Chapter Summaries

Zhou You killed Merchant Priest inside Fierce Beast Prison and headed toward Pavilion Master Cha’s voice as the prison riot escalated. Outside, Zheng Qing and Zhang Shiyu confronted a deadly poison outbreak and prepared the City Gate Guards to contain it.

• Merchant Priest sent the prisoners to escape and cause chaos, but Zhou You’s poisonous gale killed them before they could get through the passage.
• Zhou You attacked Merchant Priest, whose suspicions about Pang Dahai and Lu Zhigang proved too late to save him; Zhou killed him and took his belongings.
• Zhou You heard Pavilion Master Cha nearby and went toward the voice.
• Zheng Qing and Zhang Shiyu discovered that deadly poison was leaking from the prison passage, and a prisoner who escaped melted into a pool of blood.
• Poison spread among the City Gate Guards, so Zheng Qing ordered them to disperse, ventilate the area, and bring out a secret treasure for removing poison.

Zhou You fought Pang Dahai in Fierce Beast Prison and helped Du Wuyao prepare a Poison Lightning Strike to escape. The strike detonated when City Gate Guards entered the prison, collapsing the entrance and burying more than a thousand guards.

• Zhou You confronted Pang Dahai after learning Du Wuyao could bring only one person into the Myriad Poisons Secret Workshop, and the two began fighting for a chance to escape with Du Wuyao.
• Pang Dahai attacked with the Jade Dissolving Gold Grinding Hand, but Zhou You blinded him with the Giant Python Transforming into Flood Dragon Palm and defeated him.
• Du Wuyao asked Zhou You to spare Pang Dahai, explaining that he needed a living Martial Master as the catalyst for his Poison Lightning Strike.
• Zhou You poisoned Pang Dahai until Du Wuyao could use him to prepare the strike, while the City Gate Guards cleared poisonous gas from the prison entrance.
• Zhang Shiyu led guards into Fierce Beast Prison, where the Poison Lightning Strike exploded and collapsed the entrance, burying more than a thousand guards.

Zhou You and Du Wuyao escaped the Fierce Beast Prison by collapsing the tunnel, then Du recovered and left Chongguang City. Zhou You stayed behind under an assumed identity, where he realized someone was searching for the Hunger Pouch and that the unusually frequent night patrols might signal that he had been found.

• Du Wuyao and Zhou You escaped through the tunnel after Pang Dahai’s Poison Lightning Strike buried the prison entrance.
• Du Wuyao and Zhou You hid in Chongguang City until Du recovered, then left for the Myriad Poisons Secret Workshop.
• Zhou You stayed in Chongguang City as Mo Yunzi and earned a living writing documents and carving seals.
• The Xi Family searched the city for the But Five Auction House, while others questioned old men and examined their belongings for the Hunger Pouch.
• Zhou You suspected the Golden Immortal Path was behind the search and waited quietly while continuing his work.
• Zhou You noticed the night watchman was passing his shop unusually often and suspected someone had set their sights on him.

Zhou You waited for the Golden Immortal Path to make a move while handling his calligraphy business and observing Chongguang City. At night, an unseen enemy sealed off his shop, and Zhou You used the seal-script character Control on the Snake King.

• Lu Zhigang traveled with Du Wuyao toward the Myriad Poisons Secret Workshop in the Boundless Marsh Sea.
• A middle-aged Martial Master praised Zhou You's seal and invited him to work for his sect once the mountain roads opened.
• Zhou You examined the Snake King's heavily reinforced cage while walking through Snake Goods Street.
• That night, a mysterious presence silenced Zhou You's shop and cut it off from the outside world.
• Zhou You activated the seal-script character Control in the Snake King's eyes, but the Snake King looked around and went back to sleep.

Zhou You used three claps to turn the Snake King against the people who had trapped him, freeing himself from their darkness prison. The Snake King swallowed the Lonehead Shop, and the young Golden Immortal Path attacker surrendered inside its mouth.

• Zhou You realized his captors had removed his senses of sight and hearing and threatened to break their arrangements with three claps.
• At the first clap, the Snake King sensed Zhou You's shop and began violently attacking its cage.
• At the second clap, the Advanced Martial Master removed the Great Hidden Bewitcher Core from the cage after the Bewitching Qi and Blood Gu left his body, and the Snake King broke free, crushing two disciples.
• Zhou You clapped a third time, summoning the Snake King to swallow the Lonehead Shop and disrupt the confinement trap.
• The darkness vanished, and the young man who had trapped Zhou You recognized the Snake King and begged Zhou You to spare him.

Zhou You became a guest of the Guo Clan after the Snake King vanished, and Guo Liuhe sought to trade for the supply-storing power of his script. Zhou You refused to share the script itself but offered single-use Storage Pouches in exchange for Nine Tripods Script fragments or rubbings.

• After the Snake King disappeared, Chongguang City's searchers failed to find it, while Zhou You remained in the city as a guest of the Guo Clan.
• Guo Liuhe welcomed Zhou You, fed the Snake King, and explained his Darkness script to him.
• Guo Liuhe asked Zhou You to exchange his Store script for the Pavilion script, hoping to transport supplies for Northern Xuan Prefecture's coming war.
• Zhou You explained that his ability came from his Hunger talent, not script, and refused to trade or pass on the script itself.
• Zhou You offered to trade unlimited-capacity, single-use Storage Pouches for fragments or rubbings related to Nine Tripods Script.

Zhou You demonstrated his Hunger Pouches to members of the Golden Immortal Path, trading the single-use versions for Nine Tripods Script rubbings and fragments. The guests eagerly acquired the pouches, and Zhou You gained new intelligence about Kunpeng Son.

• Zhou You explained the different Hunger Pouch versions and arranged to trade them for Nine Tripods Script through Guo Liuhe.
• Guo Liuhe invited several Golden Immortal Path members to his manor, where Qiu Jiaguan warned Zhou You that Kunpeng Son might still wield powerful hidden techniques.
• Guo Liuhe demonstrated a Hunger Pouch by releasing enough water to restore the manor's lake to its usual level.
• Qiu Jiaguan traded Nine Tripods Script rubbings and fragments for three pouches, then tested one by storing and releasing a basket.
• The other guests eagerly traded their rubbings and fragments for pouches, while Qiu Jiaguan left to gather more script for another exchange.

Zhou You traded Hunger Pouches for rare seal-script treasures and attracted Liu Tianxian, who offered a Martial Sage's Private Seal as collateral for more pouches. Zhou You kept the seal as collateral, and Liu Tianxian left with eleven basic pouches and four intermediate pouches after Zhou You refused to trade the seal for an entire seal-script character inheritance.

• A female guest traded Zhou You a Heavy Talisman for a Hunger Pouch, and Guo Liuhe exchanged his Darkness Seal Painting for three pouches.
• Zhou You agreed to stay at Guo Liuhe's residence so visiting cultivators could trade treasures and exchange seal-script research.
• Liu Tianxian arrived from the prefectural city and offered rubbings and fragments for ten Hunger Pouches, but Zhou You judged them sufficient for only eight.
• Liu Tianxian offered his Martial Sage's Private Seal as collateral and asked for fifteen pouches, so Zhou You offered a premium Hunger Pouch 2.0 instead.
• Liu Tianxian took eleven basic pouches and four intermediate pouches, then asked whether Zhou You would trade the seal for an entire character inheritance, which Zhou You refused.

Zhou You studied the treasures from his trades, mastering the seal scripts Sound and Seize and discovering that the Martial Saint’s Private Seal concealed an ancient Character Dismantling Technique. The seal revealed no hidden message, but Zhou You recorded the newly discovered writing technique.

• Zhou You studied the Darkness Seal Painting and Heavy Talisman with Guo Liuhe, then used the System Panel to master the seal script Sound and learn the true arresting power of Seize.
• Zhou You wrote more than a dozen Seize Talismans, setting three to send their targets to the Prefectural City Fierce Beast Prison.
• Zhou You examined the Martial Saint’s Private Seal and found that strokes in its characters combined into a false-looking Nine Tripods Script character.
• Zhou You scanned the seal with the System Panel and discovered and recorded the ancient Character Dismantling Technique.

Zhou You used the Character Dismantling Technique to restore damaged seal-script characters and completed two of the Tree Tumor’s eight incomplete characters. After trading with Liu Tianxian, he left Chongguang City, while a visitor arrived too late to find him.

• Zhou You used the Character Dismantling Technique to accelerate his study of rubbings and completed the seal-script character “Blessing.”
• Zhou You’s seal-script proficiency rose from Lv.17 to Lv.23, though he declined to master the newly completed character for now.
• Liu Tianxian traded goods for Hunger Pouches and redeemed the Martial Saint Seal, then asked Zhou You how to contact him.
• Zhou You told Guo Liuhe and Liu Tianxian that he was leaving Chongguang City and directed them to his old shop as a way to reach him.
• Zhou You’s old shop was rebuilt but left empty, and a customer who hoped to invite him to help compile boxing manuals arrived after he had moved away.

Zhou You left Chongguang City to draw out whoever planned to attack him, and Tao Zhu Gong ambushed him to steal his Storage Pouch seal script. After Tao Zhu Gong disarmed him and attacked, Zhou You revealed his tiger ghoul substitutes and offered to spare him in exchange for information about Kunpeng Son and the Dao Master.

• Zhou You used Sudden Inspiration to realize danger might come if he stayed at Guo Liuhe's estate, so he left Chongguang City and waited for an ambush.
• Tao Zhu Gong trapped Zhou You behind a stone wall and demanded the seal script for making Storage Pouches, revealing his ties to Kunpeng Son and the Dao Master.
• Tao Zhu Gong used his Exchange ability to take Zhou You's Heavy Talisman and then attacked, confident that Zhou You was only a Beginner Martial Master.
• Zhou You's tiger ghoul substitutes blocked Tao Zhu Gong's punch, and Zhou You offered to spare him if he revealed what he knew.
• Tao Zhu Gong rejected the deal, but then found that he could no longer lock onto Zhou You's position.

Zhou You used concealment and the silver bell to manipulate Tao Zhu Gong into revealing the Golden Immortal Path’s conspiracy to summon the Nine Tripods through blood sacrifices. After Tao Zhu Gong fled with the tampered Heavy Talisman, he was transported to Fierce Beast Prison and locked in a cell.

• Zhou You concealed himself from Tao Zhu Gong’s attacks and used the silver bell to make him lose his composure.
• Tao Zhu Gong revealed that the Dao Master and agents across six northern prefectures planned blood sacrifices to summon projections of the Nine Tripods.
• Tao Zhu Gong tried to use Forced Purchase and Sale on Zhou You, but the concealed Zhou You evaded the exchange and wounded him with tiger thralls.
• Tao Zhu Gong escaped using the Heavy Talisman, unaware that Zhou You had tampered with it.
• Several days later, the Heavy Talisman brought Tao Zhu Gong to Fierce Beast Prison, where a jailer locked him in a cell.

As his wedding to Hua Youxing approached, Zhou You was invited to Withered Void Mountain to help revise a fist-technique canon and considered a risky plan to break through his martial bottleneck. Just as his wedding ceremony proceeded, the Prefectural Lord ordered a mass conscription to fight the Wu people.

• Zhou You met Xiang Qianfan, accepted his invitation to Withered Void Mountain, and erased this body's fist cultivation to conceal his strength.
• Zhou You's parents secured his marriage to Hua Youxing, and Hua Youxing arranged a valuable medicinal dowry while the couple agreed to pursue their own ambitions after marriage.
• Zhou You struggled to break through the Beginner Martial Master bottleneck and devised a plan to reduce his Blood Qi by dispersing seven Mystic Hearts.
• On his wedding day, Zhou You put on his festive robes and entered the wedding venue as the ceremony began.
• The Prefectural Lord ordered the garrison, martial circles, and Craftsmen Guilds to provide ten thousand troops to suppress the Wu people's army.

Zhou You was conscripted among the martial guilds’ three thousand fighters as the prefectural city prepared for war, while Hua Youxing stocked up and managed the family’s business. After outsiders complained that the conscription favored local schools, Zhou You learned that Yanshan had sent five hundred men from his own school, including his relatives and disciples, and suspected the guild leader had chosen the strongest fighters.

• The Prefectural Lord ordered the garrison, martial guilds, and craftsmen guilds to provide forces for the coming war.
• Zhou You told Hua Youxing he would join the campaign, and she agreed to manage their home and prepare for rising prices.
• The martial guilds selected Zhou You among their three thousand conscripts, and Qin Lie and Yang Kuoqiong found that outside martial masters had been drafted in disproportionate numbers.
• Zuo Shi'er reported that Yanshan’s Overlord Martial Arts School would contribute five hundred men, including Yan Wanjun, Yanshan’s relatives, and fellow disciples.
• Zhou You judged that Yanshan had selected capable fighters, particularly among the outside martial masters who had proved themselves through hardship.

Zhou You attended Yanshan’s prewar gathering as the prefecture mobilized a vast army against the shaman forces, and learned that the Prefect would lead the aristocratic clans against the Shaman Chief. As the martial world prepared to march, Zhou You equipped Zuo Lü and Lan Chengxiu for battle while secretly leaving the Fist Intent Puppet to protect his family.

• The prefecture filled its ten-thousand-man recruitment quota in ten days and gathered more than a hundred thousand troops from across its cities.
• Zhou You learned that the Zhongxi, Barbarian Elephant, and Gou Meng tribes led the shaman army, commanded by the Gao Yang Clan’s Shaman Chief.
• At the Overlord Martial Arts School, Yanshan assembled hundreds of martial masters and announced that the Prefect would lead the aristocratic clans against the Shaman Chief while the other city armies attacked the enemy’s flanks and rear.
• The martial masters were fired up by the prospect of victory, merit, and spoils, while Zhou You remained cautious about the battle.
• Zhou You decided to take Zuo Lü and Lan Chengxiu to war, gave them Qi and Blood Divine Weapons and beast-hide battle robes, and secretly left the Fist Intent Puppet to guard his family.

Zhou You left the prefectural city with Zuo Lü and Lan Chengxiu to join an expedition of martial guild members and craftsmen, while Hua Youxing stayed behind to manage the household. The six-thousand-strong force halted after a scout reported that powerful Wu clansmen were fighting ahead, with a tribal army also nearby.

• Zhou You said goodbye to his parents, Hua Youxing, and Qi Qingdi, promising to take Qi Qingdi along after he reached Martial Master.
• Zhou You rode out with Zuo Lü and Lan Chengxiu as thousands of martial guild members and craftsmen departed the city.
• Hate Hegemon Yanshan and Lu Wanchun led rival contingents, while Lu Wanchun told his fellow craftsmen to seek military merit.
• A scout arrived on a Wooden Kite and reported fierce fighting between powerful Wu clansmen and fighters from Dayin Mountain and Wanxiu Mountain.
• The expedition stopped after learning that the battlefield lay ahead and a Wu tribal army was waiting behind it.

The martial guild advanced toward the battlefield between Wu tribe and Dayin Mountain and Wanxiu Mountain Mighty Martial experts, despite the danger. When a stray lightning attack threatened the guild, Yanshan confronted it with the Overlord Spear, leaving the strike’s outcome unknown.

• Lu Wanchun sent Lu Bizhi to warn Yanshan that the martial guild should stop before reaching the deadly zone, but Yanshan rallied his men to continue.
• Zhou You followed the guild toward the battlefield and rejected a seven-star mission to watch the Mighty Martial fight for a quarter of an hour.
• The group witnessed a famous mountain almost split apart by the fighting and saw a stray surge of thunder descend toward them.
• Yanshan leaped from his horse, raised the Overlord Spear, and drew the falling lightning into it, bending the spear as the strike engulfed him.

Zhou You and the martial artists survived the Wu Clan’s venomous beasts and insects, then confronted the arriving Wu Clan army. Yanshan ordered the vanguard to attack while the two sides’ powerful martial artists continued fighting above.

• Yanshan thrust his spear into a lightning strike created by a powerful martial artist and survived with torn robes.
• A poisoned groundhog and swarms of Gu Worm mosquitoes killed and injured martial artists, but Zuo Lü and Lan Chengxiu were protected by Zhou You’s leather robes.
• Zhou You recognized the attackers as the Wu Clan’s vanguard, and the martial artists adapted with antidotes, weapons, and coordinated defenses.
• The Wu Clan tribes’ army appeared on the horizon, and Yanshan told his vanguard to attack without waiting for the Craftsmen Guilds’ army.
• Both armies spread into skirmish lines as their powerful martial artists fought overhead.

Zhou You searched the scattered battlefield for Lan Chengxiu while the System Panel assigned him a mission to rescue Lan Chengxiu, Qin Lie, and Yang Kuoqiong. He followed the mission markers toward them, leaving with Zuo Lü as powerful Wu enemies blocked the way.

• Zhou You and Zuo Lü fought through the Wu forces, then searched the battlefield for the missing Lan Chengxiu.
• Zhou You gave Zuo Lü detoxifying medicine and told him to use it freely, moving Zuo Lü with his care and generosity.
• Lan Chengxiu joined Qin Lie and Yang Kuoqiong, and the three fought off Wu Hunters while Lan Chengxiu's protective fur robe stopped their blades.
• The System Panel issued Zhou You a five-star mission to rescue Lan Chengxiu, Qin Lie, and Yang Kuoqiong, marking their location on the battlefield map.
• Zhou You sensed Lan Chengxiu's Blood Qi and led Zuo Lü toward the group, despite powerful Wu enemies blocking their route.

Kai Xulun’s fighting cock, Great Red Robe, killed a Six-Winged Poison Bee and showed signs of growing stronger. Meanwhile, Zhou You and Zuo Lü finished hunting the Gu Worms, unaware of the rooster’s battle nearby.

• Kai Xulun hid among the rubble while Great Red Robe fed on poisonous insects and seemed to grow stronger.
• A Six-Winged Poison Bee attacked Kai Xulun, but Great Red Robe distracted it and swallowed it after their fight.
• Great Red Robe crushed and ate Kai Xulun’s broken Qi and Blood Divine Weapon, then crowed from atop the rubble.
• Zhou You knocked down and killed another Six-Winged Poison Bee, while Zuo Lü reported that one of the eighteen Gu Worms was missing.
• Zhou You decided to feed the collected Gu Worm corpses to the Golden Coin Scorpion.