Chapter Summaries

After hearing that Yanshan broke through to Strong Martial in a desperate struggle, Zhou You considered how he might use danger to overcome his own bottleneck. Liu Fengji and Gao Yang Ruoqiang agreed to fight a duel to the death.

• Pei Li asked Zhou You whether he blamed him for bringing him into the dangerous high-end battles, and Zhou You said he saw them as a rare opportunity.
• Pei Li confided that he was regarded as a bandit remnant and told Zhou You that his clean background and Black Cloud Spear Manual could lead him to become another Yanshan.
• News spread that Yanshan had broken through to Strong Martial, pierced Niu Wu the Butcher's shoulder with the Overlord Spear, and escaped unharmed.
• Zhou You reasoned that Yanshan's desperate ordeal had helped him break through, but that Zhou You needed a different opponent capable of putting him under pressure.
• Liu Fengji challenged Gao Yang Ruoqiang to a fight to the death, and Gao Yang Ruoqiang accepted.

As the news of Yanshan reaching the Strong Martial realm sent the battlefield into chaos, Zhou You fought witchmen and discovered a way to strengthen his Black Cloud Spear. He learned that the Myriad Poisons Secret Workshop was bringing the Doll Gu to break the Witch Banner, potentially shifting the battle.

• Liu Fengji and Gao Yang Ruoqiang clashed as the martial masters abandoned their careful tactics, and Zhou You rose into the air to avoid the melee.
• Zhou You killed a witchman who attacked him with spikes and green vapor, then fought off Flying Gu Generals sent to break his spear.
• Zhou You adapted the Three-Stage Technique to the Black Cloud Spear, layered its power until it shattered the Flying Gu Generals, and killed the witchman controlling them.
• Zhou You observed Pei Li and Bian Zhou fighting while Liu Fengji and Gao Yang Ruoqiang battled in a cleared space.
• Lu Zhigang sent Zhou You news that Poison Grand Peak and the Myriad Poisons Secret Workshop disciples were escorting the Doll Gu to break the Witch Banner.

Zhou You and Du Wuyao joined Fu Manlun’s expedition as the Doll Gu dissolved the Wu people’s Witch Banners and poisoned the battlefield. A colossal Gu Worm appeared from the clouds and attacked Fu Manlun, while Du Wuyao urged Zhou You to pursue a fleeing Wu person.

• Du Wuyao explained that he hoped to learn the Wu people’s Gu-breeding methods and obtain the Myriad Transformations Scripture.
• Fu Manlun unleashed the Doll Gu, whose poisonous light killed curious disciples and dissolved the Witch Banners and the Wu people caught within them.
• Fu Manlun ordered disciples to capture surviving Wu people carrying Gu Worms, and Du Wuyao pulled Zhou You into the pursuit.
• A mountain-sized Gu Worm emerged from the clouds and engulfed Fu Manlun and nearby disciples in red light.
• Du Wuyao pointed out a fleeing Wu person and told Zhou You to focus on their target.

After the Doll Gu forced both sides to retreat, Zhou You slipped away from the fleeing battlefield and tracked down Gao Yang Ruoqiang’s group. He challenged a descendant of the Gao Yang Clan, and Gao Yang Ruoqiang sent his companions to face him.

• The Myriad Poisons Secret Workshop and Poison Grand Peak’s Poison People destroyed the Witch Banners, inflicting heavy losses on the Witch Clan and forcing both armies to withdraw from the poisonous light.
• Zhou You found neither Pei Li nor Bian Zhou amid the fleeing crowd, then vanished into it as the battle dispersed.
• At midnight, Gao Yang Ruoqiang rested with his companions and vowed that the Witch Clan would return once it could establish Gu Pools and altars.
• Zhou You approached the Witch Clan camp alone and killed the sentry who recognized him.
• Zhou You announced a challenge to a descendant of the Gao Yang Clan, and Gao Yang Ruoqiang asked his companions who would kill him.

Zhou You defeated Shanto in their duel, but the witch clansmen swarmed him afterward and surrounded him in the air with witch beasts and Gu Worms. As their coordinated assault wore him down, Gao Yang Ruoqiang asked that Zhou You's spear be kept as a trophy.

• Shanto attacked Zhou You with his Twin Great Hammers, relying on his Great Witch bloodline and overwhelming strength.
• Zhou You activated the Outer Profound Heart Secret Art and countered Shanto's force with his endless triple-layered spear technique.
• Zhou You rose above Shanto and pierced his chest with a storm of spear thrusts, killing him despite the witch clansmen's attempt to intervene.
• The witch clansmen abandoned the duel and joined forces against Zhou You, who took to the sky as they pursued him on witch beasts and attacked with Gu Worms.
• The coordinated aerial assault wounded Zhou You and drained his Blood Qi, while Gao Yang Ruoqiang told a companion to leave Zhou You's spear behind as a trophy.

Zhou You endured a massive witchmen assault until his body neared collapse, then challenged Gao Yang Ruoqiang and used a sudden recovery to turn the duel. After feigning defeat and being struck down, Zhou You revived with a surge of Blood Qi and revealed that he had broken through to Intermediate Martial Master.

• Zhou You fought off waves of witchmen and witch beasts, but his Blood Qi ran low and his body overheated and weakened.
• Zhou You used the Ice Marrow Finger to cool himself and realized that the dream of a woman had removed the Vengeful Fire and left him with an artistic conception of yin and yang in harmony.
• Gao Yang Ruoqiang ordered the witchmen to kill Zhou You, who challenged him to take a spear thrust as the surrounding attackers continued to batter him.
• A witchman released a Gu King Larva, and Zhou You used the Black Cloud Spear technique to slip past the attackers and strike at Gao Yang Ruoqiang.
• Gao Yang Ruoqiang blocked Zhou You's spear and struck his heart with the bone sword, then ordered the witchmen to cut off Zhou You's head.
• Zhou You suddenly revived, killed two approaching witchmen, and bit through the Heaven's Movement is Strong Secret Medicine, revealing his breakthrough to Intermediate Martial Master.

Zhou You used Gao Yang Ruoqiang’s sword strike to break through to Intermediate Martial Master, then escaped the Witchmen’s encirclement. He survived a long-range arrow from Gao Yang Ruoqiang and healed the wound, leaving the Witchmen behind with Shanto’s hammerheads.

• Zhou You’s Blood Qi and strength erupted after Gao Yang Ruoqiang struck him, allowing him to break through to Intermediate Martial Master and restore his body with Heaven’s Movement is Strong Secret Medicine.
• Gao Yang Ruoqiang recognized that Zhou You had used him as a whetstone and attacked with Blood Sacrifice Sword Art while the Witchmen closed in.
• Zhou You drew the Witchmen toward Gao Yang Ruoqiang, then used the opening to flee with Feather-Treading Heaven-Ascending Steps and took the hammerheads from Shanto’s corpse.
• Gao Yang Ruoqiang shot Zhou You with a bamboo arrow but ordered the Witchmen to let him go.
• Zhou You pulled out the arrow and healed the wound with his Intermediate Martial Master recovery.

After reaching Intermediate Martial Master, Zhou You tested his transformed body and reflected on the danger and rewards of his clash with Gao Yang Ruoqiang. He discovered that the twin great hammers he had taken from the battlefield suited him perfectly, and demonstrated their destructive power.

• Zhou You examined his status and tested how far his newly strengthened joints and limbs could bend without injury.
• Zhou You practiced the Seven Steps Poison Sand Palm and blasted a crater in the ground with a Poison Drake-level strike.
• Zhou You judged that he still could not defeat Gao Yang Ruoqiang or Liu Fengji without reaching Advanced Martial Master, and recalled how he had escaped the Wu tribesmen’s encirclement to challenge Gao Yang Ruoqiang.
• Zhou You took the twin great hammers from his Hunger Pouch and found that their weight and feel suited his hammer techniques.
• Zhou You spun the twin great hammers, then hurled one into a small mountain and shattered it.

Lu Zhigang helped Du Wuyao piece together the Wu tribesmen’s Myriad Transformations Scripture, revealing how Poison Martial Arts related to Gu Worm cultivation. Their progress was interrupted by the arrival of Wu Luoye, the Wu tribes’ foremost prodigy.

• Du Wuyao reported that the captives’ fragments and totems were too incomplete to reconstruct the Myriad Transformations Scripture, since the invading tribes each held different portions.
• Du Wuyao vowed to avenge Bian Buzhi by poisoning Zhou You’s entire family, while Lu Zhigang hid his connection to Zhou You and offered to decipher the totems.
• Lu Zhigang explained that Gu Worms and Blood Qi worked by similar principles and that Poison Martial Arts adapted the Scripture by using venomous insects in place of cultivated Gu Worms.
• Wu Luoye appeared, praised Lu Zhigang’s insight, and stunned Du Wuyao with his reputation as the foremost of the Ten Prodigy Talents.

Wu Luoye offered Lu Zhigang and Du Wuyao an original portion of the Myriad Transformations Scripture in exchange for help securing passage through Northern Xuan Prefecture. They agreed to take the bargain to Poison Grand Peak, while Wu Luoye revealed that Lu Zhigang was his true target.

• Wu Luoye gave Lu Zhigang a stone slab, and Lu Zhigang identified it as a portion of the Myriad Transformations Scripture.
• Du Wuyao and Lu Zhigang realized the scripture could decide Poison Grand Peak's succession and feared Fu Manlun would kill them for it.
• Wu Luoye explained that he wanted to leave the Wu tribe and offered the slab as a token of allegiance in return for help crossing Northern Xuan Prefecture.
• Lu Zhigang and Du Wuyao accepted the risky bargain and set out to seek their Patriarch's approval, taking the slab with them.
• Du Wuyao warned Lu Zhigang that Wu Luoye was using the scripture as bait to make them fight for survival among their fellow disciples.
• After the two left, Mu Sigui asked Wu Luoye whether he had targeted them, and Wu Luoye said he had only seen Lu Zhigang.

Poison Goose Lu Zhigang and Strange Scorpion Du Wuyao fled toward the Myriad Poisons Secret Workshop with a priceless stone slab, but Du Wuyao revealed that he had poisoned Zhou You and planned to turn him into a puppet. Zhou You was left paralyzed as Du Wuyao exposed his secret knowledge and prepared to claim the treasure for himself.

• Lu Zhigang and Du Wuyao escaped the Wu people and their fellow disciples after repeated battles exposed their trail and drained their strength.
• Zhou You refused Du Wuyao's waterskin and drank from his own flask while the two rested in a forest.
• Du Wuyao revealed that poison from the scorpion egg he had given Zhou You had left traces that let him paralyze Zhou You.
• Du Wuyao explained that he had turned his betrayed wife into a puppet and said he intended to make Zhou You one too.
• Du Wuyao accused Zhou You of hiding his ability to transport living people and said he would have taken the stone slab if he had not acted first.

Zhou You escaped Du Wuyao’s poison trap, killed him, and defeated his Golden Coin Scorpions with a witch beast. He then used the System Panel to deploy a projection to the Myriad Poisons Secret Workshop.

• Du Wuyao paralyzed Zhou You with poison and prepared to turn him into a puppet.
• Du Wuyao found Zhou You’s Storage Pouch, and the Golden Coin Scorpion inside stung Zhou You, restoring his movement.
• Zhou You summoned a witch beast to fight Du Wuyao’s Golden Coin Scorpions while he attacked Du Wuyao.
• Zhou You unleashed the Poison Python Realm: Flood Dragon Transformation and crushed Du Wuyao to death.
• Zhou You used the System Panel’s projection function to teleport to the Myriad Poisons Secret Workshop.

Zhou You infiltrated the Myriad Poisons Secret Workshop as Lu Zhigang and presented Poison Grand Peak with a genuine but incomplete portion of the Myriad Transformations Scripture. Poison Grand Peak promoted him to Inner Disciple and offered him a request, leaving Zhou You to explain that he had killed Du Wuyao.

• Zhou You projected himself into Poison Grand Peak's palace and demanded an audience, claiming he had a priceless treasure to offer.
• When the palace guards tried to seize the treasure, Zhou You called out to Poison Grand Peak, who crushed one guard and ordered the others to withdraw.
• Zhou You presented the stone slab and told Poison Grand Peak it was a genuine portion of the Myriad Transformations Scripture stolen by Wu Luoye.
• Poison Grand Peak praised Zhou You's ability to understand totems and made him one of his thirty-eight Inner Disciples, though he said the Scripture was incomplete.
• Poison Grand Peak asked why Du Wuyao had not returned, and Zhou You replied that Du had plotted against him and he had killed him.
• Poison Grand Peak approved of Zhou You's answer and offered him one request.

Zhou You entered the Desire Immortal Cauldron to refine Poisonous Flood Dragon Saliva and withstand its poison, while Wu Luoye and the other mixed-blood Wu people crossed into the Central Plains. Zhou You completed his second transformation but chose to remain in the cauldron, and Wu Luoye set out for the Imperial Capital as his companions dispersed.

• Zhou You asked Poison Grand Peak for a secret art to refine Poisonous Flood Dragon Saliva, and Poison Grand Peak ordered him to endure one hundred and eighty-seven days in the Desire Immortal Cauldron.
• Old Scorpion Slave led Zhou You to the cauldron, where he endured its poisonous fluid as other people died or lost their minds in nearby vats.
• Zhou You began refining the Poisonous Flood Dragon Saliva while resisting the cauldron’s poison, balancing the internal and external dangers through his Blood Qi cultivation.
• Zhou You completed the second transformation of the Nine Molts Bone Changing Method and chose to stay in the cauldron to refine more saliva and advance his Seven Steps Poison Sand Palm.
• With Poison Grand Peak’s tacit approval, Wu Luoye and the mixed-blood Wu people crossed the Ten Thousand Mile Marsh, then split up at its edge; Wu Luoye headed for the Imperial Capital to return to his ancestors’ homeland.

Zhou You continued fighting the witchmen as the martial artists gained the upper hand, then encountered Chen Yang and smashed a witchmen formation with his twin hammers. He left before Commander Chen could meet him, pleased that no one tried to conscript him.

• Wu Luoye defected with the original Myriad Transformations Scripture and many mixed-blood witchmen, while Yanshan’s arrival shifted the fighting in the martial artists’ favor.
• Zhou You repeatedly attacked Gao Yang Ruoqiang’s retreating group, killing more than a dozen witchmen and earning the nickname “Hungry Tiger.”
• Chen Yang met Zhou You near Commander Chen’s battlefield and ordered him to help break the witchmen’s defensive formation.
• Zhou You charged into the battlefield and smashed the formation with his twin hammers, leaving two enormous craters and destroying the clustered defenders.
• Chen Yang told Commander Chen that Zhou You had already left, and Commander Chen praised Wang Laohu for training such a remarkable disciple.

Zhou You found Zuo Lü, Lan Chengxiu, Qin Lie, and other martial artists trapped in a deep rift and rescued them with his flying battle robe. After feeding them, he led the survivors toward the prefectural city's martial guild as the battle neared its end.

• Zhou You followed the map to a vast rift and descended into it carrying a mountain goat for the people trapped below.
• Zuo Lü and Lan Chengxiu heard Zhou You calling but doubted he could reach them, while the starving martial artists on the platform struggled to conserve their strength.
• Zhou You dropped the mountain goat onto the platform and landed among the survivors, who rejoiced at his arrival.
• Zuo Lü, Lan Chengxiu, Qin Lie, and the others explained how the battle had split the ground and trapped them more than a thousand meters below.
• Zhou You told the survivors to pack up and join the martial guild, explaining that the shamans had withdrawn and the battle was nearing its end.
• Several days later, the prefectural city's martial guild summoned the surviving martial artists to gather, and Zhou You's group headed to the designated location.

After the battle, Zhou You traveled with the surviving martial artists toward their assembly point, where his achievements drew attention and stirred Yan Wanjun’s jealousy. Yanshan arrived with the Prefect’s order to return to the prefectural city and called Zhou You to accompany him, while telling Yan Wanjun to stay behind.

• Zuo Lü and Qin Lie told Zhou You that shamans and martial artists had devastated nearby villages, while the God of Release Cult had grown more influential by cremating the dead.
• Zhou You met Pei Li and other martial artists at the assembly point, where they praised his victories and admired the ancient shaman hammers he had seized.
• Yan Wanjun recognized that Zhou You had advanced to Intermediate Martial Master and grew jealous as Zhou You drew attention from the gathered martial artists.
• Yanshan descended from the sky and announced the Prefect’s order for everyone to return to the prefectural city.
• Yanshan called Zhou You to accompany him and ordered Yan Wanjun to stay behind.

The Prefect rewarded the martial artists who had helped repel the Witch Clan, granting Yanshan and Cao Wudang a month of lectures and Zhou You and other young elites three days. The chapter left Zhou You realizing that Yan Baihu had learned he was the mysterious staff-wielding warrior from the battlefield.

• Yanshan seized Zhou You and carried him at great speed to meet the Prefect.
• The Prefect gathered the battle's contributors and awarded Yanshan and Cao Wudang a month of instruction for slaying Mighty Warriors.
• The Prefect granted Zhou You, Liu Fengji, Yan Baihu, and others three days of lectures for defeating Prodigy Talents and members of the Gu Dao Elite Army.
• Yan Baihu asked the Prefect about a mysterious flying staff fighter with a detached tiger phantom, and the Prefect agreed to let him speak with that person privately.
• The Prefect announced further rewards, including material compensation and special instruction for outstanding contributors, then departed.
• Zhou You realized the Prefect had identified him as the mysterious warrior and sensed Yan Baihu watching him.

After Zhou You earned the Prefect Lord’s favor, he traveled back with his companions while using the Great Snake to explore the rift valley. The Great Snake discovered an underground field of Blood Pearls, which Zhou You arranged to harvest and preserve after returning to the prefectural city.

• Zuo Lü and Lan Chengxiu celebrated Zhou You’s audience and three days of instruction beneath the Prefect Lord, and Lan Chengxiu planned to record the honor in Da Qian Martial Arts School’s ancestral register.
• Yanshan and Overlord Martial Arts School returned ahead of the procession to announce Yanshan’s breakthrough to Strong Martial.
• Zhou You sent the Great Snake into the rift valley and watched its exploration through their seal-script connection.
• The Great Snake found a hidden cavern covered in moss and red fruits, and Zhou You identified the fruits as Blood Pearls after having it taste one.
• Zhou You arranged for the Great Snake to guard the Blood Pearl field in exchange for one fruit each month, intending to prepare medicinal liquid and preserve the harvest after returning to the prefectural city.

Chu Weisheng confronted Zhou You and demanded he surrender his chance to receive the Prefectural Lord’s instruction on behalf of the Overlord Martial Arts School. Zhou You refused to be threatened, and Yan Baihu stepped in as the confrontation continued.

• Chu Weisheng stopped Zhou You’s party near the city gate and demanded to speak with him privately, but Zhou You refused.
• Chu Weisheng said the Overlord Martial Arts School wanted Zhou You to hand over his three days of instruction to Yanshan’s beloved disciple in exchange for a reward.
• Zhou You rejected the demand and accused Chu Weisheng of acting behind Yanshan’s back for Yan Wanjun.
• Chu Weisheng threatened to shut down Da Qian Martial Arts School and harm Zhou You’s relatives, friends, and disciples if he refused.
• Zhou You gripped his twin great hammers and declared that even Yanshan could not take the opportunity from him.
• Yan Baihu stepped forward after applauding Zhou You and told Chu Weisheng to carry on, claiming he was merely passing through.