Chapter Summaries

Chu Tianshu tried to have the Cave God absorb the Five Rampancies seal and Nuo God mask, but it failed, so he planned to strengthen the Sanqi Divine Sword through another method. Cai Shanjun proposed using the Cave God to help steal Origin Canons and revealed that Principal Li was researching how to divide them among multiple inheritors; Chu Tianshu asked for seven days before joining the peace talks.

• Chu Tianshu asked the Cave God to absorb the Five Rampancies seal and Nuo God mask, but the Cave God could not refine either object.
• Chu Tianshu planned to use the Nanhua True Interpretation and his Weapon Soul to transfer the mask's Primordial Qi into the Sanqi Divine Sword and steal the Five Chang Gods' power.
• Cai Shanjun said the Cave God could help steal the Origin Canons connected to Guan Yu, Yu Ji, and Lü Bu in Luoyang.
• Cai Shanjun explained that Principal Li was researching how to divide ownerless Origin Canons among multiple inheritors to share their power and flaws.
• Chu Tianshu told Cai Shanjun to choose the timing for the peace talks and asked for seven days to attempt to strengthen his sword before joining him.

Cao Bokun returned to the capital and prepared for peace talks with the Han Prefecture, arguing that diplomacy would buy time to strengthen his position. Ten days later, Chu Tianshu arrived outside the city with a convoy and a case of famous weapons, curious whether the capital’s strange atmosphere would turn its people against one another.

• Cao Bokun entered the capital, reunited with Cao Ying, and urged him to welcome the Han Prefecture’s peace delegation with sincerity.
• Cao Bokun explained that talks could slow the Han Prefecture and Jiangdong while the Cao Family adjusted its defenses, despite Cao Ying’s anger over their losses.
• Cao Bokun found the capital’s influential residents strangely subdued and learned that they had gone to behold the newly worshipped gods Jiaoli and the Ghost King.
• Cao Bokun ordered True Person Yuanzai’s recovery prioritized, while Guo Baozhi quietly waited for an opportunity during the peace talks.
• Newspapers published selections from Cao Bokun’s diary, and the capital saw repeated killings as its wealthy residents became less active.
• Ten days after Cao Bokun’s return, Chu Tianshu arrived outside the capital with Sun Feng'an and Cai Shanjun, then decided to enter the city.

Cao Bokun hosted Chu Tianshu’s delegation and proposed terms for peace, including concessions over Yu Province, Qilu, and captured prisoners. Chu Tianshu rejected the offers, and as Cao Ying extended a gloved hand to him, the glove triggered a sudden stabbing pain in Chu Tianshu’s eyes and its stiffened fingertips lunged at his face.

• Liu Shulin welcomed Chu Tianshu and his companions to the capital estate, where they waited several hours for Cao Bokun.
• Cao Bokun arrived with Cao Ying and led the delegation to a lakeside pavilion for preliminary peace talks.
• Cao Bokun offered Liu Shulin control of unified Yu Province and offered Chu Tianshu a prestigious general’s title, but Chu Tianshu remained unmoved.
• Cao Bokun proposed sending Sun Feng’an’s brother to Qilu and exchanging prisoners, while Sun Feng’an hesitated and Liu Yanqi questioned whether the captives were still alive.
• Chu Tianshu criticized Cao Bokun’s proposals and called the proposed prisoner exchange a way to free criminals, prompting Cao Ying to offer a handshake as a sign of sincerity.
• Cao Ying extended his white-gloved hand, and Chu Tianshu felt pain in his eyes as the glove’s fingertips stiffened and thrust toward his face.

Chu Tianshu and Cao Ying's clash shattered the pavilion and turned the peace talks into a battle, while Cao Bokun expanded the battlefield with a sword strike. As Cao Ying attacked again by controlling the swords in Chu Tianshu's case, Chu Tianshu drew the lone intact blade and slashed toward the pear blossoms.

• Cao Ying attacked Chu Tianshu with a pear branch, but Chu Tianshu deflected it and struck back, sending Cao Ying skidding across the pavilion and over the water.
• Cao Bokun drew the Fengtian Sword and struck the ground, causing explosions that destroyed the pavilion and scattered the fighters across the lake.
• Chu Tianshu laughed and challenged his opponents, while Cao Bokun explained that his Heaven-Leaning True Explanation let him create explosions more easily near water.
• Cao Ying's eyes changed, and he used his Jiaoli Pear ability to control the swords in Chu Tianshu's case and attack him with the branch.
• Chu Tianshu's sword case burst apart, and the old blades inside crumbled; he seized the sole intact sword and slashed toward the pear blossoms.

Chu Tianshu defeated Cao Ying and used the Sanqi Divine Sword to suppress the Pear God within the blade. The Pear God’s roar shook the battlefield as the fight ended with both Cao Ying and the god subdued.

• Chu Tianshu pursued Cao Ying across the lake, breaking through the pear branch’s defenses with his sword.
• Cao Ying reached the shore and struck with the force of Havoc in Heaven, but Chu Tianshu evaded the cudgel and descended with a powerful sword strike.
• Chu Tianshu split Cao Ying’s body and pinned the Pear God’s true form, a pear tree stump, to the ground.
• Chu Tianshu used blood and the power of the Five Chang Gods to resist the Pear God’s attempt to corrupt the Sanqi Divine Sword.
• Chu Tianshu pulled out the sword and absorbed the stump into it, suppressing the Pear God.

Liu Yanqi and Cai Shanjun killed Guo Baozhi and exposed the Ghost King, while Cao Bokun received the God of the Five Rampancies’ power and escaped Chu Tianshu. The chapter ended with Chu Tianshu confronting Yuanzai at the ritual altar.

• Liu Yanqi used Guo Baozhi’s urge to flee to send a small sword into his chest, and Cai Shanjun’s zither attack destroyed Guo Baozhi’s body and revealed the Ghost King.
• Cai Shanjun and Sun Feng'an used the zither, Lü Bu’s Origin Canon, and Guo Baozhi’s wine cup to confine the Ghost King.
• Cao Bokun resisted Liu Yanqi’s sword and divine power sent from afar, then retreated from the bridge as Chu Tianshu arrived.
• Yuanzai performed a ritual to send the God of the Five Rampancies’ power to Cao Bokun, believing it gave him a chance against Chu Tianshu.
• Chu Tianshu blasted through the wall into the woods and called out to Yuanzai.

Chu Tianshu broke through Yuanzai’s defenses and intercepted a poisoned-needle attack, then became locked in a sword contest with Cao Bokun. The struggle left them holding each other in check as Yuanzai remained nearby and Liu Yanqi might catch up.

• Chu Tianshu used a Sonic Arts shout to disrupt Yuanzai, shattered the ritual platform’s defenses, and struck Yuanzai off the platform with the Sanqi Divine Sword.
• Chu Tianshu sensed a concealed attack and caught hundreds of poisoned hair needles on his sword before identifying the Nianzi mages who had fired them.
• Cao Bokun intercepted Chu Tianshu with the Fengtian Sword, and their blades clashed as the poisoned needles shattered between them.
• Chu Tianshu blew the needle fragments back at Cao Bokun, who used the Five Chang Gods’ Divine Power to protect his face.
• Chu Tianshu and Cao Bokun locked swords and tested their strength, each holding the other in check as Yuanzai drew near.

Chu Tianshu trapped Yuanzai in a contest that destroyed the Five Rampancies mask, then defeated Cao Bokun after Cao summoned the Five Rampancies' power. The chapter ended with Chu Tianshu revealing that the spirit he had raised was also a god in his sword.

• Yuanzai tried to curse Chu Tianshu through a figure carved into a tree, but Chu broke Yuanzai's dagger and began draining the Five Rampancies mask.
• Cao Bokun abandoned his caution and summoned the Five Rampancies' divine power, then disarmed Chu Tianshu and knocked him off the ritual platform.
• Chu Tianshu used Kunpeng Transformation to pursue Cao Bokun as they fought through the treetops and forest around Yuanzai.
• The Sanqi Divine Sword released a burst of light that split the mask, weakening Cao Bokun and allowing Chu Tianshu to batter him to death.
• Chu Tianshu wiped the blood from his mouth and revealed that the spirit he had raised was a god in his sword.

Chu Tianshu joined Cai Shanjun and Liu Yanqi in countering the Ghost King’s sorrow-based attacks, then took over as Cai’s music wore the spirit down. As the Ghost King weakened, Chu Tianshu prepared to strike it down.

• Chu Tianshu seized Sanqi, sealed Yuanzai’s acupoints, and carried him back to the manor.
• The Ghost King attacked Liu Yanqi with sorrow, and Chu Tianshu stepped in, suffering a worsening of his existing heart injury.
• Chu Tianshu treated his injury with medicinal silver needles and recognized that Cai Shanjun’s Three Variations of the Zither Heart could counter the Ghost King.
• Chu Tianshu sent Liu Yanqi to handle the disorder in the capital and took over as Cai Shanjun continued playing.
• As the Ghost King grew insubstantial, Chu Tianshu synchronized Sanqi with the guqin and charged to kill it.

Chu Tianshu and Cai Shanjun dealt with the Five Rampancies’ remaining threat while Liu Yanqi secured the capital. With the Five Chang Gods’ statue destroyed and Cai Shanjun calming the city, the fighting ended for the night.

• After sealing the Pear God, Chu Tianshu questioned Yuanzai, who explained the Five Rampancies’ plan to enter the Dragon Vein and revealed that their Dharma Lord’s statue remained at Stone Stele Alley.
• Chu Tianshu, Sun Feng'an, and Yuanzai headed to the old arsenal, where they met Cai Shanjun as he moved to stop a riot in the West City District.
• Cai Shanjun played a gentle tune that quieted the unrest while Chu Tianshu confronted the half-formed Five Chang Gods’ statue.
• Chu Tianshu struck the statue with the Sanqi Divine Sword, drew it fully into reality, and severed its head.
• Liu Yanqi sensed the divine threat fall and concluded that the Five Rampancies had lost their head and the fighting was over for the night.

Chu Tianshu returned to Kunming and reunited with Ma Zhengwu, Old Yu, and Zhong Jinqiu at the sanatorium. He planned to rest, treat Old Yu’s injured arm, study martial arts manuals, and enjoy the local mushroom dishes.

• Ma Zhengwu taught his talisman arts class and praised Student Zhu, who suggested combining Weapon-Warding Talismans with military detectors.
• Chu Tianshu arrived beneath the flowering trees, and Student Zhu recognized him as the divine physician whose photo had appeared in the newspaper.
• Chu Tianshu told Ma Zhengwu that he had flown back from the capital and walked with him to the sanatorium.
• Chu Tianshu reunited with Old Yu and Zhong Jinqiu, offered to treat Old Yu’s damaged arm, and brought martial arts manuals to study.
• Chu Tianshu proposed eating Kunming mushrooms and said his deep cultivation would protect him from poisoning.

Chu Tianshu deduced and began practicing the Heavenly Heart Sorrowful Demon Slash, a saber technique that converts the wielder’s state of mind into killing power. After returning to his phone, he learned from Helai that a former regional leader in the northwest had mysteriously become a child.

• Chu Tianshu chose the Ghost King of Sorrow and Joy’s sorrow-wounding trait to optimize the Demonic Sect’s saber technique and created the Heavenly Heart Sorrowful Demon Slash.
• Chu Tianshu practiced the new technique with a length of bamboo, using a blade of foxtail grass as his target.
• Chu Tianshu turned on his phone and found several missed calls from Helai.
• Helai told Chu Tianshu that he had to remain in the southeast to oversee the Spirit Realm’s medicinal fields and was concerned about an incident in the northwest.
• Helai sent Chu Tianshu a photo of a child and revealed that the child was his old friend, the former person in charge of the northwest, who had looked that way for half a month.

Chu Tianshu prepared to visit Lin Chucheng in the northwest, but first held the long-delayed opening of the Calming Spirit Pharmacy. The lively ceremony drew a crowd, and Chu Tianshu announced the pharmacy’s opening discounts before the ribbon-cutting.

• Helai told Chu Tianshu that Lin Chucheng had mysteriously reverted to a child and lost most of his weight, though much of his cultivation remained.
• Chu Tianshu agreed to visit Lin Chucheng, but Helai and Second Grandpa persuaded him to open the pharmacy the next day before leaving.
• Chu Tianshu arrived at the renovated Calming Spirit Pharmacy and greeted the elderly workers gathered in its western annex.
• Second Grandpa arranged dragon and lion dances and played “Blue and White Porcelain” at the opening, while Chu Tianshu accepted the unusual celebration.
• Chu Tianshu announced seven-day discounts on several medicines and a fruit basket for customers who spent two hundred, then said the event would begin after the ribbon-cutting.

Chu Tianshu arrived in the Ili River Valley, where Mo Xiaoyu and Tang Nu received him and Tang Nu described the region’s strange incidents. Mo Xiaoyu suggested that the frequent blending of human and beast spirituality might stem from an ancient kingdom once located in the valley.

• Mo Xiaoyu and Tang Nu waited at the airport for Chu Tianshu, while Tang Nu complained about the higher-ups sending him as a consultant.
• Chu Tianshu arrived, greeted them, and rode with them from the airport as Tang Nu asked about his experience with monsters.
• Tang Nu recounted several incidents involving people transformed or behaving like beasts, including poachers and antique smugglers.
• Chu Tianshu questioned why beast-related phenomena were so common in the incidents Tang Nu had seen.
• Mo Xiaoyu said researchers had theorized that the Ili River Valley was once part of the Queen Mother of the West's Kingdom, where human and beast spirituality could mingle.

Chu Tianshu arrived at the Special Investigation Bureau’s northwestern base and watched its intense tank-training exercises. When Xiong Zhengsan ignored being counted as dead and attacked a third tank, Chu Tianshu intervened, disrupted the training devices, and stopped his strike.

• Mo Xiaoyu explained how the base’s modified, computer-controlled tanks fired Yin Qi during competitive training exercises.
• Xiong Zhengsan destroyed two tanks with powerful palm strikes, then continued fighting despite being declared dead and warned to leave the field.
• Chu Tianshu leaped onto a third tank, crushed its device, and disrupted the Yin Qi in the nearby tanks.
• Xiong Zhengsan attacked Chu Tianshu with a forceful Red Fist palm strike.
• Chu Tianshu struck the Laogong acupoint in Xiong Zhengsan’s palm, then knocked him back and ended the attack.

Lin Chucheng jumped into the training ground to stop Xiong Zhengsan from using a damaging sequence of strikes, then demonstrated the technique himself without suffering harm. Chu Tianshu tested Lin Chucheng’s blood and discovered an extraordinary reserve of wood-attribute primordial Qi.

• Lin Chucheng leaped from his room to the training ground after hearing the commotion and challenged Chu Tianshu for stopping Xiong Zhengsan.
• Mo Xiaoyu checked Xiong Zhengsan and thanked Chu Tianshu for preventing his primordial Qi from spilling away.
• Xiong Zhengsan explained that Lin Chucheng had taught him the consecutive strikes a few days earlier, and Lin Chucheng demonstrated seven moves that damaged a tank but left his own hands unharmed.
• Chu Tianshu drew a drop of Lin Chucheng’s blood and extracted wood-attribute primordial Qi in a quantity comparable to that from a hundred-year-old tree.

Chu Tianshu examined Lin Chucheng’s damaged combat outfit and concluded that a powerful attacker had ambushed him, while the base considered how the attack and Lin’s lost memories might be connected. The attackers’ whereabouts and a possible way to restore Lin’s memory remained uncertain as Lin invited Chu to eat with him.

• Chu Tianshu used a blood-testing method and confirmed that Lin Chucheng was extremely healthy, then asked to inspect Lin’s damaged outfit.
• Mo Xiaoyu brought Chu Tianshu and Lin Chucheng to Evidence Room Nine, where Chu examined the outfit’s protective talisman script and signs of damage.
• Chu Tianshu identified a palm-force strike on the jacket’s left sleeve and reasoned that it had briefly clashed with Lin’s protection and power.
• Mo Xiaoyu and Chu discussed the ambush, the attackers’ possible losses, and whether the attack had caused Lin to shrink and lose his memory.
• Chu Tianshu considered whether the attackers remained nearby and whether a local treasure might help restore Lin’s memory.
• Lin Chucheng invited Chu Tianshu to eat, and Chu agreed to talk over food.

Chu Tianshu took Lin Chucheng out to eat and learned that Lin sensed different kinds of vitality through what he called inspiration. Chu Tianshu proposed taking Lin outside to investigate, and Mo Xiaoyu agreed to accompany them as the chapter ended with a warning that the recent calm might be due to hidden threats being dealt with.

• Chu Tianshu introduced himself as the new consultant, and Lin Chucheng skipped another examination so they could eat together.
• Lin Chucheng told Chu Tianshu that he had always preferred friends with strong vitality and explained how he sensed it through inspiration.
• Lin Chucheng said he could sense vitality in things like wind and wanted to follow different winds outside, but Mo Xiaoyu and the others would not let him go.
• Chu Tianshu offered to take Lin Chucheng out, and Mo Xiaoyu agreed to join them with Tang Nu and alert the base.
• Mo Xiaoyu said the past two months had been unusually peaceful, and Chu Tianshu considered that troublemakers might have been stopped by stronger forces.

Chu Tianshu and the others visited a windbreak and sand-stabilization cultivation base near the Ili River Valley, hoping that an outing might help Lin Chucheng recover his inspiration. After Lin Chucheng sensed something in the mountains, they found his shoeprint embedded in a rock beside a lake, where a deep green shape moved beneath the water.

• Chu Tianshu, Lin Chucheng, Tang Nu, and Mo Xiaoyu explored a tourist street and learned that a flower shop’s plants came from a nearby cultivation base raising seedlings for sand control.
• The group accepted a ride from visitors delivering seedlings and traveled to the cultivation base, where they wandered through fields of flowers and saplings.
• Lin Chucheng pointed toward a mountain, and the group climbed over it to survey the rivers and lakes beyond.
• Chu Tianshu spotted a shoeprint embedded five or six centimeters into a rock beside a small lake, and Mo Xiaoyu recognized it as Lin Chucheng’s.
• Lin Chucheng recalled that he might have fought someone—or something—there as a deep green streak silently approached the shore beneath the lake’s surface.

Chu Tianshu, Mo Xiaoyu, and Tang Nu fought a jade mechanical puppet that ambushed Lin Chucheng, then discovered more than twenty destroyed puppets at the bottom of the lake. Lin Chucheng recalled being attacked by similar creatures in a palace but could remember little else.

• Tang Nu spotted an attacker emerging from the lake and dodged its ambush as the jade puppet lunged at Lin Chucheng.
• Chu Tianshu blocked the puppet’s sword, identified her as a mechanical puppet, and retreated when she attacked again.
• Mo Xiaoyu’s Li Fire Saber Qi exposed the puppet’s joints, and Tang Nu struck her down and jammed the joints shut.
• Lin Chucheng recalled fighting many similar puppets in a palace but could not remember more.
• Chu Tianshu searched the lake and found more than twenty badly damaged jade puppets at the bottom.