Chapter Summaries

Yang Shan and Xiao Aotian defeated Peng Mao and brought him to Medusa Queen, who asked them to protect the Serpent-People tribe while she prepared for bloodline evolution. After Peng Mao revealed that the Lion Underworld Sect had joined forces with two Soul Hall Dou Zongs, Yang Shan agreed to help only if Medusa Queen paid more.

• Yang Shan fought Peng Mao one-handed while carrying Yue Mei, and Xiao Aotian joined the battle with Flame Splitting Tsunami Ruler before knocking Peng Mao unconscious.
• Xiao Aotian held Hua She'er's hand during the flight to the Serpent-People Temple, raising her favorability, while Medusa Queen greeted Yang Shan and Xiao Aotian.
• Medusa Queen asked Yang Shan and Xiao Aotian to use their Heavenly Flames to help her evolve and protect the tribe during her month of seclusion.
• Hua She'er interrogated Peng Mao and learned that Shi Tian had gained two Seven-Star Dou Zong allies from the Soul Hall.
• Yang Shan told Medusa Queen that protecting the tribe from three Seven-Star Dou Zongs would require more payment.

Yang Shan negotiated with Medusa Queen for payment to confront the Lion Underworld Sect, then investigated its Soul Hall backing and discovered a second branch hall operating beyond the Northwest Continent. He reported the Rock Valley Branch Hall’s involvement to Old Mu Bone, who angrily blamed Qing Hai for encroaching on his territory.

• Yang Shan secured a Thunder Spirit Crystal and an Essence Spirit Crystal from Medusa Queen in exchange for taking on the Lion Underworld Sect, while Xiao Aotian awkwardly offered to help and received a special storyline mission.
• After Medusa Queen entered seclusion, Yang Shan and Xiao Aotian discussed Spirit Crystals and the resource-focused progression system, then Yang Shan left to gather intelligence.
• Yang Shan learned that the Lion Underworld Sect was backed by Soul Hall’s Rock Valley Branch Hall and that two Seven-Star Dou Zongs were expected to arrive in about half a month.
• Yang Shan traveled to the Ghost Wither Branch Hall and told Old Mu Bone about the Rock Valley Branch Hall’s interference in the Northwest Continent.
• Old Mu Bone identified Rock Valley as an Earth Fiend Branch Hall from the Northern Continent and furiously accused Qing Hai of extending his reach into the Northwest Continent.

Yang Shan accepted Old Mu Bone’s mission to capture the Rock Valley Branch Hall personnel in the Mulan Empire and recruited Sha Feng to help, using Contribution Points to build connections. After learning about Soul Hall’s internal factions, Yang Shan approached Protector Wu with an offer to work together.

• Yang Shan identified Venerable Qing Hai as Old Mu Bone’s rival, and Old Mu Bone ordered him to bring the Rock Valley Branch Hall personnel back from the Mulan Empire while sending a messenger to report.
• Old Mu Bone granted Yang Shan five hundred thousand Contribution Points for recruiting manpower, and Yang Shan accepted the special mission under his Cheng E identity.
• Yang Shan learned Protector recruitment rates from Sha Feng, then offered him a lucrative share of the mission and persuaded him to recruit trusted allies.
• Sha Feng explained Soul Hall’s factional structure and his exclusion from both the former and current Venerable Elder’s direct subordinates, while Yang Shan encouraged him to seek favor with Young Master’s side.
• Yang Shan met Protector Wu, learned that he lacked fifty thousand Contribution Points for a Seventh Order Essence Spirit Crystal after buying the Gathering Darkness Secret Classic, and asked if he wanted to work with him.

Yang Shan recruited Protector Wu as a loyal subordinate and assembled a powerful Soul Hall team for the mission against the Lion Underworld Sect. He led the ten Protectors out, confident in the force he had gathered.

• Yang Shan offered Protector Wu a chance to serve him, and Protector Wu accepted after seeing Sha Feng’s deference to Yang Shan.
• The system added Protector Wu to Yang Shan’s Subordinate Cultivation Panel with 55 Loyalty.
• Yang Shan assessed Protector Wu’s potential and thanked three Heaven Grade Protectors for joining his mission.
• Yang Shan selected Sha Feng, the three Heaven Grade Protectors, and five Earth Grade Protectors, forming a team of eleven including himself and Protector Wu.
• Yang Shan led the ten Protectors out to begin the mission.

Yang Shan led the Ghost Wither Branch Hall Protectors to intercept the Lion Underworld Sect and Rock Valley Branch Hall, revealing their superior strength and ordering an attack on the Rock Valley group. As Da Cong broke through the battle to rush Yang Shan, Yang Shan stayed in place, confident his Protectors would keep him safe.

• Yang Shan led eleven people to Yellow Sand City, where Protector Wu ingratiated himself with him and Sha Feng recognized Wu’s bid to gain favor.
• Shi Tian arrived with the Lion Underworld Sect and Rock Valley Branch Hall forces, then set out to attack the Serpent-People tribe’s Spirit Stone Mine.
• Yang Shan’s group blocked Shi Tian’s path, and Sha Feng’s Nine-Star Dou Zong aura forced Shi Tian to back down and wait aside.
• Da Cong and Da Ming arrived with the Rock Valley Branch Hall, and Yang Shan ordered the ten Ghost Wither Branch Hall Dou Zongs to attack them.
• The Ghost Wither Branch Hall gained the advantage, but Da Ming used a secret technique to hold off two opponents while Da Cong charged toward Yang Shan.

Yang Shan defeated the Rock Valley Branch Hall forces and arranged for the Lion Underworld Sect and Ghost Wither Branch Hall to stage an attack on the Serpent-People tribe that would let him become its hero. Before returning to the Black-Corner Region, he distributed Contribution Points to Sha Feng and Protector Wu, greatly increasing Wu’s loyalty and Sha Feng’s favorability.

• Sha Feng intercepted Da Cong as he tried to reach Yang Shan, and the Ghost Wither Branch Hall captured the Rock Valley Branch Hall fighters alive.
• Yang Shan instructed Shi Tian, Sha Feng, and Protector Wu to stage an attack on the Serpent-People tribe in three days without harming them, so Yang Shan could save them and gain their resources.
• Yang Shan transferred 350,000 Contribution Points to Sha Feng and 150,000 to Protector Wu, raising Wu’s loyalty to 75 and Sha Feng’s favorability by 10.
• Yang Shan told Sha Feng and Protector Wu he had to return to the Black-Corner Region, then flew away while Protector Wu watched him leave.

Yang Shan and Xiao Aotian helped Medusa Queen evolve into a Five-Colored Heaven Swallowing Python, while Yang Shan reconsidered how the game system protected major characters. Just after Medusa Queen emerged stronger and prepared to defend her people, a host of Dou Zongs led by a Nine Star Dou Zong arrived to threaten the Serpent-People tribe.

• Medusa Queen asked Yang Shan and Xiao Aotian to help her use the Green Lotus Core Flame in a dangerous bloodline evolution, and Yang Shan rejected the idea of killing her for the flame.
• Yang Shan and Xiao Aotian suppressed the Green Lotus Core Flame with their own Heavenly Flames while Medusa Queen underwent the transformation.
• Medusa Queen emerged as a Five-Colored Heaven Swallowing Python at Two-Star Dou Zong, and her favorability toward Yang Shan rose by five points.
• Yang Shan and Xiao Aotian left Medusa Queen to rest, and Yang Shan reasoned that her new strength could make her a useful bodyguard.
• Yang Shan, Xiao Aotian, and Medusa Queen flew out to meet the attackers, but Medusa Queen saw a large force of Dou Zongs led by a Nine Star Dou Zong threatening the Serpent-People tribe.

Yang Shan intervened when Sha Feng and the Soul Hall forces attacked the Serpent-People tribe, using his claimed connection to Mystic Wrath Thunder Lord to make them retreat. After Medusa thanked him and her Favorability increased, Yang Shan demanded further compensation, leaving her expression frozen and Xiao Aotian pleading to know how much Favorability he had gained.

• Sha Feng and the Lion Underworld Sect surrounded the Serpent-People tribe, injured the four elders, and overwhelmed Medusa Queen despite Xiao Aotian's attempt to protect them.
• Medusa Queen told the elders to evacuate the tribe's strongest members and fought on, but Sha Feng and three Heaven Grade Protectors badly wounded her.
• Yang Shan stepped in and claimed to be Mystic Wrath Thunder Lord's disciple, warning that he could summon his master with the Ghoul Lord Token.
• Sha Feng believed the threat, gave Yang Shan a sixth order Essence Spirit Crystal, and ordered the Soul Hall forces and Lion Underworld Sect to retreat from the Tagor Desert.
• Medusa Queen thanked Yang Shan, gaining him ten Favorability points, but Yang Shan demanded more compensation, and Xiao Aotian messaged him to ask how much Favorability he had earned.

Yang Shan explained to Xiao Aotian why Medusa could not be won over through ordinary means and revealed that a crucial source of her Affinity had been permanently lost. The chapter ended with Yang Shan suggesting that Medusa’s maximum Affinity was now only sixty-nine points.

• Hua She'er released Medusa after Xiao Aotian gently urged her to let go, and Yue Mei’s Affinity for Yang Shan rose to 67 as she admired him for saving the Serpent-People tribe.
• Yang Shan returned to the courtyard, where Xiao Aotian thanked him for advice that had increased Hua She'er's Affinity and asked about Yang Shan’s Affinity with Medusa.
• Yang Shan told Xiao Aotian that Medusa’s Affinity was 38 and offered to explain why Xiao Aotian could not win her over in exchange for a free future favor backed by a nine-star-level contract.
• Yang Shan explained that Xiao Yan had grown close to Medusa through her companion snake spirit and that the events leading to her pregnancy had depended on unusual plot circumstances.
• Yang Shan concluded that Medusa’s companion snake spirit had already fused with her, permanently locking away its 31 Affinity points and limiting her maximum Affinity to 69.

Yang Shan explained to Xiao Aotian that Medusa and Xiao Yi Xian had Affinity routes that Players could no longer access, and warned that other major NPCs might have similar locks. Xiao Aotian signed Yang Shan’s contract, while Lucky Poison Hand announced he had become Xiao Yi Xian’s personal disciple without knowing the risks.

• Yang Shan argued that Medusa could not be pursued because her transformation had left no usable Affinity route, and said Xiao Yi Xian’s early Green Mountain Town route had also been lost after Players overwhelmed her.
• Yang Shan warned Xiao Aotian that Hua She’er’s five Affinity points might have been available only during the storyline, and Xiao Aotian signed the contract in exchange for the information.
• Xiao Aotian and Yang Shan compared their Yao Lao Affinity and toasted their rivalry, with Yang Shan dismissing Xiao Aotian’s claim that he could surpass him.
• Lucky Poison Hand announced in the Big Shot Gathering Camp that he had become Xiao Yi Xian’s personal disciple, while other Players congratulated or teased him.
• Xiao Aotian asked whether they should warn Lucky Poison Hand, but Yang Shan said they should wait until his obsession passed and could then offer him another contract.

Yang Shan repaired Ink Iron Marshal and learned that Medusa Queen had brought him rare Foundation Spiritual Objects, including a Seven-Colored Flame Crystal capable of granting Supreme Foundation. Medusa Queen offered the crystal if he would take Yue Mei as his maidservant, and Yang Shan demanded a greater payment for training her.

• Bai Su'an arrived at Yang Shan's courtyard and took Ink Iron Marshal away to repair it with Tie Yang.
• Medusa Queen met Yang Shan and presented him with a Thunder Spirit Crystal that could strengthen a cultivator's foundation.
• Yang Shan learned how the foundation system affected attributes after reaching Dou Zong and stored the Thunder Spirit Crystal for later.
• Medusa Queen showed Yang Shan a Seven-Colored Flame Crystal that could grant Supreme Foundation after a cultivator reached Perfect Foundation.
• Medusa Queen offered Yue Mei as Yang Shan's maidservant in exchange for the crystal, and Yang Shan said she would have to pay more if she wanted him to train Yue Mei.

Yang Shan rejected Medusa Queen’s attempt to arrange Yue Mei as his maidservant, then explained that he objected to her treating Yue Mei like merchandise. He gave Yue Mei pills and spirit plants and promised to consider accepting her if she reached Nine Star Dou Huang before his next visit, then departed for Red Sand Continent.

• Medusa Queen offered Yue Mei as a maidservant and promised Yang Shan a Seven-Colored Flame Crystal, but Yang Shan refused the arrangement and took the crystal anyway.
• Medusa Queen left to visit Xiao Tribute, and Yang Shan told Yue Mei to stay behind.
• Yang Shan scolded Yue Mei for not resisting being sent away, causing her favorability toward him to rise to 69.
• Yue Mei claimed she had asked to become Yang Shan’s maidservant, but he told her she was not yet qualified and set Nine Star Dou Huang as the condition for reconsidering.
• Yang Shan gave Yue Mei a Perfect Emperor Extreme Pill and spirit plants, then flew to Red Sand Continent as Yue Mei resolved to prepare for maidservant duties.

After leaving the Serpent-People tribe, Yang Shan learned that a Spirit Stone Mine had sparked a battle between the Bloodshed Alliance and the Black Emperor Sect. He returned to White Stone Mountain and prepared to enter the fight as Yu Feifei rushed to join him.

• Medusa recorded Yang Shan's favor for the Seven-Colored Flame Crystal, while Yang Shan and Xiao Aotian left the Serpent-People tribe with plans to collect their promised benefits later.
• Xiao Aotian told Yang Shan that Hua She'er might become his personal guard, then learned Yue Mei was intended to become Yang Shan's maidservant.
• After players reported a Spirit Stone Mine at White Stone Mountain, Yang Shan ordered Chao Bafang and Zhu Tianpeng to farm Contribution Points and exchange the Black Emperor Sect's Essence Spirit Crystals while he hurried back.
• The Black Emperor Sect held the advantage at White Stone Mountain, with Mo Ya and the Tian Hao Alliance helping repel the Bloodshed Alliance's attacks.
• Yang Shan arrived as Yin Gu Lao discussed conserving the Bloodshed Alliance's strength, and Yu Feifei rushed out to join him while Yang Shan prepared to strike.

Yang Shan went alone to the Spirit Stone Mine in White Stone Mountain and confronted the Tian Hao Alliance, whose members tried to rally against him with the Hundred Fires Prairiefire Formation. The chapter ended with Yang Shan killing one of the formation members before the formation could assemble.

• Yang Shan entered White Stone Mountain, where Qing Kui recognized him and explained that the Tian Hao Alliance guarded the mine's northwest area.
• Wang Tianhao learned Yang Shan was approaching and summoned Hao Yunqi, who believed the Hundred Fires Prairiefire Formation could drive him away.
• Yang Shan attacked the Tian Hao Alliance with Sea Heart Flame and Extraterrestrial Ghoul Lightning, blasting Wang Tianhao, Hao Yunqi, Tang Baizhan, and Ji Fengchun into the open.
• Hao Yunqi called the formation members to gather, but only forty-three arrived as Yang Shan attacked one of the missing members.
• Yang Shan shattered the Six-Star Dou Wang player's Dou Qi Armor and killed him in three strikes, then waved at Hao Yunqi.

Yang Shan slaughtered the Tian Hao Alliance during the faction blood war, then confronted Mo Ya and overwhelmed him when Mo Ya tried to recruit him into the Black Emperor Sect. Yang Shan captured Mo Ya alive and planned to ransom him to Mo Tianxing.

• Yang Shan killed nearly two hundred Tian Hao Alliance Players, forcing Wang Tianhao's group to retreat and killing Ji Fengchun with one strike.
• Mo Ya arrived with four elders, invited Yang Shan to join the Black Emperor Sect, and threatened him when he refused.
• Yang Shan attacked Mo Ya and the elders with Overload and Lingering Spirit Hundred Howls, knocking them from the sky.
• Yang Shan pinned Mo Ya to the ground and battered his Dou Qi Armor until Mo Ya begged for mercy.
• Yang Shan stopped short of killing Mo Ya and decided to capture him alive to extort Mo Tianxing.

Yang Shan captured Mo Ya and four Black Emperor Sect elders, then used their predicament to negotiate with Mo Tianxing. Mo Tianxing had no Bodhi Transformation Saliva to offer, leaving Yang Shan to shift the conversation to business.

• Yang Shan sent the Black Emperor Sect Players away, chained Mo Ya and four elders, and carried them from White Stone Mountain.
• Yang Shan disrupted the Tian Hao Alliance fight, weakening its Players and leaving Yu Feifei, Ye Suifeng, and Jin Shankao to continue against their opponents.
• Yang Shan brought the captives to Mo Tianxing, who came to save Mo Ya and offered Yang Shan a place in the Black Emperor Sect.
• Yang Shan said he wanted a treasure for building a Supreme Foundation and asked Mo Tianxing about Bodhi Transformation Saliva.
• Mo Tianxing denied possessing the saliva, and Yang Shan proposed discussing business instead.

Yang Shan secured Mo Ya and the Black Emperor Sect elders’ release, then hunted in Black Moon Ridge until he reached Nine Star Dou Huang and unlocked the Character Foundation panel. He returned to the Crescent Moon Secret Realm and began refining foundation treasures while preparing to enter seclusion.

• Mo Tianxing paid Yang Shan a sixth order Fire Spirit Crystal to ransom Mo Ya and four Dou Huang elders, then promised to spare Yang Shan and make him an honorary elder if the Black Emperor Sect captured him.
• Yu Feifei told Yang Shan that her group had defeated the Tian Hao Alliance and taken the Spirit Stone Mine.
• Yang Shan hunted a sixth-tier peak Ghost Flame Tiger in Black Moon Ridge, filled his experience bar, and advanced to Nine Star Dou Huang, unlocking the Character Foundation panel.
• Black Thorn guided Yang Shan back to the Crescent Moon Secret Realm, where Yang Shan gave Black Da Sha the Ghost Flame Tiger’s Heart Blood Meat and went to his courtyard.
• Yang Shan inspected his foundation grade and started refining the Thunder Spirit Crystal and Fire Spirit Crystal using the system’s Refining Auto-Farm.

After discovering that rare spirit crystals were less effective on his improved foundation, Yang Shan secured compensation from Tian Yao Company and learned of a secret realm that might grant a Supreme Foundation. He left to hunt the Ghost Tiger Clan and continue leveling while Su Yitang remained trapped in the Central Plains.

• Yang Shan calculated that using a rare Thunder Spirit Crystal on his Extraordinary Foundation had cost him the equivalent of nine precious-grade spiritual objects, then negotiated compensation with Customer Service 007.
• Tian Yao Company sent Yang Shan a Rare Advancement Orb that could combine two sixth order precious-grade spiritual objects of the same attribute into a rare one.
• Bai Xiao Guai asked Yang Shan about Su Fairy, and Yang Shan told her Su Yitang was staying with the Heavenly Luan Clan; after seeing Yang Shan's message, Su Yitang said she was hiding in Sound Valley from pursuers and an unwanted admirer.
• Yang Shan forced Black Da Sha to finish his bone lesson, then went with him to speak with Black Thorn about nearby mineral veins and a secret realm rumored to contain an item capable of granting a Supreme Foundation.
• Yang Shan recorded the secret realm's location and decided to keep leveling before challenging the powerful Ghoul Wolf Clan and Ghost Tiger Clan, choosing the Ghost Tiger Clan as his next target.

Yang Shan consumed an Emperor Extreme Pill, then went to Black Moon Ridge to investigate the Ghost Tiger Clan’s reinforcements and encountered the Flame Demon Ape with Yan Yi. After spotting the Thousand Flame Ghost Tiger King’s favored son, Ghost Little Two, he abducted him and planned to demand a ransom.

• Yang Shan gained two million experience points from the Emperor Extreme Pill after his Good Fortune triggered its Perfect Trait.
• After learning that the Ghost Tiger Clan and Ghoul Wolf Clan were clashing, Yang Shan hid along a reinforcement route but held back when he saw mid-Seventh-Order Yan Yi leading a powerful force.
• Yang Shan recognized the Flame Demon Ape among the Ghost Tiger Clan troops and recorded its conversation with Yan Yi.
• Yang Shan found Ghost Little Two, the Thousand Flame Ghost Tiger King’s lazy second son, sleeping in a cave away from the front lines.
• Yang Shan disguised himself as Han Feng, beat Ghost Little Two unconscious, and carried him off to demand a ransom from the Thousand Flame Ghost Tiger King.

Yang Shan questioned Ghost Little Two and Ghost Little Four to learn about the Ghost Tiger Clan’s plans and the front lines. After discovering that the Thousand Flame Ghost Tiger King’s older children were heading there, he saw a chance to capture them and extort the king.

• Yang Shan revived Ghost Little Two with Ten Stench Fishy Grass and forced it to reveal that the Shadow Wind Eagle had joined the Ghoul Wolf Clan while the Flame Demon Ape was cooperating with the Ghost Tiger Clan.
• Yang Shan waited for reinforcements, then ambushed Ghost Little Four’s group, killing or incapacitating its members and capturing Ghost Little Four.
• Yang Shan forced Ghost Little Four to explain that the Ghost Tiger Clan held an advantage on the front lines and that the king’s older offspring were being sent there to gain experience.
• Yang Shan learned that Ghost Little Four’s eldest brother was due to reach the front lines within days, and he planned to capture the king’s older children to extort the Thousand Flame Ghost Tiger King.