Chapter Summaries

Qin Yan discovered that the Flesh and Blood Dao’s awakened Flesh Seeds drove their owners to devour people for power, and learned that Huang Chao led the faction. He exposed Huang Chao’s methods to the major powers, while Huang Chao sent more spies into Youshan Prefecture and suppressed unrest in his army.

• Qin Yan interrogated Zhang Wangqian and learned that Huang Chao had awakened his Flesh Seed by feeding on cultivators and martial artists.
• Qin Yan ordered Chen Ergou to gather detailed intelligence on Huang Chao and the Heaven-Soaring Army.
• Huang Chao ordered more disciples to infiltrate Youshan Prefecture and steal Qin Yan’s weapons, steelmaking, and electrical technologies.
• Qin Yan circulated information about Huang Chao’s cannibalism among the major powers, stirring resistance and fear across Great Li.
• Huang Chao executed hundreds of people accused of spreading rumors, then distributed rewards and persuaded the Heaven-Soaring Army to settle down.

A party sent by Immortal Master Longyuan discovered a green lotus at Baohu Mountain but withdrew after Mister Qing warned that a powerful beast might guard it. When mountain spirits and wild monsters later devastated nearby settlements, Qin Yan went to investigate and joined the fight, leaving the danger within Baohu Mountain unresolved.

• Mister Qing led Lei Yan and the others to a feng shui site at Baohu Mountain, where they found a spiritual green lotus in a lake.
• Mister Qing warned that a powerful strange beast likely guarded the lotus, so Lei Yan ordered the party to retreat and report to Immortal Master Longyuan.
• Qin Xiaoyi told Qin Yan that the Dragon-Nurturing Abbey had gone to Baohu Mountain and that monsters had killed or injured over a thousand civilians.
• Qin Yan flew to Baohu Mountain, where three Red-Faced Shanxiao and martial artists had defeated monsters near a village.
• Qin Yan greeted the Demon-Suppressing Bureau members, healed their injuries, and prepared to investigate the threat inside Baohu Mountain.

Qin Yan gave the three Shanxiao Spirit Crystals and learned that Evil Corpses were threatening villages around Baohu Mountain. He entered the mountain, found the ruined ancient site and its damaged formation, and identified a Millennium Ancient Corpse as the source of the greatest danger.

• Qin Yan gave the three Shanxiao Spirit Crystals, which they swallowed and began absorbing.
• Jia Quanxing reported that seven villages and towns were affected, while Evil Corpses from Baohu Mountain threatened more settlements.
• Qin Yan ordered Jia Quanxing to stay and direct the defense, then went to Baohu Mountain alone.
• Qin Yan lured in and destroyed the Evil Corpses he encountered as he made his way through the forest.
• Qin Yan found Immortal Master Longyuan eating flesh near ancient ruins and discovered a damaged formation channeling Corpse Sha Qi into a coffin.
• Qin Yan concluded that changed terrain had corrupted the formation and turned the person inside the coffin into a Millennium Ancient Corpse.

Qin Yan confronted Daoist Longyuan, captured the evil Qi that had possessed him, and used the Little Jade Turtle to devour the evil creatures in the auxiliary coffins. With only the main coffin left, its ancient corpse spoke to Qin Yan and unleashed a towering surge of Sha Qi.

• Qin Yan called out to Daoist Longyuan, who briefly regained his senses and warned him away before flames consumed his body.
• The evil Qi escaping from Daoist Longyuan tried to ambush Qin Yan, but Qin Yan trapped it and let the Little Jade Turtle devour it.
• Qin Yan discovered seventy-two evil creatures in the auxiliary coffins and used the Little Jade Turtle to suppress and consume them, strengthening its power.
• Qin Yan turned his attention to the creature in the main coffin, which told him not to push his luck and asked whether they had to become enemies.
• The ancient corpse released a towering surge of Sha Qi as dark clouds and thunderclouds gathered overhead.

Qin Yan fought the thousand-year-old Ancient Corpse, using the Little Jade Turtle to disrupt his power and overwhelming him with brutal physical attacks. The Ancient Corpse escaped the treasure’s suppression and tried to flee, but Qin Yan brought him crashing out of the sky.

• The Ancient Corpse emerged from his bronze coffin and demanded that Qin Yan surrender the Jade Turtle.
• Qin Yan used the Little Jade Turtle to impede the Ancient Corpse’s power, then struck him into the ground with a blood-colored palm.
• The Ancient Corpse charged Qin Yan, who kicked him in the groin and sent him crashing into a mountainside.
• Qin Yan seized the Ancient Corpse and smashed him through the mountain, then pursued him with another powerful kick.
• The battered Ancient Corpse escaped the treasure’s suppression and fled, but he abruptly plummeted from the sky.

Qin Yan killed the thousand-year-old Ancient Corpse and gained the Little Jade Turtle’s Blessing Art, then explored the secret chambers and discovered rare treasure, a demon core, and a likely Heaven and Earth Spiritual Root. He left with the chamber’s riches and the lotus’s spiritual liquid to study later.

• Qin Yan crushed the thousand-year-old Ancient Corpse, and the Little Jade Turtle devoured its Sha Qi and granted Qin Yan the Blessing Art.
• Qin Yan broke into two side chambers and found more than five million taels’ worth of gold and silver, along with books and jade treasures.
• Qin Yan discovered a lump of Heavy Origin Black Gold but could not melt it, so he kept it for a weapon he might forge in the future.
• Qin Yan found a Third Realm demon core inside a jade-skinned toad-like spirit beast beside the lake.
• Qin Yan identified an emerald lotus as possibly an evolved Azure Origin Jade Lotus and collected the vitality-rich spiritual liquid from its leaf.

Qin Yan secured Baohu Mountain as a cultivation sanctuary and began nurturing young talents with its Heaven and Earth Spiritual Root. Meanwhile, Huang Chao’s Heaven-Soaring Army expanded despite fierce resistance, while factions sent spies to Youshan Prefecture to learn the secrets behind Qin Yan’s firearms and prosperous territory.

• Qin Yan set up powerful restrictions around Green Lotus at Baohu Mountain and barred anyone from approaching within one zhang.
• Qin Yan welcomed twenty children to Baohu Mountain and personally guided them in cultivation.
• Huang Chao’s Heaven-Soaring Army captured several prefectures, won common people’s support by distributing food and land, and faced resistance after reports spread that his forces consumed martial artists’ flesh and blood.
• Huang Chao copied Qin Yan’s firearms, and both armies’ use of guns drew the attention of major factions.
• Spies arrived in Youshan Prefecture, where some tried to recruit factory workers and others resorted to kidnapping them.

After spies attacked and kidnapped Qin Yan's factory craftsmen, he mobilized the Yin Gods to locate them and organized a sweeping crackdown. The spies in Youshan Prefecture were captured in large numbers, leaving the major factions furious and suspecting a mole.

• Qin Yan ordered Chen Ergou to mobilize the Hidden Dragon Platform and hunt down those targeting his craftsmen.
• Qin Yan summoned the martyrs buried near Qinghe Town and asked Yun Ziqi and the other Yin Gods to locate spies and report them to the City God.
• Chen Min complained that the influx of intelligence overwhelmed the City God Temple, so Qin Yan offered to assign him more underworld officers.
• Qin Yan sent Chen Ergou intelligence listing the spies, and Chen Ergou and Zong Xiaoshan led the Hidden Dragon Platform and Red Shadow Army in mass arrests.
• Interrogations exposed more spies, and the major factions cursed their losses and ordered searches for a suspected mole.

Qin Yan followed the war as the imperial court and Huang Chao's Heaven-Soaring Army fought across Youzhou, while Xiahou Jun waited for an opportunity to intervene. Xiahou Jun's attack routed the Heaven-Soaring Army, Huang Chao escaped but disappeared, and the King of Chu seized territory in Cangzhou and Youzhou.

• The Hongwen Emperor sent two hundred thousand troops and five Supreme Grandmasters, led by the Dao Lord of the Dao One Immortal Sect, to suppress Huang Chao's Heaven-Soaring Army.
• The imperial court and the Heaven-Soaring Army clashed in Youzhou, where thirteen Supreme Grandmasters of the Flesh and Blood Dao shocked the watching factions.
• Xiahou Jun gathered Thunderclap Immortal Sect forces near the battlefield and waited for both sides to weaken, while Huang Chao's policies and growing strength won the Heaven-Soaring Army more popular support.
• After nearly half a year of fighting, Xiahou Jun entered the war, routed the Heaven-Soaring Army's flank, killed three Supreme Grandmasters, and went after Huang Chao.
• Huang Chao escaped Xiahou Jun, but the Heaven-Soaring Army was surrounded and slaughtered, and the King of Chu took vast areas of Cangzhou and Youzhou.

After the Heaven-Soaring Army’s defeat, Qin Yan reached a new level of power and gained Molecular-Level Particle Control. He used it to accelerate and alter a peach tree into a Spirit Plant, hinting that his ability could improve crops and ease hunger.

• The imperial court suppressed the second uprising, while the King of Chu expanded his territory and local support for Huang Chao remained strong.
• Qin Yan’s spiritual power neared 100,000, and he gained preliminary Molecular-Level Particle Control, allowing him to alter matter and control plant growth and decay.
• Qin Yan demonstrated that he could recover from severe injuries as long as part of his Primordial Spirit endured.
• Qin Xiaoyi noticed that the peach tree in the marquis’s courtyard was flowering and bearing fruit at an unnatural speed.
• Qin Yan explained that he had altered the tree into a Spirit Plant whose peaches absorbed Origin Qi, and he considered using his abilities to improve crops and prevent hunger.

Qin Yan used Molecular-Level Particle Control and Spiritual Qi to develop high-yield rice, then discovered a rice plant that had begun to evolve into a Spirit Plant. He sensed a familiar presence in Qinghe Town, vanished from the paddy, and was greeted there as Marquis Qin by Brother Huang.

• Qin Yan modified rice through repeated cultivation, producing version 19.0 with a much higher yield than the first version.
• Qin Yan drew in Heaven and Earth Origin Qi and cultivated version 20.0, whose yield reached about 370% of the first version.
• Qin Yan spotted a rice plant that absorbed Spiritual Qi unusually quickly and discovered spiritual power particles inside it.
• Qin Yan concentrated Spiritual Qi around the plant and began developing its grains into Spirit Rice.
• Qin Yan sensed a familiar presence within a hundred-li radius and vanished to Qinghe Town, where Brother Huang greeted him as Marquis Qin.

Huang Chao met Qin Yan in Qinghe Town, offered to draw the empire’s attention while Qin Yan strengthened Yunzhou, and left after Qin Yan healed his injuries. Later, Qin Yan revealed a fast-growing, high-yield rice variety that astonished Yunzhou’s officials.

• Huang Chao praised Qin Yan’s governance and explained that he hated the Xia Imperial Clan and the great clans for mistreating scholars.
• Huang Chao proposed cooperating with Qin Yan, offering to distract the imperial court and immortal sects while Qin Yan developed Yunzhou.
• Qin Yan told Huang Chao to prove himself by advancing to the Fourth Realm and healed the injuries Xiahou Jun had inflicted on him.
• Qin Yan explained to Qin Xiaoyi that Huang Chao was more valuable alive and that he had a way to keep him in check.
• In November, Qin Yan showed Yunzhou’s officials his stabilized rice variety, which matured in sixty-five days and produced high yields even in harsh conditions.
• Yunzhou’s officials marveled at the winter harvest, and Qin Yan explained that the rice could enable multiple harvests each year and help prevent hunger.

Qin Yan’s Qinghe Rice spread throughout Yunzhou and won him popular support, while the Hongwen Emperor grew more isolated as the court struggled to contain rival forces. Xia Chengqian and Empress Wang recognized that the succession struggle was inevitable and began preparing for it.

• Qin Yan distributed Qinghe Rice seeds across Yunzhou, and reports of its rapid growth and enormous yields spread through the realm.
• Xiahou Jun dismissed the rice as a minor immortal spell, while the Azure Origin Immortal Sect imitated Qin Yan’s approach to strengthen Prince Xiang’s standing.
• Qin Yan treated public goodwill as a means to spread his ideas and believed ordinary people would follow him as Spiritual Qi returned.
• The Hongwen Emperor seethed over Qin Yan’s defiance but could not dispatch troops, and he favored his youngest son while Xia Chengqian grew distant from him.
• Empress Wang comforted Xia Chengqian and urged him not to confront his father, while resolving to seek power and prepare for the coming succession struggle.

Qin Yan restored order in Yunzhou, recruited capable scholars, and invested in educating children for the future. Meanwhile, Huang Chao grew stronger by refining flesh and blood, but Xiahou Jun learned of his attacks and vowed to deal with him.

• Qin Yan punished corrupt officials, promoted capable administrators regardless of scholarly degrees, and attracted scholars who accepted his ideas.
• Qin Yan read the minds of officials and selected trustworthy scholars while establishing new education for Yunzhou's children.
• Huang Chao killed disciples and an elder of the Thundering Firmament Immortal Sect, refining their flesh and blood into pills as he continued his revenge against Xiahou Jun.
• Huang Chao reached what he considered the Fourth Realm and used the Flesh Heavenly Dao to refine the creatures in a forest into essence Qi.
• Xiahou Jun learned Huang Chao was behind the attacks on his followers and lamented that his weakened state prevented him from killing Huang Chao immediately.

Huang Chao asked Qin Yan for help rebuilding the Heaven-Soaring Army to fight the Thundering Firmament Immortal Sect and the imperial court. Qin Yan provided him with armor and weapons and lent him firearms and ammunition on credit, leaving Huang Chao owing one million taels of silver.

• Huang Chao told Qin Yan he had reached the Martial Arts Myth realm and asked for help taking revenge on the Thundering Firmament Immortal Sect, and Qin Yan agreed to help rebuild the Heaven-Soaring Army.
• Huang Chao gave Qin Yan a holy body-tempering medicine, and Qin Yan accepted it.
• Qin Yan showed Huang Chao a warehouse stocked with at least ten thousand sets of high-quality armor and weapons and offered them to him.
• Huang Chao asked for firearms, and Qin Yan refused to give them away but offered them for one thousand taels each.
• After persistent pleading, Huang Chao borrowed five hundred Garand Rifles and five hundred thousand rounds of ammunition, agreeing to repay one million taels within six months.

Huang Chao reunited with loyal soldiers, received weapons and armor from Qin Yan’s caravan, and rebuilt the Heaven-Soaring Army. He retook Water Mirror Prefecture and attacked the Thundering Firmament Immortal Sect, while Xiahou Jun struggled to stop him; Huang Chao vowed to destroy the sect if it struck his army again.

• Huang Chao reunited with Tie Yue, who reported that fewer than eight hundred of his original ten thousand soldiers remained loyal.
• Qin Yan’s caravan delivered armor, spears, and five hundred Garand rifles, which Huang Chao distributed while training the rebuilt army.
• Huang Chao marched with nearly six thousand soldiers and captured Water Mirror Prefecture from its fifteen-thousand-man garrison, bringing the Heaven-Soaring Army’s numbers to ten thousand.
• Huang Chao reclaimed Water Mirror Prefecture and slaughtered disciples in the territory of the Thundering Firmament Immortal Sect.
• Xiahou Jun fought Huang Chao, but Huang Chao escaped with Bloodlight Escape and threatened to destroy the sect if Xiahou Jun attacked his army again.

Huang Chao used his Blood Clone to survive Xiahou Jun’s attack and forced him to agree not to interfere in Cangzhou, while remaining neutral in Huang Chao’s conflict with the imperial court. Huang Chao reclaimed Cangzhou for the Heaven-Soaring Army, and the Hongwen Emperor responded with fury as powerful forces recognized Huang Chao as a dangerous rival.

• Xiahou Jun blasted Huang Chao into a blood mist, but discovered that he had destroyed a Blood Clone while the real Huang Chao stood elsewhere.
• Huang Chao warned Xiahou Jun that killing him would trigger revenge against the Thundering Firmament Immortal Sect and demanded control of Cangzhou and Xiahou Jun’s neutrality.
• Xiahou Jun agreed not to interfere in Cangzhou but refused to support Huang Chao, then left after warning him that he would eventually pay for his arrogance.
• Huang Chao fled with Bloodlight Escape, returned to Cangzhou, and used his strength to drive back the Great Li Army and bring the province under his command within days.
• The Hongwen Emperor ordered the families of Cangzhou’s defeated generals exterminated, while powerful forces began treating Huang Chao as a rival they could not ignore.

As rebellions spread and the Great Li Dynasty’s control weakened, Qin Yan investigated the mysterious Yinluo Way and sent Ba Wei to uncover its plans in Qingzhou. He then entered the Underworld to destroy the growing horde of ancient corpses, where he confronted a powerful Ancient Evil Corpse.

• Immortal Master Yunchen slaughtered an aristocratic family with a private army of over thirty thousand, intimidating ambitious forces across the realm.
• Qin Yan learned that the Yinluo Way was concentrating forces in Yunqi County and Red Rock Prefecture and ordered Ba Wei to investigate Yunqi County.
• Qin Yan entered the Underworld to eliminate the ancient corpses gathering near the Corpse Grotto before they could threaten Qinghe Town.
• The Cypress Water River churned as ancient corpses surged out, led by an Ancient Evil Corpse who recognized Qin Yan and challenged him.
• The Ancient Evil Corpse summoned an ominous long halberd and prepared to fight Qin Yan.

Qin Yan fought an ancient Evil Corpse in the Corpse Grotto while the Sha Infant attacked the horde of ancient corpses. The Sha Infant rapidly grew stronger by devouring their essence, and Qin Yan and the ancient Evil Corpse continued battling among the mountains.

• Qin Yan dodged the ancient Evil Corpse's halberd strike and caught its kick, then judged the corpse's physical strength to be slightly greater than his own.
• The ancient Evil Corpse summoned a horde of ancient corpses to attack Qin Yan, and the Sha Infant rushed in to hold them off.
• The Sha Infant used Yellow Springs Absorption to consume a corpse's essence and temporarily raise his strength to the Fourth Realm standard.
• The Sha Infant harassed two Fourth Realm ancient corpses, then tore apart a thousand-year-old corpse and devoured its essence, growing stronger.
• The ancient corpses recognized the Sha Infant as a threat, but his longevity lock activated a Magnetic Field that let him move several times faster and attack the horde.
• Qin Yan and the ancient Evil Corpse fought across the mountain range while avoiding Qinghe Town.

Qin Yan overwhelmed the Ancient Evil Corpse, seized and claimed his life-bound halberd, then defeated him and extracted his Corpse Pill. The Little Jade Turtle began absorbing the Ancient Evil Corpse’s dispersing Sha Qi.

• Qin Yan fought the Ancient Evil Corpse at high speed while the Sha Infant held off other powerful foes.
• The Ancient Evil Corpse unleashed a deadly attack with his halberd, but Qin Yan dodged it and struck him hard in the face.
• Qin Yan severed the halberd’s evil dragon form, seized the weapon, and erased the Ancient Evil Corpse’s imprint from it.
• Qin Yan used the claimed halberd to strike down the Ancient Evil Corpse and tore the Corpse Pill from his abdomen.
• The Little Jade Turtle appeared and greedily absorbed the Ancient Evil Corpse’s dissipating Sha Qi.