Recaps

Zhou Yi brought his revised Tales of the Executioner to Top Scholar Hall and negotiated a profit-sharing deal with its shopkeeper, He Yongyan. The book was set to be published in three volumes under Zhou Yi’s pen name, Hermit Willow Spring.

• Zhou Yi praised the tea brewed with spring water from Verdant Peak Mountain, and He Yongyan explained where the spring was located.
• He Yongyan discovered that several stories in Zhou Yi’s Tales of the Executioner had been plagiarized and turned into banned books, and Zhou Yi revealed that he was the original author.
• He Yongyan offered Zhou Yi five hundred taels to publish the book, but Zhou Yi asked for thirty percent of net profits instead.
• Zhou Yi reviewed Top Scholar Hall’s contract and required the one hundred and eight stories to be divided into three separately sold volumes.
• Zhou Yi signed the contract under the pen name Hermit Willow Spring and agreed that Top Scholar Hall could proofread the book and remove passages that risked violating taboos.

Zhou Yi arranged to sell his Daoist scripture calligraphy through the Top Scholar Hall and searched Verdant Peak Mountain for spiritual spring water. After Tales of the Executioner went on sale, the chapter described how Jixia Academy’s reviews could make books famous and boost the reputations of their preface writers.

• Zhou Yi agreed to provide Shopkeeper He with a volume of copied Daoist scripture every few days, and Shopkeeper He estimated each would fetch at least ten taels.
• Zhou Yi used the Five-Element Escape Technique to reach Verdant Peak Mountain, found Refreshing Spring with the Qi-Reading Technique, and filled a gourd with its spiritual water.
• Zhou Yi brought the spring water to Zhang Cheng at the Ministry of Works, and Zhang recognized it as water from Refreshing Spring.
• Shopkeeper He had Zhou Yi’s books bound and Tales of the Executioner proofread, then prepared the story for printing and arranged an appraisal of Zhou Yi’s calligraphy.
• The Top Scholar Hall published Tales of the Executioner and sent copies to Jixia Academy, whose teachers’ reviews could help books sell widely.
• The chapter explained that Yan Yuanzheng’s preface for a Top Scholar Hall edition of the Five Classics had helped his reputation surpass those of the heads of the other great academies.

Tales of the Executioner stirred controversy at Jixia Academy, where Wang Bo'an sought to have it banned while Wu Ke offered to write its preface. Meanwhile, Zhou Yi gained a transformation technique and returned to the inn, where he sampled Old Zhou’s successful fried chicken.

• Wang Bo'an objected to Tales of the Executioner’s vernacular language and grim stories, then accused it of slandering Great Qian and drafted a request to ban the book.
• The head of the Daoist Academy praised Tales of the Executioner, and Wang Bo'an could not challenge it without evidence.
• Wu Ke praised the book’s entertaining explanations of law and offered to write a preface, prompting Manager He to plan a larger print run.
• Zhou Yi executed a Bare Body Sect spy and received the Body-Shifting Technique from the Demon and Monster Compendium.
• Zhou Yi returned to the inn and tried Old Zhou’s fried chicken after the cook asked him to reimburse the chickens used in his failed attempts.

Zhou Yi’s fried chicken became a sensation across the capital, reaching even the imperial household. A fox demon named Hu Jiuying then infiltrated Prince Huai’s Residence and confronted Princess Consort Huai, declaring she had come to avenge Hu Yue.

• Zhou Yi let Old Zhou serve fried chicken to the inn’s customers and warned him to keep the coating recipe secret.
• Professional diners copied the dish, and fried chicken spread throughout the capital until Emperor Jingtai praised it.
• Hu Jiuying slipped past Prince Huai’s Residence’s defenses and stole the imperial chef’s fried chicken.
• Hu Jiuying knocked the imperial chef unconscious, followed a mark to Princess Consort Huai’s chamber, and put the maid on duty to sleep.
• Hu Jiuying immobilized Princess Consort Huai and said she would take revenge for Hu Yue by starting with her eyes.

Hu Jiuying attacked Princess Consort Huai and drove Li Su toward suicide to avenge Hu Yue, then escaped the Daoist masters who responded to the alarm. At Same Fortune Inn, Zhou Yi watched her flee and chose not to intervene, wary of the powerful Green Mound Fox Clan.

• Hu Jiuying gouged out Princess Consort Huai’s eyes, tore out her teeth and tongue, and shattered her bones before leaving her crippled.
• Hu Jiuying appeared to Li Su as Bright Moon and urged him to kill himself, but he hesitated and tried to delay his death.
• A dragon-roar alarm summoned Daoist Linghua, who confronted Hu Jiuying; she revealed her nine tails, defeated him, and fled into the night.
• Xuanwei, Kongci, and Eunuch Zhu arrived at Prince Huai’s Residence, where Li Heng accused Li Su of causing his mother’s death.
• Xuanwei tried to trace Hu Jiuying through Princess Consort Huai’s blood and hair, but a mysterious woman’s apparition disrupted his spell and injured him.
• At Same Fortune Inn, Zhou Yi watched Hu Jiuying’s aura flee toward South City and decided not to stop her because of the Fox Clan’s powerful ancestor.

Zhou Yi learned that Xu Ye, a wastrel who had attached himself to Hu Jiuying, possessed tangible dragon-python qi that could make him a formidable warlord in troubled times. After Zhou Yi tried to uncover how Xu Ye met Hu Jiuying, she sensed his Daoist aura and left the inn with Xu Ye and his companions.

• At the Ministry of Works, Zhang Cheng complained that powerful figures had stood by while a nine-tailed fox caused chaos in the Capital.
• Zhou Yi studied Daoist scriptures and reflected on the cultivation of nature and life before returning to the Same Fortune Inn.
• Zhou Yi found Hu Jiuying eating fried chicken while Xu Ye and several finely dressed young men attended her.
• Zhou Yi identified Xu Ye as the son of the Dragon Cavalry General and saw dark dragon-python qi concealed above his head.
• When Xu Ye demanded Zhou Yi's secret fried-chicken recipe, Zhou Yi used the Mind-Confounding Technique to ask how he had ended up with Hu Jiuying.
• Hu Jiuying interrupted Xu Ye, recognized Zhou Yi's Daoist aura, and left the inn with Xu Ye and the others.

Zhou Yi sent Feng Ling'er to Green Mound Blessed Land, then fought Hu Jiuying and the Green Mound Fox Immortal outside the Capital. After sparing Hu Jiuying, he heard the Fox Immortal warn that Great Qian faced an imminent calamity.

• Zhou Yi told Feng Ling'er to go to Green Mound Blessed Land and warned her not to harm humans.
• Hu Jiuying followed Zhou Yi out of the Capital, where he severed one of her tails with the Purple Ying Sword.
• The Green Mound Fox Immortal intervened to protect Hu Jiuying and exchanged attacks with Zhou Yi.
• Zhou Yi discovered and dispelled a hidden curse from Hu Yue, then explained that he killed her for harming humans.
• The Fox Immortal asked Zhou Yi to spare Hu Jiuying, and he let her go on the condition that she leave human territory.
• The Fox Immortal warned Zhou Yi that Great Qian's fortune was nearly spent and a great calamity was approaching.

After Zhou Yi fought the Fox Immortal of Green Mound to a standstill, Hu Jiuying offered to take Feng Ling'er as her disciple, and Feng Ling'er agreed to go to Green Mound after asking to see her father. The next morning, Zhou Yi returned to the Ministry of Works, where Zhang Cheng joked about the previous night’s battle while officials eagerly drank stolen spirit tea.

• Cultivators arrived at the site of Zhou Yi and the Fox Immortal’s battle to study its traces after the two had left.
• Zhou Yi questioned Hu Jiuying about her intentions, then introduced Feng Ling'er and clarified her connection to Green Mound.
• Hu Jiuying recognized Feng Ling'er's talent and invited her to become a disciple; Feng Ling'er accepted and asked Zhou Yi to take her to see her father before leaving.
• Zhou Yi agreed to take Feng Ling'er to see her father the next morning and let her sleep outside his sleeve as Hu Jiuying's disciple.
• Zhang Cheng shared spirit tea he had taken from White Cloud Temple, and the Ministry of Works officials drank it while discussing the battle outside North City.

Zhou Yi and Hu Jiuying traveled to Fuzhou County to find Feng Zhen, whom they learned had become a well-regarded magistrate. Hearing that Feng Zhen had secured permission for the county to fish on Yangping Lake, Zhou Yi grew suspicious and headed to the fish market to meet him.

• Zhang Cheng and Clerk Chen entertained their Ministry of Works colleagues with opera performances, and Zhou Yi requested two days of leave.
• At Same Fortune Inn, Hu Jiuying told Zhou Yi she had found Feng Zhen in Fuzhou County and gave Xu Ye a tuft of fox fur before they left.
• Zhou Yi and Hu Jiuying flew to Fuzhou County, where patrol inspector Shi Sinian told them that Magistrate Feng was overseeing the fish market.
• Shi Sinian and the sailors praised Feng Zhen for obtaining the Dragon King's permission to fish on Yangping Lake and funding a spell-reinforced ship.
• Zhou Yi recalled Feng Zhen's influential in-laws and questioned how he had gained the water god's favor, then flew with Hu Jiuying toward the market to find him.

Zhou Yi helped Feng Ling'er fulfill her wish to see Feng Zhen, then accepted her Bright Moon Jade keepsake as she left for Green Mound with Hu Jiuying. Back at the Same Fortune Inn, he learned that the Bai Household had found its young master and decided to use their generous payment to buy a house and move out.

• Feng Zhen found the transformed Feng Ling'er at the Fish Market, arranged for bailiffs to escort her toward the Capital, and wept after she left.
• Feng Ling'er used an illusion to evade the bailiffs, reunited with Zhou Yi, and gave him her Bright Moon Jade before leaving for Green Mound with Hu Jiuying.
• Zhou Yi examined the jade and reflected on the tangled consequences of intervening in others' lives, then returned to the Same Fortune Inn.
• Bai Xingye thanked Zhou Yi with a banknote and told Shopkeeper Bai that the Bai Household should avoid forming ties with powerful, eccentric figures.
• After overhearing them, Zhou Yi accepted Bai Xingye's reasoning and planned to buy a small courtyard house with the money.

Zhou Yi bought and furnished a secluded home in the Prospering Teaching Ward, finally settling into a place of his own. At the Demon-Slaying Bureau, he learned that Wang Bo'an had been rapidly promoted after writing Proclamation Against Demons, leaving Zhou Yi suspicious of the court’s motives.

• Zhou Yi bought a small courtyard in the Prospering Teaching Ward for 3,300 strings of cash and named it Breeze Cottage.
• Zhou Yi cleaned and furnished the house, adjusted the courtyard’s flow of energy, and celebrated his housewarming with colleagues at the Spring Breeze Pavilion.
• Zhou Yi slept without his warning spells or the Yellow Court Dao Scripture circulating, then woke feeling that heaven and earth had become clearer.
• Zhou Yi traveled to the Demon-Slaying Bureau and saw the Proclamation Against Demons that Li Xun showed him.
• Li Xun told Zhou Yi that Wang Bo'an had been promoted to Hanlin Academician after the emperor praised the proclamation, and Zhou Yi questioned whether the promotion violated the law.

Zhou Yi watched Emperor Jingtai’s Proclamation Against Demons trigger a realm-wide campaign and a surge in demon-slaying work, while Tales of the Executioner brought him a windfall in royalties. The chapter left him enjoying the increased Dao Attainment and money but still wary of compromising his Dao heart.

• Li Xun praised Emperor Jingtai’s past reforms, and Zhou Yi said Attendant Reader Wang would one day be honored as a Master.
• Zhang Cheng arrived early after White Cloud Temple’s elders cursed him for stealing their spirit tea.
• Zhou Yi saw the Proclamation Against Demons being read to a growing crowd and approved of Emperor Jingtai’s preparations for a purge.
• The court ordered demons and monsters to undergo the Heart-Questioning Spell, and the Ministry of Works saw demon materials more than double as Zhou Yi’s workload and Dao Attainment grew.
• Shopkeeper He told Zhou Yi that Tales of the Executioner had sold thirty thousand copies and paid him two thousand five hundred taels in royalties.
• Zhou Yi accepted the money but reflected that wealth could not repair damage to his Dao heart.

Zhou Yi continued secretly killing prisoners to gain Dao Attainment, learned that scripture study could help him sense a Yin Spirit, and resisted the temptation to interfere with Li Shan’s public execution. Half a month later, he found Li Shan imprisoned alive, killed him, and gained the Swordsmanship divine ability.

• Zhou Yi killed two demons and a Silver Corpse in the Earth-Class Prison, gaining four years of Dao Attainment and noticing that the zombie’s soul had been shattered.
• Zhang Cheng told Zhou Yi that fully understanding twelve Daoist scriptures could let him condense a Yin Spirit, but urged him to copy and recite them for ten years first.
• Zhou Yi saw an imperial proclamation announcing Li Shan’s execution and chose not to risk interfering with the heavily guarded event.
• After Li Shan’s public execution, Zhou Yi learned that four Spirit Refining masters had overseen it and resolved to cultivate his heart more diligently.
• Half a month later, Zhou Yi found Li Shan alive in Heaven-Class Prison No. 27, killed him, and received the Swordsmanship divine ability.

Zhou Yi traded a long effort brewing Beast Drunk to Zhang Cheng for the first volume of the Great Qian Sword Scripture. His swordsmanship talent let him comprehend the volume as soon as he read it.

• Zhou Yi asked Zhang Cheng for sword techniques and agreed to brew him ten jars of Beast Drunk in exchange.
• Zhou Yi bought the ingredients, including scarce tiger bones, after learning that tiger teeth and claws had become popular charms against evil.
• Zhou Yi spent months preparing the beast bones and medicinal ingredients, soaking and distilling the mixture into Beast Drunk.
• Zhou Yi brought the liquor to Zhang Cheng, who handed him a notebook containing the first volume of the Great Qian Sword Scripture.
• Zhou Yi read the Sword Scripture and quickly comprehended its first volume through his swordsmanship talent.

After mastering the first volume of the Sword Scripture and reaching the pinnacle of bodily tempering, Zhou Yi dreamed of his parents and decided to return to Hengyang to tend their graves. With help from Zhang Cheng and Clerk Chen, he set out from Luo Capital on the journey home.

• Zhou Yi mastered the first volume of the Sword Scripture, reached the pinnacle of bodily tempering, and created the sword technique Immortal Points the Way.
• Zhou Yi drank Beast Drunk infused with Lunar Essence, dreamed of his parents, and wondered whether something had happened in Hengyang.
• Zhou Yi told Zhang Cheng about the dream and decided to return home to clear his parents’ graves and offer incense.
• Zhang Cheng gave Zhou Yi Thunder Talismans, and Clerk Chen offered him silver and a Demon-Slaying Bureau token for the journey.
• Zhou Yi obtained a travel permit, borrowed a horse, and left Luo Capital for Hengyang in Jing Prefecture.

Zhou Yi traveled through the desolate Jing Prefecture, where he killed a flock of demonic crows before taking shelter from a mountain storm. In a ruined temple, he heard of year-long ghost trouble in Guning and met Du Si, a scholar from Hengyang bound for the Capital.

• Zhou Yi gave flatbread to a starving stranger near an abandoned village and continued toward Coiled Snake Mountain.
• Red-eyed demonic crows attacked Zhou Yi, and he killed them with a streak of sword light.
• The stranger emerged after Zhou Yi left and realized that the dead crows had been his only protection and source of survival.
• Zhou Yi entered Coiled Snake Mountain and took shelter from a torrential rain in a ruined mountain god's temple occupied by merchants.
• The merchants discussed ghost trouble in Guning, then Du Si arrived and introduced himself as a scholar from Hengyang traveling to the Capital.

Zhou Yi joined Du Si and a caravan in a mountain god’s temple, where the travelers praised the practical demon-warding advice from Tales of the Executioner. After Zhou Yi told them a story about catching a ghost, the merchants exposed a disguised weasel demon, but the temple suddenly transformed into a magnificent palace.

• Zhou Yi met Du Si and the caravan leader, who showed him copied advice from Tales of the Executioner and shared how it had helped them escape a ghost wall.
• The merchants asked Zhou Yi about the Luo Capital, and he instead told them a story about Song Bo capturing a ghost for a reward.
• A soaked young woman claiming to be Miss Huang arrived at the temple, but the caravan leader and merchants ambushed her with blades and spears after she drank rice wine.
• The woman’s human skin collapsed, revealing a wounded white-furred weasel demon that fled from the temple.
• The ruined temple transformed into a glittering palace filled with red curtains, incense, and the sound of women laughing.

Zhou Yi watched a group of traveling merchants struggle against the Yellow Weasel Spirit’s illusion while considering ways ordinary people could defend themselves from demons. Yan Chixiao arrived, shattered the illusion, killed the spirit, and treated the poisoned merchants, leaving Zhou Yi introduced to the Demon-Expelling Commandant.

• The Yellow Weasel Spirit trapped the merchants in an illusion, wounded several of them, and targeted their leader while Zhou Yi stayed hidden and observed.
• Zhou Yi reflected on teaching ordinary people practical ways to recognize and resist demons, ghosts, and monsters.
• Yan Chixiao’s shout and spear broke the illusion, revealing that he had killed the Yellow Weasel Spirit in the mountain god temple.
• Zhou Yi introduced himself as a clerk of the Ministry of Works, Demon-Slaying Bureau, and Yan Chixiao identified himself as a Demon-Expelling Commandant.
• Yan Chixiao roasted the Yellow Weasel Spirit and gave its flesh to the poisoned merchants, whose wounds began to recover.

Zhou Yi and Yan Chixiao traveled toward Hengyang after learning that its prefect had been using the Demon-Slaying Bureau’s detection artifact to capture ghosts. Zhou Yi doubled back to the mountain god’s temple, where he confronted the human-turned mountain god behind the weasel spirit’s illusion.

• Du Si admitted he regretted not learning martial arts, and Zhou Yi encouraged him to keep studying before jokingly telling him to beat anyone named Bo'an.
• Wu Sanpeng and the merchants told Yan Chixiao and Zhou Yi that ghosts had repeatedly wiped out households in Hengyang, while the prefect kept the Demon-Slaying Bureau’s detection artifact running to find them.
• After the rain stopped, Wu Sanpeng and Du Si headed south while Zhou Yi and Yan Chixiao rode north toward Hengyang.
• Zhou Yi left a magical avatar in the bushes and returned to the mountain god’s temple, where he found a grand palace surrounded by monstrous beasts.
• Zhou Yi killed the beasts with sword light, confronted the mountain god, and accused him of sinking into depravity and consorting with demons.

Zhou Yi exposed and destroyed the Coiled Snake Mountain god, discovering that the god had been a Heart Demon Dao Lord avatar. In Tong County, the Heart Demon Dao Lord learned that the avatar had died, suspected Zhou Yi wielded the Pure Yang Immortal Sword, and left to pursue the sword.

• Zhou Yi revealed the Coiled Snake Mountain god’s demonic nature and burned the ghosts and monsters in the temple with Earthly Pole True Flame.
• The mountain god tried to escape through the earth veins, but Zhou Yi pinned them with the Purple Ying Sword and uprooted the temple, exposing thousands of buried bones.
• The mountain god blamed the people for destroying his temple and golden body, so Zhou Yi crushed him and learned that he had been an avatar of the Heart Demon Dao Lord.
• Master Xin, the Heart Demon Dao Lord’s identity at the Chu Household school, sensed the avatar’s death and recognized the sword and dharma power from its memories.
• Master Xin abandoned his plan to refine the Chu Household’s young master, left the school, and traveled to Flying Cloud Province to alert the Blood Demon Path Lord about the immortal sword.

Zhou Yi and Yan Chixiao tracked a corpse demon to the Cui Mansion in Hengyang County, where Yan Chixiao defeated a Silver Corpse and Zhou Yi finished it off with lightning. The local Demon-Slaying Bureau commandants arrived as the skies cleared, while the City God and Earth God investigated the unexplained storm.

• Zhou Yi and Yan Chixiao entered Hengyang County and searched for demons, with Zhou Yi using Wind-Calling and Rain-Summoning to detect corpse aura.
• Zhou Yi traced the aura to a dry well in the Cui Mansion's rear courtyard, where a Silver Corpse emerged.
• Yan Chixiao pinned the Silver Corpse with iron spears and cleaved it in two with his sword.
• The supposedly dead Silver Corpse tried to bite Yan Chixiao, but Zhou Yi struck it with lightning and gained two years of Dao Attainment.
• A dozen Demon-Slaying Commandants arrived fully equipped, while the clouds dispersed and the City God and Earth God sent their officers to investigate the storm.

Zhou Yi returned to Zhou Family Village and reunited with his family during a homecoming banquet, while discovering through his Spirit Eye Technique that the seemingly lively village was a ghostly ruin. He concealed what he saw and joined the celebration, leaving the mystery of the village unresolved.

• Ji Gang explained that Hengyang's Demon-Slaying Bureau kept its Demon-Observing Disc running because corpse ghosts had attacked repeatedly, and Yan Chixiao chose not to investigate further.
• Zhou Yi parted from Yan Chixiao and rode to Zhou Family Village, where a girl told him that his father was at Ninth Grandpa's house and Second Sister had returned for her wedding visit.
• Zhou Yi used the Spirit Eye Technique and saw that the village was ruined and its residents, including the children, were dead spirits; he healed the girl's wound with lunar essence and gave her candy.
• The girl led Zhou Yi through the village to Ninth Grandpa's house, where his parents and brothers welcomed him home.
• Zhou Yi greeted his relatives and attended the banquet, answering questions from the villagers and giving sweets to the children.

Zhou Yi discovered that Zhou Family Village had become a grave mound concealing a ghost-refining formation, and learned from his father that rebels had massacred the village ten years earlier. After sending his father’s soul back into the formation, Zhou Yi flew toward Hengyang to investigate the local gods’ possible involvement.

• At a wedding feast, Zhou Yi gave Second Sister a hairpin and his sister-in-law a jade bracelet before pretending to pass out from drink.
• Zhou Yi stopped a towering shadow wearing the hairpin from attacking villagers, then found his sister-in-law in the ancestral hall and sealed her after she revealed that someone had taken her child’s soul.
• Zhou Yi awoke at dawn beside the ruins of Zhou Family Village and used the Bloodline Soul-Summoning Art to call his father out of the grave mound.
• Zhou Yi calmed his father’s resentment and learned that rebels had slaughtered the villagers after they refused to provide grain and recruits, while an unknown visitor periodically took away the village’s fierce ghosts.
• Zhou Yi returned his father’s soul to the formation and flew toward Hengyang, suspecting the City God or local earth gods had helped keep thousands of souls from entering the underworld.

Zhou Yi confronted Hengyang's City God over his failure to stop the Single-Dragon Fiend and learned the fiend was near the earthquake-stricken mountains west of the city. After rescuing survivors, Zhou Yi found the fiend's Demon Banner raising the dead at a yin pool.

• Zhou Yi stormed Hengyang's City God Temple, knocked the City God from his statue, and pinned the underworld officers beneath his Golden Mace.
• The City God said he had not colluded with the Single-Dragon Fiend but had feared the fiend's threats, and he revealed the fiend's suspected location west of Hengyang.
• Zhou Yi punished the City God with Sword Qi and left the temple after overhearing the City God insist the fiend deserved death.
• Zhou Yi flew through the earthquake zone, carried survivors to safety, and followed the baleful energy to a yin pool formed by the disaster.
• Zhou Yi saw a Demon Banner awakening the earthquake victims' corpses and drawing them into the pool.

Zhou Yi uncovered Hermit Dulong’s role in a corpse-raising scheme tied to the Heavenly Demon Alliance and traveled to Guning to investigate the commandery governor. He and Yan Chixiao discovered Governor Zhao Gongfu and Bureau commander Pang Jiang were knowingly expanding the corpse fields for Zhao’s personal advancement.

• Zhou Yi killed Hermit Dulong and learned from his memories that he had destroyed a village, joined the Heavenly Demon Alliance, and worked with the Guning Commandery Governor to raise ghosts and plant corpses.
• Zhou Yi met Yan Chixiao in Guning, where Yan explained that Ji Gang had arranged to let a Silver Corpse attack the Cui Family Mansion before claiming credit for capturing it.
• Zhou Yi persuaded Yan Chixiao to investigate Governor Zhao Gongfu rather than kill him immediately, hoping to expose his crimes.
• Zhou Yi and Yan Chixiao secretly watched Zhao Gongfu for several nights, and Pang Jiang eventually arrived to discuss Hermit Dulong’s absence.
• Zhao Gongfu told Pang Jiang to continue the corpse-refining scheme, explaining that he needed a spirit pill to advance and dismissing the lives of the victims as insignificant.