Chapter Summaries

Senior Brother Zheng investigated the killing at Hou Niao’s residence and weighed how to handle the incident without harming his own standing. Hou Niao persuaded him that the intruders had actually been targeting Xiao Young Lady, and Senior Brother Zheng sent him away while considering the consequences.

• Senior Brother Zheng found a dead intruder and heard accounts establishing that Hou Niao had killed him after the group trespassed into his residence.
• Senior Brother Zheng ordered the drinking party to disperse and brought Hou Niao to the steward’s office for questioning.
• Hou Niao argued that he had acted in self-defense and suggested publicizing the incident as a lesson rather than punishing him before he had joined the sect.
• When Senior Brother Zheng accused him of withholding details, Hou Niao revealed that the intruders had been looking for Xiao Young Lady and said she had moved because she sensed trouble.
• Senior Brother Zheng realized the Dugu Household connection could implicate him, learned that Hou Niao had met Commandant Li Chuping, and told Hou Niao to return while he considered how to handle the case.

Quanzhen admitted around a hundred new disciples in Jincheng, including Hou Niao, after sending out Message Birds to announce the results. The new disciples completed the sect’s initiation rites and received Treasure Gourds, leaving Hou Niao newly equipped but aware of how little he knew about cultivation.

• Message Birds delivered admission tokens to the successful candidates, and Hou Niao received one bearing his name.
• Hou Niao joined the procession to the Jincheng Sword Manor, where Dugu Lan thanked him for helping her household and Xiao Qiang tried to recruit his support.
• The new disciples gathered in the great hall before Governor-Marshal You Sunzhi, Commandant Li Chuping, Palace General Gao Jianli, and Jincheng’s elders.
• The cultivators completed Quanzhen’s initiation rites, and Jincheng admitted around a hundred new disciples.
• The sect gave each new disciple a basic Treasure Gourd, which Hou Niao examined as an unfamiliar marvel.

After joining the Quanzhen Sect, Hou Niao considered his future duties and settled into a rented home in Jincheng. He inspected his initiation gifts and three months of sect benefits, while postponing the choice of cultivation methods and combat techniques.

• The chapter explained that Quanzhen disciples would eventually take local posts, but Hou Niao could remain in Jincheng because he had not reached the Foundation Cultivation Realm.
• Hou Niao found the Hidden Sword Pavilion crowded and decided to keep using his existing cultivation methods and rely on Soul Realm battles for combat experience.
• Hou Niao hired a property broker, who found him a quiet courtyard home on the edge of Jincheng.
• After fighting in the Soul Realm, Hou Niao opened his Treasure Gourd and examined his sect sword, three jade slips, thirty low-grade spirit stones, and three bottles of Qi Gathering Pills.

Hou Niao met with Wang Shouzhong after joining the Quanzhen Sect and learned what it meant to bear Commandant Li’s mark. He returned to his lodgings unsure how to contact Daoist Chongling and began to consider whether the Quanzhen Sect might suit him after all.

• Hou Niao thanked Wang Shouzhong for Commandant Li’s selection and offered to follow his instructions.
• Wang Shouzhong explained that Hou Niao’s recruitment tied him to Commandant Li and warned him not to waver between loyalties.
• Wang Shouzhong described the duties of Jincheng’s three prefectures and warned Hou Niao that the Commandant Prefecture drew both fear and scrutiny.
• Wang Shouzhong advised Hou Niao to avoid factional struggles and keep his conduct upright.
• Hou Niao returned to his lodgings and wondered whether to contact Daoist Chongling, reflecting that the Quanzhen Sect might be an acceptable place to settle and cultivate.

Hou Niao discovered that a Qi Gathering Pill suppressed the mysterious vortex in his Lower Dantian, so he chose to cultivate without pills and continue exploring the Soul Realm. After surviving a brutal fight with a powerful wandering soul, he awoke resolved to keep moving forward at his own pace.

• Hou Niao took his first Qi Gathering Pill and found that the vortex in his Lower Dantian did not appear while he circulated his qi.
• Hou Niao heard a woman singing in a neighboring courtyard, then confirmed during morning practice that the vortex returned when he cultivated without a pill.
• Hou Niao entered the Soul Realm, marked a fork in the passage, and chose the left-hand path.
• Hou Niao fought a wandering soul that used both fire and savage punches, and the battle left both soul forms in pieces.
• Hou Niao awoke from the Soul Realm and decided that the first Qi Gathering Pill he had taken would also be his last.

Hou Niao explored the Hidden Sword Pavilion, keeping his existing cultivation methods and choosing the Quanzhen Sect’s Sword Net along with sword techniques to study. He left determined to master the fundamentals behind the sword techniques, while regretting that he had killed the Sword Soul before learning more from it.

• Hou Niao entered the Hidden Sword Pavilion and decided not to replace his cultivation methods, which he believed would carry him to Profound Connection without disturbing the vortex in his Purple Mansion.
• On the second floor, Hou Niao selected Sword Net, a combat-focused method for training the six consciousnesses.
• On the third floor, Hou Niao examined the pavilion’s many sword techniques and focused on how each circulated qi rather than on memorizing fixed moves.
• Hou Niao resolved to learn the techniques’ fundamentals, then regretted killing the Sword Soul before he had learned more from it.

Hou Niao chose three relentless sword techniques at the Hidden Sword Pavilion and committed to mastering swordsmanship rather than dividing his time with spells. Afterward, he met Gu Weixin and joined him and several cultivators from Anhe for a farewell meal, where his ties to the Commandant Prefecture quickly warmed their welcome.

• Hou Niao asked the old cultivator how many sword manuals he could take, then selected [Linked Strikes to Slay Generals], [No-Return Sword], and [Short Thrust].
• Hou Niao resolved to hone sword techniques to their extremes before learning other styles, and decided to leave spell cultivation for later.
• After spending six hours choosing cultivation methods and techniques, Hou Niao left the Hidden Sword Pavilion and met Gu Weixin with Gongcheng Yi, Tao Ji, and Wanshouqi.
• Gu Weixin invited Hou Niao to join a farewell meal for Senior Brother Gong, and Hou Niao learned their assignments would not be made for another month.
• When Gu Weixin mentioned Hou Niao's ties to the Commandant Prefecture, Gongcheng Yi and the others welcomed him warmly and escorted him to a famous Jincheng restaurant.

At a dinner with his fellow cultivators, Hou Niao discussed their upcoming postings and learned how they planned to secure safer, more promising positions. He offered Wanshouqi a way to send letters home while quietly intending to use the route to maintain contact with Daoist Chongling, and the chapter ended with a hint that he planned to strike back when the time came.

• Tao Ji asked Hou Niao whether he would go directly to the Commandant Prefecture, and Hou Niao gave an ambiguous answer about gaining experience in Jincheng first.
• Gongcheng Yi explained that he was heading early to Chongshan Town to secure a relatively safe posting where he could hunt demonic creatures and improve his strength.
• Gu Weixin said the others would also leave soon, while Wanshouqi worried about contacting his family in Anhe.
• Hou Niao offered to use his contacts at the Sword Abode in Right River Town to get Wanshouqi's letters to Liuyang City, where Wanshouqi's family had business.
• Hou Niao privately planned to use the letter route to stay in touch with Daoist Chongling and ended the evening thinking of a future opportunity to turn the tables.

Hou Niao visited Jincheng’s cultivation market to buy a sword suited to his chosen path of swordsmanship. He chose the Nameless Lonely Sword and traded his Spirit Stones, pills, and talismans for it.

• After the gathering at the Great Wind Tower, Hou Niao joined the Anhe Association as a fellow townsman.
• Hou Niao went to Jincheng’s largest cultivation market street to prepare for his cultivation.
• Hou Niao entered the Top Grade artifact shop and asked the old shopkeeper to recommend an attribute-free sword focused on sharpness and sturdiness.
• The shopkeeper presented the Xiaohe Sword, the Dipper-Ox Sword, and the Nameless Lonely Sword, and Hou Niao chose the nameless blade.
• Hou Niao offered forty Spirit Stones, forty-nine Qi Gathering Pills, and two sets of talismans for the sword, and the old man accepted the exchange.

Hou Niao settled into cultivation after spending his wealth on a Nameless Sword and watched sword bouts at the Sword Manor, where he realized the local swordsmanship differed sharply from what he had learned in the Soul Realm. He left resolved to stop watching those fights and focus on cultivation without letting their Ceremonial Sword distort his Killing Sword.

• Hou Niao bought the Nameless Sword, accepted that he would be penniless for three months, and planned to cultivate in his courtyard.
• The Quanzhen Sect disciples’ postings became clearer as they competed for assignments and the commotion around the new recruits faded.
• Hou Niao continued cultivating with his dual dantian and visited the Sword Manor to watch sword bouts.
• Senior Brother Zheng warned Hou Niao that he should focus on improving his cultivation realm rather than watching sword fights.
• Hou Niao left the Sword Manor, judging its Ceremonial Sword incompatible with the Killing Sword he had learned in the Soul Realm.

After a month, Hou Niao was assigned to the South City Inspector’s Yamen as a runner under Inspector Huang. He met the other Qi Gathering runners and settled into their easy routine, while autumn approached and his future remained uncertain.

• Hou Niao reported to the South City Inspector’s Yamen and learned that he would serve as a runner under Inspector Huang.
• Inspector Huang explained the duty rules, warned Hou Niao to follow only his orders, and noted that his evaluation could affect future assignments.
• Hou Niao joined the five Qi Gathering disciples in their duty room, where he learned they were young insiders of the Quanzhen Sect.
• Hou Niao recognized the Yamen’s role in preparing the Sect’s young disciples for worldly affairs, then brewed tea and sat among the other runners.

Hou Niao took charge of a routine inspection of Wide Street after the other cultivators avoided the assignment. He led the Second Squad through the pleasure district, where the runners completed the spot checks smoothly, and the chapter ended with Hou Niao observing from the sidelines.

• Inspector Huang asked for a cultivator to join the Wide Street inspection, and Hou Niao volunteered.
• Hou Niao mustered the runners and assigned the duty to Old Liao's Second Squad, with the other squads scheduled to take turns later.
• Old Liao asked Hou Niao how to conduct the inspection, and Hou Niao told him to follow the rules without going too far.
• Hou Niao followed the Second Squad through Wide Street as the runners selected busy establishments and checked their licenses, visitors, and customers' ages.
• The inspection proceeded smoothly, with the runners collecting benefits while avoiding serious trouble.

Old Liao sent Dalong and several bailiffs to extort money from the Heavenly Fragrance Tower, but they were beaten and held inside. Hou Niao led the uniformed bailiffs into the crowded hall, where he recognized powerful cultivators and was confronted by the person who had beaten Dalong.

• Dalong persuaded Old Liao to target the Heavenly Fragrance Tower, hoping to collect money and outdo Liu Datou.
• Old Liao approved a quiet visit, and Dalong entered the tower disguised as a merchant with three bailiffs.
• A bailiff reported that Dalong and the others had been held and beaten, so Hou Niao led the group inside in uniform.
• Hou Niao found a hall full of cultivators, including the Dugu Household Daoists and Daoist Wang, and realized he had entered a dangerous gathering.
• Hou Niao asked who had hit Dalong, and someone answered that Dalong had tried to extort money and deserved the beating.

Hou Niao defended Dalong after the Heavenly Fragrance Tower’s steward beat him, then ordered the steward put in a cangue and pressed the establishment over employing underage girls. The Tower’s master arrived and attacked Hou Niao with a sword, and the chapter ended amid blood and a scream.

• Hou Niao argued that the Heavenly Fragrance Tower and its staff were subject to prefectural authority, and demanded an explanation for the steward’s assault on Dalong.
• After a Pastoral Marshal Prefecture official threatened him, Hou Niao struck the steward’s Huagai Acupoint and ordered the runners to put him in a cangue.
• Hou Niao asked about underage prostitutes, and Old Liao named three girls working at the Tower.
• Hou Niao accused the Tower of violating Great Shan law by employing youths under fifteen.
• The Tower’s master in blue charged at Hou Niao with a sword, and blood and a scream followed.

Hou Niao killed a Heavenly Fragrance Tower guard and defended his actions before Jincheng’s powerful officials, explaining that he had sought justice for young orphans of Quanzhen cultivators who died in battle. You Sunzhi ordered a sweeping investigation into missing compensation, while Li Chuping sent Hou Niao back to await punishment.

• Hou Niao killed his opponent with one sword stroke and invoked Great Shan and Quanzhen law to justify it.
• You Sunzhi summoned Hou Niao to the private room, where he questioned why Hou Niao had drawn his sword despite the danger.
• Hou Niao explained that the girls at the tower were under fifteen and were descendants of Quanzhen cultivators who had died fighting for the Shan Kingdom.
• You Sunzhi ordered the Pastoral Marshal Prefecture to investigate compensation for every orphan and asked Li Chuping’s Commandant Prefecture to oversee the inquiry.
• Li Chuping reprimanded Hou Niao for failing to report the matter through proper channels and ordered him to return and await punishment.
• Hou Niao left the tower with the constables, taking the cangued man back with them.

After Hou Niao’s actions at the Heavenly Fragrance Tower stirred up the Quanzhen leadership, the South City Prefectural Office anxiously awaited the consequences. He received only a half-year forfeiture of his stipend and supplies, along with an order to investigate the dependents of cultivators who had died over the past decade.

• Daoist Qiu Ming and Daoist Long Yin praised Hou Niao to embarrass the Quanzhen Sect, while Gao Zhonglang and Commandant Li gave measured opinions of his actions.
• Hou Niao escorted the prisoners back to the prefectural office, where Inspector Huang and the other officials pressed him for news of the senior officers’ reaction.
• The Yamen Officer kept Hou Niao at the office overnight as the principal officers worried about the consequences and questioned the mortal constables.
• The next morning, Inspector Huang told Hou Niao that his punishment was forfeiture of half a year’s stipend and supplies.
• The officials received orders to document the widows, orphans, and other surviving dependents of cultivators in the Southern City over the previous ten years, and Hou Niao left the hall unconcerned.

After Hou Niao’s actions at the Heavenly Fragrance Tower stirred up Jincheng, his colleagues offered their support, but Inspector Huang sent him on leave. Hou Niao used the quiet to reflect on why Commandant Li had taken an interest in him and resolved to act openly as an undercover agent rather than remain inconspicuous.

• Jiang Nanying, Yu Guanglie, Ma Rujun, Zong Qian, and Wang Mian each offered Hou Niao their support or allegiance.
• Inspector Huang told Hou Niao that his superiors had granted him leave while he adjusted to life in Jincheng.
• The Pastoral Marshal Prefecture and the Commandant Prefecture launched a sweeping operation that unsettled Jincheng, while Hou Niao stayed out of the uproar.
• Hou Niao suspected Commandant Li had a purpose in favoring him and reasoned that his conspicuous conduct at the Heavenly Fragrance Tower would draw scrutiny into the city’s hidden corruption.
• Hou Niao decided that openly standing up for disadvantaged Quanzhen disciples was a better strategy than keeping a low profile, since he planned to leave the sect after a few years.

Dugu Lan and Xiao Qiang visited Hou Niao to cultivate ties with him, but he rejected their offers of friendship, support, and possible marriage in favor of clear transactions. As they left, Xiao Qiang wagered that Hou Niao would prove stronger than the young men Dugu Lan favored over the next ten years.

• Dugu Lan and Xiao Qiang visited Hou Niao to say goodbye before leaving for Miaogao Town.
• Dugu Lan explained that the Dugu Household built ties with promising cultivators early, while Hou Niao insisted he valued the law and straightforward deals over friendship or gifts.
• Dugu Lan suggested marriage as another way to bind their fortunes, but Hou Niao declined.
• Dugu Lan offered to connect Hou Niao with a source of resources, and he refused because he feared gifts would create debts.
• After leaving Hou Niao's courtyard, Dugu Lan questioned whether he was worth their effort, and Xiao Qiang proposed judging him against Dugu Lan's favored young men after ten years.

Hou Niao trained in his Soul Realm by repeatedly fighting Sword Two, using each defeat to study his reactions and improve his swordsmanship. After overwhelming his fellow disciples in a courtyard spar, he explained that he had focused solely on the sword, prompting Wang Mian to reflect on which path to pursue.

• Hou Niao named the second Sword Soul Sword Two and chose to keep fighting him fairly instead of relying on his stronger soul body to win.
• Hou Niao fought Sword Two three times a day, studying each fatal strike and refining his responses through repeated battles.
• Hou Niao defeated the swordsmen in the courtyard, leaving Wang Mian and the others unable to withstand ten strikes.
• Hou Niao told Jiang Nanying and the others that he had practiced only swordsmanship and his six senses since entering the Qi Gathering Realm.
• Wang Mian considered whether to pursue the sword's utmost limit or combine swordsmanship with magic, then asked whether Hou Niao followed the pure ancient sword path.

Hou Niao continued pursuing pure swordsmanship while his cultivation neared Foundation Cultivation. Daoist Wang asked him to carry birthday gifts from Commandant Li to Liuyang City, and Hou Niao agreed to make the journey.

• Hou Niao argued that cultivators should pursue what suited them now rather than decide their entire path in advance.
• Hou Niao’s body continued consolidating as he approached Foundation Cultivation, and he remained content with his progress.
• Daoist Wang visited Hou Niao and explained that Commandant Li wanted someone unaffiliated with the Commandant Prefecture to deliver birthday gifts to an old acquaintance in Liuyang City.
• Hou Niao agreed to travel to Liuyang City to repay Commandant Li’s support, despite the journey interrupting his cultivation.
• Daoist Wang gave Hou Niao a golden Treasure Gourd, a horse, and travel money, and told him to deliver the gifts and return promptly.