Chapter Summaries

Li Rui sensed a deadly threat approaching the Witch Kingdom caravan and ordered everyone to abandon its valuable cargo and flee into the forest. When the merchants rebelled against his decision, Dao Mo failed to control them, and Li Rui prepared to force them to obey.

• Qi Yu met with Liu Jiaoniang, Yuan Gao, and other Ghost Underworld Sect allies, then set out to intercept the caravan.
• At the border, General Wang warned Li Rui that people had been crossing the Ten Thousand Mountains into Cloud Province.
• Li Rui and Dao Mo led the caravan away from the checkpoint, but Li Rui's Eye of Wisdom showed that a powerful threat was closing in.
• Li Rui ordered everyone to leave the goods and follow him into the forest, and the Anning Guard and caravan members obeyed.
• After an hour, half the Witch Kingdom merchants stopped and accused Li Rui of plotting to steal their goods.
• Dao Mo admitted he could not control the merchants in time, so Li Rui announced that merchant caravans had a death quota.

Li Rui’s caution exposed an ambush by the Southern Border Qi Clan, but the attackers escaped with the abandoned goods. As officials debated how to save the upcoming mutual market, Li Rui revealed that goods were still available.

• Li Rui killed a Witch Kingdom merchant who tried to yield, then led the group toward Qinghe City with strict precautions.
• Li Rui suspected the caravan outside Qinghe was an ambush and ordered a Signal Arrow fired; Qi Rui withdrew with the Southern Border Qi Clan when Anning Guard reinforcements approached.
• Qi Yu and his allies found that the Witch Kingdom caravan had escaped and taken the goods, while Liu Jiaoniang recognized that Li Rui had survived.
• Cao Wei and Yan Zhongxing arrived at the empty site, and Cao Wei threatened anyone who questioned Li Rui’s decision before Yan Zhongxing turned the discussion to the mutual market.
• Li Rui said that goods were still available.

Li Rui helped Qinghe replace the lost Southern Border goods by purchasing them from local households, allowing the mutual trade market to open on schedule. As he began searching the crowded market for the attackers, Qi Yu and Liu Jiaoniang spotted him in disguise, and Qi Yu resolved to kill him.

• Li Rui proposed sourcing Southern Border goods from Qinghe households, and Yan Zhongxing and Cao Wei agreed to arrange the purchases while ordering Li Rui to identify those behind the attack.
• Officials gathered enough goods from Qinghe's sects and great households in two days, and the mutual trade market opened with more than thirty Witch Kingdom merchant firms.
• Li Rui and Ning Zhongtian visited the market as Li Rui sought spies connected to the attacks on three ports, which had been blamed on Southern Border rebels.
• Qi Yu and Liu Jiaoniang entered the market in disguise and learned that Li Rui had organized the replacement goods and led the Anning Guard during the attack.
• Qi Yu vowed to kill Li Rui, but Liu Jiaoniang noticed the old man walking through the crowd, and Qi Yu recognized him as Li Rui.

Li Rui visited the Trade Affairs Department market with Ning Zhongtian to watch for people investigating the disrupted attack and strengthen his ties with the Witch Kingdom envoy. Xia Xiaotang revealed she was the envoy leader and, after her companion beast saw the Beast God’s shadow around Li Rui, declared that he was the Beast God Reincarnation.

• Dao Mo and the Witch Kingdom envoy members thanked Li Rui for protecting their caravan, and Li Rui accepted their gratitude as the beginning of a useful friendship.
• Li Rui brought Ning Zhongtian to the market and watched the street from a second-floor window, hoping to spot anyone investigating the failed attack.
• Li Rui told Dao Mo that he had heard traps being triggered from three li away, concealing that he had invented the explanation.
• After the others left, Xia Xiaotang asked to speak with Li Rui alone, and he deduced that she was the envoy leader.
• Xia Xiaotang revealed her imperial lineage and said her Azure Water Golden Eye Beast had seen the Beast God’s shadow around Li Rui.
• Xia Xiaotang dropped to her knees and declared that Li Rui was the Beast God Reincarnation.

Li Rui let Xia Xiaotang believe he was the Beast God Reincarnation and accepted her promise to keep his identity secret. After overseeing the new market and discovering Liu Tiezhu’s powerful forging technique, Li Rui appointed Tang Hai to the Trade Affairs Department and received a box Xia Xiaotang had left for him.

• Xia Xiaotang mistook Li Rui for the Beast God Reincarnation, and Li Rui accepted the belief while ordering her to conceal it and treat him ordinarily.
• Li Rui watched over the Trade Affairs Department market until it closed, then said farewell to Dao Mo as he and Xia Xiaotang prepared to leave for the Witch Kingdom.
• Li Rui returned home and saw Liu Tiezhu use a secret hammer technique taught by an unnamed senior weaponsmith.
• Three days later, Li Rui appointed Tang Hai as the Anning Guard officer at the Trade Affairs Department and took him to the market.
• Dao Meng gave Li Rui an exquisite wooden box that Xia Xiaotang had left for him before departing.

Li Rui discovered that Xia Xiaotang had given him a Great Soul Pill, consumed it, and used its effects in Great Dream Wandering Immortal to perfect the Swimming Dragon Six Slashes. The chapter ended with Xia Xiaotang believing her gift had earned her the Beast God's protection, while Li Rui worried she would be upset if she learned he was not the Beast God.

• Li Rui recognized the pill Xia Xiaotang had given him as the Witch Kingdom's rare Great Soul Pill and decided to keep it.
• Li Rui waited until he was home, consumed the pill, and brought its powerful effects into Great Dream Wandering Immortal.
• Li Rui comprehended the fourth, fifth, and sixth forms of the Swimming Dragon Six Slashes and perfected the technique during an all-night practice.
• Li Rui tested the perfected saber art on Qi Ze in the dream and woke with improved comprehension and faster progress toward Condensing Essence.
• In the Witch Kingdom's Imperial City, Dao Mo reported his success to the Great Shaman, and Xia Xiaotang believed the Beast God would now watch over her because she had given him pills.

Li Rui learned that the Qi Clan and the Ghost Underworld Sect had conspired in the attack on the road while Liu Jiaoniang’s presence in Qinghe put He Shan’s revenge plan in motion. Three months later, Dao Mo returned with news that rebel prince Xia Zhou’s faction had come north, and Li Rui agreed to help locate them.

• Dao Meng told Li Rui about the Witch Kingdom’s Southern Wu and Northern Wu, the Qi Clan’s past attempt to seize the throne, and evidence linking the Qi Clan to the Ghost Underworld Sect.
• Qi Yu and Liu Jiaoniang settled in Qinghe under disguises, while Liu Jiaoniang focused her attention on Li Rui.
• He Shan visited Li Rui, revealed that Liu Jiaoniang had killed his wife, and admitted he had used the lifespan-burning Blood Breaking Art to prepare to kill her; Li Rui arranged for him to stay at the Heaven and Earth Alliance.
• Over the next three months, Li Rui studied Witch Kingdom cultivation notes and learned about demon-rearing and the possibility of fusing humans with demon beasts.
• Dao Mo returned to Qinghe and told Li Rui that members of rebel prince Xia Zhou’s faction had come north; Li Rui agreed to report any information about their whereabouts.

Li Rui killed Liu Jiaoniang while rescuing He Shan, then led the Anning Guard to arrest Qi Yu at Willow Lane. After warning Qi Yu that Dao Mo had already attacked the Trade Affairs Department, Li Rui let him flee into the night.

• Qi Yu and Liu Jiaoniang decided to act early against the Trade Affairs Department market and planned to kill He Shan.
• Li Rui learned He Shan had left the Heaven and Earth Alliance, found his farewell letter, and tracked him to Liu Jiaoniang.
• Liu Jiaoniang defeated He Shan with the Evil God Technique, but Li Rui arrived and killed her with a single blade strike.
• Li Rui told He Shan to leave Clear River, then led the Anning Guard to Qi Yu's residence and confronted him.
• Qi Yu bribed Li Rui with three Fifth Rank Qi Strengthening Pills, learned Liu Jiaoniang was dead, and discovered Dao Mo had already attacked the Trade Affairs Department.
• Qi Yu escaped into the dark alley, and Li Rui told Tan Hu not to pursue a cornered foe.

Li Rui helped Dao Mo capture Qi Yu and revealed the truth to He Shan, who left to live on Gui Mountain. After Li Rui completed the Awe the Witch Kingdom mission, the Great Shaman confronted Xia Xiaotang about giving him the Great Soul Pill, and Xia Xiaotang claimed she was in love with him.

• Qi Yu transformed with the Evil God Technique and attacked Li Rui, but Dao Mo defeated and captured him alive.
• Li Rui admitted to Dao Mo that he had tracked Liu Jiaoniang and Qi Yu through the Trade Affairs Department’s records and concealed his strength during Qi Yu’s attack.
• Li Rui told He Shan that he was a Royal Dark Guard and explained the trap involving Thousand-Faced Rakshasa; He Shan left to live on Gui Mountain near He Lan’s grave.
• Li Rui learned that he had earned an S rating and 50 Achievement Points for completing the Awe the Witch Kingdom mission, but worried that the Great Shaman had noticed him.
• The Great Shaman confronted Xia Xiaotang about giving Li Rui the Great Soul Pill and threatened to bring him to the Witch Kingdom to be refined, so Xia Xiaotang said she was in love with him.

Li Rui visited Iron Madman with Liu Tiezhu and learned Iron Madman had passed them the powerful Hammer Qi Method. Iron Madman then offered Li Rui a share in selling weapons to the Witch Kingdom, revealing that he needed the money to forge a third-rank immortal blade capable of killing an Earth Immortal.

• Liang He told Li Rui that he had broken through to Eighth Rank, and Li Rui praised his disciple’s progress.
• Liu Tiezhu told Li Rui that Iron Madman wanted to meet him, so Li Rui went with him to the smithy.
• Li Rui watched Iron Madman smith and recognized that his hammer technique was also the Hammer Qi Method, then thanked him for imparting it.
• Iron Madman said he would not take Li Rui as a disciple but allowed him to learn the method, which Li Rui saw as a great aid to his cultivation.
• Iron Madman proposed that Li Rui sell weapons to the Witch Kingdom for a thirty-percent share of the profits.
• Iron Madman revealed that he wanted to forge a third-rank immortal blade capable of killing an Earth Immortal.

Li Rui arranged to sell Iron Madman’s high-grade Spirit Weapons through the Heaven and Earth Alliance and secured Jiang Linxian’s approval by presenting the trade as a way to fund the Emperor’s Pill Palace. The deal was authorized with profits divided among Iron Madman, the Emperor, Jiang Linxian, and Li Rui, and Li Rui began organizing a large merchant caravan.

• Iron Madman revealed that he was forging an immortal weapon, gave Li Rui the Hammer Qi Method, and left the first batch of weapons for him to sell while keeping Liu Tiezhu with him.
• Li Rui proposed that the Heaven and Earth Alliance abandon small illicit ventures and form a caravan to sell high-grade fifth- and sixth-rank Spirit Weapons to the Witch Kingdom.
• The alliance leaders accepted Li Rui’s plan, and he ordered them to assemble a caravan of at least three hundred people within ten days.
• Li Rui told Jiang Linxian that the weapons trade could support the Emperor’s Pill Palace, and Jiang Linxian approved the venture as a matter of state.
• Jiang Linxian assigned seventy percent of the profits to Iron Madman, twenty percent to the Emperor, and the remaining ten percent to herself and Li Rui, with Li Rui receiving six percent.

The Heaven and Earth Alliance completed its first weapons-trading expedition to the Witch Kingdom with enormous profits, and Li Rui set strict rules for distributing the gains while placing Liang He inside the alliance to keep watch. As the alliance prepared for its second run, Liu Tong arrived to see Li Rui.

• Huang Chui and Fei Lao San returned from the Witch Kingdom with an account book showing a huge haul of pills and gold from selling the weapons.
• Li Rui ordered the higher-rank pills set aside for powerful partners and warned Huang Chui and Fei Lao San not to covet profits that could bring disaster upon the alliance.
• Li Rui arranged for Liang He to work within the Heaven and Earth Alliance, intending him to monitor its leaders and potentially become its future chief alliance leader.
• Li Rui delivered the shipment records to Jiang Linxian, who arranged to collect the stored pills.
• Li Rui took charge of procuring materials for Iron Madman's smithy and continued reorganizing the Heaven and Earth Alliance's businesses.
• Tang Hai brought Liu Tong to meet Li Rui, and Liu Tong greeted him as Hall Master.

Li Rui rejected Liu Tong’s request to join the Heaven and Earth Alliance’s trade venture, and Liu Tong later agreed to spy on the Alliance for Jiang Haitao in exchange for advancement. After arranging another shipment with Jiang Linxian, Li Rui consumed the Alliance’s pills and successfully condensed his Immortal Profound Qi into true essence.

• Liu Tong asked Li Rui to include him in the Heaven and Earth Alliance’s trade, but Li Rui refused and told him to keep waiting for his opportunity.
• Half a year later, Jiang Haitao offered Liu Tong an Inner Sect position and a fifth-grade pill if he investigated what the Heaven and Earth Alliance was trading, and Liu Tong accepted.
• Jiang Haitao revealed that he wanted information to use against Li Rui, whom he blamed for Jiang Baichuan’s death.
• Li Rui met Jiang Linxian at a dark residence, where she collected the trade profits and arranged for future shipments to go to the capital.
• Li Rui swallowed numerous sixth- and fifth-grade pills, then condensed his Immortal Profound Qi into true essence.

After breaking through to Condensing Essence, Li Rui used Liu Tong’s warning to foil Jiang Haitao’s attempt to expose the Heaven and Earth Alliance’s weapons trade. Liu Tong left Huaqing Sect to join Li Rui, and Li Rui began practicing a new technique as he prepared to open his Qi Sea.

• Li Rui returned a Fifth Rank pill to Ning Zhongtian, then read Dao Mo’s request for more weapons shipments to the Witch Kingdom and chose not to expand the trade.
• Liu Tong visited Liu Fang and Zhang Yang, learned that the alliance’s profitable trade likely involved contraband, and later tipped Li Rui off about an impending warehouse inspection.
• Registrar Zhou searched the Heaven and Earth Alliance’s warehouse, but Liang He had moved the weapons, leaving the officials with no evidence against Huang Chui and Fei Lao San.
• Jiang Linxian rescued Liu Tong from Jiang Haitao and revealed that she had ordered the Heaven and Earth Alliance’s business; Li Rui met them in an alley and accepted Liu Tong’s decision to leave Huaqing Sect and become his deputy.
• Li Rui told his brothers that the Jiang Family had attempted retaliation and urged Huang Chui and Fei Lao San to proceed carefully with the next trading run.
• In the Dream Cloud Platform, Li Rui focused on opening his Qi Sea and formed a point of golden light between his fingers as he declared, “Fingertip Flicking Divine Power!”

Li Rui learned why Iron Madman was forging an immortal weapon and continued to strengthen his cultivation while managing the Heaven and Earth Alliance. When Divine Weapon Manor sent Yu ZhiQiu to attack the alliance, a sudden strike stopped him as he reached for Huang Chui.

• Li Rui used Fingertip Flicking Divine Power to kill Gao Zhen and Qi Ze, then visited Iron Madman and learned he wanted an immortal weapon to avenge Divine Weapon Manor's former master against the Blood Shadow Old Ancestor.
• Liu Tiezhu realized Iron Madman was an important figure from Divine Weapon Manor, while Li Rui practiced the Hammer Qi Method at the forge.
• After seven trading runs, Li Rui passed most of the Heaven and Earth Alliance's profits to Jiang Linxian and continued cultivating.
• Liang He warned Li Rui that Yu ZhiQiu and other people from Divine Weapon Manor had come to smash the Heaven and Earth Alliance's hall.
• Yu ZhiQiu mocked Huang Chui and Fei Lao San, then reached for Huang Chui before a strike hurt his hand and an unseen voice told him to stop.

Li Rui defeated Yu ZhiQiu before the Heaven and Earth Alliance, then relied on Iron Madman to handle the fallout with Divine Weapon Manor. After concealing his Immortal Qi and discovering Wang Zhao had begun cultivating Demonic Qi, Li Rui learned that County Magistrate Zhuang Renhe was investigating him with a Seeking Immortal Stone.

• Li Rui overwhelmed Yu ZhiQiu with more than a hundred blows from the flat of his blade, and the Divine Weapon Manor experts withdrew.
• Iron Madman told Li Rui he would handle Divine Weapon Manor and recognized that Li Rui had reached Condensing Essence.
• Li Rui received 20 Achievement Points for completing Establishing Might with Fists and successfully tested his self-created Concealment Qi Technique with a Seeking Immortal Stone.
• Li Rui discovered Demonic Qi in Wang Zhao and encouraged his newly ranked disciple to keep training.
• Registrar Zhou told Zhuang Renhe about the conflict at the Heaven and Earth Alliance and warned him not to act rashly.
• Zhuang Renhe took out a Seeking Immortal Stone and murmured Li Rui's name.

Li Rui learned that Zhuang Renhe was investigating him for the Ghost Underworld Sect, while Qu Chengfeng pursued the identity of a Fallen Immortal in Clear River. As Iron Madman struggled to forge an immortal weapon without its shattered artifact spirit, Li Rui suggested he might be able to help.

• Feng Yu warned Li Rui that Zhuang Renhe’s men had tried to pay for information about him, and Li Rui learned Zhuang Renhe was connected to the Ghost Underworld Sect.
• Yao Xue spoke with Qu Chengfeng about how they had changed since Clear River, and Qu Chengfeng secretly revealed two strands of immortal qi and sought the Fallen Immortal’s identity.
• Li Rui read that Qu Chengfeng had placed Second in the Autumn Examination, then cultivated with pills while reflecting on the court bulletin.
• Iron Madman told Li Rui and Liu Tiezhu that a shattered artifact spirit prevented him from completing an immortal weapon, and described using rare true qi as a substitute for immortal qi.
• Li Rui told Iron Madman that he might be able to help.

Li Rui helped Iron Madman discover that his Immortal Profound Qi could be hammered into a blade billet, and Iron Madman left to gather treasures to help Li Rui open his Qi Sea. Meanwhile, Ghost Underworld Sect’s agents moved to search Qinghe for a person connected to a glowing jade stone, while a Qi Gazing Master at the county gathering identified two unusual figures.

• Li Rui lent Iron Madman his Immortal Profound Qi, and Iron Madman began forging it into a blade billet before Li Rui ran out of qi.
• Iron Madman decided Li Rui needed a Qi Sea and left for Divine Weapon Manor to fetch treasures that could help him open one.
• Yuan Gao brought Fu Huai, a Qi Gazing Master, to meet Zhuang Renhe and arranged for Fu Huai to join the County Office to search for the person they sought.
• Ning Zhongtian accompanied Li Rui to the County Office’s year-end gathering, where Li Rui briefly greeted Qi Ze and received greetings from Trade Affairs Department officials.
• Fu Huai observed the gathering and identified Jiang Linxian as a born Sword Immortal with violet-gold destiny, then recognized an elderly official as possessing Orthodox and Deviant Dual Meridians and Dragon Form.

Fu Huai suspected that Li Rui or Jiang Linxian might possess the Descended Immortal Talent sought by the Immortal Venerable, while Li Rui received powerful pills and the Divine Flame Sky Burning Hammer from Iron Madman. Zhuang Renhe then tortured the captive Blood Picking General with a Truth-Telling Worm to learn what Blood Shadow Old Ancestor was investigating.

• At the County Office, Fu Huai recalled Jiang Linxian's and the elderly official surnamed Li's extraordinary auras and decided to investigate whether either had Descended Immortal Talent.
• Li Rui celebrated New Year's with his household as Yang Yong grew frail and fell asleep before Zi Hour.
• Iron Madman visited Li Rui with large bundles of pills and the Divine Flame Sky Burning Hammer, urging him to open his Qi Sea before the Lantern Festival.
• Li Rui swung the hammer once, cracked the wall of his room, and decided he would need a more open place to practice.
• Zhuang Renhe entered a hidden chamber beneath the County Office, where he had secretly imprisoned Blood Picking General.
• Blood Picking General's blood-arrow attack failed to harm Zhuang Renhe, who forced a Truth-Telling Worm into his mouth and demanded to know what Blood Shadow Old Ancestor was hiding.

Li Rui advanced his cultivation, learned from Iron Madman that his true qi needed tempering before he could open his Qi Sea, and celebrated the Lantern Festival with him. As danger from the Ghost Underworld Sect drew closer, Li Rui ordered the Heaven and Earth Alliance’s informants to track the people tied to Zhuang Renhe and uncover who was watching him.

• Zhuang Renhe realized the Blood Picking General had been an Immortal Venerable and grew greedy for Immortal Qi.
• Li Rui nourished his qi with pills, practiced with the Divine Flame Sky Burning Hammer, and Fu Huai watched the powerful figures hidden in Anning Guard.
• Li Rui brought sweet rice balls to Iron Madman, who explained that Li Rui’s rapid cultivation had left his true qi unsettled and advised him to swing the hammer ten thousand times daily.
• Iron Madman admitted he had only a ten percent chance of forging an immortal weapon, and Li Rui returned to the Lantern Festival streets.
• Li Rui received County Magistrate Zhong’s list of people close to Zhuang Renhe and told the Heaven and Earth Alliance’s leaders to have their informants watch them.