This is the second book in the series, and I didn’t find it as strong as the first, partly because the idea of cultivation in a novel was no longer new to me. The point that was made emphatically was that cultivation causes you to stink really badly as you push all the chi through your pores to clean out the impurities. Naturally, all those toxins and impurities clouding your chi will stink as you push it out. I really liked the section where Wu Ying and his friend Tao He tackle the vampires together. I liked that they actually interacted with each other and learned how to work together with their individual strengths. The last mission was kind of a mess, and it was supposed to be a time of great growth (at least that’s what I thought the purpose would be) for Wu Ying, but other than the brief realization about what a jerk he was being to his friend, I’m not sure he made many revelations about his own path. Overall, this story was okay, but it wasn’t stellar. However, I have the third book and am willing to move forward to see if this series is for me. The narration was great, and one of the big reasons I’m willing to try the third book, but the story was only so-so.