Chapter Summaries

Li Rui deduced that Jiang Linxian had sent him to expose Jiang Baichuan’s corruption and give Huaqing Sect’s leader a reason to punish him. After Jiang Baichuan was executed and Jiang Clan members began searching for Li Rui’s group, Li Rui escaped Huaqing Sect with Ning Zhongtian and received an achievement for sharing his superior’s burdens.

• Li Rui explained to Ning Zhongtian how he had identified Jiang Baichuan’s corrupt accounts and concluded that Jiang Linxian wanted outsiders to expose him.
• Jiang Ding learned that his son Jiang Baichuan had been executed by Huaqing Sect’s Law Enforcement Hall, then realized Jiang Linxian was likely backing the decision.
• Jiang Clan youths searched Li Rui’s empty guest courtyard and discovered account books covering its walls and ceiling.
• Li Rui told Ning Zhongtian that Jiang Baichuan’s death was part of Jiang Linxian’s plan to discipline the Jiang Clan and ordered their group to leave quickly.
• Li Rui and Ning Zhongtian escaped toward Anning City, and Li Rui received the introductory storyline achievement for sharing his superior’s burdens.

Li Rui returned to Anning Guard after helping resolve Jiang Linxian’s family problem, earning achievement points and a reward from the system. Jiang Linxian visited him, revealed she had recognized his hidden cultivation and his killing of the Four-Armed Demon Ghost, then presented him with a wooden box containing immortal qi.

• Li Rui received 40 Achievement Points for easing his superior’s burdens, bringing his achievement score to 60/100.
• Ning Zhongtian went to claim credit from Jiang Linxian while Li Rui returned home and heard Yang Yong, Liang He, Liu Tiezhu, and Wang Zhao gossiping about officials’ wives.
• Li Rui visited He Shan with gifts but learned that He Shan had gone outside the city with his new wife.
• Jiang Linxian visited Li Rui with Jiang Yan and offered him a reward for helping resolve the Jiang Family matter.
• Jiang Linxian revealed that she was a Fourth Rank Innate and had recognized Li Rui’s breakthrough and his killing of the Four-Armed Demon Ghost.
• Li Rui opened Jiang Linxian’s wooden box and discovered immortal qi inside.

Li Rui accepted immortal qi from Jiang Linxian, which formed the Western Heaven Gate and strengthened his Immortal Profound Qi. The chapter then introduced He Shan's newlywed wife, He Lan, whose final remark suggested she intended to kill him.

• Jiang Linxian gave Li Rui the immortal qi she had obtained from the Ten Thousand Poison Ghost, believing she had no affinity with it.
• Li Rui absorbed the immortal qi, formed the Western Heaven Gate, and increased the power of his Immortal Profound Qi.
• Li Rui discovered he could understand the Crimson Dragon Horse, which knelt before him under the Western Heaven Gate's pressure.
• He Shan returned to his residence with He Lan, the amnesiac woman he had found in the mountains and married.
• After He Shan left to prepare medicine, He Lan sighed that he was making it hard for her to kill him.

Li Rui visited He Shan and met his wife, He Lan, who was secretly a Charming Slave named Nine working for Liu Jiaoniang. After Nine reported that the Seeking Immortal Stone reacted to Li Rui, Liu Jiaoniang drugged Li Rui and He Shan and found a thread of azure qi in Li Rui’s wooden box.

• Li Rui visited He Shan, offered tonic medicine for his wife, and heard how He Shan had found her in the mountains.
• He Lan slipped out at night to meet Liu Jiaoniang, who revealed that He Lan was her spy, Nine, planted in the Anning Guard to search for immortal aura.
• Nine told Liu Jiaoniang that the Seeking Immortal Stone had lit up around Li Rui, and Liu Jiaoniang gave her sleeping medicine to use to obtain an item from him.
• He Shan invited Li Rui to dinner, where Li Rui detected poison in the wine before both men lost consciousness.
• Liu Jiaoniang searched Li Rui and found a wooden box containing a thread of azure qi, which she identified as immortal qi.

Li Rui’s trap against the Ghost Underworld Sect ended with Liu Jiaoniang killing He Lan, while Li Rui and He Shan survived the staged poisoning. With the sect convinced it had recovered the immortal qi and no longer pursuing him, Li Rui returned to cultivation and perfected his first blade technique, Hidden Dragon Do Not Use.

• Liu Jiaoniang told He Lan that the medicine she had given He Shan was poison, then killed He Lan after she confessed her feelings for him.
• Li Rui found He Lan’s body and explained that he had staged the encounter to deceive the Ghost Underworld Sect, giving Liu Jiaoniang condensed Immortal Profound Qi in place of the immortal qi.
• Li Rui returned to the Drunken Immortal Pavilion and poisoned himself and He Shan with a controlled dose so their injuries would support the deception.
• He Shan grieved over He Lan’s death, later left the Anning Guard, and set out to find the person he believed had killed his wife.
• Li Rui saw that the Ghost Underworld Sect had accepted the substitute immortal qi and resumed studying cultivation methods while pretending to recover.
• Li Rui refined Hidden Dragon Do Not Use in his dream until the blade technique reached the state he wanted.

Li Rui learned that the Imperial Court was preparing to open trade with the Southern Border Witch Country and cautiously declined to commit to Liu Tong’s ambitions in Clear River. After receiving the Imperial Astronomical Bureau’s notes, Li Rui studied ideas for reaching the Innate Realm and creating martial arts, then experienced an epiphany in his dream.

• Liu Tong explained that Clear River’s new city and the Anning Guard were part of the Imperial Court’s preparations for trade with the Southern Border Witch Country.
• Liu Tong asked Li Rui to look after him in Clear River, but Li Rui avoided promising support, and later told Liang He that cooperating too eagerly could bring danger.
• Li Rui said that giving Liu Tong advice might offend him and that actions would be more useful than words.
• Li Rui received the Imperial Astronomical Bureau’s notes from Fu Huan and studied their account of cultivating nature and life back to the Innate Realm.
• Li Rui used the notes to develop ideas for his martial arts, then entered the Great Dream Wandering Immortal and experienced an epiphany as the words entered his mind while he turned the pages.

Li Rui attained dream enlightenment through Great Dream Wandering Immortal and created the second and third forms of Swimming Dragon Six Slashes. Meanwhile, Cao Wei and Divine Weapon Manor arranged to monopolize Qinghe’s weapons trade with the Witch Kingdom, and Jiang Linxian offered Li Rui a Sixth Rank post overseeing the new Trade Affairs Department.

• Li Rui awakened from his dream and created the second and third forms of Swimming Dragon Six Slashes, bringing the blade art to three completed forms.
• Cao Wei and Shi Zhou agreed that Divine Weapon Manor and Cao Wei’s faction would monopolize Qinghe’s weapons trade with the Witch Kingdom and split the profits.
• Jiang Linxian told Li Rui that Qinghe would host a Trade Affairs Department and offered him the post of Sixth Rank Trade Affairs Commandant.
• Jiang Linxian suggested he could help reveal Li Rui’s strength, and Li Rui accepted the appointment after passing Jiang Linxian’s test of restraint.

Li Rui advanced his self-created Swimming Dragon Six Slashes by comprehending two new forms in a dream, bringing the blade art past halfway. Jiang Linxian offered him the Sixth Rank Trade Affairs Commandant post in Clear River, and Li Rui accepted the chance to reveal his strength and advance.

• Li Rui used Great Dream Wandering Immortal to create the second and third forms of Swimming Dragon Six Slashes, completing three forms in total.
• Cao Wei and Shi Zhou agreed that Divine Weapon Manor and Cao Wei would monopolize Clear River’s weapons trade with the Witch Kingdom and split the profits.
• Jiang Linxian told Li Rui that Clear River would host a Trade Affairs Department and offered him the Sixth Rank Trade Affairs Commandant post.
• Jiang Linxian offered to help Li Rui reveal his strength, and Li Rui accepted the appointment.

Li Rui completed the introductory Famous Throughout Jianghu storyline by becoming chief alliance leader of the Heaven and Earth Alliance, then planned to build it into his own sect. Just as he awaited his appointment as Trade Commandant, Ning Zhongtian warned that someone else might take the position.

• The system rewarded Li Rui for becoming a gang leader at ten and announced that his next reward would be enhanced.
• Ning Zhongtian introduced Li Rui to Huang Chui and Fei Lao San, who accepted him as their eldest sworn brother.
• Li Rui asserted that he and Ning Zhongtian would handle major threats while Huang Chui and Fei Lao San focused on developing the Heaven and Earth Alliance.
• Li Rui decided to use the Heaven and Earth Alliance as the foundation for a sect while continuing to prioritize cultivation.
• Huang Chui announced Li Rui as the Heaven and Earth Alliance's chief alliance leader, and its members accepted the change.
• Ning Zhongtian told Li Rui that a well-connected person might take the Trade Commandant position intended for him.

Jiang Linxian told Li Rui and Ning Zhongtian that they had to defeat Qi Ze in a martial contest to secure Li Rui’s appointment as Trade Commandant. With fourteen major merits from Jiang Linxian, Li Rui acquired a rare drop of fourth-tier Flood Dragon Blood and returned home to use it.

• Jiang Linxian revealed that the Duke of Wei had nominated his grandson, Qi Ze, for Trade Commandant, and that the Emperor had arranged a contest to decide who would take the post.
• Jiang Linxian gave Li Rui and Ning Zhongtian fourteen major merits each and ordered them to win the contest ten days later.
• Li Rui and Ning Zhongtian discussed Qi Ze’s sixth-rank cultivation and agreed not to underestimate him.
• Li Rui examined the updated armory ledger and found a drop of fourth-tier Flood Dragon Blood priced at sixteen major merits.
• Li Rui exchanged sixteen major merits for the Flood Dragon Blood and returned home, where its scent stirred the Yinglong within him.

Li Rui consumed Fourth Rank Flood Dragon Blood, completed Strengthening Qi, and grew strong enough to defeat Gao Zhen in three strikes in the Dream Cloud Platform. Three days later, he headed to the General's Mansion for his competition with Qi Ze, while Ning Zhongtian waited to ask about his preparations.

• Li Rui swallowed a drop of Fourth Rank Flood Dragon Blood, and the Yinglong refined it into true qi until his Strengthening Qi reached completion.
• Li Rui learned that the Yinglong could strengthen his true qi as it roamed through his body, then went to sleep.
• Li Rui killed Gao Zhen with three slashes in the Dream Cloud Platform and chose to meditate rather than keep fighting.
• Cao Wei and Jiang Linxian received Qi Ze, the Duke of Wei's grandson, who had come to Qinghe to compete for the Trade Commandant post.
• Three days later, Li Rui practiced his blade, told Wang Zhao not to wait for him at meals, and set out for the General's Mansion.
• Ning Zhongtian intercepted Li Rui and asked about the Flood Dragon Blood as they made their way toward the competition.

Li Rui and Qi Ze fought for the Trade Commandant post in the General's Mansion's Martial Arts Arena. Li Rui defeated Qi Ze with his powerful Dragon Form, and Cao Wei declared him the winner.

• Cao Wei announced that Li Rui, Ning Zhongtian, and Qi Ze were candidates for Trade Commandant, then arranged for Li Rui and Qi Ze to fight first.
• Qi Ze revealed his White Crane Spreading Wings Diagram and used White Crane Embracing Wings to block Li Rui's saber.
• Li Rui hammered Qi Ze's hollow sword with repeated saber strikes, bending it and disrupting his attacks.
• Qi Ze unleashed White Crane Spreading Wings, but Li Rui's Dragon Form appeared and destroyed the white crane.
• The divine dragon swallowed Qi Ze and hurled him away, and Cao Wei caught him before declaring Li Rui the winner.

Li Rui defeated Qi Ze to secure his Trade Commandant appointment, earning Jiang Linxian’s favor and the admiration of the Anning Guard. As Li Rui celebrated with his friends, a Witch Kingdom delegation arrived early, and Xiao Tang sensed the terrifying gaze of the old man watching from above.

• Li Rui defeated Qi Ze through careful preparation, and Qi Ze conceded as the soldiers hailed Li Rui’s strength.
• Jiang Linxian thanked Li Rui for resolving the uncertainty around the appointment, while Li Rui showed the soldiers his divine dragon again.
• Li Rui celebrated with Wei Ming, Ning Zhongtian, Ge Hong, and the others as they awaited the Ministry of Personnel’s appointment document.
• A Witch Kingdom delegation arrived in Qinghe New City ahead of schedule, riding demon beasts and drawing startled attention.
• Xiao Tang rode through the city on a Saber-Toothed Black Tiger, met the gaze of an old man above the street, and nearly fell from fear.

Li Rui received his appointment as a Sixth Rank official after the Witch Kingdom delegation arrived in Qinghe to negotiate mutual trade. His promotion triggered a system message confirming that he had completed the initial promotion stage of the Rise to be a General and a Minister storyline.

• Zhuang Renhe received Dao Mo and the Witch Kingdom delegation, then arranged for them to stay at Myriad Blessings Inn while their trade talks awaited the new department.
• Xia Xiaotang and Dao Mo discussed how to handle Yu Kingdom officials and revealed Witch Kingdom’s urgent need for trade revenue amid the threat of renewed war.
• Li Rui, Wei Ming, Ning Zhongtian, and Ge Hong discussed the Witch Kingdom delegation and the growing importance of Qinghe as officials and sect representatives gathered there.
• After three days, Li Rui received his Sixth Rank appointment document and saw a system message confirming completion of the initial promotion stage.

Li Rui discovered that his enhanced Demon Subduing Victory talent doubled his strength against demon beasts and planned to use it to earn military merit through the Anning Guard. At the Trade Affairs Department’s first formal meeting with the Anning Guard, both sides agreed on their respective duties, and Jiang Linxian designated Li Rui as the liaison whose attitude would represent the Guard.

• Li Rui learned that Demon Subduing Victory doubled his moves’ power against demon beasts and considered using the talent to gain military merit with the Anning Guard.
• Li Rui and Ning Zhongtian joined Jiang Linxian, Cao Wei, and the other commandants to meet Trade Commissioner Yan Zhongxing at the Trade Affairs Department’s headquarters.
• Li Rui saw Qi Ze, who had taken a Market Supervisor post after failing to become Trade Commandant, but paid him little attention.
• The Anning Guard and Trade Affairs Department agreed that the Guard would maintain order and monitor for threats while the Department managed trade.
• Jiang Linxian introduced Li Rui as the Trade Commandant and said he would handle communication between the two sides, with his attitude representing the Anning Guard.

Li Rui was appointed to handle trade affairs, while Yan Zhongxing negotiated the opening of mutual trade with the Witch Kingdom delegation led by Dao Mo. Xia Xiaotang learned that the elderly Anning Guard official was Li Rui, and Li Rui later entered the dreamscape to fight Qi Ze.

• Jiang Linxian publicly backed Li Rui, and Cao Wei led the Anning Guard group away from the Trade Affairs Department before the Witch Kingdom delegation arrived.
• Dao Mo recognized Jiang Linxian and Cao Wei as Anning Guard leaders, while Xia Xiaotang grew pale after seeing them pass.
• Yan Zhongxing welcomed Dao Mo and negotiated the first Witch Kingdom merchant caravan's route, goods, and arrangements for trade beginning in fifteen days.
• Xia Xiaotang asked Qi Ze about the elderly Anning Guard official and learned that his name was Li Rui.
• Li Rui studied the Imperial Astronomical Bureau journals, circulated his qi, and entered the dreamscape, where he called Qi Ze out to fight.

After Liu Tiezhu unexpectedly learned a secret forging art from an old blacksmith and broke through, Li Rui investigated the man’s identity and learned he was Iron Madman, a renowned weapon-forging master of Divine Weapon Manor. Li Rui let Liu Tiezhu continue learning from him and received Jiang Linxian’s list of Clear River’s experts before heading to the Trade Affairs Department.

• Li Rui returned from the cloud platform and learned that Liu Tiezhu had broken through again.
• Liu Tiezhu confessed that an old blacksmith had taught him a secret art, and Li Rui urged him to return and learn blacksmithing.
• Li Rui asked Jiang Linxian about the old blacksmith, who identified him as Senior Iron Madman of Divine Weapon Manor.
• Jiang Linxian gave Li Rui a confidential list of Clear River’s experts, and he left to visit the Trade Affairs Department.

Li Rui arranged for one hundred Anning Guard cavalrymen to protect the first Witch Kingdom merchant caravan and learned about Trade Affairs Department official Xu Wen through their conversation. Worried about the caravan’s safety, Dao Mo tried to meet Li Rui, then decided the Witch Kingdom delegation would find another way; the next morning, Li Rui and Tan Hu were ambushed in an alley.

• Li Rui introduced his deputy Tan Hu to Xu Wen and agreed to send one hundred cavalrymen to protect the first trade caravan.
• Li Rui spoke with Xu Wen until dusk and gathered personal details that might help him build connections or assess Xu’s weaknesses.
• Dao Mo learned that one hundred men would protect the caravan and asked to meet Li Rui, but Xu Wen said he needed to consult the Anning Guard first.
• After leaving Xu Wen, Dao Mo told a fellow Witch Kingdom delegate that they would find a way to meet Li Rui themselves.
• The next morning, Li Rui and Tan Hu entered an alley, where two men leaped from a courtyard wall and blocked their way.

Li Rui learned that Dao Mo wanted a larger escort for the Witch Kingdom caravan because enemies might attack it, and he agreed to report the request to Lord Cao. Meanwhile, Qi Yu sought the Deployment Map from Qi Ze for a planned raid, and Dao Mo waited anxiously for the Anning Guard as the caravan’s departure approached.

• Li Rui recognized Dao Mo as a fifth-rank leader of the Witch Kingdom delegation and heard his request to increase the caravan escort by a hundred men.
• Dao Mo explained that factions in the Witch Kingdom might attack the trade, and Li Rui said he needed Lord Cao’s approval before deciding.
• Qi Yu told Qi Ze that his family planned to seize the caravan’s goods in ten days and demanded the Deployment Map.
• Seven days later, Dao Mo waited at the Trade Affairs Department for the Anning Guard and worried that Yu Kingdom officials would not send enough troops.
• Xia Xiaotang reassured Dao Mo, then marching footsteps sounded outside and Dao Mo realized the Anning Guard had arrived.

Li Rui assembled a two-hundred-soldier escort for the trade caravan after sensing danger, then set out with Dao Mo and learned about the Witch Kingdom’s beast-taming martial arts. Meanwhile, Qi Yu’s group prepared to ambush the caravan using the Anning Guard’s deployment map, but an unknown woman approached them.

• Li Rui revealed that eighty Anning Guard soldiers had gone ahead to scout, bringing his escort force to two hundred, and Dao Mo thanked him.
• Li Rui led the caravan onward while hidden Anning Guard soldiers watched the road; Dao Mo promised him a favor.
• Dao Mo explained the Witch Kingdom’s Beast-Taming Method, companion beasts, and how Great Shamans could merge with them.
• Qi Yu gave his group the Anning Guard’s deployment map and ordered them to prepare an ambush aimed at killing the Witch Kingdom merchants.
• A languid woman’s voice sounded nearby, saying she disliked fighting and killing.