Chapter Summaries

Zhou Yi confronted Wang Bo'an over his defense of demons at Spring Breeze Pavilion and recognized that Bright Moon was secretly absorbing yang energy. The next morning, Zhang Cheng confirmed the Demon-Slaying Bureau knew about Bright Moon but would not act without a legal reason, and warned Zhou Yi that demons with powerful backers could live in Great Qian.

• Wang Bo'an lectured Zhou Yi about the Demon-Slaying Bureau's treatment of demons, then grew embarrassed and stormed away when Zhou Yi asked about his father.
• Wang Hao laughed at Wang Bo'an, and Zhou Yi noticed Bright Moon gathering yang energy from the scholars she had charmed.
• Zhou Yi left Spring Breeze Pavilion after Zhang Cheng failed to come downstairs and returned to the inn alone.
• Zhang Cheng praised Zhou Yi's spiritual perception and confirmed Bright Moon had a problem, but said Great Qian law did not require killing demons who had harmed no one.
• Zhang Cheng told Zhou Yi that demons with powerful patrons could avoid being punished, then entertained him with tea and song.

Zhou Yi continued his covert cultivation by killing demons and monsters in the Punishment Office Prison, where he encountered the tortured courtesan queen Bright Moon, whose real name was Hu Yue. Before her execution, Hu Yue taught Feng Ling'er the Heavenly Fox Secret Canon, and Zhou Yi also learned the method as a guide to cultivation.

• Zhou Yi sold his monthly pills, spent the proceeds drinking with his colleagues, and learned that Li Xun was a distant descendant of the Great Qian imperial family.
• While Zhang Cheng stayed out late, Zhou Yi disguised himself as an executioner and entered the Earth-Class Prison to kill another prisoner.
• Zhou Yi found Bright Moon, revealed as Hu Yue of Green Mound, bound and tortured in the prison, and learned that she could see through his illusion.
• Hu Yue recognized Feng Ling'er as a spirit fox and agreed to teach her the Heavenly Fox Secret Canon before Zhou Yi executed her.
• Feng Ling'er cultivated as Hu Yue recited the method, and her single tail split into three as Hu Yue marveled at her talent.

Zhou Yi executed Hu Yue, gained three years of Dao Attainment, and discovered that his magical power and ability to sense the energies of heaven and earth had greatly improved. He studied the Heavenly Fox Secret Canon afterward but could not grasp the first step of Spirit Refining or find his Yin Spirit.

• Zhou Yi executed Hu Yue, learned of her past, and gained three years of Dao Attainment from the Demon and Monster Compendium.
• Zhou Yi sensed the energies of heaven and earth and dispersed the vengeance curse Hu Yue had left on him.
• Zhou Yi returned to the Ministry of Works, then went back to the Same Fortune Inn after Zhang Cheng failed to arrive.
• Zhou Yi heard the innkeeper recount Great Qian's victory over the Yaksha Demon Venerable's rebel army and studied the Heavenly Fox Secret Canon in his room.
• Zhou Yi understood parts of the Body Refining and Qi Refining volumes but failed to comprehend Spirit Refining or perceive a Yin Spirit.

Zhou Yi began copying Daoist scriptures to deepen his understanding and earn money, then watched Six Gates constables search his inn for an escaped imperial-prison criminal. He recognized the disguised fugitive as Bai Yutang and saw that Bai Yutang and Constable Li were linked by a faint red thread.

• Zhou Yi brought Zhang Cheng Pear Blossom White and asked him to recommend Daoist scriptures, and Zhang Cheng lent him handwritten copies and praised the value of copying books.
• Zhou Yi decided to copy Daoist scriptures for study and profit, then read the twelve volumes and repeatedly copied the Wave-Subduing True Person's sayings to gain insight into the yin spirit.
• Six Gates constables arrived at Same Fortune Inn to search for a criminal who had escaped from the imperial prison, and Constable Li found footprints on a ceiling beam in Zhou Yi's room.
• A newly hired waiter entered and pretended to speak with a Yu Province accent, but Zhou Yi used the Spirit Eye Technique to recognize him as Bai Yutang in disguise.
• Zhou Yi used the Qi-Reading Technique and saw a thin red thread connecting Bai Yutang's Heavenly Joy Star with Constable Li's stirring Red Phoenix Star.

Zhou Yi used the Qi-Reading Technique to help Li Hongling catch Bai Yutang and force him to agree to marry her. After the pair left, Zhou Yi continued copying Daoist scriptures and brought his manuscripts to the Top Scholar Hall to be bound.

• Zhou Yi numbed the innkeeper, causing Bai Yutang’s disguise to fail and allowing Li Hongling and four constables to capture him.
• Li Hongling threatened Bai Yutang with her goose-feather saber, and he nodded when she asked if he would marry her.
• Zhou Yi saw Bai Yutang and Li Hongling’s marriage fate solidify, while the innkeeper set off for Yu Province to report what had happened.
• Zhou Yi finished copying True Person Fubo’s collected sayings and signed the last page as Hermit Willow Spring.
• Zhou Yi took his Daoist manuscripts to the Top Scholar Hall, where the proprietor praised his calligraphy and offered him tea.

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.