Recaps

After reaching the astral realm and secretly refining innate first-rank chaos dragon astral force, Yue Wen asked Da Long how to prepare for a dangerous fight against a powerful Demon Race opponent. Da Long offered a set of costly pills and talismans, but Yue Wen lacked enough Evil-Suppressing Money, and Da Long refused to extend credit.

• Yue Wen recuperated from Zhao Xing'er's beating and tested the immense strength and chaos sword qi he had gained by reaching the astral realm.
• Yue Wen met Da Long in the black space, where Da Long recognized his innate first-rank chaos dragon astral force and praised his talent.
• Yue Wen asked Da Long how he could defeat a Demon Race opponent whose cultivation had fallen to the astral realm but whose combat experience came from the fifth realm.
• Da Long recommended finding help, then listed pills and talismans that could suppress the demon, reveal its true form, strengthen Yue Wen, and lend him a demon-slaying dharma form.
• Da Long priced the items at 382 Evil-Suppressing Money, but Yue Wen had only 343 and tried to ask for a concession.
• Da Long refused credit, installments, and a discount, then dismissed Yue Wen for having no money.

Short on Evil-Suppressing Money and preparing for a dangerous confrontation, Yue Wen took a mine-clearing job in City Two and mastered the Xun Sword True Formula overnight. He arrived at the mine, where the owner announced that the hired cultivators would have to pass a test before entering.

• Yue Wen accepted a job clearing Evil Spirits from a mine outside City Two to gain resources and improve his combat strength.
• After taking a Qi-Blood Biscuit, Yue Wen repeatedly entered the Xun Sword True Formula's visualization diagram and realized he had to merge with the wind rather than resist it.
• Yue Wen completed his comprehension of the Xun Sword True Formula and left Zhao Xing'er to look after little Lu Siqi and Big White.
• Yue Wen took little Lu Siqi to kindergarten, then traveled to City Two and reached the remote mine.
• The mine owner gathered the hired cultivators and announced that they would have to pass a test before going underground.

Yue Wen passed the mine’s strength test under the alias Huang Dahu and joined Shen Qing and Liu Yan to investigate the evil spirits. After the trio descended to the first level, Yue Wen volunteered to fight the monsters alone, surprising his cautious partners.

• The fat mine boss tested applicants by asking them to shatter a spiritual stone with one blow, and Shen Qing and Liu Yan passed with their vine whip and flame blade.
• Yue Wen pulverized a stone with his wind-and-thunder fist, concealed his identity as Huang Dahu, and accepted the job alongside Shen Qing and Liu Yan.
• The boss paid the three men thirty thousand each and explained that evil spirits had spread through the mine’s levels, with their source likely on the seventeenth level.
• The three descended to the first level on a suspended steel platform, where a Muddy Monster rolled toward them from the shadows.
• Shen Qing urged the group to cooperate and avoid betraying one another, but Yue Wen called him and Liu Yan his seniors and charged forward to clear the level alone.

Yue Wen repeatedly cleared the mine’s evil spirits while insisting Shen Qing and Liu Yan let him do all the fighting, leaving the pair baffled and Shen Qing increasingly suspicious of his motives. When Shen Qing finally rushed ahead to claim his own chance to show off, he cried out in pain almost immediately.

• Yue Wen swiftly destroyed the Muddy Monsters on the first level and told Shen Qing and Liu Yan he would scout ahead alone.
• On the second and third levels, Yue Wen again stopped the Red and Green Fiends from helping and cleared the Muddy Monsters and Stone Crab Insects as a token of respect.
• Yue Wen kept finding reasons to fight alone as the group descended, eventually bringing them to the tenth level without Shen Qing or Liu Yan killing any demons.
• Yue Wen eagerly anticipated the wealth of Evil-Suppressing Money he could refine from the mine’s many evil spirits, while Liu Yan praised him and Shen Qing suspected he was trying to attract her attention.
• Shen Qing grabbed Yue Wen’s shoulder and insisted on clearing the next level himself, then leaped down ahead of them.
• Less than three seconds later, Yue Wen and Liu Yan heard Shen Qing cry out in pain below.

Yue Wen, Liu Yan, and Shen Qing fought their way deeper into the mine and discovered that its Evil Spirits were tied to people who had died there. Aboveground, masked men from Flame Ghost Hall threatened the mine boss and moved to enter the mine themselves.

• Bloodthirsty Bats swarmed Shen Qing, and Yue Wen and Liu Yan helped him drive them deeper into the mine.
• Yue Wen killed a humanoid Muddy Monster made from sludge and a human corpse, while the three cultivators decided to continue exploring.
• The mine boss admitted that Master Yi had been badly injured and considered calling the Supernatural Affairs Bureau because people had died below.
• Masked men arrived and demanded to use the mine, threatening the boss with photographs of his family and mistresses.
• After learning one mistress had deceived him, the boss tried to leave, but the masked leader kicked him down and identified the group as Flame Ghost Hall before heading into the mine.

Yue Wen and the Red and Green Fiends reached the mine’s lowest level, defeated a monster formed from evil spirits, and discovered an infant sealed inside an ancient spirit-stone wall. As they tried to leave, a masked man arrived with corpse puppets and attacked them.

• Mink-Fur Fatty failed to recognize Flame Ghost Hall, so the masked man ordered his men to beat him and went into the mine.
• Yue Wen and the Red and Green Fiends descended to the seventeenth level and destroyed a monster made of mud, stone, and Bloodthirsty Bats.
• Yue Wen killed the monster’s core corpse, which Liu Yan identified as the remains of a powerful evil cultivator who had forged a dharma body.
• Yue Wen exposed a breathing infant inside a deposit of Azure Mystic Ancient Spirit Stone, and the group decided to retreat rather than disturb it.
• A masked man confronted the group at the mine entrance and sent corpse puppets to attack; Yue Wen recognized one as a corpse, while Liu Yan was struck by another.

Yue Wen outsmarted and killed the masked Flame Ghost Hall cultivator, who had been preparing to awaken a Spirit Infant with the blood essence of cultivators. After the fight, the blood vanished into the Ancient Spirit Stone Wall, revealing an empty center.

• The masked man’s corpse puppets overpowered Liu Yan and Shen Qing, while Yue Wen drove back the two attacking him.
• Yue Wen pretended to be a fellow disciple of the masked man and tried to lead Liu Yan and Shen Qing away, but both men attacked each other as they passed.
• The masked man revealed that his apparent body was a corpse puppet, while Yue Wen faked being overcome by black mist and waited for him to expose his true body.
• Yue Wen wounded the masked man with a Shadow Talisman, teleported close, and killed him by severing his qi veins; the masked man then exploded in an attempt to awaken the Spirit Infant.
• Yue Wen rescued Liu Yan and Shen Qing from the blast and explained his ruse after waking them.
• Yue Wen noticed the bloody mist seeping into the Ancient Spirit Stone Wall, which revealed that its center was completely empty.

Yue Wen learned that the baby in the stone wall was a spirit infant created by a demonic secret art, then followed the Demon Race boy to a villa in hopes of taking the Snake Mountain Bronze Cauldron. With the boy’s home located and the city lockdown still in effect, Yue Wen prepared to buy several battle items and the Trace-Hiding Art from Da Long.

• The Red and Green Fiends told the Supernatural Affairs Bureau that an elderly Astral Realm expert named Huang had helped them defeat the evil cultivator, following Yue Wen’s instructions to conceal his identity.
• Yue Wen counted his eighty-three remaining pieces of Evil-Suppressing Money and asked the Demon Emperor Hide about the baby in the stone wall.
• Starving Ghost identified the baby as a spirit infant made through the Demon God Cult’s Demonized Spirit Embryo Great Art, and Yue Wen concluded that the dying evil cultivator had awakened it before being killed.
• Yue Wen watched Zhao Xing'er pick up Lu Siqi, spotted the Demon Race boy at the kindergarten, and followed the boy’s car to a villa in Riverside Villa District.
• After surveying the villa’s surroundings, Yue Wen entered the Black-Gold Great Hall and told Da Long he wanted several battle items and the Trace-Hiding Art.

Yue Wen infiltrated the villa of the demon Qimo Tuo and discovered that the boy planned to return to the Demon Realm after retrieving the Snake Mountain Bronze Cauldron. He learned that Qimo Tuo’s agents were hunting for whoever took the Demon Emperor Hide, and prepared to attack the demon.

• Qimo Tuo berated and struck his human servants for making mistakes, then revealed his plans to leave Jiangcheng City and promised to bring them to the Demon Realm.
• Yue Wen studied the Trace-Hiding Art, replied to Zhao Xing'er’s messages, and slipped into the villa unseen.
• Yue Wen overheard Qimo Tuo accuse his servants of failing to find the missing Demon Emperor Hide and order them to investigate the East City Cemetery.
• Qimo Tuo whipped his servants and ordered them to arrest anyone connected to the cemetery, while revealing his intention to capture more humans as blood food before leaving.
• After Qimo Tuo’s servants left, Yue Wen stayed hidden and prepared to attack him.

At the City Seven branch office, Perfected One Fengguang refused Hong Zhenfeng’s demand to use a dangerous melody to find the Snake Mountain Bronze Cauldron, and Hong threatened that the Xingtian Sect would act by the next evening. Meanwhile, Yue Wen ambushed Qimo Tuo with a Demon-Suppressing Stone Talisman and a stack of pills, then unleashed a powerful sword strike as demonic energy leaked from the riverside villa.

• Hong Zhenfeng demanded permission to use the Illusory World Birth-Demon Melody, but Perfected One Fengguang refused because it could unleash violent impulses across Jiangcheng City.
• Hong Zhenfeng warned Perfected One Fengguang that the Xingtian Sect would take action if the Snake Mountain Bronze Cauldron remained missing by the next evening.
• The Supernatural Affairs Bureau received a report of demonic aura leaking from a riverside villa, and Perfected One Fengguang and Hong Zhenfeng recognized the urgency.
• Yue Wen used the Demon-Suppressing Stone Talisman to block Qimo Tuo’s escape, then swallowed several pills to enhance his strength.
• Yue Wen unleashed a blazing sword strike at Qimo Tuo and boasted that it had cost hundreds in Evil-Suppressing Money.

Yue Wen fought Qimo Tuo to stop it from escaping with the Snake Mountain Bronze Cauldron, unleashing a borrowed Heavenly Fire Demon-Slaying Dharma-Form to destroy it. The Supernatural Affairs Bureau arrived afterward and began searching nearby for the cauldron and the unknown Fifth Realm expert.

• Qimo Tuo used demonic energy to blunt Yue Wen's sword strike, but Yue Wen bound it with a Purple Lightning Whip and began summoning his Dharma-Form.
• Yue Wen unleashed the Heavenly Fire Demon-Slaying Dharma-Form, which took the shape of a flaming dump truck, and chased Qimo Tuo into the courtyard.
• Yue Wen struck Qimo Tuo with the Dump Truck Sword Art and destroyed it, believing he was protecting his family and the Snake Mountain Bronze Cauldron.
• Daoist Guaguang and the Supernatural Affairs Bureau secured the villa and searched the district, suspecting that a Fifth Realm human had taken the cauldron.

After killing Qimo Tuo, Yue Wen escaped the search and returned home with the demon’s sealed Storage Artifact. Da Long offered him the Dragon-Snake Escape Art for 499 pieces of Evil-Suppressing Money, and the next morning Zhao Xing'er confronted Yue Wen over her missing snacks.

• Yue Wen fled through the river with Qimo Tuo’s gemstone ring, but could not break its formation or access the Snake Mountain Bronze Cauldron inside.
• Yue Wen evaded the Immortal Sects’ search and returned to the agency, where Big White secretly raided Zhao Xing'er's snack drawer.
• Yue Wen asked Da Long how to open the ring, and Da Long offered the Dragon-Snake Escape Art for 499 pieces of Evil-Suppressing Money.
• Yue Wen decided to seek the arcane art later and slept until morning.
• Zhao Xing'er accused Yue Wen of eating her snacks, while he blamed Big White and teased her about the dog’s guilty act.

Yue Wen and Zhao Xing'er set a trap to catch Big White stealing snacks while Yue Wen read about the demon’s death and the missing Snake Mountain Bronze Cauldron. Their confrontation with Big White was interrupted by Hu Jiuyi, who arrived to check on Howling Sky and ended up being fed luosifen-flavored chips.

• Zhao Xing'er told Yue Wen that the kindergarten had been sealed after a demon was discovered there, and she planned to move into the Agency to save money.
• Yue Wen read forum posts about the dump truck manifestation that killed the demon, the Xingtian Sect’s search for the missing Snake Mountain Bronze Cauldron, and the reappearance of Wang Jiangchen.
• Yue Wen and Zhao Xing'er pretended to leave so Big White would steal the snacks, then caught it opening the drawer and eating a bag of chips.
• Hu Jiuyi arrived to check on Howling Sky and scolded Yue Wen for feeding Big White luosifen-flavored chips.
• Zhao Xing'er made Hu Jiuyi eat the chips, and Yue Wen protested as their joking argument turned him into Hu Jiuyi’s supposed uncle.

The author thanked readers for their October and November monthly votes, announced the raffle results, and explained how winners could claim their prizes. The author laid out December’s raffle and extra prizes tied to the book’s final monthly-vote ranking.

• The author thanked readers who cast monthly votes in October and November and said the raffle results would appear in the author’s note.
• The author told winners to join the reader group and contact Tianxin to claim their prizes, which would expire if unclaimed for a month.
• The author announced December’s raffle prizes: one prize of 666 yuan, two of 168 yuan, twenty of 66 yuan, and thirty of 18 yuan.
• The author promised twenty additional 66-yuan prizes if the book ranked in the top 100, and thirty more if it ranked in the top 50.
• The author said future prizes would grow if the book performed better and pledged to address any problems with the raffle process.

Hu Jiuyi warned Yue Wen about the dangers of exploring the Wasteland Zone and helped him join a rogue cultivator team group. After the search for the Snake Mountain Bronze Cauldron faded, Yue Wen considered venturing out and revealing his astral realm, until Qi Dian arrived at the agency.

• Hu Jiuyi recounted his perilous return from the Wasteland Zone and advised Yue Wen to find reliable teammates before exploring.
• Hu Jiuyi invited Yue Wen to join the River City Rogue Cultivators' Trustworthy Teaming Group and explained how to survive encounters with people, demon beasts, and demons.
• Hu Jiuyi described escaping a Head-Seeking Demon by leading it through Hyena Wolf Valley, then left after bidding Yue Wen and Big White farewell.
• The search for the Snake Mountain Bronze Cauldron lost momentum, and Yue Wen joined the group, considered trips into the Wasteland Zone, and weighed revealing that he had reached the astral realm.
• As Yue Wen and Zhao Xing'er discussed lunch, Qi Dian entered the agency and asked whether they were free.

Qi Dian recruited Yue Wen and Zhao Xing'er to investigate the disappearance of Lin Qiusheng, which may involve the Three Wen Society and an evil spirit. Fang Hui revealed that the creature resembling Lin Qiusheng had looked at her helplessly and said, “Save me.”

• Qi Dian told Yue Wen and Zhao Xing'er that a missing-student case near City Seven Vocational and Technical College might involve the Three Wen Society, and they agreed to help.
• Yue Wen, Zhao Xing'er, and Qi Dian traveled to the college, where Qi Dian explained that the Supernatural Affairs Bureau suspected Lin Qiusheng of murder but had suspended its investigation.
• Qi Dian introduced Yue Wen and Zhao Xing'er to Fang Hui, Lin Qiusheng's classmate, who said Lin had been bullied by Wang Huan and was rumored to have joined the Three Wen Society.
• Fang Hui described seeing a red-haired monster with Lin Qiusheng's face crouching over Wang Huan's headless body, then fleeing as the girls approached.
• Fang Hui said the Three Wen Society had intimidated the girls and revealed that Lin Qiusheng had looked at her and said, “Save me.”

Yue Wen, Qi Dian, and Zhao Xing'er investigated Lin Qiusheng's suspected murder and learned he had worked at the Blazing Flame Bar, where they went to question the Three Wen Society's security chief. They found out he was partying on the third floor and headed there.

• Qi Dian questioned whether Lin Qiusheng would have become an evil cultivator, and Fang Hui asked the group to help clear his name if he was innocent.
• Fang Hui told Yue Wen, Qi Dian, and Zhao Xing'er that Lin Qiusheng had worked at the Blazing Flame Bar and that the Three Wen Society had threatened her.
• Yue Wen discovered that Qi Dian and Zhao Xing'er attended university, while they learned he had never enrolled.
• Zhao Xing'er dressed the group in flashy disguises, and they rode to the Nightclub District and entered the Blazing Flame Bar.
• Yue Wen tipped a server to learn that the security chief, Brother Kun, was having a party at the pool on the third floor, then took the money back.

Yue Wen, Qi Dian, and Zhao Xing'er kidnapped Brother Kun from the Blazing Flame Bar to question him about Lin Qiusheng. Brother Kun revealed that Lin had been sent to a research institute run by the Three Wen Society and Pudu Medical, but he was still hiding the institute’s location.

• Zhao Xing'er punched out Brother Kun on the third floor of the Blazing Flame Bar, and Yue Wen and Qi Dian helped her escape with him on an electric scooter.
• Yue Wen questioned Brother Kun at the agency, and he identified himself as the leader of the Three Wen Society's Ninth Team.
• Brother Kun said he had recruited Lin Qiusheng for a research institute after learning Lin urgently needed money.
• Brother Kun revealed that Lin later developed red hair, collapsed, and was taken back to the institute, and that he had helped cover up Lin's killing at a vocational college.
• Yue Wen accused Brother Kun of knowing the institute's location and threatened to unleash Zhao Xing'er, prompting Brother Kun to admit that he knew it.

Yue Wen, Zhao Xing'er, and Qi Dian infiltrated a Pudu Sect research institute and discovered shackled young people being used as test subjects for a Red Fox Gene Potion. As the director began injecting them, Zhao Xing'er and Qi Dian prepared to act, but an alarm sounded over trouble in the holding cells.

• Yue Wen, Zhao Xing'er, and Qi Dian entered the institute grounds after Yue Wen used the Trace-Hiding Art to slip inside.
• Yue Wen discovered that a Three Wen Fisheries truck had delivered shackled young test subjects, some showing signs of a red-haired transformation.
• Zhao Xing'er knocked out the truck driver, and she and Qi Dian infiltrated the institute by pretending to be test subjects.
• A bespectacled director began injecting the sleeping subjects with red liquid while Yue Wen remained hidden.
• Zhao Xing'er gestured about killing the director, the nurses, and everyone in the room, while Qi Dian frantically tried to stop her.
• An urgent alarm sounded, and a worker reported that trouble had broken out again in the holding cells.

Yue Wen infiltrated the research institute and rescued Lin Qiusheng, while Zhao Xing'er and Qi Dian tried to hold off the director. After the director savagely wounded Qi Dian, Yue Wen arrived and prepared to fight him, declaring that he could defeat the Astral Realm expert without medicine.

• Yue Wen found Lin Qiusheng imprisoned and interrupted the guards as they tried to kill him.
• Yue Wen freed Lin Qiusheng, but the director struck him down near the gate; Zhao Xing'er blocked the director's next attack and moved to escape with him.
• Qi Dian confronted the director with a dazzling display, but the director quickly overpowered him and pursued Zhao Xing'er and Lin Qiusheng.
• Qi Dian repeatedly rose to attack the director, finally wounding his calf before the director raised a giant claw to strike him down.
• Yue Wen teleported in, wounded the director, extinguished the flames on Qi Dian, and said he could beat the director without medicine.

Yue Wen killed Hu Lingyi, the director of a secret Red Fox Gene Potion institute, then helped Fang Qingcang take control of the investigation. The chapter left Yue Wen and Qi Dian realizing that the Three Wen Society served the powerful Hu Family and that the dead director was one of its direct-line descendants.

• Hu Lingyi transformed into a fiery fox and attacked Yue Wen, who used Shadow Talismans and his sword techniques to destroy the director’s copies and kill him.
• Yue Wen questioned the institute staff, sent evidence to Wang Shoucai, and learned that Fang Qingcang would lead the response.
• Yue Wen asked Qi Dian about Riverside Gate’s Ten-Foot Wave Mystic Art while they waited for the Bureau’s team to arrive.
• Fang Qingcang explained that the institute had secretly tested illegal Red Fox Gene Potion on deceived subjects and arranged for the victims and evidence to be taken away.
• Fang Qingcang warned Yue Wen that the investigation could be difficult because the Three Wen Society served the Hu Family, whose direct-line descendant Yue Wen had killed.

Yue Wen and Qi Dian learned why the Hu Family’s influence made the Supernatural Affairs Bureau cautious, then brought the rescued Lin Qiusheng near his home. Lin Qiusheng spoke to his mother by phone, but Zhao Xing’er’s absurd cover story led Mrs. Lin to condemn him.

• Fang Qingcang explained that the institute’s evidence could destroy its local branches but probably would not bring down the Hu Family or Pudu Sect.
• Qi Dian told Yue Wen that the Hu Family controlled the Fox-Pressing Pagoda, where a powerful Fox Demon was sealed and the seal’s three-hundred-year term was nearing its end.
• Lin Qiusheng went home to see his mother from a distance, but feared his altered appearance would frighten her.
• Yue Wen and Zhao Xing’er told Mrs. Lin a fabricated story about Lin Qiusheng’s arrest, and she demanded to speak with him.
• Lin Qiusheng called his mother, who angrily disowned him after hearing Zhao Xing’er’s story, leaving him bewildered.

Daoist Guaguang ordered Fang Qingcang to crack down on City Seven’s criminal organizations and agreed to make a better recruitment offer to Yue Wen. Meanwhile, Yue Wen signed up for a Snow Lotus expedition but lacked the deposit, and Qi Dian told him he had left the Riverside Gate when Yue Wen tried to sell him a cultivation diagram.

• Fang Qingcang reported that Hu Lingyi had conducted the monster-gene research on his own, and Daoist Guaguang ordered a cleanup of the Three Wen Society and other criminal organizations.
• Fang Qingcang told Daoist Guaguang that Yue Wen had killed an Astral Realm Demon-Blood Human alone and had likely entered the Astral Realm.
• Wang Shoucai urged Daoist Guaguang to improve Yue Wen’s recruitment offer, and Daoist Guaguang agreed to let him try again with better terms.
• Yue Wen joined a five-person team planning to harvest Snow Lotuses at Autumn Cloud Lake, then realized he could not afford its three-hundred-thousand deposit.
• Yue Wen messaged Qi Dian about buying his Xun Sword True Formula Visualization Diagram, but Qi Dian replied that he had already left the Riverside Gate.

Yue Wen recruited Qi Dian into the Yue Family Cultivation Office and borrowed most of his remaining money to fund a trip to the Wasteland Zone. Meanwhile, the leader of the Pudu Sect sent more people to Jiangcheng City, hoping to find a clue to her missing husband.

• Qi Dian left the Riverside Gate after his master urged him to apologize to the Hu Family and blame Yue Wen's Agency for destroying the research institute.
• Yue Wen invited Qi Dian to join the Agency, and Qi Dian arrived the next morning after deciding to keep pursuing cultivation.
• Yue Wen borrowed Qi Dian's remaining 264,000 yuan to help pay the security deposit for his planned trip to the Wasteland Zone.
• Yue Wen, Zhao Xing'er, and Qi Dian agreed to catch fish for food until Captain Wang invited Yue Wen to dinner at the Riverside Boat-Head Banquet.
• The Pudu Sect's young woman reported that a stock account had been accessed from an internet café in Satellite City No. 7, and the old woman ordered closer cooperation with the Hu Family and more people sent to Jiangcheng City.
• The Pudu Sect's old woman believed the account activity might lead to her husband, who had been missing for a hundred years.

Wang Shoucai tried to recruit Yue Wen into the Supernatural Affairs Bureau over an expensive dinner, but Yue Wen remained unconvinced. As Wang Shoucai pitched the benefits of joining and competing in the Youth Cultivators' Assembly, Yue Wen, Zhao Xing'er, and Qi Dian devoured the banquet dishes before he could eat them.

• Wang Shoucai met Yue Wen, Zhao Xing'er, and Qi Dian at Bow Banquet to make another attempt at recruiting Yue Wen.
• Wang Shoucai offered Yue Wen the possibility of becoming Perfected One Fengguang's nominal disciple, but Yue Wen said direct discipleship was too unlikely to sway him.
• The three young people ate the Spirit Goose Fish so quickly that only its skeleton remained before Wang Shoucai could take a bite.
• Wang Shoucai urged Yue Wen to join the Bureau so he could enter the City Heroes' Battle through the Immortal Sect division and avoid the independent cultivators' points tournament.
• Yue Wen, Zhao Xing'er, and Qi Dian dismantled and ate the Back-Split Immortal Pool Shrimp while Wang Shoucai watched helplessly.