Recaps

Lu Guan discovered that the residents of Five Li Town included demons and suspected a stronger demon was behind the trapped Demon-Slaying Envoy. After the innkeeper and waiter drugged his supper and entered his room to devour him, Lu Guan revealed that he was awake.

• Lu Guan rode into Five Li Town, sensed Yao Qi, and found the town's only inn, the Fisherfolk Inn.
• Lu Guan recognized the innkeeper and waiter as demons and suspected a great demon had trapped another Demon-Slaying Envoy.
• The waiter brought Lu Guan supper laced with Soul-Draining Powder, but Lu Guan left it untouched and pretended to sleep.
• The innkeeper and waiter entered Lu Guan's room, argued over how to divide his body, and heard Lu Guan offer to divide it for them.

Lu Guan killed two demons at the inn and learned that the Blackwater King ruled the Old Dragon River. In Five Li Town, he discovered that villagers worshipped a River God who demanded children as living sacrifices, and he suspected the demon’s power was tied to incense offerings.

• Lu Guan resisted the Soul-Draining Powder, subdued the innkeeper and waiter with Gang Qi, and learned about the Blackwater King and his river army.
• Lu Guan killed the two demons, extracted their Cultivation, and collected their remnant souls in his waist token.
• Lu Guan left the inn and found the town glowing with light from statues inside nearly every home.
• Lu Guan watched a family worship a fish-tailed River God statue and heard the mother protest that their son was to be sent into the river as a child attendant.
• Lu Guan realized the town was offering incense and children to a river demon and wondered whether incense offerings could provide a path to the Dao.

Lu Guan confronted the river god of Five Li Town as it came to claim two children offered in sacrifice, while Luo Tianshui emerged from hiding after being trapped underwater. The river god wielded the workings of heaven and earth through incense offerings, and Luo Tianshui rebuked Lu Guan for facing it without Inner Landscape Realm strength.

• The river god searched its underwater abode for Luo Tianshui, who hid with her breath concealed and feared she would suffocate before help arrived.
• Five Li Town’s people prepared to sacrifice a young boy and girl to the river god, while Lu Guan stood apart from the kneeling crowd.
• As the river god attacked the offering platform, Lu Guan struck it with his Azure Dragon saber form and tossed the children safely to the bank.
• The river god summoned water dragons using the workings of heaven and earth, and Lu Guan realized it was borrowing that power through incense offerings.
• Luo Tianshui surfaced onto the platform and angrily questioned why Lu Guan, a Gang Condensation Realm cultivator, had come instead of an Inner Landscape Realm expert.

Lu Guan recognized that the river demon needed time to summon the Qi dynamics of heaven and earth and prepared to strike during the delay. He revealed that he could wield that power himself, leaving the river god sensing imminent death as Lu Guan began his attack.

• Luo Tianshui warned Lu Guan that the river demon was preparing to unleash the Qi dynamics of heaven and earth, but he ignored her and focused on the demon’s delay.
• Luo Tianshui recalled how the river demon had trapped her after she tried to exploit the same opening and how she had hidden underwater to survive.
• Lu Guan located the river demon beneath the water and prepared to use Celestial Person One Saber Slash, knowing it would consume all his Gang Qi.
• A towering human form made from the Qi dynamics of heaven and earth appeared behind Lu Guan, astonishing Luo Tianshui.
• Lu Guan called out “Slash!” and the river god sensed the familiar power of the Qi dynamics of heaven and earth as it feared for its life.

Lu Guan killed the Old Dragon River’s fish demon and discovered he could spend 1,000 years of Cultivation to synthesize a Dao Field. After leaving the river, he saw the town chief killed and learned that a powerful horned creature had noticed the loss of incense offerings and ordered an investigation.

• Lu Guan killed the river god with the Celestial Person One Saber Slash, collected its remnant soul, and gained 480 years of effective Cultivation.
• Luo Tianshui identified Lu Guan as a Silver-Token Demon-Slaying Envoy, and Lu Guan discovered that he could synthesize a Dao Field by spending 1,000 years of Cultivation.
• Lu Guan carried the injured Luo Tianshui to the riverbank, where fishermen turned on the town chief and killed him after he called for Lu Guan’s arrest.
• Lu Guan let the fishermen leave without pursuing their involvement with the river demon and lamented that the other demons had escaped.
• A huge horned creature in the rivers and seas noticed that incense offerings had ceased in one place and ordered an investigation.

Lu Guan and Luo Tianshui reached You Province City after defeating the river demon, and Lu Guan set out to claim his reward at the Demon Suppression Bureau. There, a young man in flying-fish robes recognized him as Lord Lu.

• Luo Tianshui told the Demon-Slaying Envoys that the river demon in Five Li Town had been dealt with and speculated that Lu Guan might be connected to the Prince of Yan.
• Lu Guan studied the Dao Field during their quiet journey but learned nothing about its function.
• Lu Guan and Luo Tianshui arrived at You Province City, where the guards made them dismount; Luo Tianshui gave Lu Guan a jade token and left.
• Lu Guan wandered through the city, asked a local for directions, and found the Demon Suppression Bureau to claim his reward.
• A young man in flying-fish robes came out of the Bureau, recognized Lu Guan, and addressed him as Lord Lu.

Lu Guan reunited with Wu Yong at the Demon Suppression Bureau in You Province City, where Wu Yong had recently been transferred. When Lu Guan sought an exchange for an Inner Landscape Realm cultivation method, Lord Xing recognized his unusual standing and changed his attitude.

• Wu Yong told Lu Guan that he had been transferred from Qianqiu County to the Merit Bureau in You Province City.
• Wu Yong led Lu Guan through the Demon Suppression Bureau to the Merit Bureau.
• Lord Xing made Lu Guan wait and dismissed Wu Yong’s request for courtesy.
• Lu Guan offered an Inner Landscape Realm demon’s remnant soul and asked whether he could supplement it with a Perfected Gang Condensation Realm demon.
• Lord Xing saw Lu Guan’s silver token and stood to welcome him, then asked Wu Yong to seat Lord Lu.

Lu Guan went to the Heaven-Character Secret Vault to exchange his merit for an Inner Landscape Realm cultivation method and met Elder Jiang, who recognized his exceptional abilities. Elder Jiang discovered the Inner Landscape Realm demon on Lu Guan’s token and ended the chapter by trying to set him up with his granddaughter.

• Lord Xing directed Lu Guan to seek Elder Jiang at the Heaven-Character Secret Vault, while he offered Wu Yong a clerk position at the Merit Bureau.
• Lu Guan entered the vault and sensed that the dozing Elder Jiang was an Inner Landscape Realm cultivator.
• Elder Jiang recognized Lu Guan’s Perfected Gang Condensation Realm cultivation and his early mastery of the Qi dynamics of heaven and earth.
• Elder Jiang examined Lu Guan’s silver token, noticed the Inner Landscape Realm demon listed among his merits, and asked whether Lu Guan was married.
• Elder Jiang praised his eighteen-year-old granddaughter and urged Lu Guan to marry her.

Elder Jiang explained the Inner Landscape Realm and sent Lu Guan into the Heaven-Character Secret Vault, where he discovered a vast shared space centered on the Martial Tree. Lu Guan rejected a Human Contemplation technique and set his sights on the rare fruits at the tree’s summit.

• Lu Guan declined Elder Jiang’s offer to marry his granddaughter, and Elder Jiang used his token to obtain a remnant soul of an Inner Landscape Realm demon for him.
• Elder Jiang explained that Inner Landscape cultivators built an inner world and that its domain grade—Human Contemplation, Blessed Land, or Grotto-Heaven—could outweigh differences in cultivation levels.
• Elder Jiang transported Lu Guan into the secret vault, where Lu Guan saw phantoms from across Great Li gathering techniques from the Martial Tree.
• Lu Guan picked the Heaven-Defying Imperial Ultimate Scripture, learned it constructed only a Human Contemplation, and returned its fruit to the tree.
• Lu Guan inferred that higher fruits offered techniques for greater domain grades and looked toward the few brilliant fruits at the canopy’s summit.

Lu Guan compared the Grotto-Heaven Cultivation Methods in the Martial Tree and chose the True Spirit Indestructible Dao Scripture for its Mysteries, Mountain-Bearing Bones and Drink the Long River. In the Heaven-Character Secret Vault, Elder Jiang and Chen Jingchou discussed Lu Guan’s talent and his likely choice, unaware that he had already decided.

• Lu Guan learned that Inner Landscape Domains gained Mysteries through Blessed Land and Grotto-Heaven methods, while Human Contemplation had none.
• Lu Guan examined the Martial Tree’s Grotto-Heaven methods and chose the True Spirit Indestructible Dao Scripture for its two Mysteries.
• Elder Jiang and Chen Jingchou discussed how they had once chosen Grotto-Heaven methods but later retreated to Blessed Land methods after struggling to construct their Inner Landscapes.
• Chen Jingchou told Elder Jiang that Lu Guan had killed an Inner Landscape Realm demon himself, and Elder Jiang praised Lu Guan’s talent while disparaging the demon.
• Elder Jiang explained that he hoped Lu Guan would choose a Grotto-Heaven method so he could contend with demons possessing exceptional bloodlines.

Lu Guan chose the True Spirit Indestructible Dao Scripture, a Grotto-Heaven Method, and Chen Jingchou brought him to the Prince of Yan’s Residence to cultivate at the Cold Abyss Well. Lu Guan received the well and prepared to begin practicing, confident he could quickly advance to the Inner Landscape Realm.

• Chen Jingchou told Elder Jiang that Lu Guan had mastered the Celestial Person One Saber Slash and speculated that Lu Guan resembled the Prince of Yan.
• Lu Guan returned from the Heaven-Character Secret Vault and told Elder Jiang and Chen Jingchou that he had chosen the True Spirit Indestructible Dao Scripture.
• Chen Jingchou invited Lu Guan to stay at the Prince of Yan’s Residence, explaining that the Prince of Yan wanted him to guard the Cold Abyss Well.
• Chen Jingchou showed Lu Guan the Cold Abyss Well and explained that its concentrated Qi of heaven and earth could aid cultivation, especially after reaching the Inner Landscape Realm.
• Lu Guan examined the solid fruit containing the True Spirit Indestructible Dao Scripture and resolved to create a miracle in his cultivation.

Lu Guan studied how to condense Divine Thought and used his panel to overcome his difficulty, then discovered the Cold Abyss Well’s chilling Qi could temper it. He prepared to visualize his Dantian and open an Inner Landscape within his body.

• After Chen Jingchou left, Lu Guan studied the Inner Landscape Realm and learned that opening one required Divine Thought.
• Lu Guan tried to condense Divine Thought himself, but after two and a half days of failure, he used the panel to perfect the True Spirit Spirit Condensation Method.
• Lu Guan formed Divine Thought and used it to see inside his body and perceive the Qi flowing through the world around him.
• Lu Guan probed the Cold Abyss Well, felt its icy Qi nearly freeze his Divine Thought, and realized the well could temper it.
• Lu Guan decided to visualize his Dantian with Divine Thought and open an Inner Landscape within himself.

Lu Guan broke through to the Inner Landscape Realm, gaining the True Spirit Grotto-Heaven and two powerful mysteries. He wondered whether a realm between martial arts and cultivation had been erased before Chen Jingchou arrived and saw his breakthrough.

• Lu Guan used the panel’s simulated decades of cultivation to visualize the Five Viscera Gods and establish the inner landscape’s internal cycle.
• Lu Guan’s five currents of Qi condensed into a pill, forming the True Spirit Grotto-Heaven and advancing him to the Inner Landscape Realm.
• Lu Guan learned the grotto-heaven mysteries Mountain-Bearing Bones and Drink the Long River, which strengthened his body and continually restored his stamina.
• Lu Guan checked his new realm and lifespan, then breathed in heaven and earth’s Qi without needing food.
• Lu Guan suspected that a transitional realm between martial arts and cultivation had been erased and wondered whether Chen Jingchou had helped him survive the old ape’s attack.
• Chen Jingchou entered the courtyard, saw Lu Guan, and exclaimed that he had broken through.

After Lu Guan reached the Inner Landscape Realm, Chen Jingchou explained how that realm related to the Martial Dao and revealed the danger demons and fiends posed to humanity. The chapter ended with Lu Guan eager to test his new strength against Chen Jingchou.

• Lu Guan's breakthrough astonished Chen Jingchou and the other Inner Landscape Realm cultivators at the Prince of Yan's Residence.
• Chen Jingchou explained that Refining Essence into Qi was the true path to the Inner Landscape Realm, while Great Li's Martial Dao offered another route back to cultivation.
• Chen Jingchou revealed that Inner Landscape Realm Cultivation Methods came from demons and fiends, while cultivation Aristocratic Clans withheld the prerequisite methods.
• Chen Jingchou warned Lu Guan that demons and fiends dominated the world and swept across the land every hundred years, making Divine Treasury Realm cultivators vital to protecting humanity.
• Lu Guan showed his fighting spirit and challenged Chen Jingchou to test his newfound strength, and Chen Jingchou accepted with a mischievous grin.

Chen Jingchou and Lu Guan sparred after Chen Jingchou opened with a surprise punch, but Lu Guan’s Grotto-Heaven marvel let him withstand attacks and overwhelm Chen Jingchou. The fight left Chen Jingchou stunned by Lu Guan’s strength, while Lu Guan discovered that his body was tougher than he had expected.

• Chen Jingchou suppressed his cultivation to the Inner Landscape Realm First Layer and surprised Lu Guan with a punch.
• Lu Guan blocked the punch with the strength of [Mountain-Bearing Bones] and retaliated with Celestial Person One Saber Slash.
• Chen Jingchou used [Pacify Mountains and Rivers] to seal the surrounding Qi of heaven and earth and suppress Lu Guan’s saber attack.
• Lu Guan discarded his saber, rushed Chen Jingchou, and struck him in the face with a punch empowered by the Five Peaks.
• Chen Jingchou hit Lu Guan with [Primordial Unity Qi Palm], but Lu Guan took the Divine Ability head-on without injury.

Lu Guan defeated Chen Jingchou in their first-level Inner Landscape Realm spar by forcing him to stop holding back, then received cultivation guidance from him. A summons from the Prince of Yan ordered everyone to go to the Luo Residence because something had happened.

• Lu Guan admitted defeat before Chen Jingchou could abandon their fair spar and use his full strength.
• Chen Jingchou asked Lu Guan to keep fighting, but Lu Guan refused, and cultivators watching from the courtyard wall praised him for making Chen Jingchou come off worse.
• Chen Jingchou gave Lu Guan guidance on cultivating in the Inner Landscape Realm and told him that crossing realms downward was true immortal cultivation.
• A divine sense descended over the Prince of Yan's Residence and summoned everyone to the Luo Residence in the north of the city because something had happened.

After the Luo Household was massacred, You Province’s Demon Suppression officers identified an Ailao Mountain tiger demon as the killer and tracked it south of the city. Chen Jingchou prepared to pursue it, but Lu Guan had vanished.

• Chen Jingchou surveyed the slaughtered Luo Household and condemned the demons for killing more than a hundred people inside the city.
• The chief Pacification Commissioner ordered an investigation and the tiger demon’s death, while Lu Guan recognized Luo Tianshui among the corpses and suppressed his anger.
• A gray-robed man identified the killer as an Inner Landscape Realm tiger demon from Ailao Mountain, taking revenge on Luo Tianshui for killing one of its kind.
• A Prince of Yan’s Residence cultivator used Aura-Tracing Seal Script to locate the tiger demon three hundred li south of the city and shared its position with the Demon-Slaying Envoys.
• Chen Jingchou vowed to hunt the tiger demon and called for Lu Guan, then realized Lu Guan was no longer beside him.

Fourth Master Yin fled You Province City after killing a cultivator, but Lu Guan tracked him down and met his attack head-on. When Fourth Master Yin’s strike failed to move Lu Guan, Lu Guan grabbed his paw and prepared to punch him.

• Fourth Master Yin regretted killing only one cultivator in You Province City and hurried toward Ailao Mountain, fearing his father would choose him as food.
• Fourth Master Yin sensed a death mark approaching, transformed into a white tiger, and tried to flee, but Lu Guan caught up with him.
• Fourth Master Yin mistook Lu Guan for a newly advanced Inner Landscape cultivator and attacked him with a powerful tiger-paw strike.
• Lu Guan caught Fourth Master Yin’s blow with his arm, while Chen Jingchou and other You Province cultivators watched from above the clouds.
• Lu Guan seized Fourth Master Yin’s paw and swung a punch at his cheek.

Lu Guan used a cultivation simulation to advance to the Inner Landscape Realm Fourth Heaven while fighting Fourth Master Yin. He drove back the tiger demon’s ghost servants and prepared to overwhelm him with his superior strength.

• Lu Guan struck Fourth Master Yin hard enough to cave in part of his head, but the tiger demon recovered and fled after recognizing Lu Guan’s formidable Mystery.
• A hidden You Province cultivator bestowed [Blissful Wind] on Lu Guan, allowing him to catch Fourth Master Yin and block his escape.
• Fourth Master Yin summoned his Mystery, [Act as a Ghost Servant for a Tiger], surrounding himself with the spirits of his victims.
• Lu Guan simulated 432 years of Inner Landscape cultivation, reaching the Fourth Heaven before stopping as his Divine Thought approached its limit.
• Lu Guan unleashed the Fourth Heaven’s power, expanding the Five Sacred Mountains and blasting away the black fog while Chen Jingchou stared in disbelief.

Lu Guan defeated and killed Fourth Master Yin after breaking through to the Inner Landscape Fourth Heaven during their battle. The victory left Lu Guan with 1,080 years of extracted Cultivation.

• The spectators marveled at Lu Guan's mid-battle breakthrough, and the Pacification Commissioner learned that Lu Guan had joined the Demon-Slaying Envoys.
• Fourth Master Yin panicked as Lu Guan built momentum, then launched a desperate attack by burning his demon blood and directing his ghost servants.
• Lu Guan dropped his raised fist and used Celestial Person One Saber Slash to cut through the ghost servants and sever Fourth Master Yin's body.
• Fourth Master Yin begged Lu Guan to spare him and offered to serve as his mount, but Lu Guan killed him with another saber strike.
• Lu Guan extracted 1,080 years of effective Cultivation from Fourth Master Yin, bringing his remaining Cultivation to 1,835 years.

After Lu Guan killed Fourth Master Yin, he recovered the Sun-Obscuring Lock and declined Zuo Ai’s offer to become a garrison commissioner. Yin Jing confronted Wei Xianwu over its son’s death and secured a new Dharma Duel Arena, demanding that Lu Guan participate.

• Lu Guan retrieved the Sun-Obscuring Lock from Fourth Master Yin’s corpse and refused Zuo Ai’s offer to serve as You Province City’s garrison commissioner.
• A death mark on Lu Guan’s neck flared, while Yin Jing confronted Wei Xianwu at Ailao Mountain over its offspring’s death.
• Wei Xianwu challenged Yin Jing to fight, but Yin Jing proposed reopening the Dharma Duel Arena with the same territorial wager as before.
• Wei Xianwu accepted, concealing that the Prince of Yan was absent from You Province and that his show of confidence was a bluff.
• Yin Jing demanded that Lu Guan join the duel, intending to use demons to kill the Inner Landscape Realm cultivator.

Lu Guan exchanged a thousand years of Cultivation for a Dao Field and discovered it could simulate any Mystery he had personally encountered. He asked Chen Jingchou to use [Pacify Mountains and Rivers] on him, and the Dao Field recorded the Mystery after Chen Jingchou beat him down with [Heaven-Supporting Divine Palm].

• Lu Guan tried cultivating beside the Cold Abyss Well, but his panel did not respond to the location’s power.
• After recovering his Divine Thought, Lu Guan spent a thousand years of Cultivation to obtain the Dao Field.
• Lu Guan realized the Dao Field could simulate any Mystery he had personally encountered.
• Lu Guan asked Chen Jingchou to use [Pacify Mountains and Rivers] on him, and Chen Jingchou agreed.
• Chen Jingchou sealed Lu Guan’s connection to the Qi of heaven and earth, then struck him down with [Heaven-Supporting Divine Palm].
• The Dao Field formed the cloud-seal script for [Pacify Mountains and Rivers] from the incense smoke.

Lu Guan welcomed the chance to gain Cultivation by fighting demons after learning that the contest of magic had been moved forward. The cultivators of You Province rallied to prepare for the battle, while Sun Ying learned how powerful Lu Guan had become.

• Lu Guan decided to keep his demon marks and wait for Ailao Mountain's demons to seek revenge, planning to conceal his strength until they arrived.
• Elder Zuo gathered the city's cultivators and announced that Governor Wei had reported the once-in-a-century contest of magic had been moved forward.
• Elder Zuo explained the contest's history and stakes, and Lu Guan eagerly anticipated killing demons to gain Cultivation.
• Sun Ying noticed Lu Guan's strength, and Chen Jingchou told him Lu Guan had reached the Inner Landscape Fourth Heaven and killed an Inner Landscape Third Heaven tiger demon.
• The cultivators shouted that they would fight for You Province, and Elder Zuo joined their rallying cry.

Wei Xianwu gathered the You Province cultivators at Ailao Mountain to face Yin Jing and the yao forces in the arena of magical combat. The two sides joined their boards, revealing that the battle would be fought through a game.

• Wei Xianwu welcomed the You Province cultivators and bowed, asking them to risk their lives for the province.
• A Divine Treasury Realm tiger yao roared from afar, and Wei Xianwu brushed away its shock waves and struck back with a casual wave.
• Yin Jing arrived with more than thirty Inner Landscape Realm great yao, including the ape yao of Fruitless Cave.
• Yin Jing admitted that he had eaten an injured yao, and Second Master Yin agreed with his father.
• Wei Xianwu and Yin Jing brought out boards that merged into one, beginning the contest between the Divine Treasury and Inner Landscape realms.

Lu Guan learned that You Province had wagered its Spirit Treasure, the Heaven and Earth Chessboard, against the demons and was drawn into the chessboard realm to fight. When Second Master Yin appeared, Lu Guan suspected the demon king Yin Jing was directing him and decided to use a different technique.

• Chen Jingchou told Lu Guan that Governor Wei had offered the Earth Board to Yin Jing to secure the contest, where the first side to lose five matches would surrender its board.
• The Heaven and Earth Chessboard pulled Lu Guan into a realm of gray mist, where Wei Xianwu explained that he could direct only one person at a time.
• Lu Guan reasoned that a demon would seek him out and waited in the mist, expecting the mark he had kept to draw an opponent.
• Second Master Yin appeared and confronted Lu Guan, who judged the tiger demon to be around the Inner Landscape Seventh Heaven.
• Lu Guan suspected Yin Jing's Divine Thought was attached to Second Master Yin and chose to add points to Celestial Person One Saber Slash instead of the True Spirit Indestructible Scripture.