Chapter Summaries

After the Macau incident, Fang Jun learned that investigators were sending Spirit Realm impurities to Chang'an to develop weapons for Overflow Zones, while Chu Tianshu considered the Longhua God’s influence and weighed which new evil spirit trait to choose. The chapter left him flipping a coin to decide between three traits.

• Fang Jun spoke with Doctor Jiang as her team extracted Spirit Realm impurities from the bodies of the battle puppets for research in Chang'an.
• Doctor Jiang explained that Chang'an was simulating Overflow Zone and Spirit Realm conditions to develop replacement weapons, and said officials were unlikely to confirm the supernatural truth publicly yet.
• Chu Tianshu read conflicting official explanations and online speculation about the Macau incident, then wondered whether insiders were posting under strange usernames.
• Chu Tianshu linked his Fortune gauge’s progress to the Longhua God and examined the token’s descriptions of Jade-Bodied Infant, Heroic Sword Soul, and Vicious Butcher.
• Chu Tianshu decided to choose between Heroic Sword Soul and Vicious Butcher by coin toss, with Jade-Bodied Infant as his fallback, and flicked the coin into the air.

Chu Tianshu studied a newly deduced fist technique, then proposed hiring Yin Fengxin to run an online store selling medicinal products and offered to teach him cultivation. The two agreed that they both benefited, while Chu Tianshu considered whether to take the Sanqi Divine Sword with him when he crossed worlds.

• Chu Tianshu examined Storming Shaolin Heartfire Fist Form and planned to use it to strengthen his weaknesses alongside Palm Thunder and electric-shock training.
• Yin Fengxin woke at Fang Jun's home and found Chu Tianshu training with an electric-shock apparatus.
• Chu Tianshu offered Yin Fengxin a job managing an online store selling sleep-aid sachets, pillows, and medicinal liquor.
• Chu Tianshu told Yin Fengxin that he could learn magic and promised to send him two encrypted files for cultivation practice.
• Yin Fengxin accepted Chu Tianshu's offer, and Chu Tianshu wondered whether carrying the Sanqi Divine Sword across worlds would cost fewer Fortune points without Mind Power in it.

Chu Tianshu traveled into Nanzhao, where he sheltered from the rain in an earthen temple and learned about the region’s uneasy history and recent peace. The chapter left him and the temple’s occupants confronting a headless figure carrying a saber and a human head.

• Chu Tianshu followed a mountain path toward an ancient-looking city and took shelter from the rain in a small temple.
• He met an old peddler and two young peddlers, who mistook him for a physician from the Great Tang.
• Chu Tianshu asked about Nanzhao, and the old peddler explained that the kingdom had driven out many Tubo people after its king’s defeat by the Tang army.
• The old peddler and the two young peddlers turned pale when a headless man carrying a saber and a human head appeared on the road.

Chu Tianshu and Blind Cheng followed a headless swordsman whose fading Saber Soul was carrying his corpse home. Blind Cheng explained the bond between a Saber Soul and its master, while Chu Tianshu remained interested in learning more about them.

• A young peddler panicked at the headless corpse, but Blind Cheng warned the peddlers not to attack it because it was trying to go home.
• Blind Cheng explained that the swordsman’s final thoughts had bound his Saber Soul to the task of carrying him home to his family.
• Chu Tianshu noticed that the Saber Soul was fading and warned that it might not survive the journey if anything delayed the corpse.
• Chu Tianshu left the shrine and followed the corpse with Blind Cheng, learning that Blind Cheng was a bounty hunter named Cheng.
• Blind Cheng warned Chu Tianshu that a Saber Soul and its master shared their fate, and that taking the saber would not preserve the soul if its master died.

Chu Tianshu and Blind Cheng reached Nanzhao, where they parted from the headless swordsman at his home and found lodging at Lady Wenjing’s restaurant. As storyteller Dao Baishu began explaining the Blood Refinement Weapon Method and Weapon Souls, Chu Tianshu wondered whether the Martial Demonstration Token would recognize the supernatural art as martial arts.

• Chu Tianshu and Blind Cheng watched the headless swordsman reach his home, where a woman caught his collapsing body and wept.
• Blind Cheng led Chu Tianshu to Lady Wenjing’s restaurant, and Chu Tianshu paid with a pure gold needle to arrange food and lodging.
• Blind Cheng drank the wine while Chu Tianshu sampled it and ate banana blossoms steamed with dark-leaf rice and roasted mutton.
• Dao Baishu began telling a story about the Sui and Tang era, describing three methods of martial arts and the Weapon Souls nurtured through the Blood Refinement Weapon Method.
• Chu Tianshu wondered whether the Martial Demonstration Token would consider the art of nurturing Weapon Souls to be martial arts.

Chu Tianshu learned about the Great Tang’s political situation while treating guests and training with medicinal sand. He then joined Blind Cheng for dinner, hoping to learn the Blood Refinement Weapon Method, and Blind Cheng offered him a look at his saber soul.

• Chu Tianshu learned from Dao Baishu about the Great Tang’s history, its current emperor, the Inner Guard, and the uneasy history between Nanzhao and the Tang.
• Chu Tianshu practiced the Heartfire Fist Form by sinking into medicinal sand and using his internal force to heat it with his body.
• Chu Tianshu learned that the headless saberman had left no Blood Refinement Weapon Method for his son, so he considered seeking the method from Blind Cheng instead.
• Chu Tianshu joined Blind Cheng for dinner and noticed that he had drunk less wine than usual.
• Blind Cheng held out his saber, Wind-Listening, and invited Chu Tianshu to examine its saber soul.

Chu Tianshu examined Blind Cheng’s saber, learned about Weapon Souls, and persuaded Blind Cheng to teach him the Blood River Chariot method. After writing down the technique that night, Chu Tianshu followed Blind Cheng as he slipped through the alleys.

• Chu Tianshu examined Blind Cheng’s saber and saw the Saber Soul within it.
• Blind Cheng explained that Weapon Souls could become Wild Weapon Souls and turn people into Saber-Wielding Ghosts.
• Chu Tianshu asked to learn the Blood Refinement Weapon Method, and Blind Cheng recited the Blood River Chariot secret art to him.
• Chu Tianshu confirmed that Blood River Chariot had appeared in his technique materials, then copied the method onto paper in his room.
• After the first night watch, Chu Tianshu left through the window and watched Blind Cheng dart through the alleys.

Blind Cheng ambushed three Yuwen Family assassins who had come to kill Wen Jing, but they knew nothing about why she was targeted. He revealed his old grudge against the Yuwen Family and asked Chu Tianshu to question Wen Jing for him, offering to waive his debt.

• Blind Cheng overheard three men discussing their plan to kill the proprietress of the Wen Family Restaurant and attacked them when they reacted to a noise.
• Blind Cheng defeated the three men and learned they belonged to the Yuwen Family, though they claimed not to know why Wen Jing was targeted.
• Chu Tianshu used a silver needle technique to confirm that the surviving assassin knew no more, and Blind Cheng killed him and the other two.
• Blind Cheng explained that the Yuwen Family had killed Qinniang after he avenged a woman they had harmed, and that he had never forgotten their Bronze Sparrow Bow method.
• Blind Cheng wondered why the Yuwen Family wanted Wen Jing dead and asked Chu Tianshu to question her in exchange for waiving his debt.

Lady Wenjing learned that the Yuwen Lineage had sent assassins after her and suspected her role as an elder of the Gentlemen's Alliance was the reason. As Chu Tianshu sampled her pastries, he realized how controlling digestion at the Eating Makes an Immortal realm made grains especially nourishing.

• Lady Wenjing prepared glutinous rice pastries before dawn while wondering whether sugarcane juice could be brewed into wine.
• Chu Tianshu and Blind Cheng told Lady Wenjing that they had killed Yuwen Lineage members who had targeted her, and Blind Cheng urged her to recall any possible enemies.
• Lady Wenjing explained that her family had joined the Gentlemen's Alliance and that she held an elder's title, prompting Chu Tianshu and Blind Cheng to suspect the alliance was the target.
• Lady Wenjing sent pastries and warnings to other alliance elders, while Chu Tianshu and Blind Cheng sampled the freshly steamed cakes.
• Chu Tianshu reflected on how grains supported controlled digestion and realized his Eating Makes an Immortal cultivation had reached great accomplishment.

Chu Tianshu practiced the Blood Refinement Weapon Method at a mass grave and discovered that the ritual drew out a faint spiritual presence that might help him form a Weapon Soul. When he returned to the Wen family restaurant, he learned that ethnic tensions and attacks on local leaders were escalating, and he suspected the Yuwen Family might not be acting alone.

• Blind Cheng stopped taking wanted notices after learning that the Yuwen Family intended to move against Lady Wenjing, while Chu Tianshu continued treating patients, studying, and practicing martial arts.
• Chu Tianshu went to a mass grave outside Nanzhao and performed the Blood Refinement Weapon Method on the Sanqi Divine Sword.
• The ritual stirred a faint spiritual presence from the soil, and Chu Tianshu theorized that this world’s Spirit Realm favored weapon spirituality and could help him cultivate a Sword Soul.
• Chu Tianshu returned to find that troublemakers had tried to extort the Wen family restaurant, and Lady Wenjing warned her workers not to blame other peoples for the actions of a few individuals.
• Blind Cheng told Chu Tianshu that assassins had targeted Gentlemen's Alliance figures and leaders among the Xi'er and Bo People, while rumors blaming Tang People for Nanzhao’s poverty were spreading.
• Chu Tianshu suspected the Yuwen Family was involved but questioned whether it could sustain the escalating unrest without allies.

Chu Tianshu uncovered an ambush at the Wen Family restaurant and fought off attackers sent by the Yuwen Family. Their leader, Yuwen Tongxin, mistook him for a member of the Great Tang Inner Guard and prepared to kill him.

• Dao Baishu told a story about General Ma Yuan defeating sorcerers who sowed discord, stirring suspicion that his tale alluded to Nanzhao's recent rumors.
• Chu Tianshu and Blind Cheng discussed how the hidden plotters might strike again, hoping another attack would reveal their leaders.
• A medicine shop assistant delivered herbs to Chu Tianshu, but Chu recognized him as an impostor and crushed his attack before smashing him through a wall into another attacker.
• Chu Tianshu used the fake assistant's body to strike three more attackers, then evaded a powerful saber wielder who cut the impostor into pieces.
• The saber wielder identified himself as Yuwen Tongxin and revealed that the Yuwen Family had targeted Chu Tianshu, believing him to be a member of the Great Tang Inner Guard.

Chu Tianshu defeated Yuwen Tongxin after the Buddha Face Seal cracked and unleashed the evil saber’s wild Weapon Soul, then broke the saber and brought Yuwen Tongxin back to Blind Cheng. As they heard armored soldiers approaching, Chu Tianshu and Blind Cheng realized the royal city had responded to the public assassination.

• Yuwen Tongxin attacked Chu Tianshu, who used the Wood Remnant Fist and his sword to overcome the saber’s vibrating Qi shell and severely wound him.
• Yuwen Tongxin’s blood revealed a crack in the Buddha Face Seal, awakening the evil saber’s wild Weapon Soul and freezing the room as he unleashed Snow River Avalanche.
• Chu Tianshu stopped Yuwen Tongxin’s saber strike, severed both his arms, knocked him unconscious, and broke the evil saber with the Sanqi Divine Sword.
• Chu Tianshu reached the hall and found Blind Cheng had killed the remaining attackers; Blind Cheng said he had fought them barehanded after throwing his saber to save the proprietress.
• Chu Tianshu brought Yuwen Tongxin to Blind Cheng, and both heard armored soldiers approaching outside.

Zheng Hui intervened when Duan Rusu’s soldiers threatened the Wen Family Restaurant, then helped Chu Tianshu uncover a plot to turn Nanzhao against the Great Tang. Yuwen Tongxin implicated the Huaixi Wu Clan and Duan Rusu, but Zheng Hui revealed that the general was only a subordinate and that the true conspirator was someone more powerful.

• Duan Rusu arrived with armed soldiers and accused Lady Wenjing, Chu Tianshu, and Blind Cheng of taking hostages.
• Zheng Hui swiftly disarmed the soldiers’ crossbows, confronted Duan Rusu, and made him withdraw.
• Chu Tianshu questioned the wounded Yuwen Tongxin, who confessed that the Huaixi Wu Clan had ordered attacks to break Nanzhao’s alliance with the Great Tang.
• Yuwen Tongxin named Duan Rusu as a collaborator and described Huaixi’s plan to provoke Nanzhao while other regions rebelled.
• Zheng Hui said the confession was not enough to implicate Duan Rusu and revealed that a higher-ranking figure was directing the collusion.

Chu Tianshu tested his skill against Zheng Hui and learned about Zheng’s Empty Drum Soaring to Heaven Weapon Soul, while they discussed the threat posed by Duan Zhong and rumors destabilizing Nanzhao. Zheng Hui persuaded the ruler to counter the rumors by blaming Tibetan spies, and Yimouxun publicly renewed his accusations against the Tubo garrisons.

• Zheng Hui explained Duan Zhong’s history, military strength, and ties to Tubo, while warning that he was difficult to kill.
• Chu Tianshu raced Zheng Hui to catch a falling coin, lost, and learned that Zheng’s Weapon Soul let him create membranes of Qi to move through the air.
• Zheng Hui invited Chu Tianshu and the others to stay at his residence for protection, then sent a secret letter to the ruler of Nanzhao.
• The ruler issued an imperial proclamation blaming Tibetan spies for the recent assassinations instead of addressing the rumors about Tang people and the Huaixi military governor.
• Yimouxun listed twelve crimes committed by the Tubo garrisons, and his public accusations overwhelmed the rumors as they began to spread.

Chu Tianshu asked Zheng Hui where he could find a Wild Weapon Soul, and Zheng Hui showed him a scholar tree that held pure, concentrated Yin Qi. He invited Chu Tianshu to cultivate there, seeing his efforts to help the Tang people as fulfilling his late mother's wishes.

• Chu Tianshu asked Zheng Hui about families that might possess Wild Weapon Souls, and Zheng Hui explained that such weapons were usually kept secret.
• Chu Tianshu said he needed a place with dense Yin Qi to cultivate the Blood Refinement Weapon Method, and Zheng Hui offered to show him one on the estate.
• Zheng Hui told Chu Tianshu how his mother had planted a scholar tree from seeds brought from their homeland and cared for it until it took root in Nanzhao.
• Zheng Hui explained that his mother had longed for her homeland but had grown attached to their new home and the tree before she died.
• Chu Tianshu sensed that the scholar tree was the source of excellent Yin Qi, and Zheng Hui welcomed him to cultivate there as a Tang man helping their people.

Duan Zhong explained how he planned to use Tubo’s experts to provoke Yimouxun into striking the Duan Family first. At the courtyard, Blind Cheng explained the Move Comprehension Method to Chu Tianshu, who asked what move Blind Cheng had comprehended.

• Duan Rusu complained that Zheng Hui had taken the people to his residence and disrupted the Yuwen Family’s scheme, while Duan Zhong urged him to calm down.
• Duan Zhong revealed that Tubo would send a high priest and thirty-six great monks to aid them, and that he intended to make Yimouxun attack the Duan Family first.
• Duan Zhong explained that provoking an attack would give the family grounds to ask the king to abdicate while preserving Nanzhao’s military talent.
• Chu Tianshu used blood and Yin Qi to draw Spirit Realm-like wisps into the Sanqi Divine Sword, which Blind Cheng said was growing livelier.
• Blind Cheng brought pastries and wine from Lady Wenjing and described how the Move Comprehension Method connected a person’s mind, body, and Weapon Soul.
• Chu Tianshu asked Blind Cheng which move he had comprehended.

Blind Cheng demonstrated his Loulan Slash to Chu Tianshu and explained how he had gained the move in battle. Zheng Hui then summoned them to the site of a massacre, where Chu Tianshu discovered that Hai Donglai had killed the Tubo attackers after they wiped out the Great Tang envoy party.

• Blind Cheng shattered a wine bottle with a precisely placed breath and showed Chu Tianshu the force of Loulan Slash.
• Blind Cheng recalled killing a club-wielding enemy with the move and expressed anger over the praise he had received from a general.
• Zheng Hui arrived with news that men in black had ambushed the Great Tang envoy party, and he rode with Chu Tianshu and Blind Cheng to the battlefield.
• Zheng Hui and the others found the envoy party, its Nanzhao guards, and more than a hundred people dead at the mountain camp.
• Chu Tianshu tracked the black-clad attackers into the woods and concluded that a powerful newcomer had killed them after the ambush.
• Zheng Hui identified the dead attackers as Tubo grand monks and recognized the red umbrella held by their dead grand ritual master as Hai Donglai's.

Chu Tianshu realized the old monk’s corpse was being controlled by a Wild Weapon Soul and fought it after it revived with the Blazing Sun Wheel. He destroyed the corpse and crushed the wheel, breaking the Weapon Soul apart.

• Chu Tianshu examined the battlefield and concluded that Hai Donglai had charged through dozens of enemies before killing the old monk.
• Chu Tianshu noticed that the old monk’s blood loss seemed wrong and warned everyone to move away from the corpse.
• The old monk revived after a blinding flash, seized the Blazing Sun Wheel, and kicked aside Blind Cheng’s attack.
• Chu Tianshu attacked the old monk, broke his foot and leg, and tore the wheel-bearing arm from his body.
• Chu Tianshu recognized that the wheel’s burning heat was an illusion, then crushed it until the Wild Weapon Soul inside broke apart.

Chu Tianshu deduced a new method for completing the Sanqi Divine Sword’s weapon soul after the battle, while Hai Donglai reached Nanzhao’s royal city and dismissed Auntie Mo from the Inner Guard. The chapter ended with Auntie Mo accidentally crushing her eggs as she watched Hai Donglai leave.

• Chu Tianshu found no trace of the wounded Hai Donglai, and Zheng Hui secretly arranged to transport the dead delegation members to the royal city.
• Chu Tianshu used the Blazing Sun Wheel’s properties to deduce the Lesser Yang Blood River Chariot and realized the Sanqi Divine Sword’s weapon soul was nearly complete.
• Hai Donglai visited Auntie Mo, an Inner Guard operative who worked in the Wen family’s restaurant, and asked her about recent events in the royal city.
• Auntie Mo told Hai Donglai about the Yuwen Lineage assassins, the Duan Family, Zheng Hui, and Chu Tianshu.
• Hai Donglai destroyed Auntie Mo’s file and ordered her to forget her Inner Guard duties, then slipped out through the window.
• Auntie Mo stood dazed and stepped on her eggs.

Chu Tianshu examined the badly injured Hai Donglai and discovered that his lifelong light-sensitive illness had become critical after his battle with a Tubo Grand Priest. He realized Hai Donglai’s Weapon Soul could help him survive, leaving open the possibility of saving him.

• Zheng Hui received a secret token from General Wei Gao and learned that Hai Donglai had come to investigate the killing of the Great Tang delegation.
• Hai Donglai told Zheng Hui that he had not known the delegation’s route and described the strength of the Tubo Grand Priest who had injured him.
• Chu Tianshu examined Hai Donglai and learned that he had been born with an illness that made sunlight cause his skin to erupt and bleed.
• Chu Tianshu recognized that Hai Donglai’s injuries had triggered severe complications and that he might die at any moment.
• Chu Tianshu discovered Hai Donglai’s Weapon Soul was temporarily residing inside his body and concluded that Hai Donglai might still be saved.