Chapter Summaries

Lin Sheng went to Song's Pharmacy for high-grade Mortal Beast blood and found a Man-Faced Spider, but Snake Hag tried to claim it. He defeated her, bought the spider, and returned to make sure she could not pursue him.

• Wang Sanyang announced that Ninth Squad and Eighth Squad would escort a caravan to the county town, and Lin Sheng told Xiao Shi to stay near him during the mission.
• Song Chuan showed Lin Sheng a Man-Faced Spider that had killed more than a dozen herb farmers in Song's Pharmacy's medicinal field.
• Snake Hag demanded the spider, and Lin Sheng offered to give her half its blood, but she insulted and threatened him.
• Lin Sheng struck Snake Hag down, paid Song Chuan six hundred taels for the spider, and searched Snake Hag before leaving.
• After Snake Hag pulled herself free and threatened him, Lin Sheng returned and forced her back into the ground.

Lin Sheng traveled with a heavily guarded convoy toward Lin'an County City while suspecting Town Mountain Tower was concealing the shipment’s true purpose and that the journey was dangerous. After perfecting his poison fusion, he detected a skilled presence near the road, but the convoy leaders dismissed his warning as the group continued onward.

• Lin Sheng examined the covered carts and concluded they carried ordinary rock sheep, suggesting the five convoys were decoys and that the real shipment was elsewhere.
• Lin Sheng reflected that Town Mountain Tower’s lack of action against the Black Wind Bandits could mean Ouyang Shan was occupied or injured, and considered moving Lin Hong and Xie Guilan away from Yangping Town.
• Lin Sheng finished fusing the Man-Faced Spider’s venom with his Cold Poison and Decay Poison, strengthening his body and poison abilities.
• Lin Sheng spotted movement in roadside shrubs and alerted the convoy, but Qian Kai’s guards found no traces and Qian Kai criticized him for raising a false alarm.
• Xiao Shi and Old Zhou trusted Lin Sheng’s warning, and Lin Sheng told them to stay alert and follow him if danger appeared.

Zhao Fang led Town Mountain Tower’s main supply convoy, but the Black Wind Bandits ambushed it with poisoned rain and overwhelmed its guards. The Black Blind Man killed Zhao Fang and the other leaders, then ordered the bandits to raid the remaining four convoys.

• Song Haitao escorted Zhao Fang and the main supply convoy toward the county city while Zhao Fang cultivated inside the empty central carriage.
• Song Haitao recognized that rain falling from the clear sky was poisoned and warned the convoy as attackers approached from the thickets.
• A one-eyed late Muscle Forging bandit attacked the convoy, but Zhao Fang appeared and drove him back with the Nine Oxen Two Tiger Saber.
• The Black Blind Man caught Zhao Fang’s saber with his bare hand, revealed overwhelming Blood Circulation strength, and beheaded Zhao Fang as he tried to flee.
• The Black Blind Man killed Song Haitao and Wu Fengtian, and the bandits slaughtered the remaining guards and took the supplies.
• The Black Blind Man ordered the one-eyed bandit to take Zhao Fang’s head to Yangping Town and commanded that the other four convoys be wiped out.

Qian Kai's convoy was ambushed by the Black Wind Bandits, whose heavy crossbows and surrounding forces overwhelmed the transport teams. Lin Sheng led Xiao Shi and the others toward the weakest side of the encirclement, where he fought off the bandits as their leaders searched for him.

• Qian Kai and Wang Sanyang waited for reports from the remaining transport teams, while Lin Sheng stayed alert for the watcher he had noticed earlier.
• Lin Sheng heard movement in the bushes and warned the convoy, but black-clad bandits launched a heavy-crossbow volley that killed more than a dozen people.
• Qian Kai ordered a charge during the crossbows' reload, but Zheng Tao sent him flying, and bandits closed in from all sides.
• Lin Sheng led Xiao Shi, Old Zhou, Qian Le, and Liu Shunjie toward the right, where fewer bandits were stationed, and knocked down attackers with pebbles and his spear.
• Wang Luan and Zheng Tao noticed that the bandits on the right had not joined the fighting and hurried toward the bushes.
• Lin Sheng's group faced more than twenty bandits; Lin Sheng killed or disabled several with pebbles and his spear as Old Zhou and the others continued forward.

Lin Sheng fought off the attackers and was cornered by Zheng Tao and Wang Luan, then used Possession: Silver-patterned Black Crocodile to overwhelm them. He killed Zheng Tao and caught up with the poisoned, fleeing Wang Luan, leaving the battlefield behind him silent.

• Lin Sheng slaughtered the men in black who attacked him and fled toward Old Zhou and Xiao Shi, but Zheng Tao pursued him.
• Wang Luan ambushed Lin Sheng with darts and a dagger while Zheng Tao closed in, and Lin Sheng's iron spear broke under Zheng Tao's punch.
• Lin Sheng transformed through Possession: Silver-patterned Black Crocodile, crushed Zheng Tao's hands, and killed him by crushing his head.
• Wang Luan fled from Lin Sheng, but poison crippled his legs and caused him to collapse.
• Lin Sheng caught Wang Luan and killed him with a blow that shattered his bones.

Lin Sheng escaped the convoy battle, returned to Yangping Town, and learned that most of the guards had been killed or injured while Wang Sanyang and a few others escaped. After arranging for his parents to leave town, Lin Sheng broke through to the third layer of the Ape Fetus Technique and prepared to learn its explosive secret technique.

• Lin Sheng left Wang Luan and Zheng Tao's bodies behind and headed for Yangping Town rather than return to the convoy.
• Wang Sanyang and the captain of Eighth Squad led a desperate breakout, escaping into the bushes with several guards while the black-clad attackers killed the remaining convoy members and beheaded Qian Kai.
• Lin Sheng returned to Yangping Town and learned that Qian Le and Liu Shunjie had died, Xiao Shi and Old Zhou were injured, and Wang Sanyang had escaped with a small group.
• Lin Sheng visited Lin Hong and his mother, urged them to leave for Tongzhi County, and stayed behind to settle matters in town.
• Lin Sheng absorbed medicinal liquid throughout the day and broke through to the third layer of the Ape Fetus Technique, gaining greater agility and strength.

A mysterious three-headed creature awakened in the depths of Yangping Mountain, while black mist possessed two fighting spirit beasts. In Yangping Town, Lin Sheng and the other survivors faced suspicion after Zhao Fang was killed, and a hidden informant sent a pebble into Lin Sheng’s courtyard as the Town Mountain Tower began searching for a traitor.

• A three-headed creature roared from the miasma in Yangping Mountain’s depths, and black mist took control of the Silver-patterned Black Crocodile and a black python.
• Lin Sheng learned that Zhao Fang had been killed and the other four transport squads had been wiped out, leaving the few Ninth Squad survivors under suspicion.
• Lin Sheng warned Xiao Shi and Old Zhou to cooperate with questioning, while they raised the possibility of leaving the Beast Hunter Hall.
• Lin Sheng returned home under surveillance and worried that he could not safely get Lin Hong and another person out of town.
• Ouyang Yuan ordered Meng Yu to search for a traitor among the Town Mountain Tower’s internal higher-ups and authorized him to act without restraint.
• A candied-hawthorn vendor flicked a pebble through the gate of Lin Sheng’s courtyard before leaving the street.

Lin Sheng tested the Ape Fetus Technique’s explosive secret art, discovered that it intensified his brutality, and arranged for Dark Star escorts to take Lin Hong and the others to Tongzhi County. Meanwhile, Chai Lu sent a message to Black Blind Man, who suspected something was amiss in town and ordered his men to deal with a woman and send another one that night.

• Lin Sheng crushed a message delivered by Da Huang, then activated the explosive secret art and suppressed the violent impulse it provoked.
• Lin Sheng met Jia Qi, received nine thousand taels from Mu Niu, and commissioned five Star Disciples to escort Lin Hong, Xie Guilan, Old Zhou, and Xiao Shi to Tongzhi County.
• Lin Sheng considered entering Yangping Mountain to hunt high-rank Mortal Beasts but postponed the trip until after the elders had left.
• Chai Lu sent two sparrows carrying messages from Yangping Town to a village outside town.
• Black Blind Man read the message, concluded that something was fishy, and ordered his subordinate to deal with the woman in the room and send another one over that night.

Black Blind Man agreed to attack Yangping Town after Chen Fengqing offered him a Blood Mansion Treasure Pill. Lin Sheng tried to escort his family and companions out of town, but Meng Yu exposed the escape and confronted the Star Disciples; Lin Sheng appeared to intervene.

• Black Blind Man demanded a tangible reward from Chen Fengqing, then agreed to lead his men into Yangping Town the following night after Chen Fengqing promised him a Blood Mansion Treasure Pill.
• Lin Sheng sent Xiao Shi, Old Zhou, Xie Guilan, and Lin Hong out of Yangping Town disguised among peddlers, while he stayed behind to watch them pass the guards.
• Meng Yu's hunting hawk alerted him, and he ordered guards to find out which survivors of the last mission were missing.
• Lin Sheng interrogated a guard, learned that Meng Yu was investigating the survivors, and escaped the town guards by using smoke made from plant ash and chili powder.
• Meng Yu blocked the Star Disciples' cart outside town and overpowered them with his saber until Lin Sheng appeared and shattered a pebble aimed at him.

Lin Sheng escaped Meng Yu by using the Silver-patterned Black Crocodile’s power, returned to his residence, and prepared to leave Yangping Town. As he departed with Da Huang, the Black Wind Bandits launched a surprise attack on the gathered guards and hunters.

• Meng Yu attacked Lin Sheng and tried to capture him, but Lin Sheng used his Silver-patterned Black Crocodile enhancement to knock him unconscious and take his money.
• Lin Sheng returned to his residence, knocked out two guards who had entered it, collected his belongings, and left with Da Huang.
• Ouyang Yuan ordered the deserters to be executed, while Black Blind Man and Chen Fengqing led the Black Wind Bandits toward Yangping Town’s guarded entrance.
• The Black Wind Bandits attacked the guards and hunters with a rain of poisoned drops and crossbow bolts.
• Ouyang Yuan recognized the attackers as the Black Wind Bandits as they stormed into Yangping Town.

The Black Wind Bandits attacked Yangping Town, and Lin Sheng fought them in the streets while Chen Fengqing confronted the elders guarding the pavilion. Ouyang Yuan activated Town Mountain Tower’s hidden underground mechanism, drawing blood from across the town as the Black Blind Man entered to track him down.

• Ouyang Yuan decided that the defenders’ deaths could awaken the thing beneath Yangping Town, while Chen Fengqing charged into battle and Chai Lu betrayed Tian Hu, helping Chen Fengqing kill him.
• Lin Sheng rescued townspeople from the bandits and killed more than thirty attackers before heading west with Da Huang.
• Ouyang Yuan burned incense in the secret chamber, triggered a mechanism beneath the locust pattern, and fed his blood into the holes as blood across town flowed underground.
• Town Mountain Tower’s defenders retreated after suffering heavy losses, and the Black Wind Bandits poured into Yangping Town.
• The Black Blind Man used Ouyang Yuan’s jade pendant to track his scent and entered town to find him.

Greedy hunters entered Yangping Mountain and were overwhelmed by a flood of spirit beasts emerging from black mist. In Yangping Town, Ouyang Yuan unleashed an injured Sound-Rending Locust against Black Blind Man, but the spreading mist turned the beast on Ouyang Yuan and killed him.

• The monkey-thin hunter and his companions ignored the mountain’s unnatural quiet and climbed toward the Red Blood Fruits.
• Black mist spread down Yangping Mountain, and spirit beasts surged out and swallowed the hunters as they fled.
• Black Blind Man found Ouyang Yuan at the Beast Hunter Hall’s Second Squad residence and demanded he come with him.
• Ouyang Yuan crushed a black egg-like object and summoned an injured Sound-Rending Locust, then directed it to attack Black Blind Man.
• Black Blind Man fought defensively as the locust struck him, while black mist descended into Yangping Town and entered the beasts and birds.
• The mist entered the Sound-Rending Locust, turning its eyes black; it stopped obeying Ouyang Yuan, attacked him, and tore away half his body.

Lin Sheng discovered that a Phantom Demon Beast was driving Yangping Town’s animals into a murderous frenzy and decided to flee. As he reached the outskirts, the chaos worsened, and he spotted a Blood Circulation Practitioner before continuing toward the city gate.

• Black Blind Man fled after the Sound-Rending Locust devoured Ouyang Yuan, and the locust attacked fleeing townspeople.
• Lin Sheng found the town’s animals turning violent and killed a black-eyed cat, then discovered that a descending black mist terrified Da Huang.
• Lin Sheng used the Three Corpses Soul Severing Palm to destroy the black mist and learned it came from a Phantom Demon Beast whose influence was causing a beast calamity.
• Lin Sheng carried Da Huang toward the outskirts, fought off crazed beasts, killed the white ape he had once assimilated, and spotted the Sound-Rending Locust.
• Lin Sheng saw a staff-wielding Blood Circulation Practitioner striking down beasts, and the practitioner left when the Sound-Rending Locust roared nearby.

The Phantom Demon Beast’s black mist drove beasts into a frenzy, killing Chen Fengqing and the two gray-robed elders, while Lin Sheng escaped its reach only to be infected by its hairs. After forcing the hairs out with his poisoned qi and blood, Lin Sheng examined Da Huang and discovered the dog carried a faint Di Wen Dog bloodline that granted heightened perception.

• Chen Fengqing and the two gray-robed elders were attacked by frenzied beasts, and a Sound-Rending Locust killed the elders before tearing Chen Fengqing apart.
• Lin Sheng fled Yangping Town while destroying wisps of black mist, but a black mist python pursued him and implanted five black hairs beneath his skin.
• Lin Sheng trapped the hairs in his left arm with his qi and blood laced with deadly poison, forced them out, and crushed all five.
• Lin Sheng discovered that Da Huang had sensed the danger from the black mist and suspected the dog was unusual.
• Lin Sheng used the Mountain Sea Scroll to identify Da Huang as a Mortal rural village dog with a faint Di Wen Dog bloodline and Perception Boost 3.

Lin Sheng rejected merging with Da Huang and hurried toward Tongzhi County after realizing the Phantom Demon Beast might control the spirit beasts of Yangping Mountain. The Black Blind Man caught up with him over the Silver-patterned Black Crocodile jerky, and Lin Sheng fled after a poison trick failed to stop his pursuer.

• Lin Sheng decided to save merging with Da Huang for later and set off toward Tongzhi County, suspecting the Phantom Demon Beast controlled Yangping Mountain's spirit beasts.
• Lin Sheng shared a shred of Silver-patterned Black Crocodile jerky with Da Huang before the Black Blind Man appeared and demanded to know where Lin Sheng had obtained it.
• Lin Sheng pretended he had found the jerky, then tossed his bundle to the Black Blind Man with poison powder on the treasure notes and ran.
• The Black Blind Man shrugged off the poison and chased Lin Sheng, who could not outrun the Blood Circulation Practitioner despite his Black Tiger Ape merge.
• Lin Sheng tried lime and poison darts, but the Black Blind Man dispersed the mist, crushed the darts, and swept his iron staff toward Lin Sheng's legs.

Lin Sheng fought Black Blind Man with poison and secret techniques, then drew on Earth Affinity to overpower him with immense strength. The chapter ended with the two combatants trading their strongest attacks and separating, with the battle unresolved.

• Lin Sheng used poisoned palms against Black Blind Man, but the Blood Circulation Practitioner resisted the poison and continued attacking.
• Lin Sheng activated the Silver-patterned Black Crocodile form to withstand Black Blind Man's staff, then fought back as the staff battered him.
• Lin Sheng used Ape Demon Transformation and Earth Affinity, growing stronger until he crushed Black Blind Man's iron staff with one hand.
• Black Blind Man activated a secret technique and traded a fierce barrage of blows with Lin Sheng, who attacked with Ape Demon Ghost Release.
• The two fighters' attacks collided, and they separated without a clear victor.

Lin Sheng defeated Black Blind Man but was left gravely injured, then recovered enough to flee toward Tongzhi with Da Huang as the Phantom Demon Beast’s black mist traced his blood back toward Yangping Town. Yangping Town fell to the beast horde, while an armored commander learned that a Phantom Demon Beast had emerged and ordered reinforcements.

• Lin Sheng ripped off Black Blind Man’s arm and battered him into the ground, then collapsed from the strain of his secret techniques and Earth Affinity.
• Da Huang found Lin Sheng and brought him a bundle of dried spirit beast meat, which helped him regain enough strength to move.
• Lin Sheng confirmed Black Blind Man was dead, then left for Tongzhi with Da Huang to escape the approaching black mist.
• A wisp of black mist searched Black Blind Man’s corpse, found Lin Sheng’s blood, and carried bloody mud toward Yangping Town.
• Yangping Town was overrun by exotic beasts, and survivors fleeing toward Lin'an County City saw more beasts emerge from the woods.
• An armored commander riding toward the region identified the Phantom Demon Beast and ordered Long San to return for seven Blood Demon Teeth.

Lin Sheng reached Tongzhi County after escaping Yangping Town and learned from Yellow Dog that a Phantom Demon Beast had caused the disaster. The beast had been driven back into Yangping Mountain and sealed, while Lin Sheng learned that Long Zilu had led the Prefecture City forces against it.

• In Yangping Town, black mist controlled the mutated beasts and drove them toward a settlement, but Long Zilu and four armored soldiers arrived and fought the horde after transforming into half-human, half-lizard monsters.
• Lin Sheng entered Tongzhi County with Da Huang, rested through the night, and then went to Tongming Academy to ask Yellow Dog about Yangping Town.
• Yellow Dog told Lin Sheng that Yangping Town was destroyed with almost no survivors and that the Phantom Demon Beast had caused the disaster.
• After Lin Sheng paid him, Yellow Dog explained that Prefecture City experts had driven the Phantom Demon Beast into Yangping Mountain and sealed it with the Blood Demon Great Array.
• Yellow Dog revealed that Long Zilu, Linjiang Prefecture's Commander-in-Chief, had led the forces against the beasts.

Lin Sheng learned that the Blood Demon Great Array had stopped the Phantom Demon Beast at the cost of hundreds of thousands of lives, then reunited with his family and recovered from his injuries. After assessing his fight with Black Blind Man, he planned his next steps in cultivation and settled his group into a larger residence in Tongzhi County City.

• Yellow Dog explained that Long Zilu used the Blood Demon Great Array to drive back the Phantom Demon Beast, sacrificing many lives and forces to protect Prefecture City.
• Lin Sheng returned to the courtyard where Xiao Shi, Old Zhou, Lin Hong, and Xie Guilan were hiding, and told Old Zhou and Xiao Shi to treat their injuries and buy medicinal herbs.
• After three days of medicinal baths and spirit beast meat, Lin Sheng fully recovered and considered how narrowly he had defeated Black Blind Man.
• Lin Sheng decided to activate his second mark, seek a beast with strong constitution and agility, advance his Ape Fetus Technique, and continue training the Three Corpses Soul Severing Palm.
• Lin Sheng approved a larger residence and told Old Zhou to bring Lin Hong and Xie Guilan there.

Lin Sheng trained Old Zhou and Xiao Shi, helped Old Zhou break through to Body Tempering, and absorbed more beast blood while planning how to strengthen his second mark. Deep in Yangping Mountain, Long Zilu revealed that he had become a bloodthirsty monster after sealing the Phantom Demon Beast and devoured Duan Tong.

• Old Zhou chose to remain with Lin Sheng, and Xiao Shi returned with bundles of high-grade Mortal Beast blood.
• Lin Sheng corrected Old Zhou and Xiao Shi's Raging Bull Fist stances, then helped Old Zhou break through to Body Tempering.
• Lin Sheng absorbed the purchased beast blood, brought his second mark to 88% activation, and considered which elite beast to seek next.
• Long Zilu told Duan Tong and the two county magistrates that the Phantom Demon Beast was sealed and ordered them to reinforce its seal with blood sacrifices every fifty years.
• Long Zilu struck Duan Tong, then transformed his hand into a claw, killed him, and devoured his heart and body as the two magistrates watched in terror.