Chapter Summaries

Zhou Muzhi helped Half-Immortal Xu prepare Evil-Repelling Incense and learned that it could be modified to restrain the vengeful soul pursuing him. Half-Immortal Xu then proposed that Zhou Muzhi pursue the greater feat of controlling a ghost, and Zhou Muzhi agreed to hear the theory.

• Zhou Muzhi arrived at Half-Immortal Xu's home with the ingredients and absorbed the last of the statue's Deduction Points.
• Half-Immortal Xu processed the ingredients and prepared a red mixture for making Evil-Repelling Incense.
• Half-Immortal Xu explained that the incense might drive away ordinary vengeful souls but could fail against one determined to kill Zhou Muzhi.
• Half-Immortal Xu advised Zhou Muzhi to burn an intimate possession of the vengeful soul with blood from the middle finger of the person it hated to make incense that could restrain it.
• Half-Immortal Xu told Zhou Muzhi that his late master had sealed a ghost and that he believed Zhou Muzhi could go further and control one.
• Zhou Muzhi asked Half-Immortal Xu to explain the method, and Half-Immortal Xu began laying out the theory.

Zhou Muzhi assessed the Qian Family’s threat to the Zhou Family while continuing his plans to build strength and investigate the suspected wronged spirit. After Lao Xu reached the Blood Gate Realm, Zhou Muzhi set a trap to draw Hua Kai to them.

• Zhou Muzhi returned to the Zhou Residence, reviewed the Qian Family and his other targets, and planned to involve Third Master in his schemes.
• Xiaozi told Zhou Muzhi that the Qian Family’s competing distillery business had reduced the Zhou Family’s output, increasing his urgency to protect his family.
• Zhou Muzhi took Xiaozi to Antique Street the next day but found no useful antiques, then learned that his parents were waiting for the True Immortal Temple’s master to return.
• Lao Xu appeared before Zhou Muzhi after reaching the Blood Gate Realm.
• Zhou Muzhi told Lao Xu to have Third Master summon Hua Kai by claiming they had found the person Hua Kai was searching for.

Zhou Muzhi and Lao Xu survived Hua Kai’s ambush and killed his men. With Hua Kai wounded and Third Master’s gang destroyed, Zhou Muzhi gave Third Master a chance to interrogate Hua Kai for him.

• Lao Xu waited at Third Master’s residence while Third Master obeyed his demand to summon Hua Kai.
• Hua Kai surrounded the house and ordered his men to attack with flaming arrows, but Lao Xu broke through and killed them.
• Zhou Muzhi appeared at the gate, and Hua Kai charged him before Zhou Muzhi broke his leg and knocked him down.
• Third Master emerged from the burning house and pleaded with Zhou Muzhi, who asked Lao Xu what he thought of him.
• Zhou Muzhi told Third Master to question Hua Kai and make him talk.

Zhou Muzhi questioned Hua Kai about a woman taken from Liu Street and uncovered details about Qian Zhen’s operation and plans against the Zhou Family. Hua Kai died after asking Zhou Muzhi to protect his mother, leaving Zhou to send Lao Xu after Ma Jin and put Third Master to work.

• Third Master cut off one of Hua Kai’s fingers, and Hua Kai revealed that the woman had been sent to the Covered Rain Gambling House after her legs were broken.
• Hua Kai asked Zhou Muzhi to protect his mother after his death, then told him about women held in a secret chamber beneath the gambling house, Qian Zhen’s Blood Gate guards, and possible protection from the county office.
• Hua Kai warned Zhou Muzhi that Qian Zhen planned to move against people connected to the Zhou Family, then died.
• Zhou Muzhi ordered Lao Xu to kill Ma Jin and bring back the gambling house key.
• Zhou Muzhi told Third Master to arrange for Hua Kai’s mother to be taken away and to keep running things in Suming County, promising him the gambling house once he obtained it.

Zhou Muzhi sought Li Jingfei’s help advancing his martial arts and learned about the Yuanchu Sect and the realms beyond Blood Gate. Li Jingfei recognized that Zhou Muzhi was in trouble and urged him to rely on his elders, leaving Zhou to explain whom he had offended.

• Zhou Muzhi told Third Master to handle the bow and arrows and recruit men willing to risk their lives for silver.
• Zhou Muzhi sent Old Xu to protect his second brother, then went to the Li Residence to ask Li Jingfei about advancing his cultivation.
• Li Jingfei explained that Yuanchu Sect was one of the Song Kingdom’s Four Sects and described the lincheng realm and its five kinds of qi.
• Li Jingfei gave Zhou Muzhi a book containing his cultivation method and insights, which could take Zhou only as far as Li’s own level.
• Li Jingfei inferred from Old Xu’s killing intent and blood scent that Zhou Muzhi was in trouble, then urged him to seek help from his elders and asked whom he had offended.

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.