Chapter Summaries

Chu Tianshu, a spirit communicator plagued by worsening nightmares and a failing medicine, treated Li Xu after Teacher Qiao brought the distressed student to his home. As Li Xu’s parents arrived and tried to interrupt the acupuncture, signs of a supernatural disturbance appeared when his father approached the house.

• Chu Tianshu woke from a bloody nightmare, calmed himself with his pendant, and worried that his medicine was no longer controlling his illness.
• Teacher Qiao brought Li Xu to Chu Tianshu, explaining that the student had become unresponsive and had nearly hurt himself with scissors.
• Chu Tianshu diagnosed Li Xu’s mind and spirit as unbalanced and began acupuncture while Teacher Qiao waited outside.
• Li Xu’s mother arrived and disrupted the treatment, so Chu Tianshu struck her with a needle that temporarily silenced her.
• Li Xu’s father arrived, dismissed his son’s condition, and tried to enter despite feeling dizzy and nauseated.
• The Bagua mirror and wind chimes reacted as Li Xu’s father crossed the threshold, and Chu Tianshu fixed his gaze on the man’s bloodshot eyes.

Chu Tianshu tracked the spirit that had possessed Boss Li to a stele behind Boss Li’s factory and learned that it marked the grave of a failed scholar whose father had condemned him in the inscription. After Chu Tianshu provoked the spirit, an Overflow Zone formed around the clearing, leaving him cut off from the factory and Teacher Qiao.

• Chu Tianshu used a flashlight and silver needles to subdue the possessed Boss Li, forcing the spirit out of his body.
• Chu Tianshu used a needle in Boss Li’s head to track the spirit to the factory, while Teacher Qiao drove them there and confirmed with Mrs. Li that Boss Li owned the property.
• Chu Tianshu found the spirit’s remains beneath a moss-covered stele and discovered that its inscription condemned a failed scholar for his lack of success.
• Chu Tianshu concluded that the scholar’s resentment had been stirred by Boss Li’s pressure on Li Xu, and he taunted the spirit into emerging.
• A cold wind and white mist surrounded Chu Tianshu, cutting off the clearing and revealing an Overflow Zone.

Chu Tianshu fought the Ghost Scholar in an Overflow Zone, using needle techniques and Tongbei boxing to destroy the ghost’s physical form. With the Ghost Scholar hiding beneath his stele, Chu Tianshu toppled it and began digging up the ghost’s hiding place, though his time-enhancing technique was running short.

• Chu Tianshu realized the Overflow Zone had given the Ghost Scholar a physical body and attacked him with silver needles, which barely penetrated.
• Chu Tianshu used Ghost Gate Reverse Stimulation Needles to boost his strength and dodged the Ghost Scholar’s lunges before throwing him with Golden Peach Crosses the Bridge.
• Chu Tianshu pinned the Ghost Scholar and detonated Cinnabar Glazed Glass Needles in his head, neck, and back, forcing him to retreat beneath the stele.
• Chu Tianshu kicked and shoved the stele until it toppled, exposing the soil where the Ghost Scholar was hiding.
• Chu Tianshu dug into the earth with a broken iron box while the Ghost Scholar cursed him, but the deepening pit threatened to outlast Chu Tianshu’s remaining strength.

Chu Tianshu defeated the scholar ghost in an Overflow Zone, rescued Boss Li’s family, and found Ghost Tooth Grass to sell. After learning that Overflow Zones were becoming more common, he discovered his pendant had filled with red light, then triggered it and was transported to a grassy place.

• Chu Tianshu pierced the coffin beneath the pit and used a cinnabar-filled glass nail to weaken and destroy the ghost, causing the Overflow Zone to dissipate.
• Chu Tianshu found Ghost Tooth Grass left behind by the broken Overflow Zone and brought it home.
• Boss Li thanked Chu Tianshu with a hundred thousand yuan, and Chu Tianshu treated the family and told them to remove the damaged stele.
• After waking from a nightmare, Chu Tianshu called Lin Baisui and learned that Overflow Zones had become more frequent, including several recent incidents in the Yangtze River Delta.
• Lin Baisui received word that the Bureau would discuss closer cooperation with local police as Chu Tianshu realized his pendant was full of red light.
• Chu Tianshu saw white smoke flash from the pendant and suddenly found himself on grass in an unfamiliar space.

Chu Tianshu discovered that the Youdu Token had transported him to another world and could derive martial arts from evil spirit materials. After deriving and practicing Gluttonous Tongbei Fist, he opened his senses as a martial artist and found a town beyond the mountains.

• Chu Tianshu read the Youdu Token’s abilities and learned it could refine evil spirit materials to derive martial arts.
• Chu Tianshu combined Qi Family Old Tongbei with the refined materials of Beauty in the Skin, Dormitory Pen Spirit, and Black-Mouthed Scholar to derive Gluttonous Tongbei Fist.
• Chu Tianshu practiced the new fist art and briefly opened his senses as a martial artist.
• Chu Tianshu practiced until morning, then searched the mountains for food and spotted a lively town below.

Chu Tianshu explored a prosperous town in Yi Province, learned about the region’s unstable politics, and used his medical knowledge to identify Eldest Young Master Meng’s illness. He cast a wine-based spell that sent Meng rushing to the latrine, leaving Chu Tianshu poised to earn his first money.

• Chu Tianshu entered town hungry, ordered food at a restaurant, and struck up a conversation with the old shopkeeper over local newspapers.
• Chu Tianshu read about the Republic’s political factions and learned that Yi Province had grown unstable under its new military leadership.
• Chu Tianshu approached Eldest Young Master Meng and diagnosed him with intestinal worms rather than the feverish disease other doctors had named.
• Chu Tianshu marked Meng’s palms with wine and an incantation, then told him the marks would last until he finished his business.
• Eldest Young Master Meng felt his stomach churn and hurried toward the restaurant’s backyard latrine.

Chu Tianshu treated Meng Shuangjiang’s worms and discussed sharing medicinal prescriptions as a business, then trained in a bamboo grove and spent the night confronting beasts in his dream. He woke with lingering pain but realized his martial training had let him fight back against the nightmare instead of being helplessly panicked.

• Meng Shuangjiang thanked Chu Tianshu for expelling the worms, offered payment, and invited him to stay at Old Ma’s Restaurant.
• Chu Tianshu wrote recovery and worm-expelling prescriptions, and Meng Shuangjiang proposed building a medicine business with him; they agreed to test the ingredients and remedies before expanding.
• Chu Tianshu asked townspeople about Meng Shuangjiang’s family, then crossed the river to practice his boxing in a bamboo grove until sunset.
• After dinner, Chu Tianshu went to bed without his special medicine and used massage to help himself fall asleep despite expecting a nightmare.
• In his dream, Chu Tianshu kicked away an attacking weasel and realized his martial training had eased his panic and let him fight back against the beasts.
• Shopkeeper Ma asked Chu Tianshu about laughing in his sleep, and Chu Tianshu joked that a python had strangled him before heading to the kitchen for water.

Chu Tianshu continued his intense Tongbei Fist training, growing stronger and learning to recover from minor injuries through control of his body. After training in the bamboo grove, he joined Meng Shuangjiang, who had come to take him out for dinner.

• Chu Tianshu woke after a nightmare, practiced shaking sweat from his arms, and reflected on how quickly his boxing and physique had improved.
• Shopkeeper Ma offered Chu Tianshu medicinal jujube wine and cautioned him against overtraining; Chu Tianshu said he would be dining out with Meng Shuangjiang that evening.
• Chu Tianshu trained in the bamboo grove and tore into a thick bamboo stalk before snapping it in half with a whip-like strike.
• Chu Tianshu used controlled breathing and movement to ease the pain in his injured palm, relying on his growing physical resilience instead of medicine.
• Meng Shuangjiang called for Chu Tianshu from the bluestone bridge, and Chu Tianshu emerged from the grove to meet him.

Chu Tianshu enjoyed a meal of dragon and phoenix stew with Meng Shuangjiang and his son, then walked back toward the restaurant alone. He came upon a murder scene and recognized the dead man as a vendor from near the restaurant.

• Meng Shuangjiang brought Chu Tianshu and Meng Xiaobao to Auntie Zhou’s eatery for dragon and phoenix stew.
• Chu Tianshu savored the snake meat and joked with Meng Shuangjiang and Meng Xiaobao as they ate five pots of stew.
• Meng Shuangjiang left in a carriage with Meng Xiaobao, while Chu Tianshu chose to walk back beneath the moonlight.
• Chu Tianshu heard a gong and someone shouting that a person had died, then ran toward the sound.
• Chu Tianshu found a badly wounded corpse and recognized the dead man as a vendor who sold goods near the restaurant.

Chu Tianshu investigated the killing of Liao Ayong and was ambushed by a black-clad attacker with green, vertical pupils. He fought the attacker with his fists and left him slowed, but their confrontation continued.

• Militiamen identified the dead bamboo-strip craftsman as Liao Ayong and suspected a man-eating wolf had killed him.
• Chu Tianshu found no lingering evil presence and headed back toward the restaurant, alert to the danger around him.
• A black-clad man with green, vertical pupils pounced on Chu Tianshu, who dodged and fought back with a broken table and silver needles.
• Chu Tianshu tore off the attacker’s finger guards and recognized that they could have caused Liao Ayong’s wounds.
• The attacker rushed Chu Tianshu with repeated claw strikes, but Chu Tianshu used Tongbei Fist to deflect them and landed a punch toward his face.

Chu Tianshu killed a Leopard Cat Warrior who ambushed him, and Shopkeeper Ma identified the attacker as a scout for a band of raiders. Shopkeeper Ma realized the threat to the town was serious and set off to warn its people.

• The man in black attacked Chu Tianshu with acrobatic kicks, but Chu stopped his retreat with a powerful stomp and stabbed the attacker through the throat and cervical spine.
• Shopkeeper Ma arrived and reassured Chu Tianshu, then used a spell to draw insects from the corpse and burn them.
• Shopkeeper Ma identified the attacker as a Leopard Cat Warrior from Jiaozhi whose body had housed a leopard cat's ferocious soul and poisonous insects.
• Shopkeeper Ma inferred that the warrior had killed a bamboo-strip craftsman while scouting the town for roving raiders.
• Chu Tianshu explained that his hostility had likely provoked the warrior, and Shopkeeper Ma hurried off to warn the town.

Shopkeeper Ma warned Meng Lianfa and the town’s prominent households that Jiaozhi bandits were lurking nearby and urged them to unite their guards with the militia. The leaders resisted cooperation, and Chu Tianshu challenged their plan to let others bear the danger first.

• Shopkeeper Ma and Chu Tianshu brought the corpse of a Jiaozhi bandit scout to Meng Lianfa and warned that bandits were watching the town.
• Meng Lianfa summoned the town head and the Zhu and Tan family masters, while Shopkeeper Ma explained that he had once saved Meng Lianfa’s family from a malicious sorceress.
• The town head and other elders dismissed the threat and suspected Meng Lianfa wanted them to fund the militia, but Shopkeeper Ma urged each family to assign half its guards to town patrols.
• The town head questioned why they could not simply seek help from the city, and Shopkeeper Ma warned that assistance might be delayed by distance and bribery.
• Chu Tianshu accused the elders of expecting the militia to weaken the bandits before letting them target other households, and warned that their own families could be next.

Chu Tianshu challenged Wang Fu and defeated him in a single exchange, convincing the town’s leaders to send guards to coordinate with the militia against the bandits. He returned to the restaurant with Shopkeeper Ma, who gave him a hidden iron sword and asked which martial path he followed.

• Chu Tianshu introduced himself to the town head and challenged Wang Fu to a fight.
• Chu Tianshu deflected Wang Fu’s sword with a precise palm strike, leaving him vomiting on the courtyard stones.
• Chu Tianshu warned the town’s leaders that their guards might not withstand the bandits, and Meng Lianfa, Master Zhu, the town head, and Master Tan agreed to dispatch half their guards.
• Chu Tianshu and Shopkeeper Ma left the Meng residence carrying the corpse, and Chu Tianshu told Ma he refused to keep fleeing danger.
• Shopkeeper Ma gave Chu Tianshu a peachwood sword concealing an iron blade and asked which martial path he followed.

Shopkeeper Ma explained the three paths of martial training and the realm of Three United in One Body, while preparing talismanic sparrows to scout for approaching bandits. The next morning, Chu Tianshu found the town on alert and met Meng Shuangjiang, who brought him food and warned him to stay inside.

• Shopkeeper Ma explained Dragon Coils Around the Body, Guanyin Bone, and Eating Makes an Immortal, and said mastering all three could make someone a Martial Stove God.
• Chu Tianshu considered how his Gluttonous Tongbei Fist fit the paths, drew his sword, and returned to his room to rest.
• Shopkeeper Ma painted talismans on the leopard-cat warrior's corpse, worried the roving bandits would attack, and sent a spirit sparrow to scout the west.
• Chu Tianshu found the restaurant closed the next morning and saw Shopkeeper Ma asleep beside ten pagoda-wood bottles.
• Meng Shuangjiang arrived with four guards and food, told Chu Tianshu the town was preparing for the bandits, and urged him not to leave.
• Chu Tianshu reassured Meng Shuangjiang that he would stay near town, then spotted Wang Fu and his group approaching.

Wang Fu gave Chu Tianshu a new set of silver needles and asked him to keep his earlier defeat private, then agreed to spar with him so Chu could practice with his sword. After Chu mastered the feel of clashing iron weapons, Wang Fu accepted that the roving bandits would likely attack that night and prepared to fight alongside him.

• Wang Fu presented Chu Tianshu with silver needles and asked him not to tell anyone that he had vomited after losing their previous spar.
• Chu Tianshu agreed to keep Wang Fu’s defeat discreet and asked him to spar again so he could get used to wielding his new sword.
• Shopkeeper Ma warned Chu Tianshu not to linger in one place during a group battle and recounted how his friend had nearly died after being struck by a poisoned blowdart.
• Wang Fu attacked Chu Tianshu with his sword, but Chu deflected his strikes and then cut across his wrist with a controlled counterstroke.
• Chu Tianshu said the exchange had taught him the feel of iron weapons clashing, and Wang Fu departed resolved to face the roving bandits that night.

Bandits attacked the town at sunset, and Wang Fu was badly wounded by their saber-wielding leader. Chu Tianshu cut through the attackers and drew the swordsman into the orchard, where a red-faced sorcerer and his strange companions waited as night fell.

• Bandits ambushed the southern patrol, killing two men and triggering the town alarm.
• Wang Fu attacked the bandits from a rooftop, but a lean swordsman wounded him and forced him to retreat.
• Chu Tianshu rushed into the fight, cutting down several bandits and evading the swordsman's attack.
• Chu Tianshu headed into the orchard, guided by his senses and peachwood sword sheath toward a red-faced sorcerer, two dwarfs, and a black wildcat.
• The swordsman pursued Chu Tianshu into the woods while the sorcerer ordered the dwarfs to guard him.
• The sun disappeared behind the mountains, leaving the town and orchard in the dim light of the early-risen moon.

Shopkeeper Ma used a talisman to dispel the sorcerer’s phantom cats and fought his venomous bees with fire while Chu Tianshu battled the swordsman in the orchard. Chu Tianshu severed Ruan Zhixiong’s sword hand and then ran him through with a thrown sword.

• A sorcerer sent a swarm of phantom cats into town, where they attacked the militia and guards.
• Shopkeeper Ma’s purple talisman dispelled the phantom cats and pinned the remaining black cat.
• The sorcerer released three swarms of venomous bees, and Shopkeeper Ma used burning talismans and fire techniques to hold them off.
• Chu Tianshu confronted Ruan Zhixiong, the swordsman wielding a goose-quill saber, and fought him in a close exchange of blades.
• Chu Tianshu struck Ruan Zhixiong’s saber with a silver needle, disrupted his grip, and cut off his right hand.
• Ruan Zhixiong fled and threw hidden weapons, but Chu Tianshu knocked them aside and impaled him with his sword.

Chu Tianshu killed the evil sorcerer after exposing his illusory double and surviving a hidden gunman’s attacks, while Shopkeeper Ma’s fireballs and venomous bees routed the bandits in town. The fighting ended, but Chu Tianshu’s fortune remained far short of what he needed to return home, and his collected spirit materials were sufficient for one deduction.

• Chu Tianshu used a peachwood sheath to finish off the swordsman, then charged toward the sorcerer as the bone whistle sounded.
• Chu Tianshu killed the two dwarfs guarding the sorcerer, dodged gunfire, and struck the sorcerer’s hidden real body after a silver needle revealed it beside an illusory double.
• Chu Tianshu broke the sorcerer’s hand, crushed his skull, seized his gun, and realized it held only six bullets.
• Shopkeeper Ma used fireballs to drive venomous bees into the bandits, routing them as the militiamen and guards stopped pursuing the fleeing survivors.
• Chu Tianshu reached the battlefield and checked his token screen, finding that his fortune was still insufficient to return home but that his spirit materials allowed one deduction.

After returning to town, Zhong Jinqiu visited Shopkeeper Ma and learned how Chu Tianshu had helped defeat the bandits. Chu Tianshu continued refining his martial arts and met Zhong Jinqiu, but their introduction was interrupted by city officials arriving to commend them.

• Zhong Jinqiu returned to town, heard about the bandit attack, and visited the bereaved families to offer incense.
• Zhong Jinqiu met Shopkeeper Ma at the restaurant, where they discussed Chu Tianshu's role in defeating the bandit leaders and his skill at improving medicinal wine.
• Chu Tianshu practiced the newly deduced Mountain Ape Subdues Tigers in Eight Directions stances, which concentrated his strength but nearly exhausted the potential of his current fist manual.
• Chu Tianshu came out for lunch and greeted Zhong Jinqiu, who formally bowed to him for defending the town while he had been absent.
• A crowd arrived with gongs and drums, announcing that the city had sent people to commend Chu Tianshu and Zhong Jinqiu for defeating the bandits.

Adjutant Zhou arrived in town to reward Shopkeeper Ma, Chu Tianshu, and the others for defeating the Jiaozhi roving bandits, then challenged Chu Tianshu to a friendly spar. Their exchange revealed that Adjutant Zhou’s strength surpassed Chu Tianshu’s, and the chapter ended with Chu Tianshu wary of him despite their cordial words.

• Adjutant Zhou arrived with soldiers and gifts, explained that Commander Xu had sent rewards, and presented Shopkeeper Ma and Chu Tianshu with silver dollars.
• Adjutant Zhou inspected the battlefield and recognized that Chu Tianshu’s powerful strike had come from formidable fist-art strength.
• Adjutant Zhou invited Chu Tianshu to exchange a move, and Chu Tianshu accepted.
• Adjutant Zhou used Iron Arm Shield Hand, and Chu Tianshu blocked the charge with his forearm.
• Adjutant Zhou praised Chu Tianshu and invited him to test their drinking capacity at the banquet, while Chu Tianshu remained inwardly alert.