Chapter Summaries

Ji Yuan visited Dragon Rock Island, where the Dragon Daughter said her mother had agreed to settle in the East Sea rather than return to the Tongtian River. Meanwhile, hunters at Niu Kui Mountain enjoyed an unusually successful hunt as Lord Lu watched gathering thunderclouds, suggesting he was preparing to undergo Transformation.

• Ji Yuan picked coconuts on Dragon Rock Island and learned that the Dragon Daughter had persuaded her mother to move to the East Sea.
• Ji Yuan attended a lavish Water Mansion banquet where the dishes were mostly raw seafood.
• A Mountain Hunting Team from a village at the foot of Niu Kui Mountain caught several animals, including a spotted leopard, in their traps.
• The hunters noticed thunderclouds gathering and hurried home with their prey, while similar hunts took place around Niu Kui Mountain.
• Lord Lu emerged from his cave and watched the storm clouds as animals fled toward the mountain's outskirts.
• Lord Lu warned Hu Yun to keep away while he waited to see whether the thunderclouds would strike, and Hu Yun ran toward the outer mountains.

After hunters returned from Niu Kui Mountain under ominous thunder, the leading hunter asked his father-in-law about a man-eating tiger said to have become a spirit nearly twenty years earlier. The chapter ended as lightning struck toward the mountains, renewing fears that the Tiger Spirit had returned.

• The hunters carried their prey back to the village as thunder rolled over Niu Kui Mountain, and the leading hunter glimpsed a colossal beast-shaped shadow in the clouds.
• The leading hunter visited his father-in-law, the Old Village Chief, and asked about demons that had once troubled the mountain.
• The Old Village Chief recalled how a fierce Great White Tiger had killed hunters and dogs before wandering heroes supposedly killed it and displayed its pelt at the Yamen.
• The leading hunter wondered whether the Tiger Spirit had survived, explaining that strange roars and fleeing Wild Beasts had unsettled him on the way down the mountain.
• A deafening thunderclap sounded, and a three-branched bolt of lightning struck toward the mountains as the villagers shuddered.

As Lord Lu endured a deadly lightning tribulation in Niu Kui Mountain, Ji Yuan watched from afar and the nearby City Gods sensed the extraordinary storm. Badly injured but refusing to retreat, Lord Lu challenged Heaven in the name of his master as another tribulation bolt gathered.

• The City Gods around Niu Kui Mountain watched the strange thunderclouds, and Song Shichang noted the spiritual light near Ju'an Pavilion.
• Ji Yuan sensed Lord Lu facing the lightning tribulation and praised his refusal to evade it.
• Lord Lu endured successive bolts, including blood-red lightning, while Hu Yun anxiously watched from his den.
• As the sixth true thunderbolt gathered, Lord Lu struggled upright despite his grievous wounds and declared he would not shame his master.
• Lord Lu shouted, “On behalf of my benefactor and master, I ask Heaven: Thunder Controller, whom do you serve?”

Ji Yuan aided Lord Lu from afar as he faced an extraordinary lightning tribulation on Niu Kui Mountain. Lord Lu survived, transformed into a powerful new beast, and then assumed a refined human form, leaving Hu Yun astonished and asking Heaven who the Thunder Controller served.

• Ji Yuan used his Intent Landscape and a Black Piece to send Mysterious Yellow Qi to Lord Lu, strengthening his resolve to face the final lightning strike.
• Lord Lu endured the blue-green and red lightning, was reduced to a charred skeleton, and regenerated with the New Spring Qi within him.
• Lord Lu's body grew into a massive, tiger-like beast with changed features, while Ji Yuan sensed the transformation from afar before their connection broke.
• Hu Yun rushed to the Moon Platform and witnessed Lord Lu transform from the giant beast into a human.
• Lord Lu greeted Hu Yun, then asked Heaven for whom the Thunder Controller served, but received no answer as rain began falling over Niu Kui Mountain.

After recovering from his transformation and lightning tribulation, Lord Lu set out with Hu Yun to visit Mister Ji’s home in Ning'an County. The chapter ends with Lord Lu arriving at Ju'an Pavilion and reflecting on his honored master's humble residence.

• Lord Lu completed his transformation, fashioned a White Hairpin from one of his claws, and told Hu Yun he would eventually leave Niu Kui Mountain to fulfill an old promise.
• Lord Lu and Hu Yun cultivated together while Lord Lu healed and stabilized his realm over the next one or two months.
• Lord Lu asked Hu Yun to take him to Mister Ji's residence, and the two traveled on foot out of Niu Kui Mountain toward Ning'an County.
• Lord Lu and Hu Yun entered Ning'an County, where Hu Yun used an Illusion Technique and hurried through the streets to avoid his mortal enemies.
• Lord Lu and Hu Yun entered Ju'an Pavilion, and Lord Lu took in the modest courtyard that still carried Ji Yuan's aura.

Lord Lu visited Ju'an Pavilion, received a Fire Jujube from the Large Jujube Tree, and set out to find the people bound by an old pact. After eating noodles at Sun's Noodle Stall, he learned of Sun Fu's family's long-standing custom of saving food for Ji Yuan and left behind a gold nugget.

• Lord Lu greeted the Large Jujube Tree at Ju'an Pavilion, and it dropped a Fire Jujube for him.
• Lord Lu sat quietly at Ju'an Pavilion while Hu Yun slept, then left to seek the nine people who had made a pact years earlier.
• Lord Lu ordered Braised Noodles from Sun Fu and learned to use chopsticks as he ate.
• Sun Fu told Lord Lu that his family had always saved noodles and Mixed Offal Soup for Ji Yuan, though his father had died and Ji Yuan had not visited in years.
• Lord Lu declined the offal, paid three copper coins for his noodles, and left Sun Fu a Dog-head Gold Nugget.

Lord Lu tested Luo Ningshuang’s chivalrous spirit by manipulating a pickpocket into robbing an old man, and she overcame her hesitation to stop him despite her pregnancy. Afterward, Ji Yuan arranged for a storyteller to recount the Nine Tiger-Slaying Heroes’ tale, leaving their old story about to be told in Desheng Prefecture.

• Luo Ningshuang visited Desheng Prefecture with her twins while Lord Lu secretly watched her and wondered whether she still held to her old vow of becoming a heroine.
• Lord Lu used his gaze to muddle a pickpocket, who stole an old man’s money and assaulted a bystander when the crowd tried to stop him.
• Luo Ningshuang overcame her concern for her pregnancy, subdued the pickpocket, and left before the official runners could identify her.
• Luo Ningshuang’s family helped her rest at a nearby teahouse after the fight left her exhausted.
• Ji Yuan paid a storyteller to recount the tale of the nine heroes who had gone to Ning'an County to slay a tiger, then disappeared.

Lord Lu met Luo Ningshuang in a tea house after hearing a storyteller recount the Nine Heroes’ tale, then revealed he had once made a pact concerning her. Ji Yuan appeared afterward, assured Luo Ningshuang the pact was fulfilled, and vanished, leaving her relieved but unsettled.

• The storyteller began recounting the Tale of the Nine Heroes, stirring Luo Ningshuang’s memories of her past in the martial world.
• Lord Lu approached Luo Ningshuang, said he had decided to erase a debt owed by a woman surnamed Luo, and introduced himself as Lord Lu before leaving.
• Luo Ningshuang recognized Lord Lu as the Tiger Spirit from the old pact and realized he had come to fulfill it.
• Ji Yuan appeared at Luo Ningshuang’s table and explained that the pact had ended and Lord Lu would not seek her out again.
• Ji Yuan bid Luo Ningshuang farewell and vanished from the tea house.

Lu Chengfeng traveled from Cloud Pavilion to Duming Prefecture for a martial gathering and a matchmaking visit, concealing the strength he had built through years of training. After he fought off an ambush, Lord Lu revealed that he had arranged the test and swallowed the Ghost Servant who attacked him.

• Lu Chengyun sent Lu Chengfeng off with new clothes and urged him to make a name for himself at the martial gathering while also visiting the Zhou family about marriage.
• As Lu Chengfeng traveled with Cloud Pavilion disciples, he kept practicing and recalled how the Lu brothers had secretly rebuilt Cloud Pavilion and strengthened their martial arts.
• A Man in Green Robe appeared beside the road, and Lu Chengfeng caught a dart before fighting off an attacker who used a blade and freezing martial arts.
• The attacker vanished after their fight, and Lu Chengfeng resumed the journey with heightened respect for the martial gathering.
• The attacker reported to Lord Lu that Lu Chengfeng's martial arts were impressive, and Lord Lu revealed that he had tested both men before swallowing the Ghost Servant.

Ji Yuan set up a calligraphy stall in Duming Prefecture while waiting for someone, then used a mysterious message to provoke Lan Ningke and his companions. After Ji Yuan vanished, the men found that his calligraphy had changed into an insult questioning whether Lan was worthy of being called a dragon among men.

• Ji Yuan set up a stall in Duming Prefecture to sell calligraphy and divine fortunes while waiting for someone.
• Lan Ningke and two companions returned to Ji Yuan’s stall, and Lan asked him to write “Chivalry born of willfulness, a dragon among men.”
• Ji Yuan charged Lan nine taels for the calligraphy and warned that his words might help them escape a great calamity.
• After Lan and his companions left, Ji Yuan vanished with his table and stools.
• Lan and his companions returned and discovered that the scroll now read, “Chivalry born of willfulness—mere wishful thinking. A dragon among men? Are you worthy?”
• The three men searched for Ji Yuan but found no trace of him, then left angrily.

Lan Ningke met Lu Chengfeng again in Duming Prefecture and later attended a dinner with Jiang Meng, where Fan Tong accused them of ruining his family and attacked them. As Jiang Meng moved to kill Fan Tong, a green-robed scholar stopped him with a chopstick and questioned whether his technique counted as Tiger Fist.

• Lan Ningke left his meeting with Ji Yuan displeased, then failed to recognize Lu Chengfeng when their carriages met in the street.
• Lu Chengfeng identified himself to Lan Ningke and rode on, while Lan Ningke returned to the Inn feeling increasingly uneasy.
• Lan Ningke met Jiang Meng at Rengui House, where the two discussed their ambitions at the Martial Arts Gathering.
• Fan Tong and three companions confronted Lan Ningke and Jiang Meng, accusing them of destroying the Fan Family and attacking them with blades.
• Jiang Meng defeated the attackers, and Fan Tong revealed that he had poisoned their wine to damage their reputations.
• A green-robed scholar stopped Jiang Meng from striking Fan Tong with a chopstick and asked whether Jiang Meng's technique counted as Tiger Fist.

Lord Lu revealed his connection to Lan Ningke’s past and killed Jiang Meng with a brutal Tiger Fist attack, prompting Lan Ningke to flee toward Sunset Glow Villa. Night Roaming Deities pursued Lan Ningke after investigating the killing, while he called for help from Luo Ling and Lu Chengfeng.

• Lord Lu reminded Lan Ningke of the promise made after the events at Niu Kui Mountain and demonstrated his tiger-like roar and martial arts.
• Lord Lu struck Jiang Meng with Black Tiger Digging Heart, killed him, and threw his still-beating heart before Fan Tong.
• Lan Ningke fled through the hole in the inn wall, intending to reach Sunset Glow Villa and alert Luo Ling and Lu Chengfeng.
• Lord Lu ignored Lan Ningke’s attendants, addressed Fan Tong about his favor to the Fan Family, and left the inn.
• Two Night Roaming Deities took Jiang Meng’s soul and followed Lan Ningke’s lingering trace of yang force.
• Lan Ningke reached Sunset Glow Villa and shouted for Luo Ling and Lu Chengfeng to save him from his pursuer.

Lord Lu pursued Lan Ningke to Sunset Glow Villa, where Luo Ling, Luofeng, and Lu Chengfeng tried to stop him. After swallowing Lan Ningke, Lord Lu questioned Lu Chengfeng about their agreement and fled when the Night Roaming Deity arrived.

• Lan Ningke reached Sunset Glow Villa and begged Luo Ling and Luofeng to protect him from the killer who had murdered Jiang Meng.
• Lord Lu arrived, brushed aside Luo Ling and Luofeng’s attacks, and severely injured Luofeng; Lu Chengfeng joined the fight but could not stop him.
• Lan Ningke tried to flee, but Lord Lu appeared in his path, and Lan Ningke pleaded for his life while admitting his wrongdoing.
• Lord Lu wiped Lan Ningke’s face and then swallowed him whole, stunning the onlookers.
• Lord Lu asked Lu Chengfeng how he viewed their agreement, and Lu Chengfeng said he needed to protect Cloud Pavilion before pursuing chivalry.
• After the Night Roaming Deity shouted at him from nearby, Lord Lu said he did not want trouble with the Underworld Bureau and fled.

Lord Lu explained his conflict with Lu Chengfeng and warned that Luo Ningshuang might be bound by an old agreement, while Ji Yuan trusted his disciple’s judgment. Lord Lu then confirmed Lan Ningke’s death to Fan Tong and offered the Fan Family a path to seek help, before Ji Yuan left Duming Prefecture City.

• Lu Chengfeng told Luo Ling and Luofeng that Lord Lu was a Tiger Demon bound by an old agreement involving Luo Ningshuang and others.
• Luo Ling hurried to Luoxia Mountain Manor to check on Ningshuang, while Luofeng stayed behind to guard the villa.
• Lord Lu evaded the Night Roaming Deities, returned to Duming Prefecture City, and told Fan Tong that Lan Ningke was dead.
• Lord Lu directed Fan Tong to seek Lu Chengfeng’s help with reasonable difficulties facing the Fan Family.
• Ji Yuan declined the City God’s invitation, thanked the Night Roaming Deities for their understanding, and departed the city.

Du Heng, Wang Ke, and their companions defeated Zhao Datong’s bandits, then met Lord Lu, who praised them for keeping their promises and asked about Zhao Long. Du Heng said he had heard Zhao Long became a monk at Luming Zen Monastery, leaving Lord Lu surprised.

• Du Heng and Wang Ke intercepted Zhao Datong and his men after a long pursuit and trapped them with their companions.
• Zhao Datong rejected their offer to spare his family and led his men into battle, but Du Heng’s group defeated them all.
• Wang Ke revealed that Zhao Datong would face death by a thousand cuts, while Li Tongzhou restrained him after he pretended to be unconscious.
• Lord Lu appeared and praised Du Heng and Wang Ke for honoring their promises, then summoned a spirit who admitted feeling ashamed.
• Lord Lu asked about Zhao Long, and Du Heng said he had heard Zhao Long left home to become a monk at Luming Zen Monastery.

Lord Lu left Du Heng and Wang Ke after discussing Zhao Long, and the group continued escorting Zhao Datong toward Yaqian Prefecture. They met Ji Yuan at a campfire, where he revealed the Underworld’s plans for Zhao Datong and empowered Wang Ke’s official seal before the journey continued.

• Lord Lu explained that Zhao Long had become a monk at Luming Zen Monastery, then departed after saying farewell to Du Heng and Wang Ke.
• Du Heng and Wang Ke gathered their prisoners and horses and set out toward Yaqian Prefecture, stopping for the night beside Ji Yuan’s campfire.
• Li Tongzhou recognized Ji Yuan and brought Du Heng, Wang Ke, and the others to rest at his fire.
• Ji Yuan recounted what Luo Ningshuang, Lu Chengfeng, and Lan Ningke had experienced, then told Zhao Datong that Underworld officials would keep him conscious through his execution.
• Ji Yuan inscribed Wang Ke’s official seal, explaining that it could restrain wicked forces and command respect from Underworld ghosts and gods.

Lord Lu traveled to Daming Temple to find Zhao Long, who had become a monk, and fulfill an old agreement. The temple’s monks identified Zhao Long as Jueming and Calamity Entangled, and Lord Lu demanded to see him before unleashing a tiger roar that overwhelmed the temple bell.

• After learning Zhao Long had become a monk at Luming Zen Monastery, Lord Lu traveled to Daokuan County and asked a herb seller for directions to Small Amount Mountain.
• The herb seller explained that Luming Zen Monastery was now called Daming Temple, and Lord Lu headed into the mountains to find it.
• Lord Lu reached the temple, introduced himself to a monk, and said he had come to visit his old acquaintance Zhao Long.
• A Deer Cry and a burst of white light hurled Lord Lu back out of the temple gates, and the monks confronted him.
• The senior monk recognized Zhao Long as Jueming and said he was still Calamity Entangled; Lord Lu demanded that Zhao Long come out and speak with him.
• As the temple bell rang again, Lord Lu unleashed a thunderous tiger roar that shattered its sound and swept through the temple and forest.

Lord Lu confronted the monks of Daming Temple and demanded that Zhao Long come out, but they attacked him with Buddhist spells. He broke their Mountain Suppression technique and revealed his enormous tiger-like true form, leaving the monks defeated and the temple damaged.

• Lord Lu roared at Daming Temple, cracking its great bell, and demanded that Zhao Long come out.
• The monks refused to let Lord Lu enter, so they chanted the Great Ming Mantra and attacked him with a golden net and Buddhist weapons.
• The three old monks bound Lord Lu and struck him with a Zen Staff, but he rose despite their efforts and began transforming.
• The old monks used the Great Dharma of Demon Subjugation and Mountain Suppression to trap Lord Lu beneath a golden dome.
• Lord Lu shattered the dome with a roar, sending the three old monks flying and silencing the temple's chants.
• Lord Lu fully revealed his colossal tiger-like true form, pulled the Zen Staff from his forehead, and flung it through a meditation room.

Lord Lu broke Daming Temple’s restriction and demanded that Zhao Long come out, forcing Jueming to reveal himself and confess the crimes that had driven him to become a monk. Jueming accepted Lord Lu’s judgment, while Ji Yuan watched from above, concerned that the confrontation could turn violent.

• Lord Lu wounded three old monks, shattered Daming Temple’s restriction, and threatened to destroy the temple unless Zhao Long appeared.
• Ji Yuan considered intervening as Lord Lu’s patience wore thin and the monks remained unable to stop him.
• Jueming emerged from the main hall and told Abbot Huitong that he could not remain hidden while the other monks faced danger.
• Jueming confessed that he had wrongly killed a band of righteous men and later murdered witnesses to protect his reputation.
• Jueming asked Lord Lu how he had cast off guilt for eating people, and Lord Lu explained that he had never felt guilt in the way Jueming described.
• Jueming said he now felt liberated and left himself at the Mountain Lord’s disposal.

Lord Lu tried to persuade Jueming to relinquish the Buddhist Dharma within him so he could devour him, while Ji Yuan realized Zhao Long carried the Ming King’s power. As Zhao Long chanted to return that power, the Ming King manifested at Daming Temple and struck Lord Lu.

• Lord Lu restrained the three Old Monks and urged Jueming to use the Zen Staff to end his life, but stopped the blow and proposed turning him into a Ghost Servant.
• Lord Lu revealed that Zhao Long carried much of the Ming King Incarnation’s Buddhist Dharma and told him to chant sincerely to return it.
• Jueming chanted the Seated Ming King Sutra, sending a stream of golden Buddhist Dharma toward the Ming King Statue as the light in his body faded.
• Ji Yuan sensed a growing tremor in the main hall, and a golden beam rose as the Ming King’s voice awakened the monks.
• A massive Golden Buddha Palm Print burst from the main hall and struck Lord Lu, driving him across the ground, while the three Old Monks welcomed the Ming King.