Chapter Summaries

Wei Yuansheng reunited with Madam Mu and brought Guan He and Shang Yiyi to celebrate New Year's Eve with the Wei family. In Ning'an County, Ji Yuan spent the holiday alone until Hu Yun visited to offer New Year's greetings before leaving with Lord Lu to cultivate.

• Wei Yuansheng reunited with Madam Mu and told her about life on the immortal mountain.
• Wei Wuwei welcomed Guan He and Shang Yiyi at the Wei Manor, where Wei Yuansheng introduced them to his mother.
• The Wei family celebrated New Year's Eve together, while two Wei Manor experts rode to Ning'an County to invite Ji Yuan.
• Ji Yuan watched the snow and learned that Old Man Sun had left his noodle stall to his youngest son for the holiday.
• Hu Yun visited Ji Yuan, explained that Lord Lu was taking him to cultivate over the New Year, and accepted honey from him.

Ji Yuan created and refined a paper talisman technique that summoned a powerful Golden Armored Strongman. He demonstrated the obedient but dull giant to Hu Yun, who was left stunned by its imposing appearance.

• Ji Yuan began cutting yellow paper figures while Hu Yun watched and tried to learn his ritual.
• Ji Yuan made a mistake while preparing his ninety-ninth figure, causing all the figures he had cut to burn to ash.
• Ji Yuan restarted and improved the technique, completing 324 connected paper figures before merging them into one and adding his blood.
• Ji Yuan infused the finished paper figure with magical power and summoned a towering Golden Armored Strongman.
• Hu Yun cautiously approached the motionless strongman and tapped its armor, hearing a metallic clink.

Ji Yuan demonstrated his Golden Armored Strongman technique to Hu Yun and celebrated the New Year in Ning'an County. After Wei Family messengers invited him to Desheng Prefecture, he arrived and reunited with Wei Yuansheng, Shang Yiyi, and Guan He.

• Ji Yuan explained the Golden Armored Strongman's powers and weakness to Hu Yun, then dismissed the talisman and refused to lend it to the fox.
• Hu Yun left for the mountain, and Ji Yuan cooked a New Year's Eve meal before the Green Vine Sword flew to Niu Kui Mountain to gather New Spring Cloud Qi.
• On New Year's Day, two Wei Family servants reached Ju'an Pavilion and told Ji Yuan about the family's situation, including that Shang Yiyi and Wei Yuansheng had come.
• Ji Yuan agreed to visit, flew to Desheng Prefecture, and arrived at Wei Manor as Wei Yuansheng, Shang Yiyi, and Guan He were leaving to set off firecrackers.
• Wei Yuansheng recognized Ji Yuan, sent a servant to notify his father, and invited Ji Yuan to set off firecrackers with him.

Ji Yuan celebrated with the Wei family and learned that Pei Zheng had returned from the Heavenly Secrets Pavilion with an alarming divination, prompting Yuhuai Mountain to seek Ji Yuan’s view. Ji Yuan declined involvement and asked Wei Wuwei to serve him a feast.

• Ji Yuan, Wei Yuansheng, Shang Yiyi, and Guan He set off a long chain of firecrackers outside Wei Manor.
• Wei Wuwei hosted Ji Yuan and the others at a pastry banquet, where they discussed the Wei father and son’s cultivation at Yuhuai Mountain.
• Wei Yuansheng told Ji Yuan that his grandmaster, Pei Zheng, had returned from the Heavenly Secrets Pavilion after an extensive divination.
• Wei Yuansheng explained that the divination had revealed less than an earlier attempt and that Yuhuai Mountain wanted Ji Yuan’s opinion before attempting another reading.
• Ji Yuan said he would not take part in the divination and asked Wei Wuwei to serve big fish and meat instead.

Ji Yuan reflected on Yuhuai Mountain’s ambitions and his own uncertainty about the wider world, then found resolve to travel beyond Great Zhen and see it for himself. After a night spent nurturing a flower with the Green Vine Sword’s spring energy, he left Wei Manor the next morning.

• Wei Wuwei hosted Ji Yuan and the others at an extravagant New Year’s banquet at Wei Manor.
• Ji Yuan considered Yuhuai Mountain’s plans to seek fortune and new disciples, and wondered whether he could understand the world well enough to act as a Chess Player.
• Unable to sleep, Ji Yuan took the Green Vine Sword into the courtyard and caused a withered flower branch to grow leaves and buds with its spring vitality.
• Guan He and Shang Yiyi found the transformed flower after Ji Yuan returned to his room, but did not recognize the nature of its spring energy.
• Ji Yuan decided that traveling through the world beyond Great Zhen would be enough, then bid farewell to Wei Wuwei and left Wei Manor after breakfast.
• Wei Manor servants noticed that the flower buds were close to blooming after Ji Yuan had departed.

Ji Yuan traveled north from Great Zhen into the increasingly desolate Zuyue Kingdom and found an abandoned village where he planned to spend the night. As a weary group arrived at the village seeking food, they spotted Ji Yuan sitting by a fire inside a large house.

• Ji Yuan left a letter at Ju'an Pavilion, locked his home, and walked out of Ning'an County to begin his journey north.
• After crossing into Zuyue Kingdom, Ji Yuan found two skeletons beside an overgrown road and continued toward a seemingly abandoned village.
• Ji Yuan inspected a well, drank its clear water, and settled in a large house near the village entrance as night and a spring storm approached.
• While warming flatbread and reading Heretical Teachings by the fire, Ji Yuan heard footsteps and horses arriving outside.
• A group of seven or eight travelers, including a little girl, entered the village in search of food and found Ji Yuan sitting in the house's main hall.

Ji Yuan sheltered Han Ming’s party in an abandoned residence during a storm and warned them that the village was dangerous. Several li away, a band of martial artists battled a large group of bandits, while a buried creature attacked a wounded bandit.

• Ji Yuan invited Han Ming and his companions into the residence when rain forced them to seek shelter.
• Ji Yuan spoke with Han Ming about the desolation of Nanyuan Province, revealed he was from Great Zhen, and warned the group not to go outside.
• A group of martial artists fought a much larger bandit force in the rainy night, struggling to protect their companions.
• A buried, withered creature appeared among the wounded bandits and bit one of them in the neck.

As Ji Yuan listened to strange whistles from the rainy night, unseen creatures killed the bandits’ wounded, frightening the leaders into retreating and allowing the martial artists to survive. The exhausted martial artists learned of an abandoned village where they could shelter, while Ji Yuan opened his door to investigate the whistles.

• Unseen creatures bit wounded bandits’ necks and killed them in the rain.
• Third Boss discovered the corpses and blew his whistle to halt the bandits’ attack.
• Third Boss and two other leaders confirmed the eerie deaths and ordered the bandits to flee.
• The martial artists celebrated their survival, then captured the wounded bandit Bazi, who revealed that an abandoned village lay ahead.
• In the Desolate Village, Ji Yuan heard the unusual whistles, set down his Book, and opened the door wider.

Ji Yuan sheltered Huang Zhixian and the other Jianghu Guests after they fled bandits, then deduced that a sinister entity had driven the bandits away. He left the Desolate Village with the captured bandit to confront the entity at its lair, entrusting Huang Zhixian with a protective Yellow Paper figure.

• Huang Zhixian led the wounded Jianghu Guests to the Desolate Village after their fight with bandits.
• Ji Yuan welcomed the newcomers into the great house and arranged for Han Ming to move the horses aside.
• Huang Zhixian recounted the battle, and Ji Yuan concluded that a sinister entity had frightened the bandits and might have gone back to their stronghold.
• Ji Yuan gave Huang Zhixian a spell-bound Yellow Paper figure and instructed him how to activate it if danger arose.
• Ji Yuan seized the captured bandit Bazi and left for the bandits' stronghold, promising to return before dawn.

Ji Yuan investigated the blood-drained corpses with Bazi and followed the bandits’ trail to South King’s Stockade. As the Evil Entities attacked the stockade, they overwhelmed its leaders and began feeding on them.

• Ji Yuan took Bazi to the battlefield, where he found corpses drained of blood and souls lingering beside the dead bandits.
• Ji Yuan learned the way to South King’s Stockade and hurried there with Bazi, suspecting a powerful, bloodthirsty Evil Entity was responsible for the deaths.
• At South King’s Stockade, the bosses discussed the attack on their bandits and celebrated after retreating from the battlefield.
• A minor leader spotted someone being seized near a shack, then creatures erupted from the ground and killed him and the men sent to investigate.
• Evil Entities broke into the hall and attacked the bandits; one monster smashed through a wall with First Boss and began biting his neck.

Ji Yuan attacked the intelligent corpses at South King's Stockade while the paper crane protected Huang Zhixian and the others in the desolate village. The Golden Armored Strongman emerged and struck a black shadow out of the ground.

• Ji Yuan reached South King's Stockade with Bazi, found its people and horses drained of their vital essence, and was attacked by several strange corpses.
• Ji Yuan burned two corpses to ashes, captured another Inside Sleeve, and cut through the ground and mountain with the Green Vine Sword as Bazi watched.
• At the abandoned residence, the paper crane stopped Huang Zhixian from going outside and prompted him to summon the Golden Armored Strongman.
• The Golden Armored Strongman acknowledged the paper crane, went outside, and smashed a black shadow out of the earth with a single punch.

The Golden Armored Strongman protected the people in the Dilapidated House from a group of evil corpses and fought the Giant Corpse. The chapter ended with the Giant Corpse battered into a bowl-shaped pit while the other evil corpses remained nearby.

• The Golden Armored Strongman punched a Slave Descendant out of the ground before it could reach the house.
• The Giant Corpse questioned the Golden Armored Strongman, which declared that demons, evil spirits, and uncanny beings who approached would die by the Honored One's command.
• The Giant Corpse charged the Golden Armored Strongman, but the strongman blocked it and forced it away from the Dilapidated House.
• The Golden Armored Strongman wrapped its yellow ribbons around the Giant Corpse, threw it to the ground, and smashed it with repeated punches.
• The Golden Armored Strongman swatted away one attacking evil corpse and struck the ground beneath the Giant Corpse, forming a bowl-shaped pit.

The Golden Armored Strongman defeated the giant corpse’s attack and destroyed the Slave Descendant evil corpse, while the giant corpse escaped underground. Ji Yuan returned to the Desolate Village, recognized the danger near the village, and the giant corpse realized the Strongman served him.

• The Golden Armored Strongman battered the giant corpse until it fled underground, then intercepted and smashed the Slave Descendant evil corpse’s head before the dilapidated house.
• Huang Zhixian and the others recovered inside the house, relit their fire, and saw the enormous pit left by the battle.
• The giant corpse hid underground but remained furious and intended to kill the mortals after recognizing it could not defeat the Golden Armored Strongman.
• Ji Yuan arrived at the Desolate Village with Bazi, and the people inside welcomed him back.
• The Golden Armored Strongman greeted Ji Yuan as “My lord,” and Ji Yuan spotted the giant corpse’s concealed presence beyond the village.

Ji Yuan confronted the Corpse Demon behind the attacks on the village and questioned it about its nature, servants, and master. After promising to let it leave if it endured one burning, he destroyed it with Samadhi True Fire, leaving one Slave Descendant still unaccounted for.

• Ji Yuan ordered the Giant Corpse to emerge, and it rushed out of the ground when he summoned the Green Vine Sword.
• The Giant Corpse identified itself as a Corpse Demon named Wu Chu and said it had created thirteen Slave Descendants, with one still alive.
• Ji Yuan questioned Wu Chu about its master and incomplete Life Soul, but Wu Chu denied having a master and attributed its damaged soul to its nature as a Corpse Demon.
• Ji Yuan offered Wu Chu a sword strike or a mouthful of fire, promising to let it leave if it chose the fire.
• Wu Chu chose the fire, and Ji Yuan burned it to charcoal powder with Samadhi True Fire.

After Ji Yuan destroyed the Giant Corpse, he escorted the survivors toward safety and let Bazi recount their journey. At the first town, Ji Yuan left Bazi to face the authorities for his past crimes, then parted from the group.

• Ji Yuan reassured the survivors, resumed reading, and let Bazi eat and warm himself before the group listened to his account of their trip to South King's Stockade.
• Ji Yuan decided to escort Huang Zhixian, Han Ming, and the others to a settlement, traveling with them for about ten days until they reached a town outside Nanyuan Province.
• Huang Zhixian asked Ji Yuan how the group should handle Bazi, and Ji Yuan left the decision to them.
• The group told Bazi they planned to hand him over to the authorities, and he begged Ji Yuan to intervene.
• Ji Yuan told Bazi to take responsibility for his mistakes, bid farewell to everyone, and entered the town as Bazi remained kneeling.

Ji Yuan traveled through Nandao County Town, where several groups of criminals targeted him for his valuables. When nine bandits cornered him at Five Li Pavilion, Yan Fei suddenly appeared and killed them, then greeted Ji Yuan as an old acquaintance.

• Ji Yuan entered Nandao County Town and noticed that several people were watching him with hostile intentions.
• Ji Yuan bought ten jin of flatbreads from an old shopkeeper, who warned him that people had set their sights on him.
• Ji Yuan let nine men follow him out of town and waited for them at Five Li Pavilion.
• The nine bandits surrounded Ji Yuan and threatened to kill him after robbing him.
• Yan Fei arrived and swiftly killed all nine bandits with his sword.
• Yan Fei recognized Ji Yuan, and Ji Yuan remembered him as Young Hero Yan and praised his martial skill.

Ji Yuan reunited with Yan Fei in the Zuyue Kingdom, and the two shared a meal while catching up on their lives and past acquaintances. When Ji Yuan heard a woman’s scream that he sensed was genuine, he rushed toward Yuanqi Inn, with Yan Fei following.

• Ji Yuan and Yan Fei left the corpses of the nine attackers behind and returned to Nandao County Town together.
• At Rongyuan Restaurant, Ji Yuan and Yan Fei discussed their travels, Du Heng and Lu Chengfeng, Yan Fei’s swordsmanship, and the death of Emperor Yuande.
• Ji Yuan learned that Yan Fei had become known in the Zuyue Kingdom as the Flying Swordsman after leaving Great Zhen eight years earlier.
• A woman screamed in the distance, and Yan Fei identified Yuanqi Inn as the site of a honey trap, but Ji Yuan sensed the scream was different and leapt away to investigate.
• Yan Fei praised Ji Yuan’s lightness skill, paid for their meal, and hurried after him.

Ji Yuan pursued the demon that had attacked Yuanqi Inn and intercepted an Ox Demon carrying an unconscious woman at Stone Ridge. He demanded an explanation for the fur left at the inn, and the Ox Demon realized Ji Yuan had tracked him from the city.

• Ji Yuan and Yan Fei entered Yuanqi Inn and found the shopkeeper and everyone in the rooms unconscious.
• Ji Yuan discovered a tuft of fur, identified it as demonic, and left to pursue its owner while Yan Fei went after him.
• Ji Yuan followed the demonic energy northeast beyond Nandao County and waited at Stone Ridge for the approaching figure.
• Ji Yuan saw through the figure’s illusion and recognized the demon as an Ox Demon carrying a woman.
• Ji Yuan showed the Ox Demon the fur from Yuanqi Inn and asked why it had been there, prompting the demon to ask if Ji Yuan had been at the inn.

Ji Yuan rescued Yan Fei from a hair-wielding female demon after learning that the Ox Demon had been fleeing her. The Ox Demon arrived and attacked the injured demon, while she recognized Ji Yuan as the wielder of the Green Vine Immortal Sword.

• The Ox Demon warned Ji Yuan that the hair came from a dangerous woman who was drawing near, while insisting he had taken his captive to teach her a lesson.
• Ji Yuan sensed Yan Fei was in danger, broke the Ox Demon's concealment, took the captive woman, and hurried back toward the fight.
• Yan Fei fought off four strange figures before a female demon used her long hair and beguiling fragrance to seize and weaken him.
• Ji Yuan arrived, freed Yan Fei with a sword strike, and summoned a Golden Armored Strongman to guard him.
• The female demon recognized Ji Yuan and the Green Vine Immortal Sword, then the Ox Demon arrived and repeatedly stomped at her with a giant hoof.

Ji Yuan and the ox demon defeated the woman’s demonic body, but she escaped through a Spirit Substitution technique and fled east. Ji Yuan learned little about her origins, while the ox demon declined his offer to remove the fur draining his power.

• Yan Fei watched Ji Yuan’s Golden Armored Strongman shield them from debris as the ox demon’s attack shattered the ground.
• Ji Yuan and the ox demon discovered that the woman had escaped, leaving behind a blood-seeping Wooden Puppet concealed in fur.
• The wounded woman reappeared in a cave several mountains away, realized Ji Yuan posed a danger, and fled east.
• Ji Yuan told the ox demon the woman might be connected to a Fox Spirit, then burned the fur and puppet remains to ashes.
• Ji Yuan offered to use Samadhi True Fire to remove the fur from the ox demon’s neck, but the ox demon became frightened and refused.