Chapter Summaries

Xie Jinhuan awoke with missing memories in a mountain campsite beside a dead tomb robber and discovered he had grown far stronger while recovering the Zhenglun Sword from a demon-suppressing tomb. After spotting his eagle Coal Ball and learning a Red-Robed Female Yaoguai might be loose, he fled into the rainy night, with an unseen presence following him.

• Xie Jinhuan woke in an unfamiliar tent beside a corpse and pieced together that tomb robbers had been digging at a collapsed grave.
• Xie Jinhuan found a journal describing a Demon-Suppressing Coffin, a Red-Robed Female Yaoguai, and the Zhenglun Sword, which he realized he was holding.
• Xie Jinhuan discovered that three years had passed and that he had become vastly stronger, though he could not remember how.
• Xie Jinhuan mistook Coal Ball pecking at a roast rabbit for a monster, then asked whether it had seen a yaoguai.
• Xie Jinhuan took the Heavenly Gang Mace and left the campsite with Coal Ball, while an unseen presence followed them.

After losing nearly three years and arriving in Danyang, Xie Jinhuan went looking for his father's former colleague, Yang Dabiao, while the local authorities searched for monstrous bandits. Xie Jinhuan stumbled onto the bandits' hideout, and the chapter ended as fighters burst into the alley around him.

• Xie Jinhuan reached Danyang with Coal Ball and learned that river crossings were suspended, so he asked after Yang Dabiao, an old acquaintance of his father.
• Yang Ting, Yang Dabiao, and Linghu Qingmo discussed searching Dongcang Ward for suspected monstrous bandits, and Linghu Qingmo spotted Xie Jinhuan entering the district.
• Xie Jinhuan went to Dongcang Ward to find Yang Dabiao and followed a suspicious, disguised fighter into an alley.
• Xie Jinhuan overheard people inside a warehouse discussing dragon whisker grass and avoiding the authorities, then realized they were likely the bandits he had sought.
• Coal Ball startled the people inside, and figures burst through the warehouse wall, doors, and roof into the alley near Xie Jinhuan.

Xie Jinhuan discovered that his martial skills were overwhelmingly powerful and killed two men who ambushed him, leaving Chen Yuan alive for Head Constable Yang. After he struck down Linghu Qingmo by mistake, Yang Dabiao’s constables arrived, and Xie surrendered while insisting the clash was a misunderstanding.

• Xie Jinhuan assessed the three men surrounding him and warned them to surrender, but Chen Yuan refused.
• Xie Jinhuan killed the saber-wielding martial artist and the monk with his mace, then stabbed Chen Yuan with his sword.
• Xie Jinhuan asked Chen Yuan about the names of his techniques, but a stronger attacker suddenly approached.
• Linghu Qingmo charged into the alley to stop Xie Jinhuan, who struck him with his mace and knocked him unconscious despite his armor.
• Yang Dabiao and the constables arrived, and Xie Jinhuan surrendered his weapons and squatted down while explaining that he and the constables were on the same side.

Xie Jinhuan learned that his father had been presumed dead after a demon attack and suspected the investigation had missed something. Yang Dabiao released him from jail but required him to cooperate with the authorities’ investigation into demon bandits and a possible Transcendent Grade demon.

• Yang Dabiao recognized Xie Jinhuan in the jail and told him that his father and the rest of their party had supposedly died in a demon attack three years earlier.
• Xie Jinhuan recalled fleeing the attack with his father and questioned whether his father’s death had been properly confirmed, then broke his restraints and said he would investigate in the capital.
• Yang Dabiao explained that Xie Jinhuan was being held because he had encountered demon bandits in Dongcang Ward, while authorities were investigating a surge of bloody baleful qi linked to a possible Transcendent Grade demon.
• Yang Dabiao agreed to release Xie Jinhuan on the condition that he appear whenever summoned, and Xie Jinhuan pretended that his weak Palm Thunder spell was Daoist magic.
• Xie Jinhuan collected his weapons and left with Coal Ball, planning to stay near Yang Dabiao’s home.

Xie Jinhuan stayed in Danyang while investigating his father’s death and trying to avoid suspicion over the demonic aura on Purple Emblem Mountain. When Coalball panicked after Xie Jinhuan rescued Lin Wanyi and Lin Zisu from a runaway carriage, Xie Jinhuan suspected something unclean was nearby and hurried away.

• Xie Jinhuan watched Danyang Academy students leave while waiting for a broker to find him a room.
• Coalball reacted strangely to the Zhenglun Sword just before Lin Wanyi and Lin Zisu’s horses bolted and dragged their carriage toward the river.
• Lin Wanyi tried to stop the runaway horses, and Xie Jinhuan swept her and Lin Zisu to safety as their carriage crashed into the river.
• Lin Zisu introduced herself and asked Xie Jinhuan’s name, while Coalball tugged urgently at his collar.
• Xie Jinhuan suspected a sinister presence nearby and left with Coalball before Lin Wanyi could thank him.

Xie Jinhuan discovered that he had awakened Ye Hongshang, a powerful demon trapped in the Demon-Suppressing Mausoleum, and learned that a Soul-Locking Curse had erased his recent memories. He refused to dig up her body for now, leaving himself to face the danger of his own actions while Ye Hongshang gave him a month to decide.

• Xie Jinhuan drew the Zhenglun Sword near a privy, and Ye Hongshang appeared as a towering apparition after he tried to push the blade into a slop bucket.
• Ye Hongshang told Xie Jinhuan that the Soul-Locking Curse had sealed his memories and that he had pulled the Zhenglun Sword from the Demon-Suppressing Mausoleum, killed three grave robbers, and escaped after the tomb collapsed.
• Xie Jinhuan confirmed with Coal Ball that he had acted on his own, then asked Ye Hongshang how to undo the curse.
• Ye Hongshang offered to help if Xie Jinhuan dug up her buried body, but he refused to release her and asked instead for a way to protect himself.
• Ye Hongshang failed to offer him a useful weapon or ability, then disappeared after giving him a month to decide what to do.
• Coal Ball confirmed that Xie Jinhuan had kept watch, dug up a grave, killed several people, and returned to his tent, leaving him to worry about how to cover up the consequences.

Xie Jinhuan rented a cheap, noisy residence in Clear Spring Lane while trying to find a way to break the Soul-Locking Curse and deal with Ye. After a raucous banquet at the commandery princess’s estate fell silent, a ghostly woman in a red wedding gown appeared beside him.

• Xie Jinhuan returned to Constable Wang and the broker, then met Steward Hou, who offered him a residence in Clear Spring Lane.
• Xie Jinhuan learned that the ordinary houses cost far beyond his means, but Steward Hou offered a large two-courtyard house for less than two taels a month because it stood beside the commandery princess’s banquet pavilion.
• Xie Jinhuan signed the rental agreement and searched the residence with Coal Ball, finding no ghosts before he settled into the bare master bedroom.
• Xie Jinhuan resolved to advance to the first rank and rebury Ye, since he could not break the Soul-Locking Curse or safely investigate his father’s disappearance yet.
• A noisy banquet erupted behind Xie Jinhuan’s bedroom, with music, women gambling, loud bangs, and firecrackers.
• When the noise abruptly stopped, Xie Jinhuan opened his eyes and found a pale woman in a red wedding gown lying beside him with her tongue hanging out.

Xie Jinhuan discussed his predicament with Ye Hongshang, who suggested ways he might gain strength and obtain pills, then teased him before disappearing. At the County Commandant's Office, Linghu Qingmo questioned Yang Dabiao about Xie Jinhuan and decided to visit him under house arrest.

• Xie Jinhuan asked Ye Hongshang about her past and how he could improve his cultivation, and she suggested seeking help from the female physician or wealthy women.
• Ye Hongshang teased Xie Jinhuan and demonstrated that she could touch his face, then vanished, leaving Coal Ball frightened by Xie Jinhuan's apparent one-sided conversation.
• Yang Ting questioned Yang Dabiao about Xie Jinhuan's remarkable martial skill and his claim of studying the Hidden Immortal lineage.
• Linghu Qingmo arrived at the County Commandant's Office and asked Yang Dabiao about Xie Jinhuan and the investigation into the demon bandits.
• Yang Dabiao explained that Xie Jinhuan was under house arrest, and Linghu Qingmo went to see him.

Xie Jinhuan met Linghu Qingmo, the Purple Emblem Mountain disciple he had struck during the fight in Dongcang Ward, and agreed to spar with him. Xie Jinhuan used his experimental Upside-Down Candle technique to combine martial arts with weak Thunder-Binding Sword, then landed a claw strike on Linghu Qingmo’s chest.

• Linghu Qingmo visited Xie Jinhuan’s home to confront him about their earlier encounter, then admitted he had rushed in recklessly and apologized.
• After Xie Jinhuan doubted Linghu Qingmo’s claim to be Fairy Nangong’s disciple, Linghu Qingmo challenged him to a rematch.
• Xie Jinhuan proposed that the loser clean his courtyard, while Linghu Qingmo agreed to give Coal Ball to Xie Jinhuan if he lost.
• Xie Jinhuan explained that he was testing Upside-Down Candle by dividing his True Qi and retaining enough for one attack.
• Linghu Qingmo charged with his sword, but Xie Jinhuan’s Thunder-Binding Sword briefly paralyzed him, allowing Xie Jinhuan to strike his chest with Azure Dragon Claw Probe.

Xie Jinhuan defeated Linghu Qingmo in their courtyard spar and demonstrated a powerful technique, then made him honor their wager by sweeping. A lead about a decomposed body near Huai River Bay sent Linghu Qingmo rushing off to investigate, while Xie Jinhuan resumed training.

• Xie Jinhuan used a Thunder-Binding Sword move to defeat Linghu Qingmo, then explained his Silver Dragon Eight Forms technique after safely redirecting Linghu Qingmo's palm strike.
• Xie Jinhuan claimed to have trained at Wind Spirit Valley of the Hidden Immortal Lineage, and Linghu Qingmo struggled to decide whether he had been made a fool.
• Linghu Qingmo pinched Xie Jinhuan's chest, conceded the spar, and began sweeping the courtyard to honor their wager as Xie Jinhuan and Coal Ball helped clean.
• Xie Jinhuan mentioned the bandits' comments about a corpse by the river, and Linghu Qingmo recognized it as the unidentified body found at Huai River Bay five days earlier.
• Linghu Qingmo left to investigate the corpse and question the surviving captive, promising to finish cleaning later, while Xie Jinhuan returned to training.

Xie Jinhuan learned that the authorities were searching for the man who had left a trail on Purple Emblem Mountain, putting him in immediate danger. Unable to flee or strengthen himself alone, he went to the Lin Family Clinic to seek help from Lin Wanyi, where he overheard her suggestive conversation before asking to see her.

• Xie Jinhuan asked Coal Ball how he had earned money in the past, and Coal Ball suggested he had resorted to murder, robbery, and extortion.
• Xie Jinhuan encountered Yang Dabiao and Yang Ting, who explained that the prince's residence had ordered a search for a powerful man suspected of coming from Purple Emblem Mountain.
• Xie Jinhuan recognized his own footprint in the search report and learned that the Scarlet Qilin Guard and Directorate of Celestial Observation would be called in if the suspect was not found within three days.
• Xie Jinhuan decided that fleeing would make him a prime suspect, changed his shoes, and went to the Lin Family Clinic to seek a way to improve his strength.
• Xie Jinhuan overheard Lin Wanyi discussing a client's marital troubles and then heard clinic apprentices gossip about Lin Zisu's dangerous Overstuffed Pill.
• Xie Jinhuan asked the apprentice at the clinic to see Lin Wanyi, who was upstairs treating a patient.

Lin Wanyi met Xie Jinhuan at her clinic, where he recognized the cold yin energy afflicting her and used precise acupuncture to suppress it. His skill convinced her that he was exactly the person she had been looking for.

• Lin Wanyi learned that most of the students she supported had performed poorly in the autumn examinations and told Qinwen to search for more promising candidates.
• Xie Jinhuan arrived at the clinic with Coal Ball and thanked Lin Wanyi for her help the previous day.
• Xie Jinhuan identified signs of cold yin energy in Lin Wanyi, but she denied having a hidden ailment.
• Ye Hongshang secretly disrupted Lin Wanyi's cold yin energy, leaving her dizzy and unable to suppress it.
• Following Ye Hongshang's instructions, Xie Jinhuan flicked two silver needles into Lin Wanyi's acupuncture points and precisely contained the dangerous energy.
• Lin Wanyi realized that Xie Jinhuan was the person she had been looking for.

After treating Lin Wanyi, Xie Jinhuan learned she belonged to the Witch Cult and sought a way to obtain costly Dragon Blood Pills to strengthen his body. Lin Wanyi offered to provide them upfront if he learned the Dragon-Steed Response Art and taught it to her within three years, and Xie Jinhuan accepted.

• Xie Jinhuan treated Lin Wanyi and recognized that her cultivation technique followed Witch Cult methods, but promised not to expose her.
• Xie Jinhuan asked Lin Wanyi for pills strong enough to strengthen his body before he reached Transcendent Grade, and she offered to arrange Dragon Blood Pills for eight thousand taels.
• Xie Jinhuan tried to bargain for the pills by offering to repair Lin Wanyi's technique, but she instead proposed that he learn the Dragon-Steed Response Art from the Dan King Pavilion and teach it to her.
• Lin Wanyi promised to provide the Dragon Blood Pills upfront and gave Xie Jinhuan three years to fulfill the agreement or repay their market price.
• Xie Jinhuan accepted the deal and agreed to accompany Lin Wanyi to buy the ingredients.

A cloaked man hired a saber wielder to kill Xie Jinhuan for exposing his warehouse, while Xie traveled with Lin Wanyi to a market near Danyang Academy. With Ye Hongshang's help, they bought a blind box that contained a tiny pair of sheer Ice-Soul Silk pants, leaving them unsure what they had acquired.

• A cloaked man hired a saber wielder to kill Xie Jinhuan and gave him poison to try before using force.
• Xie Jinhuan and Lin Wanyi rode to the market, where Xie told her a fanciful story about his mace.
• Lin Wanyi and Xie Jinhuan visited Many Treasures Pavilion, where shoppers bought sealed boxes of Academy goods for thirty taels each.
• Ye Hongshang pointed out a promising box, and Xie persuaded Lin Wanyi to buy it and split any profit.
• Lin Wanyi opened the box and found Ice-Soul Silk that unfolded into an unusually small, sheer pair of pants.

Lin Wanyi and Xie Jinhuan discovered that the costly garments they bought were erotic magical implements, then purchased rare white yang flower at an enormous price. As they left the market, Xie Jinhuan rescued Lin Wanyi from poisoned powder and confronted the bandit Fu Dongping, whose attack ended with the Zhenglun Sword ringing out.

• Lin Wanyi tested the garments with her qi and discovered their revealing mechanisms, then reluctantly kept them after realizing the shop would not accept returns.
• Lin Wanyi bargained with a medicine merchant and paid sixteen hundred taels for two taels' weight of white yang flower.
• Lin Wanyi sent Jia Zheng to find more dragon yang flower as its price rose with the season.
• Xie Jinhuan sensed danger at the carriage and pulled Lin Wanyi clear of black poison powder, blocking it with the Zhenglun Sword.
• Fu Dongping identified himself as a wanted sixth-grade bandit, refused to reveal who had sent him or where the antidote was, and faced Xie Jinhuan as a piercing sword cry rang out.

Xie Jinhuan killed Fu Dongping, who revealed that a mysterious man had sent him to avenge the warehouse raid, while Lin Wanyi treated the poison Fu Dongping had used on her. Linghu Qingmo learned of the attack and headed to Xie Jinhuan’s home with antidotes.

• Xie Jinhuan killed Fu Dongping with one sword stroke and tortured him until he revealed that a mysterious man had ordered the attack over the warehouse raid.
• Fu Dongping died before Xie Jinhuan could question him further, and Xie Jinhuan found an empty poison bottle and three hundred taels on his body.
• Lin Wanyi told Jia Zheng to report the killing, then had Xie Jinhuan take her to his home so she could refine away the poison.
• At the County Commandant Guard Office, Yang Dabiao told Linghu Qingmo that Xie Jinhuan had killed Fu Dongping and that Lin Wanyi had been poisoned.
• Linghu Qingmo sent Liu Qingzhi to bring antidotes and hurried to Xie Jinhuan’s home.

While Lin Wanyi recovered from Blood-Coagulating Powder, Xie Jinhuan met with Linghu Qingmo, Yang Dabiao, and Liu Qingzhi to discuss the attack on him and the investigation. A bottle linked to Ascension Powder suggested Three Harmony Tower might be connected to the bandits, so the group went to investigate.

• Lin Wanyi suppressed the poison and continued healing while Xie Jinhuan left A Piao and the Zhenglun Sword to guard her before meeting the officers outside.
• Linghu Qingmo asked about Fu Dongping, and Xie Jinhuan explained that he had killed him before he could question him.
• Xie Jinhuan and the officers suspected an insider had revealed his movements to the attackers, though they could not explain why the bandits had sent Fu Dongping.
• A constable brought them a bottle from the scene, and Yang Dabiao and Liu Qingzhi recognized it as the kind used for Ascension Powder sold at Three Harmony Tower.
• Linghu Qingmo connected Ascension Powder's Dragon Whisker Grass to the bandits' possible activities, and he, Xie Jinhuan, Yang Dabiao, and Liu Qingzhi headed to Three Harmony Tower.

Lin Wanyi was possessed after she fell unconscious while examining the Zhenglun Sword, and the mysterious woman who took over her body investigated her cultivation and sensed something familiar about Xie Jinhuan. Meanwhile, Xie Jinhuan infiltrated Three Harmony Tower to confirm it sold Ascension Powder, but a faint scream drew him into the courtyard as Linghu Qingmo and the others went to look for him.

• Lin Wanyi examined the Zhenglun Sword, fell asleep after meeting the gaze of her reflection, and a mysterious woman took control of her body.
• The woman studied Lin Wanyi's Ghost Flame and poison arts, sensed familiar feelings toward Xie Jinhuan, and wondered about the chilling yin energy in her body.
• Linghu Qingmo sent Xie Jinhuan to Three Harmony Tower in disguise to buy Ascension Powder and establish grounds for a search.
• Xie Jinhuan confirmed that the gambling house sold Ascension Powder and persuaded its attendant to fetch a box of bottles and Golden Spear Pills.
• While waiting near the back of the hall, Xie Jinhuan heard a faint scream and slipped into the courtyard; Linghu Qingmo, Yang Dabiao, and Liu Qingzhi then went to check on him.

Xie Jinhuan and Linghu Qingmo discovered a man transformed into a demon in the Medicine Workshop behind Three Harmony Tower and fought to kill it. They summoned the Yamen and Prefectural Guards to investigate the compound for further demonic threats.

• Xie Jinhuan found a servant and an adviser dead in the Medicine Workshop, where a disfigured man was eating the servant’s hand.
• Linghu Qingmo arrived, and the demonic man sensed them, broke through a window, and attacked.
• Xie Jinhuan shielded Linghu Qingmo, then knocked the demon back with his mace and struck it with a devastating blow.
• Linghu Qingmo repeatedly struck the shattered demon with lightning until it stopped moving.
• Linghu Qingmo ordered Liu Qingzhi to alert the Yamen and Prefectural Guards and watch for anything demonic, while Yang Dabiao fired a signal firework.

After the Yamen uncovered evidence linking Li Shizhong’s gambling house to Ascension Powder and demonic bandits, Xie Jinhuan argued that the case might have been framed and pushed the authorities to investigate both the Li Household and the hidden mastermind. He left hoping the resulting turmoil would keep the court occupied and divert attention from Purple Emblem Mountain, while worrying that the Yamen might fail and turn its attention to him.

• Yang Ting and the coroner identified Li Shizhong’s charred body and suspected he had taken an improperly mixed Demon Transformation Pill, while Linghu Qingmo revealed that Xie Jinhuan’s rescue had aggravated his injuries.
• Yang Dabiao discovered hidden cash and account books recording Ascension Powder profits and payments to demonic bandits, including a recent payment of three hundred taels that Xie Jinhuan linked to Fu Dongping.
• Xie Jinhuan pointed out suspicious circumstances surrounding Li Shizhong’s transformation and death, raising the possibility that someone had planted evidence and shifted blame.
• Linghu Qingmo explained that the Li Household could deny responsibility and withhold its accounts, leaving the Yamen unable to verify whether the gambling-house ledgers had been forged.
• Xie Jinhuan urged the Yamen to investigate the Li Household and search urgently for a demonic mastermind; Yang Ting agreed to arrest suspects while Linghu Qingmo reported the case to the prefectural Yamen.
• After being sent to look after Doctor Lin, Xie Jinhuan hoped both the Li Household and the demonic bandits would cause enough trouble to divert attention from Purple Emblem Mountain.