daughter.
• Jing Yu challenged the young gentleman in brocade, who denied mistreating the women, while the mother and daughter nervously shook their heads.
• The white-robed swordsman attacked the trio, but Li Ping'an drove his head into the ground, and Jing Yu stripped off his trousers.
• Changqing pulled the young gentleman down from upstairs, and the three searched him for money and a jade pendant, calling the valuables ill-gotten gains.

Li Ping'an, Jing Yu, and Changqing robbed and humiliated a corrupt young master and an old man who defended him, then shared wine beneath the moon. Three days later, Li Ping'an continued north with Old Ox and Run Tu, sharing a meal and his strong wine with Uncle Old Locust before spending the snowy night with his companions.

• Li Ping'an, Jing Yu, and Changqing stripped the young master of his valuables and beat him after he had bullied a mother and daughter.
• An old man who claimed to know the young master's father challenged the group, but they beat him and divided his possessions.
• The three spared the young master after ordering him to copy Confucian writings, the Diamond Sutra, and poems, and Li Ping'an falsely warned him of a curse.
• The three shared wine beneath the moon and parted with a toast to meeting again in ten years.
• Three days later, Li Ping'an, Old Ox, and Run Tu took shelter from the cold at Uncle Old Locust's home, where Li Ping'an cooked a meal and shared his wine.
• Uncle Old Locust passed out after drinking, while Li Ping'an shared rice with Old Ox and Run Tu through the snowy night.

Li Ping'an refined a new virility and kidney-nourishing pill called “Sows Go Wild” and gave Run Tu resources to support his coming breakthrough. He worried that Run Tu’s breakthrough could trigger a heavenly tribulation and considered how to help him.

• Li Ping'an meditated through the day in the courtyard, then spent the evening relaxing with jujubes and tea.
• Li Ping'an refined a new batch of pills with Old Ox’s help, naming them “Sows Go Wild” and wondering how effective they were.
• Run Tu ate the leftover medicinal dregs until Li Ping'an stopped him and gave him a Storage Ring full of resources.
• Run Tu thanked Li Ping'an and Old Ox, then promised not to complain about Old Ox’s stink and to wipe him clean.
• Li Ping'an reflected that Run Tu’s breakthrough could trigger a heavenly tribulation and began thinking about how to help him through it.

Qingfeng accidentally fed the Water Qilin Li Ping'an’s Sows Go Wild pill, sending the guardian beast into a mating frenzy in front of Shushan’s guests. Li Ping'an realized what had happened over a meal with Liuyun and Yun Shu, just before Qingfeng rushed in to announce trouble.

• Qingfeng found a pill in Li Ping'an’s Alchemy Room, pocketed it, and later fed it to the Water Qilin during a tour for a Great Confucian from Huailu Academy.
• The Water Qilin erupted into a violent frenzy and mounted a rock while Shushan’s guests watched, then looked to Qingfeng for another pill.
• Li Ping'an searched for his missing Sows Go Wild pill, then joined Liuyun and Yun Shu for grilled meat at the Servant Peak dining hall.
• Liuyun said the Water Qilin had gone into heat after Qingfeng fed it a pill, and Li Ping'an realized it was the missing Sows Go Wild.
• Qingfeng hurried to Li Ping'an and exclaimed that something terrible had happened.

After Qingfeng accidentally fed the Water Qilin Li Ping'an’s aphrodisiac pill, Li Ping'an treated the creature and became the target of wild rumors across Shushan. The scandal unexpectedly advertised his pill, bringing secret buyers to Heaven-Reaching Peak.

• Qingfeng told Li Ping'an that he had fed the Water Qilin a pill from the Alchemy Room, leaving it consumed by lust and making Qingfeng responsible.
• Li Ping'an went with Qingfeng to the Water Qilin and treated it with silver needles, Origin Qi, and herbs until it recovered.
• Rumors spread that Li Ping'an had drugged his master and the Water Qilin, while a tabloid also published a scandalous story about Old Ox.
• Li Ping'an stayed on Heaven-Reaching Peak as the rumors drew attention, and a minor elder from Servant Peak asked to buy Sows Go Wild.
• Li Ping'an sold his first pill, and more buyers soon came secretly to purchase it.

After a year of selling Sows Go Wild, Li Ping'an spent the winter cultivating and emerged stronger in spring. Worried that Run Tu would face a dangerous Heavenly Tribulation, he asked Liuyun to divine its fate and began planning how to help it survive.

• Li Ping'an refined and sold a second, more productive batch of Sows Go Wild before winter arrived at Heaven-Reaching Peak.
• Li Ping'an cultivated through the winter, broke through, and celebrated his renewed strength with Old Ox.
• After learning Run Tu had remained in secluded cultivation, Li Ping'an visited Liuyun and asked him to divine the beast's coming breakthrough.
• Liuyun predicted that Run Tu would face Tribulation Lightning with more than six thunderclouds, and Li Ping'an resolved to prepare for the danger.
• Li Ping'an asked Old Ox how much money they had left and said they could earn more, but they could not afford to lose their Chah.

Li Ping'an and Old Ox prepared for Run Tu’s deadly heavenly tribulation with medicines and elaborate lightning defenses. When the tribulation arrived, they brought Run Tu to Sky-Reaching Mountain and set their plan in motion, leaving his survival uncertain.

• Li Ping'an learned through Uncle-Master Liuyun’s divinations that Run Tu’s heavenly tribulation would arrive in a year, so he and Old Ox gathered their resources to prepare.
• Run Tu emerged from seclusion and found Li Ping'an and Old Ox preparing supplies and equipment for his tribulation.
• Li Ping'an and Old Ox gave Run Tu a Storage Ring filled with healing and spiritual-energy-restoring pills, and Run Tu thanked them tearfully.
• When Run Tu sensed the tribulation arriving, Li Ping'an and Old Ox took him to Sky-Reaching Mountain to use its magnetic field, lightning rods, and a Faraday Cage to defend him.
• Run Tu began to say that he would do something if he survived, but Li Ping'an and Old Ox stopped him and told him to copy the scriptures a hundred times for tempting fate.

Li Ping'an helped Run Tu survive its tribulation using a Faraday Cage, formations, and lightning rods, allowing Run Tu to break through and gain a new future. After celebrating, Li Ping'an returned to his leisurely routine of tea and board games, despite his growing debts.

• Li Ping'an and Old Ox prepared a Faraday Cage and other protections before Run Tu underwent its tribulation at Sky-Reaching Mountain.
• The lightning rods absorbed the first waves of tribulation lightning, but the final bolts penetrated the cage and struck Run Tu as it formed its Dao Foundation.
• Run Tu swallowed the medicines Li Ping'an had prepared, endured the remaining lightning, and successfully completed its breakthrough.
• Li Ping'an congratulated Run Tu and told it to keep the wish to deliver others in its heart, while the gathered Shushan disciples wondered at his unusual equipment.
• Back at Heaven-Reaching Peak, Li Ping'an, Old Ox, and Run Tu celebrated with barbecue and drinks, then Li Ping'an resumed his regular schedule of Go and Chinese chess.

Li Ping'an played Go with Bo Ning, whose persistence steadily improved his skill until he finally won a serious match. Bo Ning left Shushan and later founded his own sect, while Li Ping'an moved on without seeing him again.

• Li Ping'an won two Go games against Bo Ning, a disciple from White Horse Peak who had entered the Dao through Go.
• Over the next two years, Bo Ning studied Go and gradually became a stronger opponent, while Li Ping'an treated the games casually.
• Bo Ning challenged Li Ping'an to a serious match, and Li Ping'an agreed to play for the price of tea.
• After more than two hundred moves, Bo Ning won, and Li Ping'an praised his improvement.
• Bo Ning left Shushan and returned to his worldly Lineage, later founding a sect that Li Ping'an never saw him establish.

Li Ping'an returned to Heaven-Reaching Peak after learning that Qingfeng was threatening the Black Market debt collectors over his overdue loan. He secured a six-month extension to repay the debt and resolved to work toward paying it back.

• Li Ping'an experimented with making health-preserving tea after his and Run Tu's breakthroughs had left him deeply in debt.
• Run Tu warned Li Ping'an that Qingfeng was threatening the debt collectors who had come to Heaven-Reaching Peak.
• Li Ping'an found Qingfeng whipping the four collectors and ordered him to let them down.
• Li Ping'an served tea and assured the collectors he would repay his debt, and they granted him another six months.
• Li Ping'an told Qingfeng that debts should be repaid and decided to make an effort to earn the money.

Li Ping'an sought ways to earn money, then accepted Yun Shu's offer to escort the Princess of the Yuelun Kingdom. They planned to leave in two days and conceal their identities as Shushan disciples.

• Li Ping'an and Old Ox earned forty Spirit Stones transporting spirit wood, with Old Ox doing the work of two people.
• Li Ping'an set up a stall at Servant Peak advertising his medical, pill-making, medicine-making, and other services, but earned little over two days.
• Li Ping'an went to the Merit Pavilion, where Yun Shu offered him a well-paid mission to escort the Princess of the Yuelun Kingdom.
• Yun Shu explained that the Yuelun Kingdom faced pressure from Great Sui and that her master had asked Shushan to escort the princess home.
• Li Ping'an realized Yun Shu wanted to repay a favor and agreed to join the escort mission, which would begin in two days.
• Yun Shu told Li Ping'an to conceal their Shushan identities, and he returned to prepare for the journey.

Li Ping'an and his companions crossed out of the Great Sui and met the Yuelun princess's escort on the road. The group continued toward Yuelun together, leaving their journey open to further adventures.

• Li Ping'an showed forged travel papers to Great Sui cavalry, whose commander let the party pass after recognizing him as a cultivator.
• Li Ping'an caught fish beside a frozen river, and the group shared a meal while Run Tu asked Princess Ruo Yun about her life.
• Wang Shan and his daughter A Yu arrived to escort Ruo Yun, and Wang Shan joined the travelers with his horse.
• A Yu argued with Run Tu and challenged him to fight, but Li Ping'an called Run Tu away.
• Old Ox gave up the cart to Wang Shan's horse as Li Ping'an's party and the new escorts continued down the road.

Li Ping'an and his companions traveled through worsening snow, where his refusal to let A Yu ride his ox tested her stubbornness. The group took shelter in an ancient temple, and A Yu tried Li Ping'an's strong wine before coughing it back up.

• As they traveled, Li Ping'an explained escort-agency jargon to A Yu and told Yun Shu he had learned it during his years in the Jianghu.
• As the snowstorm worsened, Wang Shan asked Li Ping'an to let A Yu ride his ox, but Li Ping'an refused, saying she could persevere a little longer.
• A Yu insisted she could keep walking and pushed ahead despite the cold, while Li Ping'an praised her stubbornness and privately judged her a promising talent.
• The group reached a dilapidated ancient temple, where Li Ping'an wrote and sketched in his notebook as Wang Shan's party warmed themselves by a fire.
• A Yu mocked the smell of Li Ping'an's wine, grabbed his gourd, and took a gulp, only to cough it back out before Li Ping'an reclaimed it.