Chapter Summaries

On his first demon-slaying mission, probationary officer Lu Guan discovered that the skeletal demon he faced was far stronger than the Bureau’s intelligence claimed and was left gravely wounded. With death closing in, he chose to use his lifespan to gain cultivation attainment through his panel.

• Lu Guan confronted a painted-skin demon in an abandoned temple and exposed its hollow, skeletal form.
• The skeletal demon revealed that it recognized Lu Guan as a Demon Suppression Bureau officer and attacked him.
• Lu Guan realized the demon was far stronger than the early Qi and Blood Realm described in the intelligence, and it badly wounded him.
• Facing death, Lu Guan opened his panel and saw that he could exchange his remaining lifespan for cultivation attainment.
• Lu Guan decided to spend his lifespan and ordered the panel to add points.

Lu Guan spent almost all his remaining lifespan to perfect his Demon Suppression Cultivation Method, then killed the white-bone demon with a single saber strike. After discovering that slain demons granted him cultivation years, he left the ruined temple and told Uncle Zhao that the assessment intelligence was wrong and that the Demon Suppression Bureau might have a traitor.

• Lu Guan converted sixty-one years of his lifespan into cultivation and reached the perfected Qi and Blood Realm.
• The white-bone demon recognized Lu Guan’s terrifying heartbeat, but Lu Guan severed its arm and killed it with the Demon Subduing Saber Technique.
• Lu Guan discovered that killing the demon had earned him twenty cultivation years, leaving him with one year of lifespan and thirty cultivation years.
• Lu Guan decided to rise through the Demon Suppression Bureau to gain access to higher-grade cultivation methods and use demon-slaying to strengthen himself.
• Uncle Zhao approached Lu Guan outside the ruined temple, and Lu Guan reported that the intelligence was wrong and suspected a traitor in the Demon Suppression Bureau.

Lu Guan told Zhao Tielin that the bone demon he fought had been at the late stage of the Qi and Blood Realm, but Zhao dismissed his warning. When Lu Guan learned that the commandant’s nephew was competing for the county’s sole vacant post, he suspected the assessment had been rigged and returned to town, concealing that he had reached perfection in the Qi and Blood Realm.

• Lu Guan warned Zhao Tielin that the bone demon had been at the late stage of the Qi and Blood Realm, but Zhao did not believe him.
• Lu Guan asked Zhao which company commanders had vacancies so he could secure a full appointment in the Demon Suppression Bureau.
• Zhao told Lu Guan that the commandant’s nephew had also finished probation and that only one official post remained in the county.
• Lu Guan suspected someone had arranged the faulty assessment intelligence to sabotage his appointment and headed back to Qianqiu County with Zhao.
• Zhao vowed to use his connections to protect Lu Guan, while Lu Guan kept his newly attained perfection in the Qi and Blood Realm secret.

Lu Guan returned to the Demon Suppression Bureau with proof that he had slain the demon and sought a full appointment, but Zhou Jie used his commandant uncle’s influence to block him. After Zhou Jie threatened to keep the post from Lu Guan, Lu Guan took back the white bone and went after him to demand an explanation.

• Zhao Tielin tried to use his connections to secure Lu Guan an official post, but Lu Guan insisted on handling the matter himself.
• Zhou Jie confronted Lu Guan and offered money to make him give up his chance at a full appointment, assuming he had fled from the demon.
• Lu Guan said the demon was dead and that he had passed the assessment, while Zhou Jie refused to believe him.
• Zhao Tielin returned from the duty room unable to get Lu Guan appointed, and Zhou Jie declared that the post would never go to him.
• Lu Guan’s killing intent frightened Zhou Jie, who hurried off to the commandant’s hall.
• Lu Guan took the white bone from Zhao Tielin and followed Zhou Jie to demand an explanation.

Lu Guan confronted Zhou Jie with evidence of his collusion with demons, but Zhou Kaishan intervened and granted Lu Guan full officer status in exchange for the white-bone evidence. Lu Guan left without pursuing the accusation further, and Zhou Kaishan followed him.

• Lu Guan tracked Zhou Jie to the rear courtyard hall and accused him of colluding with demons, falsifying intelligence, and plotting a probationary officer’s murder.
• Lu Guan showed Zhou Jie a white bone and swung his saber at him, but Zhou Kaishan arrived and broke the blade before it struck.
• Zhou Jie fled at Zhou Kaishan’s command, while Zhou Kaishan praised Lu Guan’s perfected Qi and Blood cultivation.
• Lu Guan told Zhou Kaishan that Zhou Jie was a traitor to humanity and presented the white bone as evidence of a late Qi and Blood Realm demon.
• Zhou Kaishan granted Lu Guan full officer status and asked him to leave the bone as evidence; Lu Guan handed it over and departed.
• Zhou Kaishan followed Lu Guan, claiming they had taken to each other at first sight.

Lu Guan left the Demon Suppression Bureau with Zhou Kaishan’s approval and learned he had been made a regular officer. After reassuring Zhao Tielin and the retired officers, Lu Guan headed home to rest before setting out to kill someone.

• Zhao Tielin led a group of retired officers to the Demon Suppression Bureau to protect Lu Guan, with Elder Qi Guoshou serving as their influential ally.
• Lu Guan emerged from the bureau beside Zhou Kaishan, who treated him with great respect and ignored the crowd gathered at the entrance.
• Lu Guan told Zhao Tielin that he had become a regular officer after Zhou Kaishan judged his nephew an embarrassment.
• Lu Guan went home to rest, intending to kill someone after dark rather than let a grudge sit overnight.
• Qi Guoshou praised Lu Guan’s newly revealed talent but worried that the youth’s heavy killing aura could bring fortune or disaster.

After Zhou Jie’s attempt to harm Lu Guan was exposed, Zhou Kaishan ordered him to leave Qianqiu County, warning that Lu Guan might still kill him. That night, Lu Guan took his broken saber and went out to kill Zhou Jie.

• Zhou Kaishan rebuked Zhou Jie for contacting demons on White Bone Mountain and revealed that Zhou Jie could no longer remain in Qianqiu County.
• Zhou Kaishan arranged for Zhou Jie to seek refuge with Commandant Wang in a neighboring county, but Zhou Jie pleaded to stay.
• Zhou Kaishan warned Zhou Jie that Lu Guan had shown genuine intent to kill him and ordered him to leave the next day.
• Lu Guan returned to his family home on Green Tile Street and went to bed alone.
• At night, Lu Guan drew his broken half-saber and left home, saying it was enough to kill Zhou Jie.

Lu Guan confronted a white bone demon wearing a courtesan’s skin after learning she had dealings with Zhou Jie. When ordinary saber strikes failed to overcome her iron-hard bones, Lu Guan used his panel to advance the Demon Subduing Saber Technique to perfection.

• Zhou Jie argued that Lu Guan had hidden his strength and urged the white bone demon to kill him, but she slapped him and demanded ten pairs of virgin boys and girls as compensation.
• After the demon left, Zhou Jie packed his valuables and decided to flee to a neighboring county, leaving his uncle to deal with her demand.
• The white bone demon walked through the rain, carefully protecting the human skin she wore, until Lu Guan stopped her and asked about her relationship with Zhou Jie.
• Lu Guan attacked with his saber, splitting the demon’s skin and leaving a deep mark on her bones, but he realized her defense was too strong to defeat with ordinary techniques.
• Lu Guan spent years of cultivation through his panel and perfected the Demon Subduing Saber Technique.

Lu Guan killed the White Bone Demon and Zhou Jie, then took the valuables to fund a better saber and resolved to earn merit to reach the True Qi Realm. The next day, Zhou Kaishan assigned him to watch White Bone Mountain, intending it to be his burial ground.

• Lu Guan used thirty years of saber experience to kill the White Bone Demon, then killed Zhou Jie before he could escape.
• Lu Guan took Zhou Jie's valuables and considered how to break through to the True Qi Realm by earning merit through slaying demons.
• At the Demon Suppression Bureau, Zhou Kaishan blamed Lu Guan for Zhou Jie's death while officers feared that White Bone Mountain was plotting an attack.
• Zhao Tielin warned Lu Guan that trouble was coming, and Lu Guan acknowledged him.
• Zhou Kaishan ordered Lu Guan to join the first squad and follow Chief Banner Officer Wu to watch White Bone Mountain, secretly intending to send him to his death.

Lu Guan went to Mud and Stone Alley to buy a saber for his coming trip to White Bone Mountain, following Zhao Tielin’s recommendation to visit the black market. He chose a superior treasure-grade blade called the Primordial Saber, but the seller said its starting price of three hundred taels of gold exceeded what he had brought.

• Zhao Tielin warned Lu Guan that Commandant Zhou resented him over Zhou Jie’s death and recommended he buy a good saber before going to White Bone Mountain.
• Zhao Tielin gave Lu Guan an address in Mud and Stone Alley and told him to use his name at the black market.
• Lu Guan entered the black market in his Demon Suppression Bureau uniform and gave the countersign to Jia Guofu.
• Jia Guofu showed Lu Guan five sabers, including two treasure-grade weapons, and Lu Guan chose the black Tang saber.
• Jia Guofu identified the blade as the Primordial Saber and said it cost at least three hundred taels of gold, more than Lu Guan had brought.

Lu Guan bought the Primordial Saber and reported to the Demon Suppression Bureau’s First Squad, where he faced mockery from its officers before revealing that he had reached the perfected Qi and Blood Realm. Wu Yong’s attitude changed, and the squad prepared to head to White Bone Mountain with Lu Guan’s strength now known.

• Lu Guan forced Jia Guofu to sell him the Primordial Saber for fifty taels of gold by threatening to seal his black-market shop.
• Lu Guan practiced the Demon Subduing Saber Technique with his new saber, then received orders to report to the First Squad.
• Lu Guan suspected Commandant Zhou might be connected to the demons on White Bone Mountain, though he had no proof.
• Wu Yong and the First Squad officers mocked Lu Guan and warned him not to flee from battle on White Bone Mountain.
• Lu Guan told Wu Yong he was at the perfected Qi and Blood Realm, shocking the squad and prompting Wu Yong to address him more respectfully.

Lu Guan joined Wu Yong’s squad in a show of force against White Bone Mountain, then slipped away from camp during the night to attack demon strongholds on the mountain’s outskirts. The chapter left him moving alone toward places where Yao Qi gathered, away from the White Bone Demon King.

• Lu Guan revealed his perfected Qi and Blood Realm and earned the Langya scions’ respect with his courteous conduct.
• Wu Yong led the captains in using Gather Blood into a Blade to announce their presence to White Bone Mountain.
• The White Bone Demon King’s black smoke and the squad’s blood saber briefly confronted each other before both sides withdrew.
• Wu Yong assigned Lu Guan to mobile duty and explained the squad’s night watch procedures.
• Lu Guan silently left camp with his saber to target peripheral demon strongholds without True Qi Realm guardians.

Lu Guan encountered Tang Jun on White Bone Mountain as Tang Jun faced a dozen White Bone Demons alone. Lu Guan rescued him by killing three demons, then prepared to fight the remaining nine, while Tang Jun realized his companion was eager to battle them.

• Lu Guan spotted Tang Jun sneaking through White Bone Mountain and recognized him as a fellow Demon Suppression Bureau officer.
• Tang Jun attacked a late Qi and Blood realm White Bone Demon, hoping to earn enough merit to return to Langya and marry.
• The White Bone Demon revealed that eleven others surrounded Tang Jun, leaving him badly outnumbered.
• Lu Guan emerged from the darkness and killed three White Bone Demons before Tang Jun could strike.
• The one-armed White Bone Demon offered to let Lu Guan and Tang Jun leave, but Lu Guan refused, and the nine remaining demons attacked.

Lu Guan slaughtered the White Bone Demons and gained enough cultivation to create a Dao Seed, which he used to advance the Demon Suppression Cultivation Method into the Demon-Exterminating Heart Scripture and open the path to the True Qi Realm. Tang Jun thanked Lu Guan for saving his life and offered his help.

• Lu Guan rushed forward alone and killed three White Bone Demons while Tang Jun stayed back, unable to move.
• The White Bone Demons surrounded Lu Guan, but he used his perfected Demon Subduing Saber Technique to destroy them all.
• Lu Guan extracted cultivation from twelve demons, gaining one hundred and eighty years and bringing his total cultivation to two hundred and ten years.
• Lu Guan spent one hundred years of cultivation to form a Dao Seed and used it to advance the Demon Suppression Cultivation Method into the Demon-Exterminating Heart Scripture.
• Lu Guan asked Tang Jun whether he still wanted to slay demons, and Tang Jun thanked him for saving his life and promised to help him.

Lu Guan spent 107 cultivation years mastering the Demon-Exterminating Heart Scripture and reached the perfected True Qi Realm, making him the strongest person in Qianqiu County. At dawn, he considered testing his strength against the demon king of White Bone Mountain, while still worrying that he had only one year of life left.

• Lu Guan poured 110 cultivation years into the Demon-Exterminating Heart Scripture and watched the panel record decades of arduous practice.
• Lu Guan opened all twelve primary meridians and all eight extraordinary meridians, perfecting the scripture and breaking through to the perfected True Qi Realm with three cultivation years remaining.
• Lu Guan sensed his vast, self-replenishing True Qi and concluded that he was now the strongest person in Qianqiu County.
• At dawn, Lu Guan considered testing his saber against the demon king of White Bone Mountain and wondered what realm would extend his lifespan.
• The officers emerged from their tent, complaining that the pile of bones had howled during the night.

After Lu Guan and Tang Jun killed twelve White Bone Demons, Wu Yong ordered the troops to strengthen their watch, while Lu Guan anticipated facing the White Bone Demon King. At White Bone Mountain, the tiger demon set out to attack the soldiers and left a bound woman with the White Bone Demon King, revealing she was under the protection of the Mountain Sovereign of Ailao Mountain.

• Wu Yong warned the soldiers that White Bone Mountain might attack and ordered them to strengthen their watch.
• Lu Guan followed Tang Jun to eat and wondered how much cultivation he could gain from the White Bone Demon King.
• The White Bone Demon King told the tiger demon that Zhou Kaishan had only commissioned Lu Guan's death, but the tiger demon dismissed the restriction and decided to attack alone.
• The tiger demon revealed a bound woman and told the White Bone Demon King that the Mountain Sovereign of Ailao Mountain had entrusted her to its care.
• The tiger demon left the woman with the White Bone Demon King and promised it could meet the Mountain Sovereign after waiting at Yellow Flower Ridge.

Lu Guan confronted and killed the tiger demon from Yellow Flower Ridge after it appeared in the peach grove, revealing that he possessed True Qi far beyond what the officers expected. He left the stunned squad behind and continued toward White Bone Mountain.

• Wu Yong rallied the officers to form a Blood Qi blade, believing the approaching creature was the White Bone Demon King.
• The tiger demon from Yellow Flower Ridge appeared, and Wu Yong ordered the squad to form up against it.
• Lu Guan walked toward the tiger demon and severed its right arm with a single strike.
• Lu Guan revealed his True Qi, pinned the tiger demon down, and cut off its head.
• Lu Guan extracted 120 years of effective cultivation from the tiger demon, then walked toward White Bone Mountain as the officers watched in awe.

Lu Guan rescued Prince Yan's daughter from the White Bone Demon King and killed the demon in its cave. After freeing the hungry princess, he discovered a strange seven-tier arrangement of skeletons in the cave's depths.

• The White Bone Demon King threatened Prince Yan's daughter after she declared her identity and demanded release.
• Lu Guan entered the cave and struck the White Bone Demon King, knocking it into the lake.
• The White Bone Demon King attacked Lu Guan with icy Sha Qi, but Lu Guan overwhelmed it with his True Qi and beheaded it with the Primordial Saber.
• Lu Guan freed Prince Yan's daughter, who asked him for food, and he directed her to the Demon Suppression Bureau camp at the mountain's foot.
• Lu Guan surveyed the cave and found skeletons arranged in seven tiers before a stone wall.

Lu Guan deciphered the Demon Race writing and learned the Law Technique Enlightenment into a Spirit before carrying a starving woman out of the cave. After she mistook him for a corrupt official, he explained that Zhou Kaishan was his superior and declared that he would kill him.

• Lu Guan spent ten years of Cultivation deciphering the Demon Race characters and mastered Enlightenment into a Spirit.
• The woman explained that the demon had used a ritual to imitate the Law Technique and had fed on people to establish power on White Bone Mountain.
• The woman mistook Lu Guan for Qianqiu County's commandant, Zhou Kaishan, and collapsed from exhaustion.
• Lu Guan told her he was an ordinary captain and carried her toward the cave entrance.
• Lu Guan said he would kill Zhou Kaishan and carried the woman out into the mountain daylight.

Lu Guan returned from White Bone Mountain after killing the White Bone Demon King and wiping out the remaining demons, while Wu Yong and the First Squad prepared to claim credit for the purge. The rescued Yu Qianqian warned Lu Guan that defying a superior could ruin his prospects, then introduced herself as the chapter ended.

• Wu Yong reflected that Lu Guan’s victories over two great demons could soon earn him the title of Lord Lu.
• Lu Guan brought an unconscious, starving woman to Wu Yong for care, then returned to White Bone Mountain to kill the remaining demons.
• The officers revived the woman with hot water and flatbread, and she worried about the young officer who had rescued her.
• Lu Guan returned carrying the White Bone Demon King’s remains and reported that he had slain every demon on the mountain, prompting the First Squad to go collect battlefield evidence.
• The woman warned Lu Guan that killing a commandant without authorization could bring serious consequences, but he said some things should have been done long ago.
• The woman introduced herself to Lu Guan as Yu Qianqian.