Recaps

Zhou Muzhi told Li Jingfei about his conflict with the Qian Family and received his master's backing, while Li Jingfei urged him to use the family as a test of his strength. Zhou then learned that Half-Immortal Xu needed rare ingredients and information about a ghost's past to complete the Vengeful Ghost Incense, leaving Zhou to seek help and investigate the ghost's identity.

• Zhou Muzhi told Li Jingfei that Qian Zhen had tried to seize the Zhou Family's ancestral estate and that Lao Xu had killed Ma Jin.
• Li Jingfei recognized the Qian Family's connection to the unclean thing and promised to support Zhou Muzhi, encouraging him to make the family his whetstone.
• Zhou Muzhi visited Half-Immortal Xu, who said he lacked five core ingredients and needed the ghost's memories to finish the incense.
• Zhou Muzhi proposed bringing in the one-armed man who had supplied the materials, and Half-Immortal Xu asked for guards to accompany him.
• Half-Immortal Xu explained that he needed details about the ghost's identity, personality, relationships, and interests, so Zhou Muzhi decided to investigate through the gambling house.

Zhou Muzhi confronted the blood-red vengeful spirit after Nine Heavens Profound Intent expired, then used the deduction panel to learn Nine Hells Origin-Resolving True Intent. He successfully tempered his arm bones, gathered Light Body, and emerged from cultivation at dusk.

• Zhou Muzhi faced the vengeful spirit directly, but his physical strength passed through it while Scorching Fire True Intent disrupted its form.
• The vengeful spirit vanished, and Zhou Muzhi inspected the deduction panel and chose the lost supreme art Nine Hells Origin-Resolving True Intent.
• Zhou Muzhi realized his Scorching Fire True Intent met the art's entry requirement and began tempering the bones in his left arm.
• After enduring the pain, Zhou Muzhi gathered Light Body, one of the Five Qi, and confirmed his new cultivation status on the panel.
• Zhou Muzhi left his wrecked room and saw that dusk had arrived.

After breaking through, Zhou Muzhi agreed to meet with Zhou Buren and prepared to confront the Qian Family, while Qian Zhen ordered an attack on the Zhou Family. The chapter ended with Zhou Buren warning that the Qian Family was too powerful to challenge directly and saying he had a plan.

• Zhou Muzhi tested his new Light Body qi, then agreed to meet Zhou Buren in the study.
• Qian Zhen learned that Ma Jin and Hua Kai were dead, dismissed their useless superior, and ordered White Face to eliminate the Zhou Family.
• White Face accepted the order, while Qian Zhen considered exploiting the Zhou Family's women and property.
• Zhou Muzhi told Zhou Buren that Lao Xu would remain his personal guard and identified Qian Zhen as the threat they would have to face.
• Zhou Buren recalled the Qian Family's power and the assassination attempt, then told Zhou Muzhi that he had a plan.

Zhou Muzhi reassured Zhou Buren that the family had allies and a plan to face the Qian Family, then set the Zhou Family to work gathering resources and supporting Half-Immortal Xu. He trained in the rear courtyard and concluded that advancing his cultivation would require more extraordinary resources.

• Zhou Buren proposed asking the Zhong Family for help through the Zhou family's eldest brother, but Zhou Muzhi doubted they would protect the family from covert attacks.
• Zhou Muzhi told Zhou Buren that their parents were safe at the True Immortal Temple, that he had reached the Blood Gate, and that Li Jingfei had accepted him as a disciple.
• Zhou Muzhi instructed the Zhou Family to search for old objects and provide Half-Immortal Xu with manpower and financial support.
• Zhou Buren agreed to approach the Zhong Family and discussed precautions against the Qian Family with Zhou Muzhi.
• The next day, Zhou Muzhi tested his strength and speed with boxing in the rear courtyard and realized that further cultivation would require more extraordinary resources.

Zhou Muzhi asked Li Jingfei to teach him a fighting art and began learning the Cloud-Chasing Thunderclap Technique. Elsewhere, Du Wen persuaded Half-Immortal Xu to use his supernatural methods against a group of mountain foragers to obtain their goods.

• Zhou Muzhi traveled to the Li Residence and asked Li Jingfei to teach him a martial art suited to his realm.
• Li Jingfei demonstrated the Cloud-Chasing Thunderclap Technique, startling Zhou Muzhi with his speed and strength.
• Li Jingfei began teaching Zhou Muzhi the technique’s foundational leg variations.
• Du Wen explained to Half-Immortal Xu that a group of mountain foragers had robbed him and suggested taking their goods.
• Half-Immortal Xu agreed to help Du Wen deal with the mountain foragers.

White Face ordered an attack on the Zhou Family, and an assassin ambushed Zhou Muzhi’s carriage. Zhou Muzhi killed the assassin and asked the coachman where his second brother had been staying.

• White Face learned that a probe sent to the Zhou Family had not returned and ordered his men to kill Zhou Buren and Zhou Muzhi that night.
• Li Hong delivered Third Master’s warning about suspicious strangers near the Zhou Family’s properties, and Zhou Muzhi left the Li Family residence.
• A Qian Family assassin leaped from a rooftop and destroyed Zhou Muzhi’s carriage with a heavy saber strike.
• Zhou Muzhi appeared unharmed, broke the assassin’s spine, and killed him when he refused to answer questions.
• Zhou Muzhi asked the frightened coachman which ward his second brother had been in lately.

Zhou Muzhi arrived as Zhou Buren and Lao Xu were ambushed by masked attackers sent by Qian Zhen. He killed White Face and Nineteen, while Lao Xu defeated the remaining attackers.

• Zhou Muzhi learned from the coachman that Zhou Buren was at the Distillery and hurried there.
• Lao Xu noticed the unnaturally silent streets as Zhou Buren and his guards walked home, then warned the group to stay alert.
• White Face and Nineteen led more than twenty attackers in surrounding Zhou Buren and his party.
• Zhou Buren tried to invoke the Zhong Family's agreement to keep the dispute confined to business, but Nineteen attacked Lao Xu.
• Zhou Muzhi appeared, killed White Face, then intercepted and killed Nineteen with a powerful kick.
• Lao Xu killed the remaining attackers with his saber.

After Zhou Muzhi defeated the Qian Family’s attackers, Zhou Buren reported the ambush to the county authorities to protect the Zhou Family from further attacks. Zhou Muzhi returned to his martial training, and by evening Third Master brought him news about a wronged soul.

• Zhou Buren rewarded the surviving guards and decided to report the attack to the authorities rather than hide the bodies.
• Zhou Muzhi agreed with Zhou Buren and went with him and another companion to the county office, where officials dispatched twenty-six constables to the alley.
• The county office opened a case, alerted the county magistrate, and sent a disguised figure to the Qian Family while the Qian Family made no immediate move.
• Zhou Muzhi went to the Li Residence to continue learning leg techniques from Li Jingfei, who agreed to consider writing the Cloud-Chasing Thunderclap Technique into a booklet.
• Zhou Muzhi searched near Liu Street for clues about a wronged soul, and Third Master hurried over to tell him he had found news.

Zhou Muzhi followed Third Master to a hidden alley where street children told him about Sister Yuan and the adults who had cared for them. After learning their story and taking Sister Yuan’s embroidered shoes to investigate the wronged spirit’s memories, he left the children in Third Master’s care.

• Third Master led Zhou Muzhi through a maze of alleys to a hidden group of dilapidated houses, where several frightened street children lived.
• The tallest child begged Zhou Muzhi to return Sister Yuan and explained that Granny Chun was ill and that Little Doggy had disappeared after going to Guang Heizi’s mine.
• Zhou Muzhi sent Third Master to check on Granny Chun, who was already dead, then questioned the children about their lives with Sister Yuan and Granny Chun.
• Third Master found Sister Yuan’s treasured embroidered shoes, and Zhou Muzhi took them as a memento connected to the wronged spirit.
• Third Master asked to keep the children, and Zhou Muzhi agreed to provide him with monthly silver from Lao Xu before leaving.

Zhou Muzhi and Half-Immortal Xu made ghost-controlling incense, but the incense invitation shattered the Nine Heavens Supreme Goddess statue and severed Half-Immortal Xu’s path. Zhou Muzhi took the incense to leave it for a day, while Qian Zhen gathered his Hall of Outstanding Heroes in Suming County.

• Half-Immortal Xu returned to the county after a successful, ruthless venture and looked forward to making incense with Zhou Muzhi.
• Zhou Muzhi practiced Li Jingfei’s kicking techniques, heard news of an ancestral short sword, and went to Half-Immortal Xu’s home.
• Half-Immortal Xu guided Zhou Muzhi in making ghost-controlling incense, which left Zhou Muzhi exhausted and pale.
• Zhou Muzhi performed the incense invitation before the Nine Heavens Supreme Goddess statue, which cracked and shattered as the ritual ended.
• Half-Immortal Xu told Zhou Muzhi to leave the incense undisturbed for a day, and Zhou Muzhi took the two sticks home.
• Qian Zhen hosted a gathering of the Hall of Outstanding Heroes at his mansion and invited its members to discuss their concerns.

Qian Zhen rallied the men of the Gathering of Heroes Hall against a clan that had taken their dispute to the county magistrate. Meanwhile, Zhou Muzhi collected an antique short sword that produced Deduction Points and learned its seller planned to use the payment to take the imperial examinations.

• Shu Gong toasted Qian Zhen, who told the Gathering of Heroes Hall that a clan had killed his servants and guards and taken the matter to the county magistrate.
• The eight men pledged troops, weapons, and business pressure to help Qian Zhen, who then resumed the banquet with a dance performance.
• After securing two precious sticks of incense, Zhou Muzhi traveled by carriage to an old residence to inspect a short sword.
• Zhou Muzhi took the bronze-sheathed sword and saw small increments appear in the deduction field on his panel.
• Zhou Muzhi paid the seller fifteen taels, and the man said the money was enough for him to take the imperial examinations.

Zhou Muzhi deduced the Listening-to-Rain Sword from the General’s Sword and prepared for the coming conflict with the Qian Family. After the Zhou Family suspended business to avoid the turmoil, he went to the Third Master’s refuge, where the old man was spending time with the children.

• Zhou Muzhi learned that the shabby scholar was a principled man who had repeatedly failed the prefectural examination.
• Zhou Muzhi spent two Deduction Points to transform the General’s Sword into the heavier Listening-to-Rain Sword, then waited through the night without sleeping.
• Uncle Chen reported that the Qian Family’s pressure had shut down all three markets and left merchants injured; Zhou Buren ordered the Zhou Family to suspend business.
• Zhou Muzhi reassured Uncle Chen and told Zhou Buren he would leave to handle their affairs, while Zhou Buren planned to deal with his vengeful spirits before confronting Qian Zhen.
• Zhou Muzhi reached the Third Master’s hidden refuge and found him enjoying the company of the clean, newly clothed children.

Zhou Muzhi recruited eight desperate, capable men through Third Master and led them to attack Qian Zhen’s gambling den. After ordering them to set it alight, he joined the fight and killed the first thug he faced with a single stroke of Listening Rain.

• Third Master told Zhou Muzhi he had found eight tight-lipped men willing to risk their lives, and Zhou Muzhi gave him silver to prepare them for the night’s operation.
• Zhou Muzhi waited in one of Third Master’s houses, trained his kicking techniques, then dressed in black and met the eight men in Bamboo Lamp Alley.
• Zhou Muzhi led the men to the three-story gambling den and ordered them to fire flaming arrows and burn it.
• The attack set the gambling den into panic, and its armed thugs rushed out to fight the attackers.
• Zhou Muzhi drew Listening Rain and killed the first thug to approach him with a single stroke.

Zhou Muzhi stormed the Covered Rain Gambling House, killed Rain Wyrm and searched its underground chambers for a secret room. Qian Zhen learned that his gambling house had fallen and struggled to believe that a masked man had defeated his Blood Gate expert with one stroke.

• Zhou Muzhi killed a gambling house thug with his sword and advanced toward the entrance with eight hired men following him.
• Rain Wyrm confronted Zhou Muzhi, but Zhou killed him with a single stroke and sent the gambling house's thugs fleeing.
• Zhou Muzhi ordered the eight men to search the building and found a first-floor manager to lead him underground.
• Zhou Muzhi crushed the first manager to death when he denied knowing about the secret chamber, then had his men find another manager.
• The second-floor manager agreed to lead Zhou Muzhi deeper into the underground gambling house.
• Qian Zhen heard that a masked man had destroyed his gambling house and beheaded Rain Wyrm, and he angrily questioned the report.

Zhou Muzhi searched the gambling house’s secret chamber, spared its steward after receiving a record of his embezzlement, and decided to capture the people tied to the wronged spirit to lure it out. After the gambling house was discovered in ruins, Qian Zhen identified Zhou Muzhi as the prime suspect and went to seek help from his master.

• Zhou Muzhi found the gambling house’s secret cells empty and questioned the steward about the missing prisoners.
• The steward offered Zhou Muzhi his embezzlement ledger and the silver he carried, so Zhou Muzhi spared him.
• Zhou Muzhi left the gambling house, dismissed the eight men who had helped him, and planned to capture the people the wronged spirit hated to draw it out.
• Qian Zhen learned that Zhou Muzhi was the only surviving person connected to the recent deaths and suspected him of being responsible.
• Qian Zhen judged that his own forces could not handle Zhou Muzhi and rode out to see his master.

Qian Zhen’s master promised him the Five Qi realm if he killed a hundred people, prompting Qian Zhen to continue his attacks on those around the Zhou Family. After the violence drew the county authorities’ attention, the deputy magistrate arranged a banquet to settle the dispute, and Zhou Muzhi prepared to attend.

• Qian Zhen visited Zhao Chenfeng, who offered to help him reach the Five Qi realm if he killed a hundred people.
• Qian Zhen left Zhao Chenfeng’s residence and headed to the gambling house, planning to kill enough people to complete his count.
• Over the following days, Qian Zhen’s forces suffered repeated losses, and the Hall of Outstanding Heroes reported the deaths to the authorities.
• The deputy magistrate arranged a banquet for Qian Zhen’s subordinates and the Zhou Family to resolve the crisis.
• Zhou Muzhi told Zhou Buren that he had only offered limited help and asked his brother to tell him when it was time to attend the banquet.

As the Zhou Family prepared for a banquet with the Qian Family and Zhong Family, Zhou Muzhi took precautions and promised Li Jingfei he would seek help if needed. The Zhou brothers arrived at Juwu Pavilion as a representative of the Hall of Outstanding Heroes began criticizing their absence.

• Zhou Muzhi warned Zhou Buren that the banquet might involve an underhanded attack, and Zhou Buren agreed to call him when it was time.
• At the Li Residence, Li Jingfei gave Zhou Muzhi the Cloud-Chasing Thunderclap manual, praised Listening Rain, and warned him not to underestimate the Qian Family.
• Zhou Muzhi returned to the Zhou Residence and joined Zhou Buren, who had dressed formally for the banquet; Zhou Muzhi chose to wear his usual black shirt.
• The Zhou brothers traveled to Juwu Pavilion with Lao Xu and the Zhou Family's guards, while the Hall of Outstanding Heroes, the Zhong Family, and the deputy magistrate arrived there.
• A representative of the Hall of Outstanding Heroes criticized the Zhou Family for arriving late, but the Zhou brothers entered before he could finish.

At Cao Shuang’s banquet, the Zhou Family and the Hall of Outstanding Heroes disputed responsibility for the recent killings and losses. Cao Shuang ruled that the Hall must compensate the Zhou Family while the killer would be pursued, but Zhong Shao challenged the judgment and declared the Zhong Family’s support for the Zhou Family.

• Zhou Buren presented Cao Shuang with a gift, and the Zhou and Zhong families took their seats beside the Hall of Outstanding Heroes.
• Wang Hu stared at Zhong Shao until her maid rebuked him, and the Zhong Family elder insulted the Hall of Outstanding Heroes.
• Cao Shuang called on the Zhong Family to witness the settlement, while Zhou Buren demanded compensation and the Hall demanded that the Zhou Family hand over the killer.
• Cao Shuang ruled that the Hall of Outstanding Heroes must compensate the Zhou Family and ordered specialists from the Arresting Bureau to find and punish the killer.
• Zhong Shao questioned Cao Shuang’s judgment, announced that the Zhong Family stood with the Zhou Family, and confronted the Zhong Family elder.

At the banquet, Zhou Muzhi openly challenged the County Deputy and the Hall of Outstanding Heroes, then captured seven of its eight men. He used them and other victims to summon a vengeful spirit, and prepared to subdue it with Ghost-Controlling Incense as it attacked him.

• Zhou Muzhi revealed his connection to Grandmaster Li Jingfei and threatened the eight men from the Hall of Outstanding Heroes, then left the banquet with Zhou Buren.
• After the Zhou Family and Zhong Family departed, Cao Shuang demanded Master Qian's presence and ordered the eight men to deliver the silver by the next afternoon.
• Zhou Muzhi pursued the eight men, killed their guards, and captured seven, while the eighth escaped and went to seek Qian Zhen.
• Zhou Muzhi arranged the seven captives, Shu Gong, and four hired thugs in his courtyard, then lit the Soul-Guiding Incense to summon the vengeful spirit.
• The vengeful spirit drained the people in the courtyard and took on its complete form, then attacked Zhou Muzhi as he lit the Ghost-Controlling Incense.

Zhou Muzhi fought the vengeful spirit with specially made incense and his scorching fire true intent, then tried to persuade her to become his strength. He tore apart her red-ribbon sphere, but the weakened spirit still floated toward him.

• Zhou Muzhi tested the vengeful spirit’s speed and strength as her red ribbons attacked him across the courtyard.
• Zhou Muzhi unleashed his full power and charged through the house, smashing its doors, pillars, and walls while the incense trapped the spirit inside.
• The vengeful spirit wrapped Zhou Muzhi in a sphere of red ribbons and strangled him as the gray mist around him thinned.
• Zhou Muzhi called the vengeful spirit Sister Yuan and urged her to become his strength, causing her attack to falter.
• Zhou Muzhi pried apart the red-ribbon sphere with his scorching fire true intent, and the ribbons dissipated.
• The weakened vengeful spirit shrieked and floated toward Zhou Muzhi.

Zhou Muzhi weakened and subdued the vengeful spirit with Ghost-Controlling Incense, then entered seclusion to cultivate his second qi, Steady Mountain. He emerged with the spirit under his control as A-Xiang and left the hut.

• Zhou Muzhi let the vengeful spirit attack his Scorching Fire True Intent until it weakened, then struck it into red mist.
• Ghost-Controlling Incense suppressed the vengeful spirit and left dark red markings on Zhou Muzhi's skin.
• Zhou Muzhi cleaned up traces of his presence and went to a remote hut to cultivate his second qi.
• Zhou Muzhi completed Steady Mountain, gaining defensive qi that could erode attackers with ghostly cold.
• Zhou Muzhi summoned the vengeful spirit, named her A-Xiang, and commanded her to return to his arm.

After killing seven of the eight men who had threatened him, Zhou Muzhi returned home and learned that the authorities were already seeking him over a case. He evaded them by going to Li Jingfei’s residence, where his master recognized that he had gathered One Qi.

• Zhou Muzhi returned to the Zhou Residence after a night of fighting, and A'Zi told him nothing unusual had happened at home.
• Zhou Muzhi told Zhou Buren that he had hunted down the eight men but that one had escaped, and Zhou Buren warned that the authorities would investigate.
• Uncle Chen reported that officers had come looking for Zhou Muzhi, so Zhou Buren agreed to say that he had gone to study martial arts at Master Li's home.
• Zhou Muzhi slipped out through the rear courtyard and hurried to the Li Residence, where Li Jingfei asked whether he had gathered One Qi.
• Zhou Muzhi admitted that he had just succeeded and said he had wanted to surprise Li Jingfei.

Zhou Muzhi asked Li Jingfei to oversee his planned fight with Qian Zhen, while Li Jingfei protected him from the county authorities’ investigation. After learning his forces had been destroyed, Qian Zhen arranged for protection and planned to crush the Zhou Family himself.

• Zhou Muzhi told Li Jingfei that he had fought Qian Zhen’s men and asked his master to oversee their final confrontation.
• Li Jingfei agreed to oversee the fight and told Zhou Muzhi to stay quietly at the residence afterward.
• A head constable came to arrest Zhou Muzhi, but Li Jingfei demanded official documents bearing the county seal, so the constable left without him.
• Qian Zhen emerged from seclusion having gathered Light Body, learned that most of his Hall of Outstanding Heroes and other forces were gone, and suspected someone was targeting him.
• Qian Zhen arranged for his master to protect him, planned to inform his father, and resolved to destroy the Zhou Family himself.

Zhou Muzhi learned that Qian Zhen’s men had begun targeting the Zhou Family and prepared to confront him, but first searched for information. After capturing three men who were hunting Zhou Family associates, he learned they knew nothing about Qian Zhen’s location and decided to pursue their superiors and check on Half-Immortal Xu.

• Zhou Muzhi read a letter describing Qian Zhen’s campaign against the Zhou Family, then arranged with Li Jingfei to act that night and bring his sword.
• Zhou Muzhi went to Third Master to ask where Qian Zhen usually stayed, but three men searching for Zhou Family associates arrived and recognized him.
• Zhou Muzhi disabled the three men and had Third Master interrogate them while the children stayed inside.
• The men revealed they had been ordered by county underworld bosses to find Zhou Family associates, but they did not know where Qian Zhen was.
• Zhou Muzhi decided to seek out the men’s superiors and visit Youhe Street to check on Half-Immortal Xu, then told Third Master to bury the bodies beneath the sapling.

Zhou Muzhi demonstrated A-Xiang’s Ghost Control to Half-Immortal Xu by sending her through Qian Zhen’s men, killing several of them. He brought Half-Immortal Xu back to the Zhou Family and prepared to find Qian Zhen’s headquarters and exact location.

• At a tea pavilion on Youhe Street, Zhou Muzhi revealed the concealed A-Xiang to Half-Immortal Xu, who used Incense Ash to see her.
• Zhou Muzhi ordered A-Xiang to pass through the searching men, and several collapsed dead.
• Half-Immortal Xu asked whether Ghost Control harmed Zhou Muzhi, who said he had noticed only a faint chill in his arm.
• Zhou Muzhi escorted Half-Immortal Xu back to the Zhou Family, while Half-Immortal Xu warned him to retreat if the situation became impossible.
• Zhou Muzhi set out to locate Qian Zhen’s headquarters, learn his whereabouts through A-Xiang, and kill him under cover of darkness.