Chapter Summaries

He Zhao practiced Wei Shan’s dangerous Nine Annihilations Golden Body, using Earth Vein fire to cleanse and strengthen his body before advancing through its later realms with his proficiency and talent. After engraving patterns, enduring brutal forging, and embedding a Sha Gathering Formation, he became far stronger and began to resemble the Sha Beasts the method was meant to emulate.

• He Zhao learned that Nine Annihilations Golden Body could kill ordinary practitioners, but the Simulator completed the method and sent its detailed instructions into his mind.
• He Zhao used his Fire Control Technique to absorb Earth Vein fire while burning impurities from his body, completing the Burning Body realm and becoming stronger, faster, and more sensitive to Killing Intent.
• He Zhao spent proficiency to advance through Inscription, Forging, Engraving, and Vortex, learning to inscribe mutated Artifact Patterns, forge his body, establish five passive circuits, and form a Sha Gathering Formation.
• He Zhao engraved nine Artifact Pattern combinations onto his body and subjected himself to brutal forging, then engraved the five circuits the following day.
• He Zhao embedded the Sha Gathering Formation in his body and absorbed Killing Intent from several kilometers away, noting that his growing strength made him feel increasingly like a Sha Beast.

He Zhao perfected the Nine Annihilations Golden Body and left Ping'an Market for Dragon Head Market to search for Sha Beasts. After arriving, he learned that children had been disappearing and a Disciplinary Team captain had been killed, then heard about a potentially safe place to rent near an exiled Sha Refiner.

• He Zhao used his proficiency to advance the Nine Annihilations Golden Body to Peak of Perfection and endured Earth Vein fire until its inscriptions, circuits, and formations fused into his body.
• He Zhao said goodbye to the Spirit Lion Brothers, visited Fan Zhong, and spent the night drinking with Wei Shan before leaving for Dragon Head Market.
• He Zhao entered Dragon Head Market disguised as an old man and paid a young boy for information about the city.
• At a restaurant, the boy described a series of child disappearances that had begun with young children and progressed to eleven- and twelve-year-olds, as well as the killing of a Disciplinary Team captain.
• The boy offered to recommend a rental near a Sha Refiner who had been exiled to guard the city gate after the captain's death.

He Zhao rented a shop in Dragon Head Market and sold unusually effective talismans to build connections while searching for the Sha Beast behind the child disappearances. After learning from Wang Xing’s colleagues that the attacks were growing less frequent and more secretive, He Zhao planned to gather information from wealthy youths, then asked Wang Xing where his Big Tiger was.

• He Zhao used the alias Lei Er, befriended Wang Xing, and rented a shop on Talisman Street to sell defensive and healing talismans while investigating the missing children.
• He Zhao’s talismans quickly sold out because they worked better than market alternatives, so he raised their prices and limited purchases.
• Wang Xing brought Disciplinary Team colleagues to buy talismans, then invited He Zhao to dinner, where He Zhao discreetly questioned them about the disappearances.
• A colleague revealed that a fifteen-year-old had recently vanished, the Disciplinary Team had imposed a gag order, and the latest attack occurred after midnight on Sanshui Street.
• He Zhao inferred that the Sha Beast was recovering and delaying its attacks, decided to compare information from wealthy youths, and asked Wang Xing where his Big Tiger was on their way home.

He Zhao returned from Dragon Head Market to Ping'an Market to advance to the Pill-Swallowing Realm after market gossip gave him a new lead on where a Sha Beast might be hidden. Wei Shan took him to the mineral vein’s core, where he planned to test whether abundant baleful qi could help He Zhao condense a Solid Core.

• He Zhao listened to market gossip about a farmer’s death and realized the Sha Beast might be concealed in an institution inside Dragon Head Market.
• He Zhao closed his shop, left Dragon Head Market in Wang Miao’s custom Flying Boat, and met Jin Ni and Yin Ni at Ping'an Market.
• He Zhao visited Wei Shan and announced that he had returned to advance to the Pill-Swallowing Realm.
• Wei Shan led He Zhao to the core of the mineral vein to test whether its baleful qi could transform his Virtual Core into a Solid Core.
• He Zhao reassured Wei Shan that he would care for Ping'an Market and his clansmen when Wei Shan died of old age.

He Zhao advanced directly from Virtual Core to Solid Core, then returned to Dragon Head Market and searched for the Sha Beast behind the disappearances. After several fruitless night raids, a new disappearance led him to suspect the answer was close at hand.

• He Zhao cultivated at the mineral vein and condensed a Solid Core, while Wei Shan watched over him.
• He Zhao stayed with Wei Shan for several days, then returned to Dragon Head Market and reopened his talisman shop.
• He Zhao searched the Disciplinary Team headquarters and the Market Master Mansion with the Void Evasion Technique but found no Sha Beast.
• He Zhao searched the mine vein over several nights and learned from Bao Dating that a young Sha Refiner had disappeared.
• He Zhao connected the latest disappearance to his own circumstances and said, “The darkness beneath the lamp!”

He Zhao connected the disappearances to Big Tiger and caught the Sha Beast devouring two Sha Refiners. After tracking it back to its cage, he attacked while it slept, leaving the fight just beginning.

• Bao Dating's remark led He Zhao to connect the disappearances with the nights Big Tiger went into heat, and he confirmed the pattern in the Beast Pen records.
• He Zhao appointed Bao Dating to sell talismans, then watched Wang Xing and waited for Big Tiger to leave its cage.
• He Zhao followed Big Tiger through the alternate space and witnessed it swallow two drunken Sha Refiners in an alley.
• He Zhao followed Big Tiger back to its cage and waited for it to fall asleep while digesting its prey.
• He Zhao armed himself with armor and golden light, burst from the alternate space, and struck the waking Big Tiger with a blazing fist.

He Zhao brutally beat the injured Sha Beast while trying to force it to bleed, drawing the attention of Dragon Head Market’s Disciplinary Team. After they attacked him and their cannon failed to harm him, he smashed their Treasure Boat and prepared to strike again before an enraged old man arrived.

• He Zhao knocked Big Tiger across the Beast Pen and pummeled it until it was senseless, but could not make it bleed.
• Onlookers gathered, and eight Disciplinary Team members charged He Zhao to protect their Strange Beast; his roar killed them after their magic tools failed to hurt him.
• The Treasure Boat’s crew mistook He Zhao for a concealed Pill-Swallowing Realm cultivator and fired the Shocking Sha Cannon, but the Sha Beast disrupted the shell’s power and He Zhao remained unharmed.
• He Zhao flew up to the Treasure Boat and struck it, splitting its hull and sending it flying sideways.
• When the Sha Beast briefly regained consciousness, He Zhao knocked it out again and punched the Treasure Boat a second time.
• An old man with a blood-red treasured saber flew over and shouted at He Zhao.

He Zhao confronted Liu Yong in Dragon Head Market and taunted him with the death of Liu Peng, provoking the market master into attacking. He Zhao used the Sha Beast to block Liu Yong’s Dao Artifact and spells, while Liu Yong’s own subordinates became fuel for the saber’s healing power; the confrontation ended with Liu Yong screaming in frustration as He Zhao challenged him to attack.

• He Zhao mocked Liu Yong, revealed that Liu Peng was dead, and described how a White Tiger had eaten him.
• He Zhao identified the Blood-Devouring Saber’s abilities and weakness before Liu Yong attacked him in fury.
• He Zhao blocked Liu Yong’s saber strike with the Sha Beast and kicked Liu Yong in the crotch, leaving him badly injured.
• Liu Yong’s flames and his subordinates’ spells failed to harm He Zhao because the Sha Beast blocked them.
• Liu Yong killed more than a dozen hesitant subordinates with the Blood-Devouring Saber and used their Flesh Essence to heal himself.
• He Zhao blocked another saber strike with the Sha Beast, raised his middle finger at Liu Yong, and challenged him to attack.

He Zhao fought Liu Yong, who transformed into the Blood Bat, and used a Treasure Boat and the beast’s weakness to bring him down. He Zhao tore out the Blood Bat’s seventh vertebra, thanked the Market Master for the Dao Artifact, and left Liu Yong defeated in the falling chaos.

• He Zhao struck down the Sha Refiners who charged him, while Liu Yong transformed into the Blood Bat by stabbing the Blood-Devouring Saber into his spine.
• The Blood Bat’s cries killed fleeing people and weakened He Zhao’s Golden Light, but He Zhao endured its attacks and knocked Big Tiger unconscious.
• He Zhao launched the Treasure Boat into the Blood Bat, then struck its head as it fell from the sky.
• He Zhao spotted the weakness described by the Artifact Refining Technique and punched the Blood Bat’s seventh vertebra, making it burst through the flesh.
• He Zhao thanked Liu Yong for gifting him a Dao Artifact as the defeated Blood Bat spat blood.

He Zhao defeated Liu Yong, seized the Blood-Devouring Saber, and refined Liu Yong into a Golden Elixir that greatly strengthened him. After looting Dragon Head Market’s mine, he laid an ambush for the Market Masters drawn by news of the attack.

• He Zhao took the Blood-Devouring Saber after its blood vessels failed to pierce his skin, then refined the unconscious Liu Yong into a Golden Elixir and swallowed it.
• He Zhao searched the Liu Family’s abandoned mansion, found it stripped of valuables, and headed to the mineral vein as Dragon Head Market descended into chaos.
• He Zhao entered the mine’s core, removed its huge Stalactite Crystal, and realized the Liu Family had fled rather than risk returning for it.
• He Zhao decided to lure incoming Market Masters with the Stalactite Crystal, restored it to its original place, and prepared an ambush.
• News of Liu Yong’s defeat spread across the northern lands, and dozens of Market Masters arrived at Dragon Head Market to claim its spoils.

He Zhao trapped more than twenty market masters in formations beneath Dragon Head Market and refined them into Replenishment Pills. After swallowing the pills and absorbing their essence, qi, and spirit, he began the Golden Liquid Returns to the Core process.

• Market Master An Xing and Market Master Yong Chang led the market masters into the mine and found Dragon Head Market's enormous Crystallized Sha.
• He Zhao left the Different Dimension and activated formations that sealed the market masters' abilities and trapped them inside the mine.
• He Zhao used the Nine Absolute Formation, Earth Fire, and Sunfire to refine the trapped market masters into Replenishment Pills.
• He Zhao appeared briefly to snatch pills from the market masters before they could consume them, and the remaining captives were all refined.
• He Zhao swallowed the Replenishment Pills, absorbed their essence, qi, and spirit until his Three Flowers reached their limit, and began Golden Liquid Returns to the Core.

He Zhao formed a top-grade Golden Core, claimed the Blood-Devouring Saber, and refined Big Tiger’s corpse into a pill that greatly strengthened his body. When more than a dozen market masters attacked the Golden Lock Formation, he released it and offered the saber high-quality blood as a reward.

• He Zhao formed a top-grade Golden Core and learned that the realm granted rejuvenation and five hundred extra years of life, though he believed he had advanced too young to benefit from the rejuvenation.
• He Zhao bound the Blood-Devouring Saber with his own essence, qi, and spirit, breaking the Dragon Head Market Master’s restraints and making the Dao Artifact his.
• He Zhao used the saber to drain blue blood from Big Tiger’s corpse, threatening it until it yielded enough to fill a white jade bottle.
• He Zhao refined Big Tiger’s corpse in the Heaven and Earth Alchemy Furnace Grand Formation and swallowed the pill, increasing his physical strength by more than thirty percent.
• More than a dozen market masters attacked the Golden Lock Formation, believing people inside were dividing the spoils, and He Zhao asked the Blood-Devouring Saber whether it could find its own physical body.
• He Zhao dispelled the Golden Lock Formation after promising the saber high-quality blood as a reward.

He Zhao reached Jing'an Market while tracking the Corpse of the Malevolent Beast, then uncovered the Liu Family’s secret ties to Dragon Head Market. He stole the corpse from the Jing'an Market Master Mansion and left, intending to refine it into a pill and advance to the Yin God Realm.

• He Zhao used the Blood-Devouring Saber to weaken the invading market masters, fed them to the broken Crystallized Sha, and collected the pills it produced.
• The Blood-Devouring Saber led He Zhao to Jing'an Market, where he learned it had been founded as a branch of Dragon Head Market and placed under its protection.
• The Jing'an Market Master and Liu Family elders revealed their plan to preserve the Liu bloodline and named him the new family head, entrusting him with the Corpse of the Malevolent Beast.
• He Zhao used lip-reading to learn the Liu Family’s secret and slipped into the Market Master Mansion through the Different Dimension.
• He Zhao bypassed the brocade box’s artifact patterns and formations, took the Corpse of the Malevolent Beast, and departed to refine it into a pill.

He Zhao refined the Blood Bat corpse into a Great Tonic Pill, greatly strengthening his body, then traveled to a deserted snowy mountain to advance to the Yin God Realm. After drinking Malevolent Beast Blood, his Golden Elixir shattered and a fist-sized Yin God emerged.

• He Zhao activated an enlarged Heaven and Earth Alchemy Furnace Grand Formation, which restored the Blood Bat corpse to its enormous size and scorched the surrounding land.
• Three Sha Refiners approached the formation hoping to profit from the creature, and He Zhao kicked them into the flames, where they died.
• He Zhao waited forty-nine days as the formation refined the Blood Bat, collecting more than one hundred and fifty Small Tonic Pills from intruders who died in the flames.
• He Zhao swallowed the Great Tonic Pill, endured intense pain, and gained a fleshly body more than twice as powerful, along with the ability to disrupt malevolent energy within three meters.
• He Zhao traveled into the Grasslands and drank Malevolent Beast Blood in a remote snowy mountain, suppressing its violent impulses before it shattered his Golden Elixir.
• A fist-sized Yin God emerged from He Zhao as his Golden Elixir broke apart.

He Zhao tested his new Yin God abilities, including moonlight cultivation, heightened perception, and killing by taking a living creature’s Three Treasures. He then secretly visited Wei Shan’s mansion to frighten his master, leaving Wei Shan bewildered when He Zhao returned in person.

• He Zhao left his body, absorbed Moonlight Essence, and found that his Yin God strengthened his Three Treasures and improved his talisman spells.
• After returning to his body, He Zhao discovered that his Yin God could passively analyze its surroundings and warn him of falling debris.
• He Zhao tested his Yin God outside the mountain, drained a goat’s essence, energy, and spirit, and concluded that the creature had died without a trace.
• He Zhao traveled to the northern lands and sent his Yin God into Wei Shan’s mansion, where Wei Shan sensed danger but could neither see nor touch him.
• He Zhao used moving tea stains to make Wei Shan confess he was wrong, then left his name on the table before He Zhao entered the room in person.
• Wei Shan spotted the message naming He Zhao and cursed as he realized his disciple had been behind the haunting.

The First Generation Dragon Head Market Master returned from the New Continent with his sect aboard a massive Flying Boat and killed the nine managers who had seized Dragon Head Market. He then unleashed his forces against their other markets, while He Zhao revealed his Yin God Realm strength to Wei Shan; the chapter ended with Wei Shan unable to identify who was attacking the markets.

• After the nine market masters rebuilt Dragon Head Market, the First Generation Dragon Head Market Master arrived with his sect and explained that they had fled the New Continent after a powerful enemy destroyed their sect.
• The First Generation Dragon Head Market Master learned that the Liu Family had fallen apart and the nine managers had taken over Dragon Head Market, so he killed all nine and ordered his sect to slaughter their people and other markets.
• He Zhao revealed to Wei Shan that he had reached the Yin God Realm by absorbing the Sha Beast hidden in Dragon Head Market, and Wei Shan accepted his disciple's actions.
• Wei Shan explained his theory that Sha Beasts came from another space, but their discussion was interrupted by news that Dragon Head Market's forces were slaughtering markets across the region.
• Wei Shan concluded the attackers could not be the Liu Family, leaving him unable to guess that the First Generation Dragon Head Market Master had returned.

A Dragon Head Market envoy demanded tribute and an ore vein from Ping'an Market, and Wei Shan agreed after learning that Liu Yong had killed the Nine Great Market Masters and destroyed Longevity Market. He Zhao pursued and captured the envoy, learned about the surviving members of Qingyun Sect and their flight to Shiyue Kingdom, then broke the envoy’s bones as he tried to bargain for release.

• A Dragon Head Market envoy told Wei Shan that Ping'an Market had to pay one hundred thousand pieces of Malevolent Jade each month and surrender an ore vein, and Wei Shan agreed after hearing that Longevity Market had been destroyed.
• Wei Shan learned that Liu Yong had killed the Nine Great Market Masters, while He Zhao confirmed he could kill them but could not suppress the resulting Sha qi riot.
• He Zhao warned Wei Shan to stay hidden, then followed the envoy by scent after he left Ping'an Market.
• The envoy visited five more markets to demand tribute, but He Zhao struck him down and dragged him into a forest formation.
• He Zhao questioned the envoy, Gao Yue, who revealed Qingyun Sect’s survivors, their journey from Xinyue Kingdom, and their refuge in Shiyue Kingdom.
• When Gao Yue asked to be released and inadvertently admitted he might tell Martial Uncle Liu, He Zhao broke his bones.

He Zhao learned and perfected the Baleful Aura Concealment Art, then went to Dragon Head Market intending to steal Qingyun Sect cultivation methods. When the sect began recruiting disciples, he joined the applicants and entered the Market Master Mansion.

• He Zhao returned to Ping'an Market, obtained Wei Shan's Sha Concealing Art, and used his stored proficiency to raise it to the Peak of Perfection, gaining protection from curses, tracking, and divination.
• He Zhao concealed his aura and cultivation, changed his appearance, and headed for Dragon Head Market to steal Qingyun Sect methods related to the Dharma Aspect Realm.
• The Qingyun Sect leaders, including Zhang Heng and Liu Yong, discussed recruiting disciples to rebuild their nearly destroyed sect.
• He Zhao saw the recruitment notice and learned that applicants had to meet strict cultivation and age requirements, with violators having their cultivation crippled.
• He Zhao joined a group of applicants and entered the Market Master Mansion with the next batch.

He Zhao passed Qingyun Sect’s recruitment inspection as a twenty-five-year-old Perfect Pulse Building cultivator and was made an outer disciple, while the other recruits faced a final test. Aboard the Divine Ship, he received a room and the Five Dragons Spitting Pearls Method, then used his cheat to add it to his cultivation.

• Qingyun Sect tested the recruits with Diamond Jade, and He Zhao’s disguise concealed his real age as he passed the inspection.
• A Qingyun disciple gave He Zhao a high-grade nameplate and made him an outer disciple, allowing him to skip the final test required of the nominal disciples.
• Wu Ling took He Zhao aboard the Divine Ship, showed him his room, and gave him the Five Dragons Spitting Pearls Method.
• He Zhao studied the method, learned it greatly increased cultivation speed and sha energy but demanded vast amounts of sha qi, and used his cheat to add it.

He Zhao perfected the Five Dragons Spitting Pearls Method, draining the Divine Ship’s formations and the belongings of Qingyun Sect disciples as he condensed nine Solid Cores. The next morning, Wu Ling spotted He Zhao’s extraordinary progress and took him to meet the Sect Master, while He Zhao hoped to make an impression as a future leader.

• He Zhao advanced the Five Dragons Spitting Pearls Method to Peak of Perfection, causing the Divine Ship’s formations to drain sha qi from disciples and their cultivation supplies.
• He Zhao condensed five Solid Cores from the five Sha and four more from wind, thunder, yin, and yang, while Qingyun Sect disciples’ rooms and possessions were stripped of sha energy.
• He Zhao celebrated his nine Solid Cores and went to sleep, unaware that his fellow disciples had borne the cost.
• Wu Ling told He Zhao that the array had drained everyone’s sha energy and belongings, and He Zhao concealed his role in the incident.
• Wu Ling noticed the phantom dragons behind He Zhao, recognized his Great Accomplishment in the method, and led him toward the Sect Master’s residence.
• He Zhao followed Wu Ling, intending to impress the sect with his talent and strengthen his prospects of becoming Sect Master.