Chapter Summaries

Zhou Wuji left for Hidden Dragon Temple with Wuzheng’s party after securing Golden Yang Pills and saying goodbye to Daoist Yiping and Shangxing. On the way, the group reached White Bamboo Village, where the headman asked them to deal with a gigantic wild boar that had killed several villagers.

• Zhou Wuji obtained ten Golden Yang Pills from Abbot Zhiyuan and gave five to Daoist Yiping in gratitude.
• Zhou Wuji said goodbye to Daoist Yiping and Shangxing, then set out with Wuzheng’s party toward Hidden Dragon Temple.
• Wuzheng assigned Zhou Wuji a gray donkey and left him off the night watch, prompting Wuming to ask why he valued him so highly.
• The party reached White Bamboo Village, where the headman mistook them for Daoists summoned to help with a murderous wild boar.
• The headman told Wuzheng that the enormous boar had killed villagers and hunters, and Wuzheng worried the party might suffer casualties trying to defeat it.

Wuzheng raised an altar in the bamboo grove to use Yin Thunder against the pig demon, while Zhou Wuji and Wuming stood guard. Zhou Wuji sensed the demon approaching and warned Wuzheng, leaving Wuming startled by how proficiently he used the Six Yang Dharma Eye.

• Wuzheng agreed to protect White Bamboo Village from the pig demon and led the villagers to inspect the bloodied bamboo grove.
• Wuzheng and the villagers built a ritual altar so he could invoke Marshal Tianpeng and wield Tianshu Profound Nether Yin Thunder.
• Wuzheng chose Zhou Wuji and Wuming to guard him while he performed the rites, and Zhou Wuji joked with Wuming as they waited.
• Zhou Wuji heard heavy footsteps in the grove, used the Six Yang Dharma Eye to sense the approaching pig demon, and warned Wuzheng.
• Wuming recognized Zhou Wuji's Six Yang Dharma Eye and was shocked by his skill.

Wuming, Wuzheng, and Zhou Wuji fought a charging boar demon, and Zhou Wuji ultimately killed it with a single sword stroke after saving Wuming. The demon’s Yin Spirit was absent when Zhou Wuji tried to collect it, while Wuming’s view of him changed after witnessing his skill and courage.

• Wuming lured the boar demon toward the ritual altar with a Golden Light Talisman, then retreated when Zhou Wuji warned her not to meet its charge.
• Wuzheng struck the boar demon twice with Heavenly Pivot Yin Thunder, but it survived the first blast and fled after the second.
• The fleeing boar demon charged at Wuming, and Zhou Wuji shoved her clear before beheading it with his sword.
• Zhou Wuji tried to collect the boar demon’s Yin Spirit but found that the Northern Emperor's Book of Heavenly Punishment had apparently taken it.
• Wuzheng and Zhou Wuji exchanged credit for slaying the demon, while Wuming reconsidered Zhou Wuji and admired him.

After Zhou Wuji and Wuzheng helped kill the pig demon, the Daoists and villagers celebrated in White Bamboo Village while Zhou Wuji sensed someone watching. Zhang Xinhu, hiding nearby, recognized Zhou Wuji and arranged to use rogue soldiers to attack him and the other Daoists.

• The Daoists praised Wuzheng for killing the pig demon, while Zhou Wuji noted that the Northern Emperor's Book of Heavenly Punishment could convert it into Origin Mystic Essence.
• Wuming thanked Zhou Wuji for saving her, and he responded politely despite privately wishing for a more substantial reward.
• The villagers celebrated the demon's death with food and rice wine, while Zhou Wuji stayed sober and watched the surroundings.
• Zhou Wuji sensed someone near the village entrance, and Zhang Xinhu hid after noticing his alertness.
• Zhang Xinhu saw Zhou Wuji among the Daoists and decided to have the rogue soldiers at White Wolf Stronghold attack them in exchange for grain.
• Zhang Xinhu ordered a convoy to deliver ten cartloads of grain to White Bamboo Village by way of Old Cang Village, intending to lure the rogue soldiers there to rob it.

After giving Zhou Wuji a valuable protective talisman, Wuming grew closer to him as they traveled together. Zhou Wuji tested the power of the demon’s Origin Mystic Essence, and the convoy reached Old Cang Village as he flirted with Wuming.

• Wuming gave Zhou Wuji a seventh-grade Northern Pole Heavenly Gang Divine Talisman, which he accepted and stored for protection.
• Zhou Wuji converted the pig demon into Origin Mystic Essence, strengthening his body and extending his lifespan by three years.
• After the convoy left the village, Zhou Wuji placed his bamboo hat on Wuming’s head, and the two rode together while the other young Daoists watched jealously.
• Zhou Wuji and Wuming reached Old Cang Village, where he recited a verse about the autumn scenery and compared her to its yellow flower.

Zhou Wuji grew suspicious when Zhang Yuan's grain convoy arrived at Old Cang Village and warned Wuzheng and Wuming to prepare for danger. Outside the village, renegade soldiers led by Wang Jing prepared to attack the Daoists and convoy, and Wang Jing killed Zhang Yuan before ordering the assault.

• Zhou Wuji recognized Zhang Yuan's convoy and wondered why it had stopped so close to Siming County.
• Zhou Wuji warned Wuzheng that Zhang Xinhu might be plotting against them, and Wuzheng ordered the Daoists to keep watch in pairs.
• Zhou Wuji told Wuming to stay alert and checked his weapons and talismans while preparing for the night.
• Wang Jing's renegade soldiers met Zhang Yuan outside the village, and Zhang Yuan revealed where Zhou Wuji and Wuzheng were staying.
• Wang Jing ordered his soldiers to attack the Daoists, block the roads, and kill the Zhang Household's convoy as well.
• Wang Jing killed Zhang Yuan and promised his soldiers they could loot the village and assault its women after the killings.

Wang Jing led a band of renegade soldiers into the village and slaughtered the grain convoy, while Zhou Wuji recognized their attack and prepared to defend his fellow disciples. The soldiers stormed the disciples’ lodging as Zhou Wuji hid nearby, ready to ambush their seventh-rank leader.

• Wang Jing led his soldiers into the village, where they killed everyone in the grain convoy and grew frenzied from the bloodshed.
• Zhou Wuji spotted the renegades through the gate and realized the Zhang Household had arranged for them to receive the grain.
• Zhou Wuji decided not to flee and woke Wuzheng, explaining that they had to kill the renegade leader to survive.
• Zhou Wuji warned Wuming and Wuye to hide, then took cover by the firewood shed to ambush the soldiers.
• Wuzheng prepared a Yin Thunder Pearl attack as two renegade soldiers kicked open the main gate and charged inside.

Zhou Wuji and Wuzheng fought off Wang Jing’s marauding soldiers as the squad stormed their lodging. Zhou Wuji killed the seventh-rank Wang Jing, leaving Wuming, Wuye, and Wuzheng stunned by the victory.

• Wang Jing led his soldiers into the lodging and ordered them to kill Wuzheng.
• Wuzheng unleashed two Yin Thunder Pearls, burning and weakening the marauders, but Wang Jing endured their power and archers wounded Wuzheng.
• Zhou Wuji attacked from behind, cutting both archers and using fire techniques to disrupt the sabermen.
• Wang Jing blocked Zhou Wuji’s attacks and withstood repeated Yin Thunder strikes, but the barrage exhausted his strength.
• Zhou Wuji used Water Moon Sword to pierce Wang Jing’s throat and send his head flying.
• Wuming, Wuye, and Wuzheng watched Zhou Wuji’s victory in astonishment.

Zhou Wuji killed the remaining rebel soldiers in the courtyard and sent Wuming, Wuzheng, and Wuye to safety. He used the fate weights of his slain enemies to improve his Xiaoxiang Sword, but heard more armored soldiers approaching.

• Zhou Wuji killed eight more rebel soldiers, using the Azure Mountain Mist Sword to defeat an Eighth-Rank Martial Artist whose saber had pinned his sword.
• Wuming, Wuzheng, and Wuye left the courtyard after Zhou Wuji urged them to meet up with the others.
• Wuming offered to stay and help, but Zhou Wuji gently persuaded her to leave with Wuzheng.
• Zhou Wuji opened the Northern Emperor's Book of Heavenly Punishment and invested the three highest fate weights from the slain rebel soldiers into the Xiaoxiang Sword.
• Armor clattered behind Zhou Wuji as he began improving his swordsmanship.

Qian Yong led his soldiers into the courtyard and discovered Zhou Wuji had killed Wang Jing and the rest of their comrades. Zhou Wuji defeated the remaining renegades, leaving the courtyard strewn with bodies.

• Qian Yong hesitated outside the house, then led fifteen soldiers through the fence after the sounds from the courtyard stopped.
• Qian Yong and his men found Wang Jing and the others dead, with Zhou Wuji standing alone in the courtyard.
• Qian Yong ordered the soldiers to fire a volley of heavy arrows at Zhou Wuji.
• Zhou Wuji knocked the arrows aside with his sword, then used a burst of firelight to blind the soldiers and charge their spear formation.
• Zhou Wuji unleashed Dusk Snow Reaching the Heavens and killed the renegade soldiers with a flurry of sword strikes.

After killing the bandits who attacked the Taoists, Zhou Wuji returned to the courtyard and reassured Wuzheng that they were safe for now. He recovered with Wuming’s medicine and help washing his hair, just as Wuzheng came to ask him for an account of the fight and what they should do next.

• Wuming worried about Zhou Wuji, but Wuzheng told her not to interfere; Zhou Wuji then arrived at the courtyard drenched in blood.
• Zhou Wuji told Wuzheng that he had dealt with the bandits and credited Wuzheng’s fight against their leader, preserving Wuzheng’s standing with the Taoists.
• Wuzheng escorted Zhou Wuji inside, while Wuming followed and gave him a Purple Gold Eight Treasures Pill that restored his strength and increased his lifespan.
• Wuzheng arranged hot water and clean clothes for Zhou Wuji, and Wuming helped wash and tie up his hair.
• Wuming blushed when Zhou Wuji teased that she should wash his hair in the future, and Wuzheng entered to ask about the dead bandits and their next steps.

After the rebel soldiers attacked, Zhou Wuji learned they had been hired by Zhang Xinhu, but Wuzheng decided to conceal the accusation until the lower monastery could send help. Zhou Wuji used the soldiers’ fate weights to strengthen his cultivation, opened the Yuheng Star acupoint, and wondered whether the Rejuvenation Technique could restore True Qi.

• Zhou Wuji told Wuzheng that the rebel soldiers had been hired by Zhang Xinhu, and explained why he had left no survivors.
• Wuzheng decided they would keep Zhang Xinhu calm and report the rebels to the lower monastery, while Wuming agreed to keep the matter secret.
• Zhou Wuji converted the rebel soldiers’ fate weights to improve the Northern Dipper Tianshu Scripture, raising it to major accomplishment.
• Zhou Wuji opened the acupoint corresponding to Yuheng Star in his left nostril, increasing his Qi value to 509.
• The Northern Dipper Tianshu Scripture’s improvement raised the Seven Stars Demon-Slaying Sword to proficiency, and Zhou Wuji considered whether the Rejuvenation Technique could restore True Qi.

Zhou Wuji perfected the Rejuvenation Technique, gaining the ability to restore his True Qi instantly at the cost of some lifespan, and strengthened his cultivation and spirit. After settling how the mutiny would be reported, he began exchanging swordsmanship lessons with Wuming for her Heavenly Pivot Hand technique.

• Zhou Wuji spent origin profound spirit to raise the Rejuvenation Technique to perfection, learning that it could instantly restore his True Qi but consumed about ten days of lifespan per use.
• Zhou Wuji practiced the Northern Dipper Tianshu Scripture, increased his True Qi, and calculated that he could reach the seventh rank in about three months.
• Wuzheng told Zhou Wuji that the bodies had been collected and that officials from Siming County would arrive; Zhou Wuji asked him to report that everyone had joined forces against the mutinous soldiers.
• Wuzheng agreed to cover Zhou Wuji's role in the account to the imperial court and promised to explain his achievement to the lower monastery's abbot.
• Zhou Wuji asked Wuming to teach him her White Eyebrow Needle technique, and she proposed exchanging lessons in it for his swordsmanship.
• Wuming introduced the sect's Heavenly Pivot Hand, a finger and palm art suited to Heavenly Pivot True Qi, and began teaching Zhou Wuji.

Wu Di investigated the deaths at Old Cang Village, suspected the Zhang Household’s involvement, and met with Wuzheng and Zhou Wuji at Hidden Dragon Temple. As they left the temple, Zhang Xinhu arrived and fixed Zhou Wuji with murderous intent.

• Wu Di ordered Zhang Huai to record the deaths and burn the bodies after the coroner examined them.
• Jin Chuan reported that thirty-three rebel soldiers had died, and Wu Di ordered him to seek the missing weapons and pressure the Li Household and Zhang Household for money.
• Wu Di decided not to antagonize Hidden Dragon Temple and went to meet Wuzheng, where he congratulated Zhou Wuji on attaining Qi Consumption.
• Zhou Wuji introduced Wuzheng as the Daoist who would take charge of Hidden Dragon Temple, and the two escorted Wu Di out of the temple.
• Zhang Xinhu rode into the village with a party of riders and fixed Zhou Wuji with killing intent, leaving Zhou Wuji wary of a possible attack.

Zhang Xinhu offered Wu Di gold, a hundred-year-old Purple Blood Ginseng, and information about rebel soldiers in exchange for killing Zhou Wuji. After returning to Siming County, Zhou Wuji demonstrated his growing mastery of the Heavenly Pivot Hand to Wuming, leaving her astonished.

• Zhang Xinhu asked Wu Di to kill Zhou Wuji and offered him one thousand taels of gold, a hundred-year-old Purple Blood Ginseng, and help earning merit against the rebels.
• Wu Di accepted the Purple Blood Ginseng as a deposit but left the timing and method of killing Zhou Wuji open.
• Wuzheng and Zhou Wuji discussed Wu Di's greed and Zhang Xinhu's danger before traveling with the patrolmen back to Siming County.
• The group stayed at an inn in Siming County, where Zhou Wuji cautiously ate little because he feared the Zhang Household might poison the food.
• Wuming asked Zhou Wuji to continue practicing the Heavenly Pivot Hand, and he pierced, shattered, and gathered scraps of straw paper with precise control, astonishing her.

Zhou Wuji mastered the Heavenly Pivot Hand and tested how effectively he could use White Eyebrow Needles as weapons. After sensing how powerful Zhang Xinhu was, he resolved to strengthen himself and return to Hidden Dragon Temple as soon as possible.

• Wuming gave Zhou Wuji a hundred White Eyebrow Needles made from frost-patterned silver and admired his rapid progress in the Heavenly Pivot Hand.
• After Wuye came to collect Wuming, Zhou Wuji tested a needle on an armor plate and found it could pierce the steel.
• Zhou Wuji spent two fate patterns to advance the Heavenly Pivot Hand to perfection, then used five needles to pin mosquitoes without damaging the window paper.
• Zhou Wuji demonstrated that his perfected hand techniques let him release powerful palm strikes, though they consumed too much True Qi for sustained use.
• Zhou Wuji sensed Zhang Xinhu's formidable presence and resolved to return to Hidden Dragon Temple and improve his cultivation by hunting the monsters in Mount Siming.

Zhou Wuji and Wuzheng went to the Ironclad Guard station to seek the release of villagers from Old Cang Village, whom Wu Di had arrested for taking armor and weapons from the dead. Wu Di agreed to release them if Zhou Wuji brought him Red Flower Honey from Golden-Ringed Poison Bees within seven days.

• Zhou Wuji returned to Hidden Dragon Temple with Wuming and the others, then welcomed Li Ruyi when she arrived seeking help for the arrested villagers.
• Li Ruyi and Wuming pleaded with Zhou Wuji to save the villagers, and he agreed to do what he could.
• Zhou Wuji took Li Ruyi to Siming County, where he met Wuzheng and explained the situation; Wuzheng agreed to intervene.
• Zhou Wuji and Wuzheng visited Wu Di at the guard station and asked him to release the villagers.
• Wu Di demanded a few jin of Red Flower Honey from Golden-Ringed Poison Bees within seven days in exchange for releasing the villagers.

Wuzheng became the abbot of Hidden Dragon Temple, while Zhou Wuji prepared to investigate Red Leaf Ridge and the dangerous Golden-Ringed Poison Bees. After Zhou Wuji left for the Siming Mountains, Zhang Xinhu urged Wu Di to strike, and Wu Di promised to have Zhou Wuji killed.

• Wuzheng and Zhou Wuji concluded that Wu Di's demand for red flower honey made the Red Leaf Ridge mission suspicious and dangerous.
• Wuzheng assumed the abbacy of Hidden Dragon Temple and appointed Zhou Wuji hall master, while assigning the temple's powerful administrative posts to his own people.
• Wuming worried that Zhou Wuji would risk his life, gave him two Northern Pole Heavenly Gang Divine Talismans, and urged him to be careful.
• Zhou Wuji packed protective gear and supplies, strengthened his Golden Light Incantation, and entered the Siming Mountains alone at dawn.
• A temple servant reported Zhou Wuji's departure to Zhang Xinhu, who told Wu Di it was the perfect time to act.
• Wu Di assured Zhang Xinhu that Zhou Wuji's head would be delivered to his residence within a few days.

Zhou Wuji hunted the seventh-grade golden toad at Yueming Peak to strengthen his body by killing monsters. He killed it with a surprise attack, leaving the story with the toad dead and its treasure still undiscovered.

• Zhou Wuji reached Yueming Peak and examined the traces of the golden toad's poisonous Qi, which briefly clouded his senses before he cleared it with the Heart-Purifying Divine Incantation.
• Zhou Wuji purified the grove of lingering Yin Qi with the Golden Light Incantation, then planned how to approach the toad while it cultivated.
• The golden toad emerged from the pool and breathed in moonlight essence as Zhou Wuji approached it under cover of its poor vision.
• Zhou Wuji stunned the golden toad with the Golden Light Incantation and pierced its eyes with two White Eyebrow Needles.
• Zhou Wuji slashed the golden toad's head and back with his Seven Star Sword, killing it.

Zhou Wuji killed a golden toad, a black leopard, and a giant black-scaled python while hunting demonic creatures on Mount Siming. At Xiuming Peak, he defeated the powerful tiger demon with a divine talisman, ice silkworm silk, and White Eyebrow Needles, then checked its entry in the Northern Emperor's Book of Heavenly Punishment.

• Zhou Wuji searched the golden toad's corpse but found no treasure before a black leopard attacked him, and he killed it with White Eyebrow Needles and his sword.
• A giant black-scaled python came to the bloody shore, and Zhou Wuji blinded and beheaded it.
• Zhou Wuji left the three creatures untouched and headed for Xiuming Peak, planning to use the tiger demon as one of the Yin Spirits needed for his Five Yin Pouch.
• Zhou Wuji strung ice silkworm silk between pine trees and used a wounded squirrel's blood to lure the tiger demon toward him.
• The tiger demon dodged one of Zhou Wuji's needles and attacked, but his Northern Dipper Heavenly Gang Divine Talisman shielded him while he wounded the beast and retreated through the silk trap.
• The ice silkworm silk cut into the tiger demon, and Zhou Wuji blinded it with his needles before thrusting his sword through its jaw into its head.