Chapter Summaries

Lu Guan traded a Gang Condensation Realm body-refining martial art for the Li Household’s True Qi Realm internal cultivation method while an ape demon surrounded the group. After the exchange, Li Fugui tried to offer Lu Guan goodwill, but Lu Guan revealed he knew the three visitors had come to watch him.

• Wang Muzhi reassured the group that the ape demon had surrounded them to force negotiations, while Li Fugui worried the talks might turn violent.
• Lu Guan asked Li Fugui to speak privately and proposed trading for the Li Household’s inherited True Qi Realm heart method.
• Li Fugui initially refused, but agreed when Lu Guan offered the Nine Heavens Dragon-Elephant Secret Record, a body-refining art that reached Gang Condensation Realm.
• Lu Guan and Li Fugui wrote down their respective martial arts, and the panel recorded the Mountain-Moving Heart Method as uninitiated.
• Li Fugui praised the body-refining art and offered Lu Guan goodwill by asking whether he knew why the three visitors had come; Lu Guan said they had come to keep watch over him.

Lu Guan learned that Wang Muzhi had arranged for Li Fugui and the others to watch him, while Yuan Guanshan confronted Sun Ying outside Qianqiu County. Sun Ying wounded the ape demon but could not stop him from entering the city to pursue his target.

• Li Fugui told Lu Guan that Wang Muzhi had arranged for the three men to keep watch over him and accused the magistrate of turning a blind eye to Zhou Kaishan’s crimes.
• Yuan Guanshan waited outside Qianqiu County with his coffin until Sun Ying, the Pacification Commissioner of Langya Commandery, arrived.
• Sun Ying warned Yuan Guanshan not to cross the line and drew his saber, but the ape demon threatened to kill the city’s residents with his Qi.
• Sun Ying cut off Yuan Guanshan’s right arm, defying the demon’s threat and warning that cultivators were forbidden to act.
• Yuan Guanshan threatened to bring the Fruitless Cave’s power against You Province, then dragged his coffin through the city gates to pursue his target.
• Sun Ying let Yuan Guanshan enter, hoping his wound would help the people inside the city.

Lu Guan sensed the old ape from Fruitless Cave approaching and used his remaining cultivation to perfect the Mystic Origin Mountain-Moving Heart Method, reaching the perfected Gang Condensation Realm. He survived the overwhelming memories of centuries of practice, but feared that future training might shatter his mind.

• Lu Guan vanished from the Demon Suppression Bureau offices as Wang Muzhi, Meng Shuo, and Li Fugui arrived, knowing the old ape from Fruitless Cave had entered the city.
• Wang Muzhi lamented Lu Guan's danger while Li Fugui privately hoped to pass Lu Guan's martial art on to his clan.
• Lu Guan spent a Dao Seed to advance the Mountain-Moving Heart Method into the Mystic Origin Mountain-Moving Heart Method.
• Lu Guan invested his remaining 590 years of cultivation in the method and mastered Gang Qi body protection, Gang Qi manifestation, and the union of Gang and Baleful Intent.
• Lu Guan perfected the method and the Gang Condensation Realm, forming a domain of Gang Qi within ten feet of himself.
• Lu Guan briefly lost himself in the accumulated memories of 250 years of training, then recovered and feared that further cultivation could overwhelm his mind.

After Lu Guan finished a dangerous cultivation simulation, Yuan Guanshan confronted him and overwhelmed him with the power of the Inner Landscape Realm. Trapped beneath Yuan Guanshan’s crushing force, Lu Guan activated the panel to improve his saber technique.

• Lu Guan realized the panel’s simulations could overwhelm his mind and decided he needed to use them cautiously or improve his aptitude.
• Yuan Guanshan arrived dragging a coffin and demanded a life for a life, while Lu Guan insulted him and attacked.
• Yuan Guanshan effortlessly stopped Lu Guan’s strike and kicked him across the street, leaving him badly injured.
• Yuan Guanshan revealed he was an Inner Landscape Realm cultivator and used the pressure of heaven and earth to crush Lu Guan.
• Lu Guan refused to give up and added points to his beginner Four Symbols Heaven's Will Saber.

Lu Guan perfected the Four Symbols Heaven's Will Saber and discovered its hidden divine ability, Celestial Person One Saber Slash, while Yuan Guanshan attacked him. Chen Jingchou arrived with Yu Qianqian and suppressed Yuan Guanshan, but Lu Guan suddenly stood up beside the old ape.

• Lu Guan perfected the Azure Dragon, White Tiger, Vermilion Bird, and Black Tortoise forms through years of cultivation.
• After more than two hundred years of practice, Lu Guan discovered that the Four Symbols Heaven's Will Saber was the prerequisite for Celestial Person One Saber Slash.
• Yuan Guanshan attacked Lu Guan with the forces of heaven and earth as Lu Guan reeled from the influx of martial knowledge.
• Chen Jingchou arrived with Yu Qianqian, and Yuan Guanshan found itself unable to mobilize the forces of heaven and earth.
• Chen Jingchou prepared to strike Yuan Guanshan, but Lu Guan stood up beside the old ape.

Lu Guan unleashed the Inner Landscape Realm saber technique [Celestial Person One Saber Slash] against Yuan Guanshan, even as the ape demon prepared to strike him. Chen Jingchou had sealed Yuan Guanshan’s access to the Qi of heaven and earth, not Lu Guan’s, and the chapter ended as the enormous phantom brought its saber-like hand down.

• Lu Guan recovered enough to bind his bloodied hand to his saber and realized he still had the Gang Qi to unleash [Celestial Person One Saber Slash].
• Yu Qianqian urged Chen Jingchou to stop Lu Guan from fighting while he was badly injured, but Chen Jingchou told Lu Guan to prove his worth by killing Yuan Guanshan.
• Lu Guan immediately swung his saber, prompting Yuan Guanshan to attack him with a palm strike.
• Lu Guan invoked [Celestial Person One Saber Slash], manifesting the Four Symbols before they merged into a giant phantom bearing his own face.
• Yuan Guanshan realized the phantom wielded the Qi of heaven and earth, then learned from Chen Jingchou that only the ape’s access to that Qi had been sealed.

Lu Guan killed the early inner landscape ape demon with Celestial Person One Saber Slash, leaving Chen Jingchou astonished by his talent. After Yu Qianqian explained that she had taught Lu Guan Four Symbols Heaven's Will Saber, Chen Jingchou invited him to join the Demon-Slaying Envoys.

• Lu Guan used Celestial Person One Saber Slash to kill Yuan Guanshan, an early inner landscape ape demon, and drained all his Gang Qi.
• Yu Qianqian praised Lu Guan to Chen Jingchou, who wondered if Lu Guan was the Prince of Yan's illegitimate son because he knew the Prince's signature saber art.
• Yu Qianqian said she had taught Lu Guan Four Symbols Heaven's Will Saber, but she did not know how he had learned Celestial Person One Saber Slash.
• Yu Qianqian told Chen Jingchou that Lu Guan had grasped the basics of the saber art in two hours, when he seemed to be in the true Qi realm.
• Chen Jingchou concluded that Lu Guan was an extraordinary talent and invited him to join the Demon-Slaying Envoys.

After Lu Guan killed the old ape demon, Chen Jingchou recruited him into the Demon-Slaying Envoys while clashing with Sun Ying over the consequences of the killing. The chapter ended with Chen Jingchou revealing that the Prince of Yan had reached the Divine Treasury Realm.

• Chen Jingchou invited Lu Guan to join the Demon-Slaying Envoys and offered him a silver token.
• Sun Ying condemned Chen Jingchou for killing the old ape, warning that the act could destabilize You Province and bring blame upon the Demon Suppression Bureau.
• Chen Jingchou claimed that Lu Guan, still a commandant in the Demon Suppression Bureau, had killed the ape demon.
• Sun Ying recognized that Lu Guan had been the old ape's target and admitted that You Province's calamity had arrived.
• Chen Jingchou countered that the demons of You Province faced calamity because the Prince of Yan had broken through to the Divine Treasury Realm.

Lu Guan recovered from his wounds, accepted his place among the Demon-Slaying Envoys, and discovered a report about a dangerous river demon in Four Lakes Commandery. He set out to investigate, but first planned to put Qianqiu County’s affairs in order.

• Lu Guan recalled accepting Chen Jingchou’s offer to join the Demon-Slaying Envoys after the demons around Qianqiu County were wiped out.
• Lu Guan took stock of his recovery, noticed the darkening mark on his neck, and examined the silver token Chen Jingchou had given him.
• Lu Guan sent a message to the Demon-Slaying Envoys seeking demon-slaying work, then saw a report from Five Li Town about a river demon that might require an Inner Landscape Realm cultivator.
• Lu Guan armed himself and decided to ride to Great River County, Four Lakes Commandery, after putting Qianqiu County’s affairs in order.

Lu Guan told Wang Muzhi, Meng Shuo, and Li Fugui that he had been promoted to Silver-Token Demon-Slaying Envoy and was leaving Qianqiu County. He rode north toward Five Li Town, where a Demon-Slaying Envoy remained in danger.

• Lu Guan corrected Li Fugui's assumption that he and Commandery Princess Luyang were more than friends.
• Lu Guan showed the three men his Demon-Slaying Envoy waist token and announced his promotion and departure.
• Wang Muzhi, Meng Shuo, and Li Fugui congratulated Lu Guan and agreed to manage Qianqiu County until a new commandant arrived.
• Lu Guan left the Demon Suppression Bureau and chose the finest horse in the stables.
• Lu Guan rode out of Qianqiu County and headed north toward Five Li Town.

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.