Recaps

Zhang Xuezhou and his companions raced toward the Nine-Foot Daoist Temple while Jin Wanliang continued hunting them, and Zou Bugui explained how a demon treasure powered the toad demon’s poison. As they reached the temple, Zou Bugui noticed its door was open and footprints outside, suggesting someone had disturbed the preparations he meant to use against Jin Wanliang.

• Zou Bugui explained that Jin Wanliang’s poison skills likely relied on his tongue demon treasure, which Zhang Zhong said he could not cut off.
• Lady Yourong used her bow to keep Jin Wanliang at a distance, though she had only six arrows left.
• Zhang Zhong hurried the group toward the Nine-Foot Daoist Temple, which Zhang Xuezhou realized was much closer than he had expected.
• Zou Bugui reassured Zhang Zhong that he had a plan to counter Jin Wanliang, despite black blood seeping from his mouth.
• Zou Bugui saw the temple door swinging open and footprints on the path, and feared that someone had disturbed his preparations.

Zou Bugui revealed that thieves had stolen the spirit jade and Qi and Blood Pills from the Nine-Foot Daoist Temple, leaving him unable to fulfill his promises to Zhang Zhong and Zhang Xuezhou. As Jin Wanliang offered gold for Zou Bugui, Zhang Zhong pushed the Daoist out toward him, but Zou Bugui sprang up as Jin Wanliang reached for him.

• Zou Bugui found his spirit jade and Qi and Blood Pills missing, and Zhang Xuezhou realized Li Jiao had likely taken them.
• Zhang Zhong threatened Zou Bugui with his saber over the broken promise to help his parents achieve Realm Entry, and Zou Bugui claimed he could still use the Yin-Yang Reversal Formation and make more pills later.
• Jin Wanliang arrived at the Nine-Foot Daoist Temple and offered a hundred taels of gold in exchange for Zou Bugui.
• Lady Yourong pulled a gold ingot into the temple, and Zhang Zhong checked its purity before pushing Zou Bugui toward Jin Wanliang.
• Jin Wanliang reached to seize Zou Bugui, but Zou Bugui rolled upright as a saber came down.

Zou Bugui gave Zhang Xuezhou an Invisibility Talisman and asked him to sneak up on Jin Wanliang while the others fought inside the Yin-Yang Reversal Formation. Zhang Xuezhou blinded Jin Wanliang with stove ash, creating an opening for Zhang Zhong and Lady Yourong to land their attacks.

• Zou Bugui drained his own Law Power to keep the Yin-Yang Reversal Formation working and asked Zhang Xuezhou for help.
• Zhang Xuezhou said he would soon fall asleep, so Zou Bugui reluctantly gave him an Invisibility Talisman and told him how to use it.
• Zhang Xuezhou tested the talisman, then crept away while Zou Bugui and the others kept Jin Wanliang occupied.
• Zhang Zhong warned Lady Yourong that they would flee if they could not defeat Jin Wanliang within two more rounds, and Jin Wanliang confidently prepared to defend against their attacks.
• Zhang Xuezhou threw stove ash into Jin Wanliang's eyes, and Zhang Zhong and Lady Yourong struck while he was blinded.

After a troubling dream, Zhang Xuezhou visited Ren Anran and asked for help as his condition seemed to worsen. Ren Anran referred him to a doctor at Canglan Academy’s Xuanshi Building, but Zhang Xuezhou suspected she had been taking his money without treating him and threatened to report her.

• Zhang Xuezhou woke from a dream about Jin Wanliang, recorded the events, and went to the Sunshine Psychologist Clinic after receiving money from his father.
• Zhang Xuezhou told Ren Anran that the dreams were becoming more dangerous, but she read his diary and said he needed to understand his own mind.
• Ren Anran recommended a doctor who treated patients for free at the Xuanshi Building of Canglan Academy in the Western Capital.
• Ren Anran explained that Zhang Xuezhou would need to enter the restricted building openly and go alone, despite her connection to the doctor.
• Zhang Xuezhou accused Ren Anran of taking his fees without helping him and threatened to report her if she could not explain herself.

After Ren Anran referred Zhang Xuezhou to Professor Ren Yisheng at Canglan Academy, Zhang decided he had to gain admission to reach the treatment he needed. A frightening vision of Realm Entry in the Yin Yang Great Compassion Nine Heavens Incantation left him fearing his illness was worsening, but he continued studying desperately.

• Ren Anran told Zhang Xuezhou to seek treatment from Professor Ren Yisheng at Canglan Academy, and Zhang verified the professor's identity online.
• Zhang made getting into Canglan Academy his urgent goal after realizing Ren Anran could not treat his condition.
• Zhang felt his memory and comprehension improve and suspected the Essential Instruction for Recuperation was responsible.
• Zhang saw a white seed grow into a towering tree and recognized the scene as Realm Entry in the Yin Yang Great Compassion Nine Heavens Incantation, just as in his dream.
• Zhang feared he could no longer distinguish dreams from reality, took three fluazepam pills, and began reading number theory aloud to prepare for admission.

Zhang Xuezhou woke to find Zhang Zhong had nearly beaten the injured Zou Bugui to death, then learned that Jin Wanliang had escaped using Golden Toad Sheds Its Shell. Zou Bugui tried to secure his life by offering the Golden Toad Treasure Robe as a valuable ingredient that could help Zhang Zhong enter a realm, leaving Zhang Zhong to weigh the offer against his distrust.

• Zhang Xuezhou woke and asked Zou Bugui how to cancel the Invisibility Talisman, then recited the incantation Zou Bugui gave him and reappeared.
• Zhang Zhong released Zou Bugui, who took a poison pill to suppress the Golden Toad Poison and begged for his life.
• Zhang Zhong doubted Zou Bugui's promises and warned that Zou Bugui's powerful connections could endanger him and Zhang Xuezhou.
• Zou Bugui explained that the imperial court was targeting sects because they took the court's most talented people.
• Zou Bugui said Jin Wanliang had escaped with Golden Toad Sheds Its Shell, leaving the Golden Toad Treasure Robe behind, and claimed it could help make a pill for smooth cultivation below the Consciousness Creation Realm.

Zhang Xuezhou questioned Zou Bugui about Realm Entry and concluded that improvements to his soul in dreams might affect him in reality, unlike changes to his dream body. Zhang Zhong took three newly made pills and left the Daoist temple, while Zou Bugui revealed that Jin Chang had led the missing villagers away using the Puppet Technique.

• Zou Bugui explained that Realm Entry strengthened Divine Sense, though he could not clearly explain the soul or the process.
• Zhang Xuezhou speculated that his dream soul could influence reality and felt relieved after connecting this idea to his experiences.
• Zou Bugui and Zhang Zhong made four pills in a Law Treasure Pill Furnace, and Zhang Zhong made Zou Bugui swallow one to test it.
• Zhang Zhong took the remaining three pills and left, telling Zou Bugui that Zhang Household Village had disappeared and asking him to forgive the trouble.
• Zou Bugui quietly said that Jin Chang had led hundreds of villagers away with the Puppet Technique and feared Jin Chang's pursuit of the Yin-Yang School's yang-aspect inheritance.

Zhang Xuezhou and his parents reached Hibiscus City, where the cost of living and their lack of money weighed on them. As Zhang Zhong encouraged Lady Yourong to be proud of their son, he resolved to trade the Body Fragrance Pills on the black market for the Qi and Blood Pill he needed to pursue Realm Entry.

• Zhang Xuezhou, Zhang Zhong, and Lady Yourong arrived at Hibiscus City just before its gates closed, and Zhang Zhong explained how expensive city life was.
• Zhang Xuezhou suggested selling a Body Fragrance Pill, but Zhang Zhong pointed out the difficulties of proving its origin and medicinal value.
• Lady Yourong said Zhang Xuezhou could stay with her well-off sister while she and Zhang Zhong went away to seek pills or investigate the people from Zhang Household Village.
• Zhang Zhong reassured Lady Yourong that Zhang Xuezhou was outstanding and urged her to hold her head high as they pursued a better future.
• Zhang Zhong decided to seek a black-market buyer for the Body Fragrance Pills so he could obtain a Qi and Blood Pill and attempt Realm Entry.

Lady Yourong reunited with her sister Rong Li in Hibiscus City, where the family welcomed Zhang Xuezhou and urged him to take up their generations-old pork trade. After meeting Rong Li’s artistic son Rong Tianding, Zhang Xuezhou decided his uncle by marriage might teach him about the culture he had seen in his dreams.

• Rong Li recognized Lady Yourong at her pork stall, and the sisters joyfully reunited.
• Rong Li welcomed Zhang Zhong and Zhang Xuezhou, praised her nephew, and offered to help him start a pork stall.
• Rong Li argued that studying offered little future and persuaded Zhang Xuezhou to promise to slaughter pigs with her the next day.
• Rong Li brought the family to her spacious home, where she scolded her son Rong Tianding for painting instead of learning the family trade.
• Zhang Xuezhou recognized his uncle by marriage as a potential teacher and resolved to learn from him.

Zhang Xuezhou joined the Rong Household’s pork business in Hibiscus City, learned to slaughter pigs, and heard rumors of ghosts haunting Ten-Li Slope. The rumors gave him an idea for selling Rong Tianding’s paintings and gaining lessons from his uncle.

• Rong Tianding showed Zhang Xuezhou his painting, which had won third place in a Hibiscus City competition, but he still had to help with the family’s pork business.
• Rong Li demonstrated how to slaughter a pig, then Rong Tianding and Zhang Xuezhou each tried the work.
• Zhang Xuezhou killed a pig for the first time, felt blood spray onto his sleeve, and received praise from Rong Li for his potential as a butcher.
• Li Erlang told Rong Li and Zhang Xuezhou that ghosts were rumored to roam Ten-Li Slope and that villages nearby had hired exorcists.
• After hearing that pig’s blood was believed to ward off ghosts, Zhang Xuezhou considered using the hauntings to help Rong Tianding sell paintings and secure lessons from his uncle.

Zhang Xuezhou persuaded Rong Tianding and Jia Zhiyuan to make and sell cheap pig-blood paintings of an invented pig-headed immortal as ghost-repelling charms. After they spent the night painting and inventing the immortal’s story, Rong Tianding opened a stall to sell them.

• Rong Tianding worried that cutting up expensive canvas and painting with pig’s blood would waste money, but agreed to try Zhang Xuezhou’s idea rather than give up on painting.
• Zhang Xuezhou argued that people would buy the paintings if they believed the images met a demand for protection from ghosts.
• Jia Zhiyuan questioned whether anyone would accept pig-headed immortals, and Zhang Xuezhou proposed inventing one and giving it a name, title, origins, and ghost-catching deeds.
• Rong Tianding warned that Daoist Mu at the Universal Cloud Daoist Temple might expose their claims, but Zhang Xuezhou said they would make the story convincing enough to withstand scrutiny.
• Zhang Xuezhou, Rong Tianding, and Jia Zhiyuan painted through the night and devised the invented immortal’s background.
• The next day, Rong Tianding set up a stall to sell the pig-blood paintings.

Rong Tianding turned his paintings into supposed charms against ghosts and sold out after rumors of the hundred ghosts' night procession spread through Hibiscus City. Just as he grew confident in his new business, a Daoist arrived at his stall holding one of his paintings.

• Rong Li made Rong Tianding sell his paintings beside her pig-butchering stall so she could prevent him and Jia Zhiyuan from faking sales.
• Zhang Xuezhou advised Rong Tianding to advertise his paintings as immortal images that warded off evil, and Rong Tianding began selling them that way.
• Rong Tianding used the story of Patriarch Nine Heavens Supreme Father, Grand Overseer of the Five Directions, High General of the Northern Pole's Left Enclosure, Grand Marshal of All Forces, True Lord Tianpeng, to persuade buyers his paintings could repel ghosts.
• Rumors about the hundred ghosts' night procession at Ten-Li Slope spread around Hibiscus City, drawing frightened customers to Rong Tianding's stall.
• Rong Tianding sold out of his paintings, but on his second day at the stall a Daoist appeared holding one of them.

Rong Tianding’s effort to sell protective immortal paintings was challenged by Daoist Mu, who demonstrated a technique and threatened to test the paintings with a ghost. That night, Daoist Mu sent a female ghost into the Rong Household, but Zhang Xuezhou simply fell asleep, leaving the Daoist bewildered.

• Daoist Mu accused Rong Tianding of selling ineffective paintings, then demonstrated his Heaven-Piercing Rope technique to the watching vendors.
• Rong Li defended Rong Tianding and challenged Daoist Mu to send a ghost to the Rong Household, and he promised to do so that night.
• Rong Tianding asked Zhang Xuezhou whether ghosts existed, and Zhang Xuezhou and Rong Li dismissed them as fears people created for themselves.
• Daoist Mu entered Zhang Xuezhou’s room disguised as a woman in white, but Zhang Xuezhou called for Rong Li and fell unconscious.
• Daoist Mu urged Zhang Xuezhou to look at the fierce female ghost, then wondered why nobody seemed afraid of ghosts anymore.

Zhang Xuezhou’s perfect number theory score drew attention at school, and he began cramming biology while wondering whether his real-life cultivation had changed him. After entering the dream world, he found his room wrecked and a white silk hanging from the beam, while Rong Tianding and the others said he had wandered and spoken in a dead woman’s voice all night.

• Mei Renteng and Zhang Xuezhou’s classmates marveled at Zhang Xuezhou’s perfect number theory score and speculated that he might do well in biology next.
• Zhang Xuezhou wondered whether Doctor Ren’s recuperation technique had let him reach Realm Entry, then planned to memorize all four biology and genetics volumes.
• Remembering the young lady in white from the dream world, Zhang Xuezhou studied human biology and prepared himself for her possible advances.
• At nine o’clock, Zhang Xuezhou entered the dream world and woke standing barefoot in a wrecked room beneath a length of white silk, with the young lady gone.
• Rong Tianding, Jia Zhiyuan, and Rong Li told Zhang Xuezhou that he had wandered and imitated a dead woman’s voice while they were unable to enter his room.
• Rong Li suspected Daoist Mu had used bewitching smoke and vowed to have Zhang Xuezhou examined and confront Daoist Mu if anything was wrong.

Zhang Xuezhou and the Rong Household went to confront Daoist Mu after a strange night, but found his temple burning and the Daoist badly injured. The worshippers’ account of a failed ritual ended with Rong Tianding noticing that a wooden head in Daoist Mu’s hand resembled Zhang Xuezhou.

• Zhang Xuezhou denied moving around his room during the night, while Rong Li blamed Daoist Mu for using a crooked trick on the Rong Household.
• Rong Li gathered Li Erlang, Wang Jiadi, Mao Renfeng, Zhu Dan, and Zhang Xuezhou to confront Daoist Mu outside the city.
• The group found the Universal Cloud Daoist Temple on fire and Daoist Mu unconscious, convulsing, and foaming at the mouth.
• The worshippers said Daoist Mu had been performing a ritual with red tables, incense burners, cloth, and wooden figures when the fire started.
• Rong Li opened Daoist Mu’s hand and revealed a wooden head, which Rong Tianding said looked like Zhang Xuezhou.

Zhang Xuezhou used the Supreme Purity True Technique to revive Daoist Mu, who explained that only people with Law Power could perceive a Technique Method’s light. Daoist Mu recovered enough to reveal that his near-death had come from backlash after his ghost-possession ability trapped him inside Zhang Xuezhou the previous night.

• Rong Li examined Daoist Mu’s wooden figure and suspected that his misfortune might have been divine punishment.
• The crowd realized Daoist Mu was barely breathing, and Rong Li searched for someone who could save him.
• Zhang Xuezhou decided to help Daoist Mu and pressed his Life Hall acupoint while channeling Law Power into him.
• Daoist Mu groaned and regained consciousness as Zhang Xuezhou’s Technique stabilized his injuries.
• Daoist Mu told Zhang Xuezhou that people without Realm Entry and Law Power could not perceive the light of a Technique Method.

Daoist Mu accepted that his failed ritual had ended his cultivation prospects, warned Zhang Xuezhou about the danger at Ten-Li Slope, and approved of Rong Tianding’s supposedly protective immortal paintings. Seven days later, a customer who had bought one had suffered an incident, drawing a crowd to Rong Tianding’s stall and a summons from the county yamen.

• Daoist Mu discussed cultivation with Zhang Xuezhou and accepted that his injuries had left him with no hope of advancing.
• Daoist Mu apologized to Rong Li for his earlier attack and said he would avoid further conflict with the Rong Household.
• Daoist Mu told Rong Tianding that the immortal paintings could ward off ghosts but warned him that strange things had happened at Ten-Li Slope.
• Daoist Mu cautioned Zhang Xuezhou about a possible ghostly presence at Ten-Li Slope as the group departed.
• Seven days later, something happened to a buyer of Rong Tianding’s immortal painting, and the county yamen summoned him.

Rong Tianding was summoned to the county yamen after a traveler carrying one of his deity paintings was found dead at Ten-Li Slope. Lord Bao began questioning the matter amid accusations and arguments, then ordered the court silenced with the threat of punishment.

• A county constable told Rong Tianding that he had been summoned because a traveler carrying one of his deity paintings was killed at Ten-Li Slope.
• Rong Li defended Rong Tianding at his stall, while Zhang Xuezhou reassured him that the yamen could not convict him of murder without evidence.
• Zhang Xuezhou worried that a powerful yin entity might truly haunt Ten-Li Slope as everyone followed Rong Tianding to the county yamen.
• Lord Bao heard Wang Baotian's family accuse Rong Tianding's painting of failing to protect the dead man, while Rong Li argued that the family was trying to extort money.
• Lord Bao ordered the constables to punish anyone who spoke without being questioned, silencing Rong Li and the others.

Lord Bao heard Wang Baotian’s accusation that Rong Tianding’s immortal painting had led to Wang Fu'an’s death, but refused to hold Rong responsible for the ghost’s murder. Rong agreed to catch the ghost, and Lord Bao made him answerable to the yamen if he failed.

• Wang Baotian accused Rong Tianding of causing Wang Fu'an’s death by selling him an immortal painting.
• Lord Bao examined Rong’s paintings, found no sign of Law Power, and demanded that Rong give an account of himself.
• Rong Tianding argued that a vicious ghost had overcome the painting and declared that he would catch the ghost rather than accept blame for its actions.
• Lord Bao accepted Rong’s offer and asked Wang Baotian whether he had any further accusations.
• Wang Baotian agreed that catching the ghost would bring justice for his son, and Lord Bao threatened Rong with ten strokes if he failed to investigate.

Rong Tianding and his companions prepared to investigate the supposed haunting at Ten-Li Slope, while Lord Bao learned that Jin Chang had taken the livestock and ordered a separate investigation into Wang Fu'an’s death. The chapter ended with Lord Bao turning to Rong Tianding’s group because Daoist Mu was too injured to help.

• Rong Tianding panicked about the yamen’s order to catch a ghost, and Rong Li’s group arranged to slaughter pigs before heading to Ten-Li Slope.
• Li Erlang agreed to bring two buckets of pig blood, and Zhang Xuezhou suggested asking Daoist Mu for advice.
• Adviser Li told Lord Bao that Jin Chang, a subordinate of the King of Huainan, had taken the livestock while pursuing an important criminal, and that compensation was coming.
• Lord Bao concluded the livestock’s disappearance was not caused by a ghost, but ordered Li Shuang to investigate Wang Fu'an’s death at Dragon Gate Village.
• Lord Bao recalled Daoist Mu’s injuries and decided he might have to rely on Rong Tianding and his companions.

As Zhang Xuezhou and the others discussed the deaths and livestock disappearances in Dragon Gate Village, Daoist Mu admitted he could no longer help them fight ghosts. He and Zhang Xuezhou searched the Corpse Jiao Codex for another technique, leaving Zhang Xuezhou considering trying one of its incomplete arts.

• Daoist Mu suspected a water ghost had killed Wang Fu'an, but Zhang Xuezhou pointed out that the livestock and Wang Fu'an had been left in different conditions, raising the possibility of two ghosts.
• Zhang Xuezhou and Rong Tianding joked about facing punishment at the yamen before Zhang asked Daoist Mu for ghost-fighting advice.
• Daoist Mu revealed that he was an outer disciple of the Fierce Ghost Sect of the Corpse Jiao Sect and that Zhang had destroyed the hanged ghost he relied on.
• Zhang Xuezhou opened Daoist Mu's chest and found the Corpse Jiao Codex, which contained many incomplete ghost-catching and ghost-controlling arts.
• After reviewing more than twenty pages, Daoist Mu found an art and suggested Zhang Xuezhou try learning it.

Zhang Xuezhou searched the Corpse Jiao Canon for a technique to find and capture Yin entities, while Daoist Mu warned him that the available tracking method could lead him to a much more dangerous ghost. After learning that the county yamen had sent them to Dragon Gate Village, Daoist Mu feared the entity was beyond his ability and revealed that he had another treasure.

• Zhang Xuezhou rejected the difficult Ashes-to-Ashes Annihilation Technique and memorized the relatively accessible Yin Entity Tracking Technique despite Daoist Mu's warning that it could lead him to a fierce ghost.
• Zhang Xuezhou and Daoist Mu found no suitable technique for catching Yin entities, and Rong Tianding warned that Lord Bao would punish Daoist Mu if anyone got hurt.
• Daoist Mu realized that the county yamen's order to catch the ghost meant the Yin entity in Dragon Gate Village might be beyond his ability.
• Daoist Mu saw Rong Li preparing to fight the ghost with a whetstone and, hoping the group would return safely, offered them another treasure.

Zhang Xuezhou practiced the Yin Entity Tracking Technique while he and the others traveled to Dragon Gate Village to investigate a water ghost. After arriving, Rong Li went to the Dragon Gate River, while Zhang Xuezhou and Jia Zhiyuan planned to question the villagers.

• Zhang Xuezhou examined the sealed jar Daoist Mu had given him and practiced the Yin Entity Tracking Technique, which produced a shadow that searched for yin entities.
• Zhang Xuezhou and his companions reached Dragon Gate Village, where Li Erlang welcomed them and Rong Tianding offered to raise his wages.
• Rong Li noticed villagers carrying immortal paintings and grew more determined to steer Rong Tianding away from painting and back toward the family trade.
• Li Erlang told the group that Wang Fu'an had encountered a water ghost near the Dragon Gate River.
• Rong Li drew her pig-slaughtering knife and headed toward the river, while Zhang Xuezhou persuaded Jia Zhiyuan to ask villagers about the ghost.

Jia Zhiyuan worried about Rong Li and Rong Tianding searching for the water ghost, then heard a man crying for his life in the village. Rong Li and Jia Zhiyuan confronted the supposed ghost and discovered it was Constable Lord Li in disguise.

• Zhang Xuezhou explained that Daoist Mu had dismissed the rumor of a hundred ghosts and suspected a water ghost near Dragon Gate Village.
• Jia Zhiyuan fretted while Rong Li and Rong Tianding searched the misty riverbank, then welcomed them back safely.
• At the third watch, Jia Zhiyuan heard a man crying for his life and woke Rong Li, who grabbed her pig-slaughtering knife and went out to investigate.
• Jia Zhiyuan followed with a bucket of pig blood as Rong Li fought a dark figure in the village.
• Jia Zhiyuan threw pig blood onto the ground, causing the figure to slip, and Rong Li pinned and stabbed him before they recognized Constable Lord Li.
• Lord Li admitted he had been pretending to be a ghost so Rong Li and the others would drive him away and appear to have caught it.

Li Shuang explained that the county yamen had ruled out a real haunting at Ten-Li Slope and asked Zhang Xuezhou, Rong Tianding, Rong Li, and Jia Zhiyuan to help investigate Wang Fu'an's murder. Their inquiries revealed several villagers had feuded with Wang Fu'an, and Zhang Xuezhou focused on Wang Baoli as a possible culprit.

• Li Shuang told Zhang Xuezhou and the others that the county yamen had ordered him to settle the haunting and investigate Wang Fu'an's death, though he had been injured when Rong Li exposed his ghost act.
• Li Shuang reasoned that Wang Fu'an's killer was probably a villager with a grudge, and asked the group to help make inquiries.
• Zhang Xuezhou and the others went among Dragon Gate Village's residents to ask about Wang Fu'an's conflicts.
• Villagers recalled that Wang Fu'an's sheep had damaged Wang Baoli's grass and other residents' vegetables, prompting disputes and insults.
• Zhang Xuezhou watched Wang Baoli and considered him a possible murderer despite his ordinary appearance.