Chapter Summaries

Chen Yan discovered that Nine Breaths Qi Nourishment let him cultivate continuously just by breathing, greatly accelerating his Dao Foundation progress. He decided to focus on strengthening his martial cultivation and mastery of his existing arts, while leaving his remaining merit unspent.

• Chen Yan learned that Nine Breaths Qi Nourishment operated automatically through every activity and that a day of cultivation equaled a month of his previous progress.
• Chen Yan estimated that he could reach Late Dao Foundation in a month and six days and Dao Foundation perfection three months later.
• Chen Yan decided to devote his cultivation time to Dragon Elephant Wisdom Skill and wait before seeking more Incense and Fire Prayer Power from Old Mother Statues.
• Chen Yan reviewed his updated personal panel, saw that he had 23,900 merit remaining, and chose not to exchange it for more rewards.

After a month of cultivation with the Nine Breaths Qi Nourishment, Chen Yan broke through to the late Dao Foundation stage, while his martial cultivation reached the middle Grandmaster stage. As Chen Yan grew more confident about facing Mount Lao, the Mount Lao Daoist Sect began investigating a possible breakthrough by Huai Qing in Black Mountain.

• Chen Yan used the Nine Breaths Qi Nourishment to break through from the middle to the late Dao Foundation stage.
• Chen Yan noted that his Dragon Elephant Wisdom Skill had reached the ninth level three days earlier, advancing him to the middle Grandmaster stage.
• Situ Yin questioned Hu Meiniang about the failure to locate Chen Yan and demanded that Wu Changsong hand over Chen Yan's captured subordinate for interrogation.
• The Mount Lao Daoist Sect learned that dark clouds had covered Black Mountain a month earlier and wondered whether Huai Qing had broken through.
• The Seven Paths agreed to investigate what had happened in Black Mountain, while Chen Yan remained unaware of their discussion.

Chen Yan tightened his control over Black Mountain while waiting for craftsmen and a Formation Master to help equip the Dragon Sparrow Army with Thunder Fire Curse Arquebuses. The reinforcements arrived at the foot of the mountain, where Master Lu joked that serving Commander Chen might earn them the merit of following the dragon.

• Chen Yan controlled the demons on Black Mountain's main peak, punished or confined them, and claimed the Thousand-Year Tree Spirit was alive but needed seclusion.
• Chen Yan waited for the Heavenly Supervision Department's craftsmen and Formation Master, hoping the Formation Master would modify the Thunderfire Spell for the Dragon Sparrow Army's arquebuses.
• Qin Chong told Chen Yan that the reinforcements had arrived, and Chen Yan ordered him to lead the way.
• At the forest clearing, Little Six worried about being sent to Xiang Prefecture, while Third Brother told him to obey their superiors.
• Master Lu frightened Little Six with stories about the Mount Lao Daoist Sect, then suggested that serving Commander Chen might bring them the merit of following the dragon; Third Brother warned him not to speak carelessly.

Chen Yan welcomed Xu Ji and the one hundred craftsmen and Formation Master safely escorted to Black Mountain, then promised the craftsmen wealth and support for their families if they worked in Xiang Prefecture. The chapter ended with Chen Yan revealing ten thousand taels of gold as their settlement money, leaving the craftsmen stunned and excited.

• Xu Ji reported that he had safely escorted all one hundred craftsmen and the Formation Master to Black Mountain.
• Chen Yan thanked Xu Ji and surveyed the craftsmen, noticing the disheveled-haired young man who met his gaze with a friendly smile.
• Chen Yan introduced himself as Pacification Commissioner of Xiangxi Commandery and said he would soon oversee affairs across Xiang Prefecture.
• Chen Yan promised the craftsmen far greater earnings in Xiang Prefecture and assured them the Heavenly Supervision Department would look after their families in the capital.
• Qin Chong had two Dragon Sparrow Army soldiers open a chest filled with gold, and Chen Yan declared that its ten thousand taels would go to the craftsmen as settlement money.
• Little Six calculated that he would receive a hundred taels of gold, while Third Brother grew more awed by Chen Yan.

Qin Chong rewarded the hundred Armaments Department craftsmen with settlement gold and led them to Black Mountain, where Chen Yan met the skilled specialists Lu Da, Li San, and Lu Liuan. Lu Da revealed that he had come from the capital after his explosive experiments caused trouble, leaving Chen Yan wondering whether he could develop gunpowder powerful enough for the Martial Dynasty.

• Qin Chong distributed the settlement gold to the hundred craftsmen, winning their cooperation and leading them to Black Mountain.
• The craftsmen arrived at the mountainside, where Chen Yan had arranged housing and prepared three hundred thousand jin of Fine Iron Ore for them.
• Chen Yan recognized Li San and Lu Liuan as the promising craftsmen Third Brother and Little Six, then met the Formation Master Lu Da.
• Lu Da told Chen Yan that he had left the capital after his experiments caused explosions and earned him complaints and a fine.
• Chen Yan suspected Lu Da was developing Black Powder and considered the need for Smokeless Powder in the Martial Dynasty.

Chen Yan asked Lu Da to adapt Plum Mountain Dao's Thunder Fire Curse Arquebus so Martial Masters could activate it with qi and blood. Lu Da revealed his own rifled short gun, Little Bird No. 1, and Chen Yan discovered it fired when powered by qi and blood.

• Chen Yan welcomed Lu Da to Xiang Prefecture and showed him the Fish Dragon Saber's Demon-Expelling Curse and Zhang Tianzheng's Thunder Fire Curse Arquebus.
• Lu Da recognized the arquebus's Thunder Fire Curse and its likely power, then heard Chen Yan ask him to make it usable with a Martial Master's qi and blood.
• Lu Da revealed Little Bird No. 1, a refined, rifled short gun he had developed with a similar spell inscription.
• Chen Yan tested the short gun with Magic Power, but the inscription did not react.
• At Lu Da's suggestion, Chen Yan infused the short gun's inscription with qi and blood, and blue lightning burst from its barrel.

Chen Yan tested Lu Da’s Little Bird No. 1 and rewarded him for its power, then asked him to develop a version that used less Blood Qi. Lu Da proposed scaling up the weapon to threaten powerful cultivators and revealed a cannon.

• Chen Yan fired Little Bird No. 1 and saw it topple a tree with a lightning blast.
• Chen Yan praised Lu Da, gave him a thousand taels of gold, and promised Black Mountain would support his experiments.
• Chen Yan asked Lu Da to reduce the Blood Qi needed to activate the Thunder Fire Curse, and Lu Da said he could improve it.
• Lu Da explained that even many arquebuses would struggle to threaten prepared high-level cultivators because they could defend themselves or fly away.
• Lu Da proposed using a larger arquebus and produced a cannon from his Mustard Seed Bag.

Chen Yan saw Lu Da’s unfinished Thunder Fire Curse Cannon and pledged the Dragon Sparrow Army’s resources to its development. Lu Da began refining the design while smelting workshops rose across Black Mountain.

• Chen Yan examined Lu Da’s unfinished cannon and named it the Thunder Fire Curse Cannon.
• Lu Da explained that the cannon was made of Five Hundred Refinements Profound Iron and expected each shot to be at least a hundred times more powerful than an arquebus.
• Chen Yan agreed to support cannon research but told Lu Da to focus on completing a prototype before planning for a thousand cannons.
• Chen Yan ordered Xu Ji to meet Lu Da’s needs and provide whatever resources he required.
• Lu Da devoted himself to improving the Thunderfire Spell, while smelting workshops sprang up along Black Mountain.

Lu Da completed the third version of the Thunderfire Spell, enabling the Dragon Sparrow Army to develop the Blood Thunder Curse Arquebus and use Blood Qi more efficiently. As the craftsmen began producing the new weapons, Chen Yan rewarded their progress and production got underway.

• Lu Da added an energy-storage formation to the third version of the Thunderfire Spell, reducing its Blood Qi consumption and giving users an additional activation.
• The Dragon Sparrow Army named its weapon the Blood Thunder Curse Arquebus and distributed its forging blueprints to the craftsmen.
• Little Six, Lu Liuan, led ninety smelting craftsmen in refining fifty thousand jin of Fine Iron Ore into more than five hundred jin of Hundred Refinements Profound Iron in seven days.
• Chen Yan rewarded the smelting craftsmen with gold, giving Lu Liuan an additional fifty taels for his outstanding work.
• Li San and the ten forging craftsmen began making the Blood Thunder Curse Arquebuses, and Chen Yan rewarded them, giving Li San an additional fifty taels.

Chen Yan prepared Black Mountain for war by expanding its forces, arming the Dragon Sparrow Army, and using the Forest Giants to obstruct the Mount Lao Daoist Sect’s scouts. With Changze Commandery as his next target, he began the final preparations for an operation that would make Black Mountain appear allied with the new Pacification Commissioner.

• Lu Liuan proposed improving the smelting furnaces, while Li San suggested an assembly line to speed production of Thunder Fire Curse Arquebuses.
• Lu Da resumed developing the Thunder Fire Cannon with Chen Yan’s support and the Dragon Sparrow Army’s resources.
• Forest Giant chieftain Enbatu pledged his tribe to Black Mountain, and Chen Yan formed its hundred warriors into the Vanguard Camp to patrol against Mount Lao Daoist Sect scouts.
• The Vanguard Camp blocked most investigations for a month, but the Mount Lao Daoist Sect sent increasing numbers of scouts as it sought answers about the Thousand-Year Tree Spirit.
• The Black Mountain Workshop forged one hundred Blood Thunder Curse Arquebuses, and Chen Yan assigned two hundred Dragon Sparrow Army soldiers under Qin Chong to guard the workshop.
• Chen Yan withdrew the Forest Giants, summoned demon troops in the Thousand-Year Tree Spirit’s name for the campaign to capture Changze Commandery, and prepared to confer titles on Black Tiger, Zhao Laoda, and the other ghosts.

Chen Yan began the investiture rite on Black Mountain after the Wood Spirit Physique revealed Huai Ye’s Spirit Transformation strength to the gathered humans and demons. As Chen Yan recited the proclamation, the Imperial Investiture Talisman shone and golden characters appeared in the air.

• The Wood Spirit Physique released Spirit Transformation pressure, leading the demons of Black Mountain to realize that Huai Ye had become a Demon King.
• The Wood Spirit Physique yielded the platform to Chen Yan, who summoned an offering table and arranged ritual objects upon it.
• Chen Yan lit the incense, bowed to a portrait of the Three Pure Ones, and drew an Imperial Investiture Talisman.
• After resting his mind, Chen Yan infused the talisman with Magic Power and began reciting the investiture proclamation.
• The talisman burst into golden light as golden seal-script characters formed in the air.

Chen Yan performed a Daoist enfeoffment rite and appointed Black Tiger the Mountain God of Black Mountain. Black Tiger gained eight hundred years of cultivation and pledged to obey Chen Yan’s decree.

• Chen Yan completed the golden sacrificial text and called Black Tiger before the platform.
• Chen Yan proclaimed Black Tiger the Mountain God of Black Mountain’s five hundred li and used the Xiangzhou Commander’s official seal.
• Power gathered from every living being across Black Mountain and flowed into Black Tiger.
• Black Tiger’s cultivation rose to eight hundred years, reaching the late stage of Refining Essence into Qi.
• Black Tiger transformed into a man, kowtowed to Chen Yan, and pledged to obey the Dharma decree.

Chen Yan enfeoffed Black Tiger as Black Mountain’s Mountain God and then appointed Zhao Donghai and the other Zhao family ghosts as Yin Soldier Ghost Generals. With Black Mountain’s demons stirred by the rewards for loyalty, Chen Yan left the mountain’s order in their hands and arranged further support.

• Black Tiger accepted Chen Yan’s decree, gained the title of Black Mountain Mountain God, and became linked to Black Mountain’s fortune.
• Chen Yan summoned the Zhao family ghosts and explained through his example that loyal followers could earn great rewards regardless of their strength or kind.
• Chen Yan enfeoffed Zhao Donghai as Ghost General and Zhang San, Li Si, Wang Wu, and the other ghosts as Yin Soldiers of five hundred li of Black Mountain.
• The enfeoffment raised Zhao Donghai and the other ghosts to Ghost Soul realm perfection and transformed them into armored, formidable ghost generals and soldiers.
• Chen Yan entrusted Black Mountain’s order to Black Tiger and the ghost generals, and planned to leave two hundred Dragon Sparrow Army soldiers there as support.

Chen Yan and the Wood Spirit Physique rallied Black Mountain’s people and demons for a campaign against Changze Commandery, using the alliance to draw Mount Lao Daoist Sect’s attention away from Black Mountain. Chen Yan issued the opening military orders, and the army began advancing toward Changze Prefectural City.

• The Wood Spirit Physique proclaimed that Huai Ye had attained Spirit Transformation and condemned Mount Lao Daoist Sect’s Taotie, stirring the crowd to demand war.
• Chen Yan appointed Enbatu vanguard and ordered him to strike directly at Changze Prefectural City, killing any resisting Changze soldiers or Mount Lao disciples.
• Chen Yan ordered Xu Ji, Zhang Tianzheng, and Yuantong to lead eight hundred Dragon Sparrow soldiers behind the vanguard toward Long Marsh.
• The Wood Spirit Physique ordered Iron Arm and Steel Bone to lead five thousand Black Mountain demons as the central army and encircle Changze Prefectural City.
• Black Mountain’s forces mobilized and began advancing toward Changze Commandery.

Chen Yan planned to seize Changze Commandery by concealing his control of Black Mountain and using his official position to approach the Tian and Deng Families. In Changze Prefectural City, Tian Xuelin learned that his superiors would give him three days to investigate Black Mountain and that Chen Yan had vanished.

• Li Taibai told Chen Yan that the Tian Family backed the Mount Lao Daoist Sect, while the Deng Family was connected to the Ghost Prefect of Qianzhong Commandery.
• Chen Yan concluded that Black Mountain could serve as a buffer between the Mount Lao Daoist Sect and the Ghost Prefect while he moved against Changze Commandery.
• Chen Yan decided to infiltrate Changze with the Wood Spirit Physique and one hundred Dragon Sparrow Army soldiers armed with Blood Thunder Curse Arquebuses, then target the Tian and Deng Families.
• Tian Xuelin heard that his superiors would send Elder Gao to investigate Black Mountain if there was no progress within three days, after nearly a thousand men had been lost.
• Tian Xuelin learned that the newly appointed Xiangxi Pacification Commissioner had disappeared and that another army was active in Xiang Prefecture, then warned Deng Yuanpeng not to rely on his patron if he failed to find answers.

Chen Yan entered Long Marsh Prefecture City and saw the famine and the Rebirth Cult exploiting starving refugees for belief. He decided to investigate the Tian and Deng Families’ allies before attacking, then appeared before Zhao Bingkun as the Xiangxi Commandery Pacification Commissioner.

• Chen Yan entered the city with the Wood Spirit Physique after witnessing refugees receive porridge from the Rebirth Cult and chant its doctrines.
• Chen Yan considered the strength of his forces, including one hundred Dragon Sparrow Army soldiers armed with Blood Thunder Curse Arquebuses, and planned to destroy one family before confronting the other.
• Chen Yan concluded that Zhao Bingkun, the Long Marsh Commandery Pacification Commissioner, was the best source of information about Mount Lao Daoist Sect’s and the Ghost Prefect’s forces.
• Zhao Bingkun indulged himself with women inside the Heavenly Supervision Department while its guards and staff showed little authority.
• Chen Yan announced himself to Zhao Bingkun, and the hall fell silent.

Chen Yan confronted Changze Commandery Pacification Commissioner Zhao Bingkun over his crimes and revealed his appointment as Xiangzhou Commander. Chen Yan killed Zhao Bingkun in the sealed hall, leaving Changze Commandery without its corrupt commissioner.

• Chen Yan arrived at the Heavenly Supervision Department with the Wood Spirit Physique and confronted Zhao Bingkun.
• Chen Yan recited Zhao Bingkun’s crimes, including seizing property, abusing women, and killing victims who resisted.
• Zhao Bingkun claimed Chen Yan had no authority over him, but Chen Yan displayed his Xiangzhou Commander’s badge.
• Zhao Bingkun tried to flee and call for help, but the Wood Spirit Physique’s barrier kept his cries inside the hall.
• Chen Yan seized Zhao Bingkun and crushed his neck, killing him.

After killing Zhao Bingkun, Chen Yan used Thousand Faces to absorb his corpse and learned the strength and secrets of the Tian and Deng Families in Changze Commandery. He left with the Dragon Sparrow Army still controlling the Heavenly Supervision Department and weighed the forces he would face.

• Chen Yan kept the two courtesans alive and learned that the Dragon Sparrow Army had already subdued the Heavenly Supervision Department and its servants.
• Chen Yan placed Thousand Faces on Zhao Bingkun's corpse, absorbed it, and gained Zhao Bingkun's memories.
• Chen Yan learned that Tian Xueqing had become a Mount Lao Daoist Sect steward and that a late Refining Essence into Qi expert guarded the Tian Family.
• Chen Yan confirmed that the Tian Family secretly sheltered an ordinary Martial Innate, while the Deng Family commanded five thousand well-equipped Changze Commandery Soldiers.
• Chen Yan compared those forces with the Dragon Sparrow Army, whose soldiers had all advanced beyond the Blood Qi Realm.

Chen Yan chose to target the Deng Family but sent the Wood Spirit Physique disguised as Zhao Bingkun’s servant to the Tian Family residence. There, Tian Xueqing revealed that the Mount Lao Daoist Sect planned to destroy Black Mountain in three months because its Thousand-Year Tree Spirit had survived its Core Tribulation and reached Spirit Transformation.

• Chen Yan decided to attack the Deng Family and sent the Wood Spirit Physique, disguised as Zhao Bingkun’s servant, to the Tian Family residence.
• At the Tian Family residence, Tian Xueqing met with Tian Xuelin, Gao Kang, and Han Tianhu and secretly told them he had returned on a sect mission.
• Tian Xueqing revealed that the Mount Lao Daoist Sect planned to attack Black Mountain and destroy it in one stroke.
• Tian Xueqing explained that the Thousand-Year Tree Spirit had survived its Core Tribulation, reached Spirit Transformation, and likely condensed a demon core.
• Tian Xuelin accepted the need to attack Black Mountain, and Tian Xueqing said the sect planned to strike three months later.

Tian Xuelin learned that Chen Yan had appeared at the Heavenly Supervision Department in Changze Commandery and hurried there with Tian Xueqing, Han Tianhu, Gao Kang, and Zhao Bingkun's disguised steward. When Tian Xueqing attacked Chen Yan, Gao Kang suddenly shouted for him to stop.

• Zhao Bingkun's steward told Tian Xuelin that Chen Yan was at the Heavenly Supervision Department, and Tian Xuelin ordered the group to set out.
• Gao Kang questioned the steward with a spell and confirmed his account, then decided to accompany Tian Xuelin in case the report was a trap.
• Gao Kang probed the steward repeatedly on the way but failed to detect the Wood Spirit Physique's disguise.
• Tian Xuelin and his group arrived at the Heavenly Supervision Department, where the guards confirmed that Chen Yan was still meeting Zhao Bingkun.
• Tian Xuelin and the others entered the main hall and found Chen Yan; Tian Xueqing rushed toward him as Gao Kang shouted for him to stop.