Chapter Summaries

Hou Niao resisted the River Mothers’ bewitching song but risked his life to stop a passenger from walking into the water. A Daoist woman killed one demon and drove the others away, leaving Hou Niao chastened by how little he knew of the cultivation world.

• Hou Niao recognized the strange singing as a mental lure and stood guard while the boats remained still.
• A wealthy young passenger walked toward the water, so Hou Niao shouted to stop him and struck a water demon that emerged beside his boat.
• Old Qi and his son rushed out with fishing spears as several more ripples approached the boat.
• A Daoist woman killed the wounded River Mother with silver light, and the other demons fled.
• The Daoist woman rebuked Hou Niao for acting without knowing the danger, then returned to the passenger boat without giving her name.
• Hou Niao apologized to Old Qi and his son, promised to double the fare, and retreated to the cabin as a zither sounded from the passenger boat.

Hou Niao reflected on his rash fight with the water demon, then focused on cultivating while traveling by boat. On the final night before reaching Liuyang City, he broke through into the qi gathering realm, and Daoist Zhan praised him from the neighboring passenger ship.

• Hou Niao realized his attack on the water demon had failed because he had not considered how its strength changed outside the water.
• Hou Niao cultivated during the journey, working to absorb spiritual energy without forcing his intent and gradually dreaming less.
• Hou Niao volunteered to work the sculling oars so he could exercise, and soon rowed with the strength and stamina of two men.
• Hou Niao reached White Sand Continent and, on the final night before Liuyang City, attained embryonic breathing and entered the qi gathering realm.
• Daoist Zhan praised Hou Niao's cultivation from the opposite passenger ship and said they might meet in Liuyang City.

After reaching the Qi Gathering Realm, Hou Niao reflected on how to make up for lost cultivation time and decided he would need the Demonic Sect’s resources. He left Willow Lane for the Shan Kingdom, unaware that Daoist Zhan had arrived just after him and was traveling overhead.

• Hou Niao celebrated his breakthrough into the Qi Gathering Realm and considered how to accelerate his cultivation without the Daoist Sect’s support.
• Hou Niao hoped to meet Daoist Zhan aboard the passenger ship, but she stayed out of sight.
• Hou Niao left the boat at Willow Lane, waited in a wine shop for the large ship, then bought a horse when it did not arrive.
• Hou Niao rode north along the Tumen Plank Road toward Liuyang City as Daoist Zhan passed overhead on the Jade Zither artifact.
• Hou Niao rode past Liuyang City without stopping and continued toward the Shan Kingdom’s Great Wind Plains.

Hou Niao crossed the White Poplar Forest on the border between the Anhe Kingdom and the Shan Kingdom, where venomous monsters killed his horse and repeatedly threatened him. Near the forest’s exit, a Shan Kingdom cultivator captured him, but another man intervened and ordered that he be questioned.

• Hou Niao rode into the White Poplar Forest and found that its deep leaves and oppressive darkness slowed his horse.
• Hou Niao killed a giant spider, but another spider poisoned his horse; he put the suffering animal out of its misery and ran on alone.
• Hou Niao evaded several monsters, including a snake, a small beast, and a swarm of hornets, as he made his way through the forest.
• Near the forest’s exit, a burly man attacked Hou Niao from behind and pinned him beneath his foot.
• A man called Junior Brother Liang eased the pressure and pulled Hou Niao from the leaves after another cultivator asked to question him.

Hou Niao was captured by four cultivators in White Poplar Forest and tried to preserve his cover as a resentful, hot-tempered man seeking refuge in the Demonic Sect. The men paralyzed him and placed him high in a tree, where he realized they had made him bait as their supposed friends approached.

• Hou Niao was drenched and questioned by four men about why he had come to the Shan Kingdom.
• Hou Niao attacked the red-bearded man, who easily threw him to the ground, while the fat man warned him to explain himself.
• The fat man ordered the bamboo-thin man to paralyze Hou Niao and hide him in a high fork of a white poplar.
• Hou Niao reasoned that he had to maintain his assumed resentful and impulsive character while infiltrating the Demonic Sect.
• Hou Niao saw the four men conceal themselves and realized their approaching "good friends" were closing in around him as he lay helpless in the tree.

Hou Niao was captured by Quanzhen Sect cultivators after their fight in White Poplar Forest and taken to their home base. Seeing the community’s warmth and prosperity, he questioned how he could carry out his undercover mission against them.

• A pale-faced scholar struck down a man climbing Hou Niao’s tree, and the ensuing battle ended with the Quanzhen Sect group defeating their opponents as several fled.
• The Quanzhen Sect members freed Hou Niao and decided to take him with them, identifying him as a minor Daoist Sect cultivator.
• Junior Brother Liang carried Hou Niao as the four cultivators ran for hours using an unusual technique that kept one foot on the ground.
• The group reached a prosperous settlement where locals greeted them warmly and children asked for sweets.
• Hou Niao recognized that the residents’ genuine happiness would make his undercover mission difficult and wondered whether the distinction between demonic and Daoist factions was so clear.

Hou Niao explored Right River Town, learned that the Sword Abode guarded the settlement, and used its reputation to buy food and supplies on credit. He returned to the Sword Abode, where Liang asked whose tab he had charged.

• The four men left Hou Niao at the Sword Abode and told him to wash at the pond below Tiger Hill.
• Hou Niao searched the empty Sword Abode, washed himself, and put on white robes he had taken from it.
• Hungry, Hou Niao went to a noodle shop and learned about Right River Town and the Sword Abode's role as its guardian.
• Hou Niao tried to charge his meal to Bear Liang, then bought clothes, a saber, snacks, and dried meat on credit.
• Hou Niao returned to the Sword Abode, and when Liang asked whose tab he had used, Hou Niao brushed off the question.

After questioning Hou Niao, the four masters of Right River Town accepted his explanation and let him stay in the Sword Abode while they checked his background. As he learned about the Demonic Sect’s close involvement in worldly affairs and watched the patrol masters train and fight monsters, he waited for confirmation so he could travel to Jincheng.

• Pang, Lu, Luo, and Liang questioned Hou Niao about his origins and the supplies he carried, then introduced themselves by their proper names.
• Hou Niao settled into the Sword Abode and explored Right River Town while cultivating and learning about the Shan Kingdom’s cultivation forces.
• Hou Niao learned that the four masters served in Right River Town’s Territorial Patrol Guard, which dealt with monsters beyond the town.
• Hou Niao concluded that the patrol masters were investigating his background and that he would travel to Jincheng once they verified his story.
• Hou Niao watched the patrol masters return from dangerous work and practice swordplay and combat through the night.

Hou Niao tried cultivating two Dantians at once and discovered that, unlike other cultivators, he could do so without conflict, though the increased spiritual energy had an unexplained destination. His Qi Gathering accelerated, bringing intense pain as his body rapidly underwent remodeling.

• Hou Niao sought ways to speed up his cultivation despite lacking pills, Spirit Stones, and guidance.
• He added Joining the Same, Tracing the Source to Dragon-Tiger Convergence, attempting to cultivate the Middle and Lower Dantians simultaneously.
• Hou Niao found that the two methods did not hinder each other, though his cultivation speed increased by only a few tenths rather than doubling.
• He deduced that the changes began when his Soul Root left his body on the Sacrificial Altar, and accepted that his unusual good fortune might carry a cost.
• Vast amounts of spiritual energy surged into Hou Niao, rapidly remodeling his body and subjecting him to severe pain.

Hou Niao learned what Quanzhen Sect sought in new disciples and prepared to travel to Jincheng with Third Master Luo for the admission trial. After the four gentlemen explained the sect’s sword-courage requirement and warned him about its nature, they gave him a sword before he left.

• Master Pang told Hou Niao that Quanzhen Sect had approved his eligibility to apply and that Third Master Luo would take him to Jincheng.
• Hou Niao shared a farewell toast with the four gentlemen and asked them to explain Quanzhen’s rules for admitting disciples.
• Master Pang and Second Master Lu explained that Quanzhen judged applicants by sword courage rather than age, talent, or cultivation.
• Scholar Luo warned that sword courage was not the same as murderous intent and that Quanzhen could include both sincere disciples and dangerous people.
• Fourth Master Liang urged Hou Niao not to worry about whether he would be accepted, and Boss Pang gave him a Jiangyou-forged sword as compensation for the White Poplar Forest affair.

Hou Niao left Right River Town for Jincheng, refusing an escort so he could establish himself in Quanzhen on his own merits. He arrived at dusk and entered a courtyard to begin the sect’s assessment.

• Hou Niao found pills, talismans, and Daoist books left for him, then declined Scholar Luo’s offer to escort him and rode away alone.
• Second Master Lu judged Hou Niao’s motives and prospects harshly, while Scholar Luo predicted he would enter Quanzhen and do well.
• Hou Niao traveled safely to Jincheng, reflecting on the shared nature of the Daoist and demonic paths and on his need to settle his heart in Quanzhen.
• Wang Daoist recognized Hou Niao as a prospective recruit and offered to take him directly to the presiding examiner instead of making him wait until morning.
• Hou Niao announced himself at a courtyard and entered when the gate opened, finding a Daoist reading by candlelight.

Li Chuping questioned Hou Niao about the Anhe Prayer and accepted his past actions as proof of Sword Gall, granting him an advance selection into Quanzhen without a test. Hou Niao went to the outer lodge to await the results and received three foundational sword techniques from Senior Brother Wang.

• Li Chuping asked Hou Niao to recount the Anhe Prayer, and Hou Niao explained what had happened, including killing a man who tried to possess his body.
• Li Chuping judged Hou Niao’s past deeds to demonstrate Sword Gall and told him that he did not need to take the assessment test.
• Li Chuping instructed Hou Niao to wait nearly a month for the results and advised him not to change his three Qi Gathering cultivation methods.
• Hou Niao realized that Li Chuping had drawn him into his faction and kept the advance selection secret as instructed.
• Senior Brother Wang brought Hou Niao to the outer lodge and gave him three foundational Quanzhen sword techniques to study.
• Senior Brother Wang told Hou Niao that Li Chuping was one of Jincheng’s three outstanding Quanzhen figures and was renowned throughout the Shan Kingdom.

Hou Niao settled into the Sword Manor's Outer Residence and began training with the Quanzhen Sect's foundational sword techniques. He focused on adapting his saber skills to the sword and building his spiritual power, leaving him intent on strengthening himself before facing opponents beyond the mortal world.

• Hou Niao moved into a small courtyard in the Sword Manor's Outer Residence and decided to concentrate on improving himself.
• Hou Niao read the bamboo slip Wang Daoist had given him and examined the Quanzhen Sect's three foundational sword techniques.
• Hou Niao began practicing with his heavy sword, relying on his saber experience while working to guide spiritual power through the weapon.
• Hou Niao found that his Inner Qi ran out after about a hundred swings and that he could not yet project Sword Qi.
• Hou Niao kept to his courtyard for several days, practicing and building his foundation as he worried about the time pressure of his future challenges.

Hou Niao resisted the Dugu Household’s attempt to exchange lodgings without following the rules, then moved into Xiao Qiang’s secluded courtyard. He discovered that nearby Rogue Cultivators held loud drinking feasts, but began cultivating amid the noise.

• Dugu Lan and her relatives asked Hou Niao to exchange courtyards so Xiao Qiang could stay closer to them.
• Hou Niao insisted that the senior brother managing the outer guest compound approve the exchange and that he had to agree to it.
• Dugu Lan warned that refusing the Dugu Household could cost Hou Niao a useful connection, but he said he preferred to walk his own road.
• When the senior brother arrived, Hou Niao shouldered his bag and moved into Xiao Qiang’s courtyard.
• That night, Hou Niao heard Rogue Cultivators drinking and singing across a bamboo grove, then entered cultivation despite the clamor.

Hou Niao discovered that a vortex in his purple mansion consumed his spiritual power and forced him to cultivate both dantians together. When he followed its pull, he entered a crimson passage as a soul body, fought a hostile soul, and absorbed it after winning.

• Hou Niao found a vortex between his middle and lower dantians that drained his spiritual power and caused severe pain when he cultivated with only one dantian.
• Hou Niao chose to keep circulating both dantians and yielded to the vortex's pull, entering a mysterious crimson passage as a soul body.
• Hou Niao encountered another sword-wielding soul that attacked him and tried to consume him.
• Hou Niao fought the hostile soul until it dispersed, then inhaled it and felt his energy restored.

Hou Niao returned to the Soul Realm while circulating both Dantians and fought spirits, but the skilled swordsman spirit defeated him again. Afterward, he left his courtyard to clear his mind and received pear blossom jelly from Xiao Qiang.

• Hou Niao was defeated by a spirit with sharp swordsmanship and returned to the real world, where he practiced with his heavy sword.
• At dawn, Hou Niao circulated both Dantians and returned to the Soul Realm, where he killed three weak spirits before the skilled swordsman spirit defeated him again.
• Hou Niao left his courtyard to breathe fresh air and ease the strain of his repeated Soul Realm battles.
• Xiao Qiang gave Hou Niao a basket of pear blossom jelly to thank him for swapping houses with her.

Hou Niao’s repeated battles in the Soul Realm strengthened his soul and rapidly advanced his swordsmanship, while his real-world cultivation depended on how long he survived there. After declining to join an outer-courtyard demon hunt, he returned to cultivation, only to find Gu Weixin waiting for him.

• Hou Niao endured more blows from the wandering ghost in the Soul Realm and learned its sword technique, becoming a genuine swordsman.
• Ye Zigao invited Hou Niao to join outer-courtyard cultivators leaving Jincheng to suppress demons, but Hou Niao asked whether the Quanzhen Sect supported the expedition.
• Senior Brother Zheng explained that the demon hunt was spontaneous and that some candidates sought to prove their sword gall before recruitment ended.
• Hou Niao decided not to join the cultivators, returned to his courtyard, and continued cultivating.
• Gu Weixin of Anhe Sanjiang Prefecture greeted Hou Niao at his courtyard entrance.

Hou Niao met fellow Anhe cultivator Gu Weixin in Jincheng and learned how the Quanzhen Sect’s mass recruitment drew foreign cultivators into its many political and philosophical factions. They parted on friendly terms, with Hou Niao remaining uncommitted while leaving open the possibility of future cooperation.

• Gu Weixin recognized Hou Niao as a fellow cultivator from Anhe and asked why he had not joined the group going to suppress demons.
• Gu Weixin explained that many outer-courtyard candidates were outsiders and that the mass recruitment could leave them vulnerable to being used by competing factions.
• Gu Weixin described how sects recruited talent from other countries and outlined the regional, political, and cultivation factions within the Quanzhen Sect.
• Hou Niao joked that his loyalties depended on who was asking, signaling that he did not want to join a faction yet.
• Gu Weixin and Hou Niao agreed to support one another as fellow provincials, then parted after a cordial conversation.

Hou Niao overcame the formidable wandering soul in the Soul Realm Passage, whose swordsmanship had repeatedly cut him down, and his own swordsmanship advanced sharply. He returned to his body satisfied with his Qi Gathering progress, while wondering how to obtain the True Self Sword and pursue justice.

• Hou Niao entered the Soul Realm Passage and fought the wandering soul whose swordsmanship had repeatedly defeated him.
• After enduring the soul's attacks and waiting for an opening, Hou Niao trapped its sword and struck it down, causing it to dissolve.
• Hou Niao charged onward and cut through ordinary wandering souls with his improved swordsmanship before a group overwhelmed him and sent him back to his body.
• Hou Niao felt the gains from his prolonged Qi Gathering and considered the mysterious vortex less troubling for now.
• Hou Niao stroked his longsword and wondered when he might find the True Self Sword to cut down the injustices of the mortal world.

A drunken group of cultivators barged into Hou Niao’s courtyard looking for the Xiao Young Lady, then turned on him when he ordered them to leave. When their leader attacked, Hou Niao used the sword technique he had learned from the Sword Soul to kill him, leaving the others stunned.

• A drunken group entered Hou Niao’s courtyard and demanded to know where the Xiao Young Lady was.
• Hou Niao told them to leave and crushed his message talisman to report their trespass.
• The group’s leader drew his sword and attacked Hou Niao despite his warnings.
• Hou Niao stepped into the attack and pierced the leader’s heart with a precise sword strike.
• Hou Niao knocked the leader away, and the remaining cultivators stood gaping at his swordsmanship.