Chapter Summaries

Zhang Jing prepared for a long mission to help suppress a demonic uprising in Langya Commandery, Yun Province, and used an Origin Water Pill to strengthen his cultivation before departing. He and his companions reached the ravaged region, where streams of demonic qi rose across the land.

• Tong Yao told Zhang Jing that their squad would hunt low-level demons in Langya Commandery and instructed him to meet at the Spirit Crane Garden.
• Zhang Jing failed to inscribe Dao rhythm onto medium-grade spirit paper, then cultivated overnight with an Origin Water Pill and greatly strengthened his spiritual power.
• Zhang Jing met Senior Brother Ding, Xia Yuan, and Zhou Zhi at the Spirit Crane Garden before setting out with Tong Yao.
• The five Spirit Cranes carried the group to Yun Province after a day and a half of travel.
• Zhang Jing saw the cities and settlements of Langya Commandery beneath streams of demonic qi as the Spirit Cranes descended.

Zhang Jing and the Dao Academy disciples arrived in Black Mountain County to investigate reports of demons, though the county appeared peaceful. The county magistrate revealed that three gray-robed cultivators had recently cleared the demons, and Senior Brother Ding went to meet them.

• Senior Brother Ding explained that the group would clear demons across nine counties and warned Zhang Jing to be cautious on his first mission.
• County magistrate Shen He hosted three gray-robed men and offered them young women, while the black-mole man agreed to go with Shen He to greet the arriving Dao Academy disciples.
• Senior Brother Ding told Tong Yao that the group had come to the county offices because the peaceful county contradicted the Dao Academy's demon-suppression mission.
• Shen He claimed Black Mountain County had been peaceful because several other cultivators had driven the demons into hiding.
• Senior Brother Ding looked at the Rogue Cultivators outside the door and said the Dao Academy group would take its leave.

Zhang Jing spent the night at the county office making talismans and cultivating, while three rogue cultivators plotted to ambush the Dao Academy disciples in a supernatural fog. After killing a disguised demon at his door, Zhang Jing spotted the three conspirators and pursued them, confident in his preparations.

• Senior Brother Ding accepted the County Magistrate’s offer to stay at the county office, and Zhang Jing continued making talismans and cultivating through the night.
• Three rogue cultivators discussed killing the Dao Academy disciples before they could expose Lord Yin, planning to use the fog and a law artifact to ambush them.
• A bailiff warned Zhang Jing that demons were inside the county office, then revealed himself as a demon that burst out of its human skin and attacked.
• Zhang Jing blocked the demon with the Ice-Light Incantation and killed it with the Ice Condensation Edge-Forming Technique.
• Zhang Jing recognized three Early Qi Refining rogue cultivators in the fog and pursued them, trusting his layered defenses and talismans.

Zhang Jing defeated three rogue cultivators who ambushed him and learned that Lord Yin controlled the deadly fog and Changpi Ghosts in Black Mountain County. After his fellow Dao Academy disciples discovered he had reached the third Qi Refining layer, an approaching mass of footsteps surrounded the group.

• Zhang Jing killed the old rogue cultivator and resisted the mole-faced man's knife Law Artifact with his protective spiritual light.
• The mole-faced man surrendered and told Zhang Jing that Lord Yin lived in an underground palace beneath Black Mountain County, reached through a secret passage near the eastern city wall.
• Zhang Jing killed the mole-faced man and found only a few Spirit Stones and battered Law Artifacts in the rogue cultivators' Storage Bags.
• Senior Brother Ding, Senior Sister Tong, and the others arrived, and Senior Sister Tong reproached Zhang Jing for acting alone.
• Zhang Jing confirmed he had reached the Qi Refining third layer, astonishing his companions.
• Footsteps surged toward the group from every direction, and Senior Brother Ding and the others prepared for danger.

Zhang Jing joined Senior Brother Ding and the others in tracking Lord Yin, a black tiger Yaomo, into the Underground Palace beneath the county city. When Lord Yin broke through to the Qi Refining fifth layer and lunged at Zhang Jing’s group, Zhang Jing unleashed his techniques and talismans, blasting the tiger backward.

• Senior Brother Ding, Senior Brother Zhou, and Senior Brother Xia slaughtered the Changpi Ghosts while Zhang Jing replenished his Law Techniques.
• Lord Yin sensed the deaths of the Changpi Ghosts, collected its Scarlet Liquid and other belongings, and prepared to flee the Underground Palace.
• Zhang Jing led the group to an entrance beneath the county city, and Senior Brother Liu led them into the Underground Palace.
• A gigantic tiger ambushed Senior Brother Ding, who identified it as the Yaomo they were hunting and hurried deeper into the tunnels.
• Senior Brother Ding told the others to retreat after Lord Yin broke through to the Qi Refining fifth layer, but the tiger lunged at Zhang Jing and the others.
• Zhang Jing unleashed three Ice Condensation Edge-Forming Techniques and thirty Scorching Sun Talismans, blasting Lord Yin backward.

Zhang Jing and Senior Brother Ding killed the Black Tiger Demon after Zhang Jing’s Scorching Sun Talismans blasted it back. The group discovered Zhang Jing had made the talismans himself and found a valuable Demon Core in the tiger’s remains.

• Zhang Jing’s talismans blasted the Black Tiger Demon back, giving Senior Brother Ding the chance to kill it with his Jade-Green Bamboo Staff.
• Senior Brother Ding offered Zhang Jing the tiger’s remains and promised to repay him for the talismans, but Zhang Jing said he had made them himself and the materials covered their cost.
• Tong Yao, Senior Brother Xia, Senior Brother Zhou, and Senior Brother Ding reacted with shock when Zhang Jing revealed his talisman-making skill and the quality of his talismans.
• Senior Sister Tong found a Demon Core in the Black Tiger Demon’s remains and said it could sell for at least fifty Dao Merit.
• Senior Brother Ding explained how Demon Cores were used to refine spirit pills, and Zhang Jing put the core away.

Zhang Jing examined the demon tiger’s Storage Bag and found sinister inheritances and strange liquids that suggested cultivators were being raised for harvest. After reaching the devastated Yinshan County City, he and his companions learned that Yaomo had starved the city and traded grain for people, then set out to attack their hideout.

• Zhang Jing found a scarlet Millstone, two inheritances, and two mysterious liquids in the demon tiger’s Storage Bag, and suspected the cultivators were being raised for their essence, qi, and spirit.
• Zhang Jing and the others emerged from the Underground Palace to find Yinshan County City silent, its streets haunted by the dried skins of its victims.
• Tong Yao, Senior Brother Xia, Senior Brother Zhou, and Senior Brother Ding bought Star-Attracting Talismans from Zhang Jing.
• Three days later, Senior Brother Zhou and Senior Brother Xia reported that Yaomo had burned the city’s grain stores, colluded with aristocratic clans, and driven residents to sell one another for food.
• Senior Brother Ding learned that the Yaomo leader was a Pig Demon suspected to be at middle Qi Refining, then led the group toward the hideout.

Zhang Jing and his fellow Dao Academy disciples reached Langya Commandery City, where he discovered that his Pure Origin Breath-Absorbing Visualization Method had gained the intermediate-grade Crimson Spirit Light trait. After using it to cleanse a Demon Core of its lingering resentment, Zhang Jing was summoned to meet Deputy Captain Senior Brother Li.

• Zhang Jing and the others arrived in Langya Commandery City after a difficult half-month journey and found an inn to rest.
• Rogue cultivators in the inn discussed the Dao Academy’s growing presence and the opportunity to hunt demons for guidance and resources.
• Zhang Jing’s Pure Origin Breath-Absorbing Visualization Method reached level four and gained the intermediate-grade Crimson Spirit Light trait.
• Zhang Jing realized Crimson Spirit Light could clear distracting thoughts and tested it on the Black Tiger Demon’s Demon Core, purifying it of resentment.
• Senior Brother Ding told Zhang Jing that Deputy Captain Senior Brother Li wanted to see him, and Zhang Jing set out to meet him.

Zhang Jing met Senior Brother Li, who offered the Luodu Squad’s support for his talisman-making and promised protection and resources for his talent. After Zhang Jing revealed that all his successful Lower-Grade Talismans were superior quality, Senior Brother Li took him to meet the squad’s talisman masters so his abilities could be verified and he could become a high-level member.

• Senior Brother Ding told Zhang Jing that Senior Brother Li wanted to meet him after learning he could make talismans.
• Senior Brother Li offered to supply Zhang Jing with materials and buy his Lower-Grade Talismans, and urged him not to hide his abilities.
• Zhang Jing told Senior Brother Li that his success rate was around forty percent and every successful talisman was superior quality.
• Senior Brother Li praised Zhang Jing and took him to meet the Luodu Squad’s other talisman masters for a demonstration and high-level membership verification.
• Senior Brother Li explained that high-level members could use the squad’s resource repository and exchange for cultivation resources at a discount.

Zhang Jing proved his talisman-making skill and was promoted to a high-level member of the Luodu Squad. After Senior Brother Yan gave him market access and free materials, Zhang Jing decided to sell talismans in Langya Commandery City to obtain demon cores and turn them into Dao Merit.

• Senior Brother Li brought Zhang Jing to Senior Brother Yan and two other talisman masters to verify his lower-grade talisman-making success rate.
• Zhang Jing made talismans that astonished the observers, and Senior Brother Li arranged for his promotion to high-level member.
• Senior Brother Yan offered Zhang Jing a market shop key and address and provided him with five hundred sheets of spirit paper and spirit ink each month.
• Zhang Jing learned that talismans were in high demand in Langya Commandery City's temporary markets and decided to sell them for demon cores instead of hunting demons with Senior Brother Ding and the others.

Zhang Jing declined to join Senior Brother Ding and the others in hunting Yaomo, choosing instead to open a talisman shop in Langya Commandery City’s Temporary Market. At a crowded stall, he traded valuable pills, talismans, and a Water Cloud Shield for a mist-root water spirit ginseng, then continued through the market with his prize.

• Zhang Jing told Senior Brother Ding, Senior Sister Tong, Senior Brother Zhou, and Senior Brother Xia that he would stay in the city to make and sell talismans rather than hunt Yaomo with them.
• The next morning, Zhang Jing saw the other four off and went to Bright Lamp Ward, where he found a bustling market filled with cultivators and Yaomo materials.
• Zhang Jing noticed a crowd pressuring a young woman to sell her mist-root water spirit ginseng for Spirit Stones.
• Zhang Jing examined the ginseng and offered the woman Purple Spirit Pills, ten Star-Attracting Talismans, five Scorching Sun Talismans, and a Water Cloud Shield in exchange.
• The woman accepted Zhang Jing’s offer and hurried away with the items, while Zhang Jing continued through the market carrying the mist-root water spirit ginseng.

Zhang Jing opened his talisman shop on Twin Phoenix Street and welcomed a neighboring alchemist who congratulated him and gave him ten Purple Spirit Pills. After using mist-root water spirit ginseng to advance his cultivation, Zhang Jing estimated that he would reach the Middle Qi Refining Realm within three days.

• Zhang Jing set up his shop with higher vehicle quality talismans, priced them above the Dao Academy's rates, and advertised a 20% discount for payments in Demon Cores.
• Senior Brother He, the alchemist running the Spirit Pill Cottage next door, visited to congratulate Zhang Jing and gave him a Communication Talisman and ten Purple Spirit Pills.
• Zhang Jing received no customers on his first day and cultivated with a stalk of mist-root water spirit ginseng that night.
• Zhang Jing found that the ginseng had greatly accelerated his cultivation and concluded that three more days of cultivating with Purple Spirit Pills would bring him to the Qi Refining Fourth Layer.

Zhang Jing opened a talisman shop and attracted customers with higher-quality talismans and a discount for demon cores. After a group of rogue cultivators traded a core for talismans, their leader sent them to find more cores before the three-day offer ended.

• Zhang Jing crafted seven Star-Attracting Talismans before dawn.
• Four rogue cultivators entered Twin Phoenix Street and noticed Zhang Jing’s new shop and its demon-core discount.
• A Dao Academy cultivator bought several talismans at full price after discovering they were higher quality than those sold elsewhere in the market.
• The four rogue cultivators exchanged a Qi Refining Third Layer demon core worth about thirteen Dao Merit for talismans at a twenty-percent discount.
• The rogue cultivators realized they could profit by finding more demon cores and split up to search for them before Zhang Jing’s three-day offer expired.

Zhang Jing’s talisman shop prospered, and he promised a cultivator middle-grade talismans in exchange for a valuable Demon Core once he could make them. He broke through to the fourth Qi Refining layer and completed two Source Talismans, while rival Talisman Masters decided to undercut his prices.

• Zhang Jing counted his profits and Demon Cores, estimating that selling talismans and hunting demons could earn him over a thousand Dao Merit each month.
• A customer with a Qi Refining sixth-layer Demon Core rejected Zhang Jing’s lower-grade talismans, so Zhang Jing offered to provide middle-grade ones in a few days while keeping the exchange discount.
• Zhang Jing broke through to the fourth Qi Refining layer and saw that his cultivation technique was close to leveling up.
• Zhang Jing completed two Source Talismans in his Talisman-Making Room.
• A group of Talisman Masters discussed harming Zhang Jing but decided instead to lower their prices and drive his shop out of the market.

Zhang Jing used his Source Talismans to produce nearly one hundred talismans, rapidly increasing his Ninefold Evolution Spirit Star Talisman Canon experience and strengthening his sense of security. Meanwhile, Chu Lingyun and Deng An learned that a new shop on Twin Phoenix Street had forced other talisman sellers to cut prices, and they approached it.

• Zhang Jing used his Source Talismans to print nearly one hundred talismans and discovered his Ninefold Evolution Spirit Star Talisman Canon had gained almost one hundred experience points.
• Zhang Jing examined his Five-Law Spirit River and felt more secure with its twenty-four Law Technique Fish and his stored talismans.
• Chu Lingyun told Deng An that rumors about lower-grade Talisman Masters leaving the marketplace were false and that they had cut prices because of a new shop.
• Chu Lingyun led Deng An to Twin Phoenix Street, where he saw the quiet two-story shop called 'This Is a Talisman Shop' and Chu Lingyun walked toward its entrance.

Zhang Jing welcomed Chu Lingyun and Deng An to his talisman shop, accepted their demon cores, and remained unconcerned as rival shops cut prices. Later, Senior Brother Yan revealed that the mysterious talisman master was Zhang Jing, prompting speculation that the Inner Academy would recruit him.

• Chu Lingyun and Deng An discovered that Zhang Jing owned the shop and assumed he had connections to a powerful talisman master.
• Zhang Jing agreed to exchange Chu Lingyun's demon cores for talismans at the discounted rate, including future batches.
• After they left, Zhang Jing counted fifteen early Qi Refining demon cores and decided he needed to make middle-grade talismans.
• Zhang Jing dismissed the rival shops' price cuts and left his shop, relying on a spiritual-power restriction to protect it.
• At a gathering in the Langya Commandery Prefecture, Senior Brother Yan identified Zhang Jing as a new Luodu Squad member, and the others predicted the Inner Academy would take interest in him.

After breaking through to the fourth layer of Qi Refining, Zhang Jing obtained middle-grade spirit paper from Senior Brother Yan and successfully began making middle-grade talismans. He discovered his success rate was about thirty percent, then met a familiar woman at the shop who asked whether he still wanted Mist-Root Water Spirit Ginseng.

• Zhang Jing accidentally smashed Senior Brother Yan's bronze doors and revealed that he had broken through to the fourth layer of Qi Refining.
• Senior Brother Yan told Zhang Jing that two other cultivators had entered the fifth layer and gained recognition on the front lines.
• Zhang Jing requested and received a hundred sheets of middle-grade spirit paper, and Senior Brother Yan suggested he could seek high-grade demon cores from Senior Brother Li.
• Zhang Jing used his Crimson Spirit Light and Mind's Eye Dao Seed to complete a Heavy Star Talisman, then estimated his middle-grade talisman success rate at thirty percent.
• A familiar woman arrived at Zhang Jing's shop and asked whether he still needed Mist-Root Water Spirit Ginseng.

Pei Xiaoshuang told Zhang Jing about a hidden place filled with spirit medicines and asked him to promise her a disciple slot at the Dao Academy in exchange. After hearing her account of the dangerous site, Zhang Jing swore to grant her a slot if her information proved true.

• Pei Xiaoshuang exchanged two fifty-year-old stalks of mist-root water spirit ginseng with Zhang Jing for Purple Spirit Pills and talismans.
• Pei Xiaoshuang revealed that she had found a hidden place containing hundreds of spirit medicines guarded by a terrifying Deer Demon.
• Pei Xiaoshuang asked Zhang Jing to promise her a disciple slot at the Dao Academy in exchange for the location.
• Zhang Jing questioned Pei Xiaoshuang about the site, the medicines, and whether anyone else knew about it.
• Zhang Jing swore upon his Dao Heart to grant Pei Xiaoshuang a disciple slot if her information was true.

Zhang Jing investigated the hidden spirit medicine cavern and found it guarded by a white deer nearing late Qi Refining, so he left without disturbing it. Back at his shop, Senior Brother He delivered an invitation to an internal exchange meeting scheduled for the following evening.

• Pei Xiaoshuang gave Zhang Jing the address of the spirit medicines and asked him to beware of the demon deer.
• Zhang Jing found the cavern and its abundant spirit medicines, but judged the powerful white deer too dangerous to confront without destroying the herbs.
• Zhang Jing returned to his shop and considered asking a late Qi Refining cultivator to help, though he worried about sharing the inheritance’s value.
• Senior Brother He visited Zhang Jing, teased him about being called the Plague God, and gave him an invitation to an internal exchange meeting.
• Zhang Jing learned the meeting would take place the next evening at the Hidden Fragrance Pavilion in the southern city.

Zhang Jing experienced a sudden enlightenment while cultivating with mist-root water spirit ginseng, raising the Five Viscera Water-Origin Guiding Commentary to level six and gaining the Five-Treasure Spirit River trait. He spent the day preparing Middle-Grade Talismans for the trading gathering, which began that evening at the Hidden Fragrance Pavilion.

• Zhang Jing decided to cultivate before making more talismans and used the mist-root water spirit ginseng to advance the Five Viscera Water-Origin Guiding Commentary.
• Zhang Jing contemplated the nature of water and suddenly entered an enlightened state, pushing his skill to level six and advancing his cultivation toward Qi Refining fifth layer.
• Zhang Jing learned that the Five-Treasure Spirit River could wield five Law Artifacts together but would consume enormous spiritual power.
• Zhang Jing spent the day making Middle-Grade Talismans to prepare for the trading gathering.
• Cultivators gathered around the brightly lit Hidden Fragrance Pavilion as powerful Dao Academy cultivators began arriving for the trading gathering.