Chapter Summaries

Fu Huai used a secret medicine to identify the banished immortal, but Jiang Linxian killed him before he could act, while Li Rui watched from hiding. After Yuan Gao confronted Zhuang Renhe over Fu Huai’s disappearance, Li Rui returned to training, and the chapter ended as he sensed the time had come.

• Fu Huai drank Returning Spirit Soup and opened his divine eyes, but Jiang Linxian appeared and killed him, then erased his body and all traces.
• Li Rui watched Jiang Linxian kill Fu Huai and leave, wiped away his own traces, and returned home with the Divine Flame Sky Burning Hammer.
• Yuan Gao confronted Zhuang Renhe outside Qinghe City about Fu Huai’s disappearance, while Zhuang Renhe denied responsibility and privately suspected Fu Huai had sought immortal qi.
• Li Rui visited the blacksmith shop, brought Green Plum Drink for Iron Madman, and asked about Jiang Linxian’s past dealings with the Ghost Underworld Sect.
• Li Rui continued cultivating with the Hammer Qi Method and the Divine Flame Sky Burning Hammer until he opened his eyes and declared that the time had come.

Li Rui opened the embryonic form of his Qi Sea and revealed that he could turn the Blazing Sky Hammer crimson, fulfilling Divine Weapon Manor’s prophecy of a saint. He helped Iron Madman attempt to forge an immortal weapon, then the story shifted to Zhuang Renhe investigating Fu Huai’s disappearance and suspecting Jiang Linxian or Cao Wei.

• Li Rui swallowed two Nine Revolutions Soul Returning Pills and practiced with the Blazing Sky Hammer until he opened the embryonic form of a Qi Sea.
• Li Rui turned the Blazing Sky Hammer crimson, fulfilling Divine Weapon Manor’s saying that a saint would appear when blazing fire burned through the night.
• Li Rui returned the Blazing Sky Hammer to Iron Madman, who began forging an immortal weapon from Crimson Dragon Divine Iron with Li Rui’s true qi.
• Iron Madman’s attempt to forge the immortal weapon failed, but he considered it his closest attempt yet and asked Li Rui to wait until he needed his help again.
• Zhuang Renhe investigated an abandoned residence Fu Huai had purchased and wondered whether Jiang Linxian or Cao Wei was involved.

Iron Madman completed an upper fourth-grade blade blank with a koi weapon spirit that he hoped to nurture into a dragon and an immortal weapon. Meanwhile, Yuan Gao and Zhuang Renhe plotted against Jiang Linxian, and Li Rui joined Dao Mo to investigate horse bandits before learning Xia Xiaotang was the Great Shaman’s disciple; the group reached the border checkpoint, where Wang Fu asked whether Li Rui was leaving it.

• Iron Madman forged a blade blank from the Crimson Dragon Divine Iron with Li Rui’s help, and Li Rui recognized its koi weapon spirit as a true dragon in its initial form.
• Yuan Gao decided to report Fu Huai’s suspected death to the Ghost Underworld Sect’s Ancestor, while Zhuang Renhe planned to exploit a conflict with Jiang Linxian to search for immortal qi.
• Li Rui met Dao Mo, agreed to help suppress the horse bandits, and learned that Xia Xiaotang was confined because she was the Great Shaman’s disciple.
• Li Rui and Dao Mo rode with their companions to the Yu-Wu border checkpoint, where Li Rui gave supplies to Wang Fu and explained their purpose.
• Wang Fu raised his brows and asked whether Li Rui was leaving the checkpoint.

Li Rui used his ability to understand beasts and birds to search the Ten Thousand Mountains for the bandits, who were actually Qi Clan soldiers. After rescuing refugees from a tiger, he learned enough to tell Dao Mo that someone in his forces was a mole.

• Li Rui entered Witch Kingdom with Dao Mo and agreed to help suppress the bandits, while Wang Fu warned him of the danger.
• Yuan Gao met Qi Rui and told him to capture Jiang Linxian and, if possible, the Yu Kingdom official Li Rui.
• Li Rui used his ability to understand animals to locate the bandits as he and Dao Mo searched the Ten Thousand Mountains.
• Li Rui wounded a tiger that threatened an old woman and child, then pursued it and questioned it about who had injured it before.
• Dao Mo escorted the refugees home, and Li Rui returned from questioning the tiger and told him there was a mole.

Li Rui and Dao Mo uncovered and defeated a Qi Clan spy network in the Ten Thousand Mountains, though Qi Rui escaped. After reaching Wu North City and spending the night there, Li Rui spotted Dragon's saliva incense at a street stall.

• Li Rui and Dao Mo exposed a young Witch Kingdom soldier as the Qi Clan's informant and used him to locate Qi Rui's camp.
• Dao Mo's forces surrounded the Qi Clan group and killed most of them, but Qi Rui escaped after fighting Dao Mo to a stalemate.
• Li Rui recognized a red-copper token as a Yu Kingdom city-exit permit and realized the Qi Clan had likely used Zhuang Renhe's help to move beyond Qinghe City.
• Dao Mo brought Li Rui and the Tiger Sprint Riders to Wu North City, where they celebrated their victory and Li Rui spent the night in a grand estate.
• Li Rui explored Wu North City the next day and stopped when he saw Dragon's saliva incense at a street stall.

Li Rui discovered that a grayish-white stone he bought in Wu North City was ten-thousand-year-old Dragon Ambergris and gave it to Iron Madman to help him forge an immortal weapon. After returning to Clear River, Li Rui practiced his saber and urged Yang Yong to live to a hundred while awaiting a life-prolonging pill.

• Li Rui bargained for a jade at a Wu North City stall, then recognized a discarded gray stone as Dragon Ambergris through his Dragon Form.
• Li Rui decided to give the Dragon Ambergris to Iron Madman in gratitude for helping him open his Qi Sea, and hurried back to Clear River with the Tiger Sprint Riders.
• Li Rui presented the stone to Iron Madman, who refined it into three crystal-clear beads and confirmed it was Dragon Ambergris for nurturing a Dragon Form weapon spirit.
• Iron Madman accepted the treasure as a debt and promised Li Rui compensation if he forged an immortal weapon.
• Li Rui returned home at dawn, practiced his saber, and told Yang Yong that a health- and life-prolonging pill would arrive in a few days.
• Li Rui urged Yang Yong to live to a hundred so he could seek an Imperial Court reward, then left the residence after sharing a meal and conversation with him.

Zhuang Renhe and Qi Rui agreed to help the Ghost Underworld Sect capture Jiang Linxian and Li Rui, while Zhuang secretly resolved to target Li Rui for the Immortal Qi. Li Rui advanced the Heaven and Earth Alliance’s plans and returned home, where Liu Tiezhu announced that the immortal weapon was nearly complete.

• Yuan Gao told Zhuang Renhe and Qi Rui that Nine Souls Law Kings would help capture Jiang Linxian, and asked them to capture Li Rui as well.
• Zhuang Renhe agreed to cooperate but decided to strike first and seize Li Rui for the Immortal Qi.
• Li Rui let Wang Zhao keep the young Three-Eyed White Tiger as a pet and encouraged him to pursue demon raising.
• At the Heaven and Earth Alliance meeting, Ge Hong became the fifth alliance master, and Fei Lao San was assigned to oversee a new branch in Anning Prefecture.
• Li Rui told the alliance that he had reached an agreement with Dao Mo to pursue demonic beast trading after obtaining approval from the Ministry of Revenue.
• Liu Tiezhu arrived at Li Rui’s home and announced that the immortal weapon was nearly complete.

Li Rui helped Iron Madman complete an immortal blade and resisted its Blade Evil, then practiced with it in his dreamscape. The next morning, he learned that bandits from the Witch Kingdom had attacked merchant caravans in Yu Kingdom territory, including one belonging to the Soaring Sky Society.

• Li Rui poured Immortal Profound Qi into Iron Madman's Crimson Long Blade, helping its koi transform into a dragon and complete the immortal weapon.
• Iron Madman explained that the blade's newly formed spirit could unleash Blade Evil, and Li Rui thanked him after resisting it and clearing his mind.
• Li Rui simulated the immortal blade in the Dream Cloud Platform and practiced the Swimming Dragon Six Slashes before facing Jiang Linxian and being defeated by her sword.
• Li Rui began his morning practice and ordered Tan Hu to investigate reports of Witch Kingdom bandits robbing merchant caravans.
• Yan Zhongxing told Li Rui that the bandits had attacked a caravan belonging to the Soaring Sky Society, and Li Rui assured him the matter was within his duty.

Li Rui stayed inside the Anning Guard to avoid a trap meant to lure him out of the city, while pretending illness to satisfy Cao Wei. He refined a new blade technique in the Dream Cloud Platform and, half a month later, went to Iron Madman to borrow the Immortal Blade.

• Xu Wen told Li Rui that the Soaring Sky Society’s caravan had been targeted because it carried an elder’s private goods, and Li Rui recognized the officials’ response as a performance.
• Zhuang Renhe ordered his confidant to cause a bigger disturbance so Li Rui would leave the city, intending to capture him and obtain immortal qi.
• Li Rui claimed a real qi deviation and told Cao Wei that Dao Mo would handle the bandits, persuading Cao Wei to let him rest.
• Li Rui concluded that someone was luring him outside the city and chose to wait while practicing a blade technique that combined his Dragon Form, Immortal Form, and the Hammer Qi Method.
• Half a month later, Li Rui visited Iron Madman at the blacksmith shop and solemnly asked to borrow the Immortal Blade.

Li Rui ambushed Zhuang Renhe and used a concealed immortal blade to kill him after surviving his fifth-rank attacks. He left a message written in Zhuang Renhe’s blood and disappeared into the night, completing the Challenging Above Your Rank storyline.

• Zhuang Renhe disguised himself in a Nightwalker Outfit and killed the two Zhuang Family men who had tracked Li Rui.
• Zhuang Renhe found Li Rui waiting in ambush and attacked him over the suspected immortal qi.
• Li Rui endured Zhuang Renhe’s assault while secretly building his Blade Momentum.
• Li Rui revealed the immortal blade buried beneath the battlefield and killed Zhuang Renhe with a single strike.
• Li Rui wrote “Qi” in Zhuang Renhe’s blood and left, completing the intermediate Famous Throughout Jianghu storyline.

After killing Zhuang Renhe, Li Rui gained the Dragon Elephant True Yuan Strength and helped divert suspicion toward the Southern Border Qi Clan. Chai Jingong recognized that an immortal weapon had killed Zhuang Renhe but chose to conceal what he knew.

• Li Rui received the Dragon Elephant True Yuan Strength after completing his challenge and dissolved the two Zhuang Family corpses to erase their traces.
• Jiang Linxian, Cao Wei, Yan Zhongxing, and Zhong Zheng agreed to blame Zhuang Renhe's death on the Qi Clan and kept the matter quiet.
• Li Rui learned that the officials had accepted the Qi Clan explanation and that Governor-General Yuan was heading south, while Zhuang Renhe received a posthumous title and barony.
• Li Rui rested from the backlash of a spiritual pill and studied Dragon Elephant True Yuan Strength on the Dream Cloud Platform.
• Chai Jingong ordered his student A Hua to end the investigation and blame the Qi Clan, following pressure from Annan Garrison.
• Chai Jingong recognized the mark of an immortal weapon on Zhuang Renhe's corpse and decided to keep his discovery secret.

Li Rui recovered from his deliberate qi deviation and trained against Zhuang Renhe in his dream, while officials prepared for Anning Guard to join a campaign in the Witch Kingdom. He completed the first layer of Dragon Elephant True Yuan Strength, Elephant Yuan.

• Chai Jingong presented evidence blaming Qi Clan rebels for Zhuang Renhe's death, and the officials accepted the case files before Chai left Clear River that day.
• Iron Madman recognized that Li Rui had killed Zhuang Renhe and praised his feat, offering to help him with future trouble except against enemies above Third Rank.
• Ning Zhongtian told Li Rui and the others that Lei Yong was coming to assist Anning Guard as Governor-General Yuan sent troops to suppress Witch Kingdom rebels and protect the trade routes.
• Tan Hu, Wei Ming, and Ge Hong welcomed the chance to earn military merit, while Ning Zhongtian told them to prepare for the campaign.
• Li Rui repeatedly fought Zhuang Renhe in his dream to improve his martial skills, then completed Elephant Yuan while practicing Dragon Elephant True Yuan Strength.

After gaining the first layer of Elephant Strength, Li Rui demonstrated his newfound power and attended a meeting where Anning Guard chose commanders for its campaign against the Witch Kingdom. He avoided the expedition by claiming he was injured, then sent Ning Zhongtian off with a token that could help him survive the war.

• Li Rui used Elephant Strength to lift the courtyard rockery above his head, then joined Wang Zhao and Yang Yong for breakfast.
• Li Rui and Ning Zhongtian attended a meeting where Cao Wei introduced Lei Yong and ordered the commanders to cooperate in the campaign against the Witch Kingdom.
• Li Rui declined to join the expedition by citing his cultivation deviation, and Feng Yu, Ning Zhongtian, and Liao Wu won the three places through martial contests.
• As Anning Guard prepared for war, Li Rui focused on cultivating and practicing his blade forms rather than going to the battlefield.
• Ning Zhongtian visited Li Rui before departing, and Li Rui gave him a token to take to Dao Mo if he faced danger.

Li Rui stayed behind in Anning Guard while Yu Kingdom’s campaign in the Witch Kingdom advanced, and he learned that Lady Lingluo planned to capture Jiang Linxian. Jiang Linxian later revealed that she knew Li Rui had killed Zhuang Renhe and ended their conversation by describing her own unparalleled genius.

• Li Rui sent Tan Hu to patrol the trade route because rebels might retaliate while Cao Wei and Lei Yong were away at war.
• In Man Bone City, Yuan Gao learned Lady Lingluo would help lure Jiang Linxian out so the Nine Souls Law King could capture her.
• Li Rui received Ning Zhongtian’s battlefield letter and sent it to the Heaven and Earth Alliance through Wang Zhao.
• After reading repeated victory reports, Li Rui accepted Jiang Linxian’s invitation to her Military Advisor’s Residence.
• Jiang Linxian told Li Rui that Zhuang Renhe had been killed by an immortal weapon and that she had erased the evidence linking the death to him.
• Jiang Linxian claimed she felt lonely because she could accomplish anything she wanted and had no rival within her realm.

Li Rui completed his final Make a Name for Oneself plotline by sharing wine with Jiang Linxian, earning an S-rank reward and 50 Achievement Points. Later, he refused Duan Yu’s request to arrange battlefield merit through Dao Mo, but Duan Yu pursued another plan and prepared to send Demon Hunters into the mountain.

• Jiang Linxian told Li Rui that she considered them alike, then shared wine with him, completing his plotline and earning him an S-rank reward of 50 Achievement Points.
• Li Rui learned that he had completed all Make a Name for Oneself primary plotlines at age ten and that his next reward would be enhanced.
• After returning home drunk, Li Rui entered his dreamscape, sobered up, and trained before advising Tan Hu to accommodate the young noble sons heading to the Witch Kingdom.
• Li Rui met the returning Duan Yu, who asked him to use his connections with Dao Mo to help earn battlefield merit, but Li Rui refused.
• Duan Yu traveled to the Witch Kingdom as a Grain Escort Guard, then learned from a burly man that the Demon Hunters were ready to enter the mountain.

After a Demon Tide devastated the Eastern Route Army, Jiang Linxian led Li Rui and Guan Xinrong to the border to suppress the demon beasts entering Cloud Province. In the Ten Thousand Mountains, Li Rui captured a Fire-Eyebrow White Ape and learned the Demon Tide had been unleashed after someone attacked the Demon Lord’s son, possibly a Yu Kingdom soldier.

• Li Rui heard that the Demon Tide had killed a garrison commander and caused more than twenty percent casualties, then answered Jiang Linxian’s summons.
• Jiang Linxian ordered Li Rui and Guan Xinrong to lead soldiers to the border, while Lu Jun remained behind to manage the Anning Guard.
• Ning Zhongtian escorted the battered Eastern Route Army into Wu North City, and Duan Yu realized his pursuit of the Winged White-Scaled Flood Dragon had provoked the Demon Lord.
• At the border, Jiang Linxian sent Li Rui and Guan Xinrong into the Ten Thousand Mountains with fifty soldiers each to search for demon beasts.
• Li Rui and Tan Hu fought a group of Fire-Eyebrow White Apes, killed most of them, and captured one alive.
• Li Rui heard the captive call someone the Demon Lord’s son and inferred that a Yu Kingdom soldier had attacked him, triggering the Demon Tide.

Li Rui learned that the Demon Tide was tied to a Yu Kingdom native and discovered the Old Flood Dragon was behind the disturbance. After befriending Xia Xiaotang, he used her Azure Water Golden Eye Beast to draw out the Little Flood Dragon, whose conversation revealed the name Duan Yu.

• Li Rui returned to Yugu Pass with demon beast spoils and learned Jiang Linxian had left the city.
• Xia Xiaotang sneaked into Li Rui’s room, and he admitted he was not the Beast God Reincarnation; she decided they were friends anyway.
• Xia Xiaotang told Li Rui that the Old Flood Dragon in the Ten Thousand Mountains was causing the Demon Tide, and Li Rui asked her to help find the person at its center.
• The Great Shaman revealed that he had allowed Xia Xiaotang to leave the Imperial City and was investigating Li Rui.
• Li Rui and Xia Xiaotang used her Azure Water Golden Eye Beast to summon the Little Flood Dragon, and Li Rui overheard the name Duan Yu.

Li Rui secretly brokered a truce with the Old Flood Dragon by offering the Little Flood Dragon a wisp of Dragon Form Qi, while concealing Duan Yu’s role in causing the Demon Tide. Jiang Linxian took public credit and arranged to handle the fallout, and the chapter ended with Li Rui receiving a box containing a Mermaid King's Tears.

• Li Rui deduced that Duan Yu had angered the Old Flood Dragon, then persuaded Xia Xiaotang to keep his identity quiet to avoid a diplomatic crisis.
• Li Rui gave Xia Xiaotang a wisp of Dragon Form Qi to pass through the Azure Water Golden Eye Beast, and the Little Flood Dragon agreed to persuade the Old Flood Dragon to call off the attack.
• Li Rui told Jiang Linxian that Duan Yu had provoked the Old Flood Dragon and that he had secured a truce, then agreed to let Jiang Linxian claim the public credit.
• Duan Yu was recalled to the capital, while Jiang Linxian gained praise for ending the demon unrest and Li Rui returned to his quiet life.
• Jiang Yan delivered a wooden box from Jiang Linxian, and Li Rui opened it to find a Mermaid King's Tears.

Li Rui consumed the Mermaid King's Tear and advanced rapidly while the war and the crisis around Man Bone City continued. After half a year, the treasure helped him break through to the Ocean Gazing Realm.

• Li Rui ground up and swallowed the Mermaid King's Tear, feeling its gentle power begin to nourish his Qi Sea.
• Lady Lingluo learned that Jiang Linxian had ended the Old Flood Dragon's disturbance and wondered whether Jiang had also killed Zhuang Renhe.
• Ning Zhongtian returned to Clear River for five days, reunited with Li Rui, Huang Chui, and Fei Lao San, and recounted his experiences in the Witch Kingdom.
• Li Rui warned Ning Zhongtian to beware of the female city lord of Man Bone City before Ning returned to the battlefield.
• Half a year later, Li Rui sensed his Qi Sea had grown into a pond and realized he had entered the Ocean Gazing Realm.

Li Rui broke through to the fifth-rank Ocean Gazing Realm, then sought a way to conceal his new cultivation. He reunited with Dao Mo and Xia Xiaotang, learned of the Witch Kingdom’s stalemate, and received a disguise cultivation method from Iron Madman.

• Li Rui used fifth-rank pills during his breakthrough, and his new Qi Sea cleansed his body of impurities and greatly increased his strength.
• Wang Zhao realized Li Rui had reached fifth rank, and Li Rui visited Iron Madman, who inferred the breakthrough and promised to send him a method to hide his realm.
• Li Rui learned that Jiang Linxian had given him the Mermaid King's Tears, which Jiang had once sought for his own breakthrough.
• Li Rui met Dao Mo and Xia Xiaotang at the Trade Affairs Department, then shared a meal with them and heard that the Seventh Prince and the Ghost Underworld Sect had stalled the Witch Kingdom’s campaign at Man Bone City.
• Liu Tiezhu delivered Iron Madman’s cultivation method for disguising Li Rui’s realm, and Li Rui read it through the night.