Chapter Summaries

A procession returned to Qianqiu County carrying the remains of White Bone Mountain’s demons and the tiger demon of Yellow Flower Ridge, stunning the townspeople and the Demon Suppression Bureau. Wang Quan, who had come to arrest Zhou Kaishan for colluding with demons, watched in confusion as the people who slew the demons arrived.

• Demon Suppression Bureau officers brought bundles of skeletons and the corpses of a headless greater demon and the tiger demon into Qianqiu County, prompting townspeople to celebrate and mourn their lost relatives.
• Wang Quan and a young man in blue robes questioned how Zhou Kaishan could have slain the demons, given the allegations that he had colluded with them.
• Zhao Tielin hurried to the gates after hearing about White Bone Mountain and feared that Young Lu and the First Squad might have been harmed.
• A vendor told Zhao Tielin that the Demon Suppression Bureau had wiped out White Bone Mountain and Yellow Flower Ridge, leaving Zhao stunned.
• The crowd announced that the demon slayers had returned, and Zhao turned to look.

Lu Guan led the First Squad through Qianqiu County with the remains of slain demons and confronted Commandant Zhou Kaishan at the Demon Suppression Bureau. After Yu Qianqian accused Zhou of colluding with demons, Zhou attacked her, and Lu Guan cut off his arm.

• Lu Guan and Wu Yong led a procession displaying the demons’ remains through Qianqiu County as townsfolk gathered to watch.
• At the Demon Suppression Bureau, Lu Guan demanded that Zhou Kaishan come out, despite Wu Yong warning him to show respect to his superior.
• Wang Quan watched the scene and suspected that Lu Guan knew the truth behind the demons’ deaths.
• Zhou Kaishan emerged, recognized the dead greater demons, and struggled to understand how they had been killed.
• Yu Qianqian accused Zhou of feeding the county’s people to demons, and Zhou attacked her with a palm strike.
• Lu Guan drew his saber and severed Zhou Kaishan’s arm before he could hit Yu Qianqian.

Lu Guan defeated Zhou Kaishan and refused Qin Tiannan’s attempt to take the prisoner into custody. He revealed a perfected saber technique, killed Zhou Kaishan, and left Qin Tiannan shaken by his hidden strength.

• Lu Guan pinned Zhou Kaishan to the ground and approached him with his saber.
• Qin Tiannan identified himself as a Langya Demon Suppression Bureau commandant and ordered Lu Guan to hand Zhou Kaishan over for trial.
• Lu Guan refused Qin Tiannan’s intervention, but Qin blocked his saber and dismissed his skill.
• Lu Guan used his remaining Cultivation to advance the Demon Subduing Saber Technique into the perfected Demon Suppressing Saber Record.
• Lu Guan overpowered Qin Tiannan’s sword with a slash and cut off Zhou Kaishan’s head.
• Qin Tiannan realized Lu Guan had concealed a perfected True Qi Realm saber art and wondered where such a prodigy had come from.

Lu Guan defended his killing of Zhou Kaishan by presenting demon-script evidence of the commandant’s collusion with demons. Wang Quan accepted the proof and offered Lu Guan the temporary commandant post in Qianqiu County.

• Wang Quan identified himself as the deputy suppression commissioner and questioned Lu Guan about killing Zhou Kaishan without concrete evidence.
• Lu Guan signaled Tang Jun to bring over the stone wall taken from the White Bone Demon King’s cave and said its demon script recorded Zhou Kaishan’s collusion with demons.
• Wang Quan asked Qin Tiannan to translate the inscriptions, and Qin Tiannan confirmed that the stone wall documented Zhou Kaishan’s crimes.
• Wang Quan praised Lu Guan’s planning and offered him the temporary commandant position in Qianqiu County, pending formal approval.

Lu Guan became Qianqiu County’s acting commandant and accepted Yu Qianqian as a houseguest in exchange for a Gang Condensation Realm martial art. The chapter ended with Yu Qianqian asking him for clothes after bathing, leaving Lu Guan at a loss.

• Wang Quan appointed Lu Guan acting commandant and ordered him to clear demons around Qianqiu County to make amends for violating procedure.
• Wu Yong and the other subordinates saluted Lu Guan, while Zhao Tielin and Yu Qianqian reacted to his new position.
• Wang Quan told Qin Tiannan to help bring down a traitorous commandant in a neighboring county, promising Qin the post afterward.
• Yu Qianqian persuaded Lu Guan to let her stay at his home by offering him a Gang Condensation Realm martial art.
• After Yu Qianqian bathed, she called out to Lu Guan asking for clothes, and he realized he had no women’s clothes to give her.

Lu Guan obtained the Four Symbols Heaven's Will Saber from Yu Qianqian, then explained why Qianqiu County imposed a curfew: a powerful demon called Yin Soldiers Borrowing the Road sometimes entered town to kill. With food shops closed, he cooked Yu Qianqian beef noodles, and she asked him to take responsibility for restoring her Qi and Blood.

• Yu Qianqian wrote down the Four Symbols Heaven's Will Saber, and Lu Guan's panel recorded the martial art.
• Yu Qianqian asked why Qianqiu County had a curfew, and Lu Guan explained that it was meant to protect residents from the demon Yin Soldiers Borrowing the Road.
• Yu Qianqian grew hungry, and Lu Guan offered to cook because the curfew had closed the food shops.
• Lu Guan served Yu Qianqian beef noodles, and she complained that her Qi and Blood were nearly depleted and told him to take responsibility for her.

Lu Guan used 105 years of accumulated cultivation to adapt the Four Symbols Heaven's Will Saber for True Qi, mastering its Azure Dragon Form despite being below the Gang Condensation Realm. After his saber's dragon cry startled people across Qianqiu County, Yu Qianqian saw what he had achieved, and Lu Guan asked her for a Gang Condensation Realm internal cultivation method.

• Lu Guan spent years using the panel to find a way to replace Gang Qi with True Qi and finally attained basic mastery of the Four Symbols Heaven's Will Saber and its Azure Dragon Form.
• Lu Guan wielded the saber beneath the moonlight, forming an azure dragon from True Qi whose cry rang across Qianqiu County.
• The dragon's cry startled people throughout the county and drove a black-wind figure outside the city to turn away.
• Yu Qianqian came outside, recognized the saber art, and was astonished that Lu Guan had learned it so quickly without reaching the Gang Condensation Realm.
• Lu Guan told Yu Qianqian he had only achieved basic mastery and asked whether she had a Gang Condensation Realm internal cultivation method.

Lu Guan began his first day as commandant by ordering the Demon Suppression Bureau to surround Wild Boar Ridge and destroy its demons. He confronted the boar demon leader and revealed that he had killed Zhou Kaishan, leaving the demons facing their new enemy.

• Lu Guan learned that Yu Qianqian only remembered the Four Symbols Heaven's Will Saber and considered earning enough merit to obtain a Gang Condensation Realm cultivation method.
• At roll call, Wu Yong asked whether the powerful demon that had passed through town should be reported, and Lu Guan said it had already been dealt with.
• Lu Guan ordered Wu Yong, Lin Xuancheng, Qian Kang, and the officers to surround Wild Boar Ridge and leave no demons alive.
• The Demon Suppression Bureau officers marched out of town as townspeople watched and offered them food.
• Lu Guan and his men encircled Wild Boar Ridge, where the leading boar demon asked about Zhou Kaishan.
• Lu Guan drew the Primordial Saber, identified himself as Qianqiu's new commandant, and told the boar demon that he had killed Zhou Kaishan.

Lu Guan killed the pig demon and its four sons at Wild Boar Ridge, adding their cultivation to his reserves. He learned that the weasels at Weasel Grave had fled, leaving him disappointed over the cultivation he missed as his officers admired his concern for the wider world.

• The pig demon expanded and attacked Lu Guan with corrosive Sha Qi, but Lu Guan cut through its neck and killed it.
• The four Qi and Blood Realm pig demons fled, and Lu Guan killed them with a blade ray, raising his remaining cultivation to four hundred and forty years.
• Lu Guan ordered Wu Yong and the officers to clean up Wild Boar Ridge and prepare to return to the city.
• Tang Jun reported that the weasels had fled Weasel Grave, and Lu Guan privately lamented losing the chance to extract their cultivation.
• Wu Yong mistook Lu Guan's disappointment for worry that the weasels would plague another region and respected him for supposedly holding the world in his heart.

Lu Guan returned to Qianqiu County after clearing out its major demon forces and shared a meal with Yu Qianqian, while a mysterious Mountain Lord met an old white ape beyond the county. The Mountain Lord gave the ape a Secret Method to break through to the Gang Condensation Realm, at the cost of losing its future potential.

• Lu Guan’s party brought the corpses of the Wild Boar Ridge demons into the city, and the people celebrated the county’s freedom from nearby demon forces.
• Yu Qianqian welcomed Lu Guan home, and he reassured her that the blood on him belonged to demons.
• Lu Guan wondered when the demon he had driven away would return, since it might be his only nearby source of Cultivation.
• Yu Qianqian eagerly ate the braised beef Lu Guan prepared for her.
• An old white ape entered a hidden world and greeted the Mountain Lord.
• The Mountain Lord gave the old ape a Secret Method that could help it reach the Gang Condensation Realm but would end its potential for further advancement.

A black wind swept through the county town, and Lu Guan went alone to confront the ape demon approaching from outside. The ape demon believed the Gang Condensation Realm expert had left and demanded that Lu Guan retreat, but Lu Guan drew his saber.

• A black wind darkened the county town, sending residents indoors as the Demon Suppression Bureau prepared for a possible demon attack.
• Lu Guan ordered the officers to stay behind and headed alone for the town gates.
• Wei Jincheng questioned why Lu Guan kept fighting demons without the Bureau officers, and Wu Yong defended his strength and approach.
• Zhao Tielin worried about Lu Guan, whom he still thought of as the boy he had watched grow up.
• Outside town, the ape demon advanced under cover of its black wind and concluded that the Gang Condensation Realm expert had left.
• The ape demon told Lu Guan to pass on its threat to Zhou Kaishan and then retreat, but Lu Guan slowly drew his saber.

Lu Guan fought the ape demon that had terrorized the county town and killed it with an Azure Dragon Form strike. The black wind dispersed, and Lu Guan sheathed his saber after spending most of his True Qi.

• Lu Guan stabbed the ape demon's palm when it tried to crush his head.
• Lu Guan cut the ape demon's chest with a True Qi saber strike, leaving a deep wound.
• The ape demon unleashed its Three Baleful Intents Black Wind, tearing Lu Guan's robe and cutting his skin.
• Lu Guan formed an azure dragon with his True Qi and saber intent, startling the ape demon, which recognized the dragon's cry from that night.
• Lu Guan's Azure Dragon Form strike struck down the ape demon, and the black wind dispersed.

After killing an inherited ape demon, Lu Guan returned to Qianqiu County and discovered that its faction’s mark had branded his neck. While Yu Qianqian feared the demon’s powerful allies would come after him, Lu Guan welcomed the prospect of finding more demons to kill.

• Wu Yong and the townsfolk gathered at the city gate, where Lu Guan showed the little girl an azure dragon made from his saber’s ringing sound.
• Yu Qianqian checked Lu Guan’s wounds and found a dark red beast-claw mark on his neck.
• Yu Qianqian explained that the ape demon’s Secret Method marked its killer so its faction could track and seek revenge on him.
• Lu Guan realized the mark could lead him to more demons and walked home in good spirits.
• Yu Qianqian decided to follow Lu Guan and considered asking her family for help if a powerful demon came after him.

After realizing his fragile body left him vulnerable against demons, Lu Guan sought a defensive body-refining martial art in the Demon Suppression Bureau’s storehouse. He extrapolated an incomplete manual into the Gang Condensation Realm Nine Heavens Dragon-Elephant Secret Record, which could let his body rival that realm once mastered.

• Lu Guan recognized that his aggressive tactics could fail against a demon willing to fight at close range, and decided to learn a life-preserving cultivation method.
• Lu Guan visited the Demon Suppression Bureau’s storehouse and searched its collection of Qi and Blood Realm body-refining manuals.
• Lu Guan rejected several conventional hardening arts before finding an incomplete Dragon-Elephant Demon Suppression Art from an expelled Vajra Chan Monastery disciple.
• Lu Guan used a Dao Seed to complete the art and named the resulting Gang Condensation Realm method the Nine Heavens Dragon-Elephant Secret Record.
• Lu Guan realized that mastering the Secret Record could make his physical body rival the Gang Condensation Realm.

Lu Guan used his remaining cultivation to perfect the Nine Heavens Dragon-Elephant Secret Record, gaining a body as tough as a perfected Gang Condensation expert. After his Primordial Saber broke against his arm, he decided he needed to seek a stronger weapon in the commandery city.

• Lu Guan began cultivating the Nine Heavens Dragon-Elephant Secret Record and quickly mastered its first volume, discovering that his body-refining progress relied on cultivation rather than medicinal supplements.
• Lu Guan advanced through all three volumes over 130 years of cultivation and perfected the art, causing dragon and elephant manifestations to emerge as his bones resonated.
• Lu Guan examined his panel and realized that the art consumed little cultivation because it required little comprehension, unlike his internal cultivation methods.
• Lu Guan tested his newly hardened skin with the Primordial Saber, but the blade snapped when he struck his forearm with True Qi.
• Lu Guan considered replacing the broken saber and decided to travel to the commandery city to look for a Gang Condensation realm weapon.

Lu Guan returned unharmed and ate Yu Qianqian’s disastrous cooking while she concealed her plan to flee after seeking help from home. Meanwhile, the mountain lord arrived in the city, killed a man who praised Lu Guan, and found the gate of the Lu Residence.

• Yu Qianqian questioned how Lu Guan had healed so quickly, and he claimed he had made progress in body tempering.
• Yu Qianqian served Lu Guan burned tomatoes and eggs, while privately resolving not to return to the prince’s household despite sending a letter for support.
• A blue-eyed young man entered the city and killed an old flatbread seller after hearing him mention Lu Guan.
• The mountain lord followed Commandery Princess Luyang’s scent to the Lu Residence and pushed open its gate.

Lu Guan protected Yu Qianqian from Yin Shisan, a powerful tiger demon sent to take her back. When Yin Shisan attacked, Lu Guan struck it with one punch and sent it flying through the gates, leaving Yu Qianqian stunned.

• Yin Shisan arrived at Lu Guan's home and demanded that Yu Qianqian return with it.
• Yu Qianqian offered to go with Yin Shisan if it spared Lu Guan.
• Lu Guan stepped in front of Yu Qianqian and refused to let Yin Shisan take her.
• Yin Shisan roared and attacked, but Lu Guan punched it through the gates and left it badly injured in the street.
• Lu Guan walked out through the shattered gates as Yu Qianqian stared in disbelief.

Lu Guan killed Yin Shisan, a tiger demon from Ailao Mountain, and Yu Qianqian realized how powerful he was. Outside Qianqiu County, the old ape Yuan Guanshan arrived carrying a coffin and demanded a life for a life, while Yu Qianqian recognized it as an Inner Landscape Realm expert.

• Lu Guan broke Yin Shisan's shoulder, stopped its escape, and killed it with a final punch after it revealed its tiger form.
• Yu Qianqian asked whether Lu Guan was a demon in human form, and he dismissed her before returning to the courtyard.
• Yu Qianqian realized she had already sent a request for aid, then left in the opposite direction from Lu Guan.
• Yuan Guanshan arrived outside Qianqiu County carrying a black coffin and used the Qi of heaven and earth to weigh down the town.
• Yu Qianqian recognized Yuan Guanshan's power as belonging to the Inner Landscape Realm.

Yuan Guanshan sealed Qianqiu County with his presence after Lu Guan killed an ape demon, and Lu Guan realized the old ape had come to demand his life. Rather than wait for the Demon Suppression Bureau to decide his fate, Lu Guan set out to seek a way to grow stronger, but three figures arrived at the compound entrance and confronted him.

• Yuan Guanshan sealed Qianqiu County, and Yu Qianqian ordered the city gates closed after recognizing the threat of a great ape demon.
• Lu Guan told the Demon Suppression Bureau that the old ape was using the city’s residents as bargaining chips because he feared the Great Li court’s restrictions on powerful demons.
• Lu Guan concluded that the old ape wanted the Demon Suppression Bureau to surrender him in exchange for the city’s safety.
• Lu Guan decided to seek a True Qi Realm cultivation method from one of Qianqiu County’s other martial artists so he could use the Dao Seed to develop a Gang Condensation Realm method.
• Three figures arrived at the Demon Suppression Bureau compound and asked Lu Guan where he was going.

Lu Guan met Qianqiu County’s other leaders as they discussed the ape demon outside the city and learned that he had angered both of You Province’s great demonic powers. Li Fugui’s hope of using his daughter’s studies at Yuelu Academy to negotiate failed when Wang Muzhi explained that Fruitless Cave followed Great Chu’s outlawed ritual teachings.

• Lu Guan met Magistrate Wang Muzhi, Commandant Meng Shuo, and Li Fugui, who worried that Lu Guan’s actions had brought danger to the city.
• Meng Shuo rebuked Li Fugui for blaming Lu Guan for doing his duty to slay demons.
• Wang Muzhi explained that the ape demons of Fruitless Cave observed etiquette, unlike the savage tiger demons of Ailao Mountain.
• Wang Muzhi realized Lu Guan had killed a tiger demon and confirmed that he had offended both great demonic powers in You Province.
• Li Fugui proposed using his daughter’s place at Yuelu Academy to connect with the ape demon, but Wang Muzhi explained that the academy did not teach the previous dynasty’s ritual doctrines followed at Fruitless Cave.