Chapter Summaries

Lin Sheng tested Giant Spirit Bear’s strength and talents, then chose to lead the Seven Forms Sect survivors through the Congyun Mountain Range to Tiannan Prefecture. Two months later, he had settled the group in Luoshui County through Dark Star’s channels and confirmed that a cloth shop had been arranged for Xie Qingyun.

• Lin Sheng tested Giant Spirit Bear’s Great Strength talent, found it could multiply his strength fivefold, and used the Blazing-Eyed Flame Dragon’s Constitution to withstand its strain.
• Lin Sheng tested the Howling Moon Wolf Ghoul’s Divine Speed and Enhanced Smell before returning to the group.
• Xie Qingyun and Yuan Zhongfei asked Lin Sheng how the group should proceed, and he decided they would travel to Tiannan Prefecture through the Congyun Mountain Range.
• Lin Sheng and the survivors entered Tiannan Prefecture and used Dark Star’s channels to hide in Luoshui County.
• Lin Sheng returned to the group’s courtyard, where Gou Donglai reported that Xie Qingyun’s cloth shop had been arranged.

Lin Sheng advanced to the late Blood Circulation stage and sought an avian Spirit Beast to prepare for his future breakthrough into Bone Transformation. After the Black-eyed Ghost Crow nearly attacked Lu Tie, Lin Sheng subdued and integrated it, then decided to keep it.

• Lin Sheng learned that a powerful Demon Beast had escaped underground after a coalition of Linjiang Prefecture forces defeated it, giving his group room to settle in Luoshui County.
• Lin Sheng broke through to the late Blood Circulation stage and planned to gather enough Qi force to condense Bone Force with Qingniao Chasing Star Finger.
• Lu Tie reported that an avian Spirit Beast had been found in Tiannan Prefecture, and Lin Sheng ordered him to buy it despite the high price.
• Three days later, the Black-eyed Ghost Crow attacked Lu Tie with poisonous black mist and talons, but Lin Sheng seized it and sent the others away to check for poison.
• Lin Sheng examined the Black-eyed Ghost Crow's attributes, subdued it with his Dragon Might talent, integrated it, and decided to keep it.

Lin Sheng tested the Black-eyed Ghost Crow’s hallucinatory force, then sent reinforcements after learning that rivals were pursuing the Shadow Mane Sparrow. Meanwhile, Zhao Hongzhang unveiled Northern Yan’s beastified troops in battle against Southern Qi, leaving two generals to suspect Sky Rainbow Pavilion had created a powerful new weapon.

• Lin Sheng discovered that the Black-eyed Ghost Crow made his Qi force denser and gave it an illusion-poison effect, then tested its hallucinatory power on Lu Tie.
• Over three days, Lin Sheng repeatedly trained Lu Tie with illusions, strengthening Lu Tie’s mental will and improving his prospects of reaching Bone Transformation.
• Lu Tie reported that Senior Brother Feng had located the Shadow Mane Sparrow, and Lin Sheng ordered Kong Hai to send elites as reinforcements before departing himself.
• At Yuanqi Mountain, Zhao Hongzhang ordered Gao Qi to unleash a thousand unarmed troops, who beastified and turned the battle against Southern Qi despite causing casualties among Northern Yan’s own soldiers.
• Two Northern Yan generals suspected that Sky Rainbow Pavilion’s bloodline experiments had produced the beastified troops.

Feng Yu and Lin Sheng headed to White Pine Forest to find the injured Shadow Mane Sparrow, only to discover that the Seven Fiends of Red Mountain had used it as bait. The Seven Fiends trapped the gathered groups and launched an attack, while Lin Sheng had just arrived in the forest.

• The Seven Fiends of Red Mountain emerged from the miasma and planned to use the Shadow Mane Sparrow to lure in hunters and rob them.
• Feng Yu led Seven Forms Sect disciples into White Pine Forest and used a Dark Green Moth to track the bird.
• Lin Sheng flew to White Pine Forest on the Black-eyed Ghost Crow and entered the forest in search of the Shadow Mane Sparrow.
• Feng Yu found the Medicine Gang and Wind Cloud Gang confronting each other beneath a giant pine, where the injured Shadow Mane Sparrow was hiding.
• The Seven Fiends of Red Mountain arrived, revealed their trap, blocked the groups’ escape, and ordered their men to attack.

Lin Sheng arrived at the battle beneath the giant pine and used a new mind-altering secret technique to subdue the Six Fiends of Red Mountain and the rival gangs. He then had the fiends capture the fleeing Shadow Mane Sparrow.

• The Six Fiends of Red Mountain overwhelmed the Wind Cloud Gang and Medicine Gang, while their eldest defeated Sun Hai and their fourth pressured Feng Yu’s group.
• Lin Sheng arrived on the Black-eyed Ghost Crow and killed the fourth fiend with a single devastating attack.
• Lin Sheng stunned the remaining fiends and altered their memories, making them regard him as their master.
• Lin Sheng named his experimental memory-altering art the Seed Demon Secret Technique and considered using it to build his forces.
• The Shadow Mane Sparrow fled from the giant pine, but the six fiends caught it and brought it to Lin Sheng.

Lin Sheng assimilated the dying Ghost Mane Sparrow, greatly improving his Qingniao Chasing Star Finger cultivation, then organized local gangs into an intelligence network. After defeating Xie Qingyun in a spar, he considered whether combining many Spirit Beast traits could create a new path of cultivation.

• Lin Sheng killed and assimilated the badly wounded Ghost Mane Sparrow, learned that a Golden Winged Eagle had attacked it, and returned to Luoshui County without finding the eagle.
• Five days later, Lin Sheng found that the Ghost Mane Sparrow had increased his cultivation efficiency and strengthened his Qi force, bringing Bone Transformation within reach.
• Feng Yu brought Lin Sheng records on the Seven Fiends of Red Mountain, the Wind Cloud Gang, and the Medicine Gang, and Lin Sheng ordered the two gangs merged to build an intelligence network.
• Two days later, Lin Sheng defeated Xie Qingyun in a spar, and she praised the strength and unusual qualities of his Qi force.
• Lin Sheng considered whether accumulating Spirit Beast force traits could let Qi force rival Gang Force, but decided to revisit the idea after advancing his realm.

Lin Sheng learned that Northern Yan was recruiting for its newly established Shock Beast Army, then focused on cultivating, gathering Spirit Beasts, and improving the Seed Demon Secret Technique. He developed Seed Demon Pills to stabilize his control over the Six Fiends of Red Mountain and planned to use them on Sun Hai and Yao Quan before deciding it was time to bring his parents over.

• Lin Sheng read the Shock Beast Army recruitment notice, heard that Sky Rainbow Pavilion controlled the new force, and dismissed the war as unrelated to him.
• Lin Sheng returned home to cultivate and ordered his people to search for more Spirit Beasts while he studied poison and medicine texts to improve the Seed Demon Secret Technique.
• Lin Sheng tested his new Seed Demon Pills on the Six Fiends of Red Mountain, provoking their memories to check that his control remained stable.
• Lin Sheng gave the Six Fiends another bottle of pills to deliver to Sun Hai and Yao Quan, then resolved to reinforce the controlled men with Seed Demon Pills regularly.
• Lin Sheng watched the Black-eyed Ghost Crow grow fat on Spirit Beast meat and thought it was time to bring his parents over.

Lin Sheng consolidated his control over Luoshui County and welcomed his family after Yellow Dog brought them from Linjiang Prefecture. Yellow Dog revealed that the Shock Beast Army had helped Northern Yan seize territory from Southern Qi, and that Dark Star agents had come to Tiannan Prefecture to find someone from Sky Rainbow Pavilion who knew its secrets.

• Lin Sheng received reports and accounts from Tie He and Mei Sanniang, who led the Haihe Gang and Red Flower Tower under his control.
• Lin Sheng welcomed Lin Hong, Xie Guilan, Xiao Shi, Old Zhou, Wang Dehai, Cao Luan, and Cao Ying after Yellow Dog escorted them to Luoshui County.
• Lin Sheng thanked Yellow Dog for bringing his family and spoke with him about the danger posed by the war in Linjiang Prefecture.
• Yellow Dog told Lin Sheng that the Yan army had driven back Southern Qi and occupied half a commandery with the Shock Beast Army, a force created by Sky Rainbow Pavilion.
• Yellow Dog explained that he and Qi Ning had come to Tiannan Prefecture to seek someone who held the Shock Beast Army's secrets, while Lin Sheng decided to focus on cultivating and strengthening his control over Luoshui County.

After weeks of cultivation, Lin Sheng broke through into the Bone Transformation realm and prepared to activate his fourth mark. Meanwhile, Gongsun Yuanzhou ordered Tiannan Prefecture's leaders to conscript far more high-level martial artists for the Shock Beast Army, invoking King Yan's authority.

• Lin Sheng completed the fourth level of the White Elephant Town Mountain Art and continued preparing beast techniques and Spirit Beast Blood for his next mark.
• Gongsun Yuanzhou demanded that Zhou Xingwen and He Lanjian gather five hundred Blood Circulation Practitioners and one hundred Bone Transformation martial artists, including recruits from local factions.
• Zhou Xingwen and He Lanjian objected that the numbers were difficult to meet and might provoke the Myriad Sect Alliance, but they obeyed after Gongsun Yuanzhou invoked King Yan's will.
• Lin Sheng compressed his Qi force until it transformed into Bone Force, successfully entering the Bone Transformation realm.
• Lin Sheng tested his improved abilities beneath the waterfall, then examined the new mark on his chest and set out to activate it with beast blood.

Lin Sheng struggled to advance the Fourth Mark despite absorbing blood from many Spirit Beasts, while Qi Ning warned him to avoid trouble and stay clear of the Shock Beast Army. After learning that an Ink Scale Black Bear had been spotted in the Congyun Mountain Range, Lin Sheng set out to hunt it.

• Wu Fei, the wanted Cloud Rider Eagle, was captured by soldiers using powerful firearms after fleeing Luoshui County, and Meng Ke ordered his men to capture another group alive.
• Lin Sheng found that seventeen low-level Spirit Beasts had raised his Fourth Mark's activation progress to only 7%, then told the eldest of the Six Fiends of Red Mountain to guard the estate and double the beasts' food.
• Lin Sheng returned to his family, cultivated the White Elephant Town Mountain Art, and met Qi Ning, who congratulated him on reaching the Bone Transformation realm and warned him against awakening his ancestry too early.
• Qi Ning told Lin Sheng that a powerful demon beast beneath the Yunshui Mountain Range was keeping the Prefectural Office and Tianxiang Sword Sect occupied, and warned him to keep a low profile and avoid the Shock Beast Army.
• Mei Sanniang told Lin Sheng that Sun Hai's group had found an Ink Scale Black Bear but suffered heavy casualties trying to subdue it, so Lin Sheng set out for the Congyun Mountain Range to hunt it.

Lin Sheng entered Black Mist Valley to find the Ink Scale Black Bear and discovered that poisonous creatures were being drained of their vitality beneath the valley. In an underground cavern, he found a horde of powerful Spirit Beasts gathered among heaps of bones, leaving the source of the strange phenomenon unrevealed.

• Lin Sheng killed a gray eagle Spirit Beast and absorbed its blood, raising his Fourth Mark activation progress to 9%.
• Sun Hai led Lin Sheng toward Black Mist Valley, and Lin Sheng carried him there at great speed before entering the poisonous mist alone.
• Lin Sheng crossed the toxic mist unharmed and searched the valley, finding no trace of the Ink Scale Black Bear or other ordinary beasts.
• Lin Sheng discovered a cave where poisonous insects were listless and dying as their life essence flowed underground.
• Lin Sheng followed the flow into an underground cavern filled with bones and found at least twenty or thirty powerful Spirit Beasts gathered there.

Lin Sheng entered Black Mist Valley to hunt Spirit Beasts and found a cave where a tentacled creature nearly drained him before he escaped. He left the valley with Little Black, ordered others to investigate and avoid it, and observed that the black mist was slowly spreading.

• Lin Sheng found the Ink Scale Black Bear and several high-level Spirit Beasts trapped in a cave, then absorbed the bear and drained the blood of the dead beasts to advance the Fourth Mark.
• Lin Sheng failed to absorb the long-dead Crimson Blood Viper, drained the remaining Spirit Beasts, and raised his Fourth Mark activation progress past 35%.
• Tentacles emerged from the beasts and formed a face that ensnared Lin Sheng; he burned through the feelers and escaped through the cave wall.
• Lin Sheng fled Black Mist Valley and found Little Black frightened and disoriented in the mist.
• Lin Sheng told Sun Hai to investigate the valley’s origins and ordered the Wind Cloud Gang and Medicine Gang to stay away.
• Lin Sheng flew above the valley, saw that the black mist was slowly spreading, and continued hunting Spirit Beasts in the mountain range with greater caution.

Lin Sheng returned to Luoshui County after his cultivation advanced, and raised the Fourth Mark’s activation progress past fifty percent by absorbing Spirit Beasts. He then learned that the Prefectural Office was moving against the Red Flower Tower and Haihe Gang, while Meng Ke confronted a disguised figure who might be Mei Sanniang.

• Lin Sheng returned to Luoshui County, cultivated for a month, broke through to the Blood Circulation realm, and neared the sixth layer of the White Elephant Town Mountain Art.
• Lin Sheng visited Ah Da, absorbed four newly delivered Spirit Beasts and the recovering beasts, and raised the Fourth Mark’s activation progress beyond fifty percent.
• Lin Sheng overheard Brother Hu say the authorities were targeting Luoshui County’s two local powerhouses, the Red Flower Tower and Haihe Gang, and left to investigate.
• Meng Ke and Wu He led soldiers to surround the Red Flower Tower’s headquarters, while Meng Ke stopped a fleeing scholar and suggested the figure might be Mei Sanniang in disguise.

Lin Sheng rescued Mei Sanniang and the Red Flower Tower members after Meng Ke and Wu He attacked them, then discovered that an Imperial Court defense in Wu He's mind triggered his beastification when Lin Sheng probed his memories. Meng Ke survived Lin Sheng's counterattack and struck him with a blood-red arrow, but golden flames emerged to suppress its glow.

• Meng Ke shot Mei Sanniang with three arrows, and Wu He captured her while soldiers seized more than a hundred Red Mountain Pavilion members.
• Lin Sheng arrived, killed the soldiers with poison arts, and knocked Meng Ke aside before lifting Wu He by the throat.
• Lin Sheng questioned Mei Sanniang, who said she did not know why the Prefectural Office had attacked, and ordered her to take her people away from Luoshui County.
• Lin Sheng used the Seed Demon Secret Technique to inspect Wu He's memories, but a beast roar disrupted the technique and triggered Wu He's beastification, so Lin Sheng killed him.
• Meng Ke recovered in the rubble and fired a blood-red arrow at Lin Sheng, but golden flames surged up and suppressed the red light.

Lin Sheng killed Meng Ke and discovered that Luoshui County officials were turning prisoners into beastlike beings for a secret mission tied to Sky Rainbow Pavilion. He confronted Zhang Han in the underground prison, where Zhang summoned a mysterious power that focused the prisoners’ attention on Lin Sheng.

• Lin Sheng blocked Meng Ke’s Great Demon Arrow, identified himself as the Seven Forms Sect Master, failed to extract Meng Ke’s memories, and killed him.
• At the County Office, Sun Wenbo praised Zhang Han for their mission while Zhang explained that Sky Rainbow Pavilion was behind it and that the work mattered to the front-line war.
• Zhang Han inspected a chained Bone Transformation martial artist whose body was developing scales, believing the man’s unusual bloodline made him especially compatible with the secret technique and medicine.
• Lin Sheng arrived after killing Sun Wenbo and questioned Zhang Han about the frenzied prisoners, whose beastlike state seemed impossible for Blood Circulation Practitioners.
• Zhang Han crushed a black jade charm and gained a blinking eye tattoo on his palm, while the prisoners abruptly stopped moving and stared at Lin Sheng.

Lin Sheng fought through the beastified prisoners in the county yamen and discovered the Beast Taming Army’s brutal method. After a black single eye transformed Tie He and provoked a fierce battle, Lin Sheng destroyed it, then returned home and began evacuating his people as he anticipated trouble with the Imperial Court.

• The beastified prisoners attacked Lin Sheng, but he repelled them and advanced on Zhang Han, who had used the single eye to intensify their transformations.
• Lin Sheng killed Zhang Han and found Tie He chained to the wall, already near the critical stage of beastification, then used the Seed Demon Secret Technique to suppress his instincts.
• A black single eye emerged from Zhang Han’s corpse, entered Tie He, and transformed him further; Tie He broke his chains, attacked Lin Sheng, and devoured other prisoners.
• Lin Sheng overpowered Tie He, crushed the eye between his brows, and burned the black slime that emerged from his head; the beastified prisoners then withered and died.
• Lin Sheng left the county yamen and returned to his residence, where he arranged for Lin Hong, most of the Seven Star Sect, and the manor’s spirit beasts to be evacuated.

At the Workshop Department Storehouse, Gongsun Yuanzhou showed Zhou Xingwen and He Lanjian how the Sky Rainbow Pavilion’s experiments had turned Wan Shuang into a Divine Form-level monster and hinted that the method could strengthen their own cultivation. After they agreed to finish gathering Martial Artists, Gongsun learned that Meng Ke and Zhang Han had run into trouble in Luoshui County and told He Lanjian to investigate personally.

• Gongsun Yuanzhou watched Wan Shuang transform under the demonic blood, escape her cage as black fluid, and attack him before he subdued her and returned her to the cage.
• Zhou Xingwen and He Lanjian recognized Wan Shuang as the Myriad Spirits Sect’s Holy Maiden and objected to her secret capture, but Gongsun dismissed their concerns and demonstrated her Divine Form-level strength.
• Gongsun revealed that the Sky Rainbow Pavilion’s experiments were meant to strengthen its own people, and Zhou Xingwen and He Lanjian realized the method might help them advance.
• Zhou Xingwen and He Lanjian agreed to gather the remaining Martial Artists within a month after Gongsun asked about their progress.
• Black patterns appeared on Gongsun Yuanzhou’s head, and he told the others that Meng Ke and Zhang Han had encountered trouble in Luoshui County.
• Gongsun Yuanzhou directed He Lanjian to go to Luoshui County personally.

Lin Sheng examined Da Huang’s growing potential and learned more about the Thousand-Eyed Nether Lord behind the Beast Taming Army. As he prepared to leave Luoshui County, a mysterious young woman who knew Senior Sister Qi appeared in his courtyard.

• Da Huang broke free of Little Black’s hallucination, stole dried meat, and showed increased Perception and Agility, prompting Lin Sheng to recognize its potential.
• Lin Sheng ordered Ah Da to finish evacuating the estate and considered how the Thousand-Eyed Nether Lord’s corpse might be connected to the Beast Taming Army.
• Lin Sheng decided to keep his distance from the Beast Taming Army and reflected that the Imperial Court was risking disaster by experimenting with the Void Beast’s remains.
• Lin Sheng sensed an illusion near the eaves and attacked, but a black umbrella absorbed his force.
• A young woman who said Senior Sister Qi thought highly of Lin Sheng offered an emblem to prove her identity.

Lan Man arrived in Luoshui County to protect Lin Sheng from the Prefectural Office’s likely Divine Form response, then killed two Silver Badge Constables who had traced the Red Flower Tower. Lin Sheng advanced his cultivation and considered practicing the Yang Extremity Skill, while Lan Man warned him to leave if no further danger appeared.

• Lan Man revealed herself as the Blazing Star Emissary and said Qi Ning had sent her to help Lin Sheng handle the trouble in Luoshui County.
• Lan Man investigated the county office while Lin Sheng cultivated, completing the sixth layer of the White Elephant Town Mountain Art and reviewing the Yin-Yang Union Skill and Yang Extremity Skill.
• Lan Man killed two Silver Badge Constables who had tracked traces of the Red Flower Tower and brought their heads to Lin Sheng.
• Lan Man said she had seen no sign of He Lanjian, planned to stay two more days, and advised Lin Sheng to leave afterward.

Lin Sheng tried to protect his forces from the Imperial Court’s investigation while pursuing a high-level Spirit Beast in the Congyun Mountain Range. Lan Man intercepted him, and Divine Constable He Lanjian learned that his subordinates had been attacked and suspected Dark Star.

• Lin Sheng ordered his people to disperse from Fengcheng County, kept Mei Sanniang behind to assist Sun Hai, and decided to deal with threats to the Seven Forms Sect himself.
• Prefectural Office riders traced the Spirit Beast purchases to local forces and headed for the Congyun Mountain Range, but Lan Man stopped them and killed the four Silver Badge Constables.
• Lin Sheng absorbed Spirit Beasts at a mountain cave, raising his Fourth Mark’s activation progress to seventy percent, then left after receiving news of a high-level Spirit Beast in the Congyun Mountain Range.
• Lan Man told Lin Sheng that she had dealt with the Silver Badge Constables, briefly embraced him to investigate his scent, and later wondered about his bloodline before heading toward the mountain range.
• He Lanjian studied a black jade stone that drew black mist into his body, then learned that Zhou Tao and the others had been attacked and ordered an investigation into suspected Dark Star agents.