Chapter Summaries

Fang Cheng completed the Special Search Team’s newcomer training and saw his Spirit Attribute rise to 71 through nightly cultivation. After leaving the seaside base, he unexpectedly encountered Cheng Jiashu, who stopped to offer him a ride.

• Fang Cheng helped Lin Chen carry an eighty-kilogram log during the final training run while concealing how easily he could manage it.
• The instructor announced that Class Three had passed its graduation assessment and that newcomer training was over.
• Fang Cheng packed up, exchanged contact information with Lin Chen, Zhao Qiang, and other recruits, then left the base alone after the leaders’ speeches and lunch.
• A silver sports car pulled up beside Fang Cheng outside the base, and Cheng Jiashu offered him a ride.

Cheng Jiashu told Fang Cheng how Jiang Chen had tried to possess him and explained that Jiang Chen’s true body and Natal Primordial Spirit might still be hidden in a ruin in the Western Mountains. After Cheng Jiashu confirmed the location, he drove Fang Cheng toward it to investigate.

• Cheng Jiashu picked Fang Cheng up after military training and explained that a damaged Buddha statue had trapped him in a nightmare of Jiang Chen’s massacre.
• Cheng Jiashu said Jiang Chen had targeted him because he was Jiang Chen’s fifty-second-generation descendant and that Jiang Chen’s true body might still survive.
• Cheng Jiashu recounted how Jiang Chen’s attack on Lone Peak Temple opened a gate to the Netherworld and transformed him and his soldiers into ghouls.
• Cheng Jiashu explained that Jiang Chen had manipulated Cheng Clan descendants through dreams and that his attempt to possess Cheng Jiashu had confirmed the location of his true body.
• Cheng Jiashu drove Fang Cheng toward the Western Mountains, where he said Jiang Chen’s true body was hidden in a ruin.

Fang Cheng and Cheng Jiashu investigated Ancient Locust Village and concluded that Jiang Chen’s true body was likely hidden in the remnants of the Cheng Clan’s destroyed Secret Realm, now an Inner World. They planned to infiltrate the Village Guardians without alerting Jiang Chen, and Fang Cheng thought of a candidate for the job.

• Fang Cheng and Cheng Jiashu surveyed Ancient Locust Village and noticed its land and vegetation were unnaturally withered.
• Cheng Jiashu revealed that the village had once housed the Cheng Clan’s Family Secret Realm, which collapsed fifty years earlier.
• Cheng Jiashu reasoned that the Secret Realm’s remains had become an Inner World where Jiang Chen’s true body was hidden.
• Cheng Jiashu connected Jiang Chen’s need for fresh souls to the Village Guardians’ secret monthly sacrifices and suspicious recruitment ads.
• Fang Cheng suggested abducting and interrogating a Village Guardian, but Cheng Jiashu warned that doing so could alert Jiang Chen.
• Cheng Jiashu proposed infiltrating the Village Guardians with a seemingly foolish applicant, and Fang Cheng said he had someone suitable in mind.

Fang Cheng assigned Xu Hao to pose as a Village Guardian in Ancient Locust Village and investigate its secrets. Xu Hao secured the job, while Fang Cheng prepared to wait for the full-moon Sacrificial Ceremony and the discovery of the Inner World and Jiang Chen.

• Fang Cheng called Xu Hao and instructed him to become a Village Guardian in Ancient Locust Village, investigate the old zombie, and gather information undercover.
• Xu Hao found the recruitment notice for the Village Guardian position and called Supervisor Wu to apply.
• Xu Hao bragged about his strength and experience until Supervisor Wu agreed to hire him and gave him directions to Ancient Locust Village.
• Xu Hao eagerly practiced his fighting moves, hoping to test the Great Sun Burning Body Art against the village’s ghosts and monsters.
• Fang Cheng returned to Wanghu Town after surveying Ancient Locust Village with Cheng Jiashu and finalized the plan for Xu Hao’s infiltration.
• Fang Cheng watched the mountains and noted that only four days remained until the Sacrificial Ceremony, when he hoped to find the method to open the Inner World and traces of Jiang Chen.

During his leave in Wanghu Town, Fang Cheng trained at YuLong Lake and tested how far his True Qi External Release had advanced, reaching an effective range of nearly thirty meters. After the holiday ended, he headed to report to the Western Mountains Sanatorium for his new post with the Special Search Team.

• Fang Cheng practiced Palm Technique and Tai Chi, using his qi force to kill a pouncing viper and strike a deep crack into a tree from several meters away.
• Fang Cheng sent a Spiral Force across YuLong Lake, where it traveled twenty-nine meters before erupting into a towering column of water.
• Fang Cheng reviewed the experience he gained in Palm Technique, Tai Chi, and Qi Gong, noting that his Palm Technique was nearing its next level.
• Fang Cheng stopped practicing as townspeople arrived at the lakeside, picked up his jacket, and set off to report to the Western Mountains Sanatorium.

Fang Cheng reported to the Traditional Medical Rehabilitation Department at Western Mountains Emerald Valley Sanatorium and met Master Sun and Lin Yue, who showed him his dormitory and explained the work and rules. After settling in, Fang Cheng spotted a guarded, restricted facility behind the sanatorium and began unpacking, leaving the secret site unexplored.

• Fang Cheng presented his credentials and transfer order at the sanatorium gate and reported to the department in Building 3.
• Master Sun welcomed Fang Cheng, while Lin Yue arrived and introduced himself as his new colleague.
• Lin Yue explained that the department treated recovering patients and warned that staff might be sent to emergencies and front-line rescue work.
• Lin Yue showed Fang Cheng his single dorm room in Building 6 and warned him not to leave the building after midnight or enter the fenced back-mountain area.
• Fang Cheng saw armed patrols and fortress-like buildings beyond the fence, then unpacked and cleaned his room.

Fang Cheng used True Qi and Entangling Silk Force to attempt a delicate reduction of Zhao Gang’s shattered L1 vertebra while the injured soldier urgently needed surgery for internal bleeding. He moved the displaced bone fragment slightly, but the procedure was still underway.

• Fang Cheng heard Master Sun and Lin Yue treating the severely injured Zhao Gang and entered the emergency area.
• The attending doctor explained that Zhao Gang had a burst fracture pressing on his spinal cord and a ruptured spleen, making surgery and transfer both dangerous.
• Master Sun and Lin Yue hesitated to attempt a reduction, but Zhao Gang asked Fang Cheng to try.
• Fang Cheng examined Zhao Gang’s injuries with True Qi and decided to guide the bone fragments back into place using Entangling Silk Force.
• Fang Cheng wrapped the largest fragment with fine strands of True Qi and began pulling it into position, producing a faint crack as the fragment shifted.

Fang Cheng used True Qi to reset Zhao Gang’s spinal fractures and temporarily stabilize his vertebrae, restoring movement in his toes. After Zhao Gang was rushed into surgery, Fang Cheng left for lunch as his extraordinary treatment spread through the sanatorium.

• Fang Cheng carefully returned Zhao Gang’s spinal bone fragments to position and used True Qi to form a temporary sheath that could hold them for about three hours.
• Fang Cheng asked Zhao Gang to move his toes, and Zhao Gang moved both feet; the attending doctor confirmed that his plantar reflex had returned to normal.
• Fang Cheng told the attending doctor to treat Zhao Gang’s splenic bleeding first and perform spinal fixation after his abdominal injuries stabilized, and the staff rushed Zhao Gang into surgery.
• Fan Biao thanked Fang Cheng and offered help through the Intelligence Department, while Master Sun and Lin Yue questioned him about his abilities.
• Fang Cheng declined to introduce Master Sun to his supposed reclusive medical teacher and went to the cafeteria with Lin Yue.
• Nurses shared stories about Fang Cheng’s treatment, and news of the young miracle doctor spread through the sanatorium.

Fang Cheng practiced Palm Technique and Tai Chi at the sanatorium, reflected on using true qi for both combat and medical treatment, and planned for the coming full moon. In Ancient Locust Village, Xu Hao spent a sleepless second night among eerie villagers and Village Guardians, increasingly convinced they were not human.

• Fang Cheng practiced palm forms in his dormitory, using true qi strongly enough to stir the room, and turned down Lin Yue’s invitation to eat skewers and drink beer.
• Fang Cheng considered how to improve his skills by treating patients at the sanatorium and planned to alert Cheng Jiashu about the full moon, when hidden dangers might emerge.
• Fang Cheng wondered how Xu Hao’s undercover mission in Ancient Locust Village was going and resolved to wait for Xu Hao to contact him with definite intelligence.
• Xu Hao lay awake in his shabby village lodging, recalling the villagers’ identical eerie smiles and the freezing, lifeless feel of a Village Guardian he had bumped into.

Xu Hao followed a strange nighttime procession to Ancient Locust Village’s ancestral hall and discovered its villagers were feeding a creature in the Big Black Well. As he recognized the well as a likely hiding place for Jiang Chen’s true body and prepared to report to Boss, an unseen hand grabbed his shoulder.

• Xu Hao stayed in his room, resolved to carry out Boss’s undercover mission and investigate the village’s sacrifice the next night.
• After hearing a rumbling sound, Xu Hao slipped outside and followed villagers carrying green-lit paper lanterns through the fog.
• Xu Hao watched Supervisor Wu drag a cart of skinned animals to the Big Black Well and throw them inside, where something chewed them.
• The villagers took turns cutting their wrists and dripping their blood into the well as the creature below made greedy sounds.
• Xu Hao concluded that Ancient Locust Village was a feeding ground and that Jiang Chen’s true body was likely beneath the well.
• As Xu Hao began to retreat so he could report his discovery to Boss, a hand suddenly rested on his shoulder.

Xu Hao killed the possessed Village Guardian with the Great Sun Burning Body Art, then became trapped in the fog of Ancient Locust Village and fought a horde of monsters until he was nearly exhausted. As the remaining Village Guardians closed in, the fog behind him parted to reveal a passage.

• The Village Guardian attacked Xu Hao, who discovered that ordinary strikes could not hurt him and killed him with a blast of true qi from the Great Sun Burning Body Art.
• Xu Hao fled after Supervisor Wu heard the fight, but thick fog confused the village’s streets and kept him from finding the exit.
• A dozen Village Guardians surrounded Xu Hao in an alley, and he charged them rather than surrendering.
• Xu Hao fought his way through the monsters, killing several but suffering deep wounds as his true qi and strength dwindled.
• The remaining Village Guardians closed in on the exhausted Xu Hao as the fog behind him suddenly parted into a passage.

Xu Hao was captured by Supervisor Wu and bound at Ancient Locust Village’s ancestral hall as a replacement sacrifice for the being in the well. As the full-moon ritual began, Xu Hao’s connection to the Solar Mental Network remained cut off, and Director Qian awaited the Master’s return and the promise of immortality.

• Supervisor Wu ambushed Xu Hao, knocked him unconscious, and declared that the offerings were complete.
• After a day passed, the full-moon sacrifice began as lantern-bearing figures converged on the Big Black Well.
• Xu Hao woke tied to a pillar beside a Village Guardian and the ruined corpse of the vessel he had damaged, but he could not summon help through the Solar Mental Network.
• Supervisor Wu and Director Qian approached the well, and Director Qian revealed that they had recognized Xu Hao as a troublesome thug rather than a spy.
• Supervisor Wu explained that Xu Hao would replace the damaged vessel in the sacrifice, while Director Qian spoke of the Master’s blessing and eternal life.

Xu Hao learned that Qian Dongming and Supervisor Wu had been feeding people to the creature in the Big Black Well to revive Jiang Chen and obtain immortality. As the villagers performed a blood-soaked sacrificial ritual, Jiang Chen began to emerge from the well.

• Qian Dongming explained that he had spent thirty years supplying living victims to Ancient Locust Village, while Supervisor Wu claimed Zombies were superior beings and threatened Xu Hao with the sacrifice.
• Supervisor Wu began the ceremony as villagers gathered around the Big Black Well, and his prayer transformed the full moon into a Red Moon and sealed Ancient Locust Village in thick fog.
• Qian Dongming cut his finger and offered his blood to the well, while twelve strong men tore apart two Village Guardians and fed their remains to whatever waited below.
• The villagers cut their own throats to fill the array around the well with blood, and Qian Dongming and Supervisor Wu chanted as a tremendous heartbeat and ancient aura rose from below.
• A huge gray-blue hand with long black nails emerged from the well, and Qian Dongming and Supervisor Wu hailed the awakening Jiang Chen.

Jiang Chen emerged from the well in Ancient Locust Village, fed on villagers, and ordered his followers to investigate the man who had previously injured his soul. As Jiang Chen threatened Xu Hao, a streak of golden fire tore through the village’s mist barrier and crashed into the courtyard.

• Jiang Chen burst from the well, drained the essence and souls of villagers, and ordered Xu Hao kept alive until the mixed aura in him dispersed.
• Jiang Chen ordered the village sealed and its operations suspended, then warned Qian Dongming that receiving Zombie Ancestor True Blood could turn him into a mindless walking corpse.
• Jiang Chen passed an image of a young man to Supervisor Wu and ordered him to investigate the man without alerting him.
• Xu Hao revealed that the man Jiang Chen sought was close by and asked whether he had injured Jiang Chen; Jiang Chen admitted the man had harmed him while his divine soul was away.
• Jiang Chen threatened to search Xu Hao’s memory, but Xu Hao looked up as golden light tore through the black mist and struck the center of the courtyard.

Fang Cheng arrived at the village courtyard and confronted Jiang Chen, who had captured Xu Hao and threatened to kill him. After Jiang Chen attacked, Fang Cheng revealed that he knew the Zombie King's abilities and appeared behind him to launch a golden-flamed kick.

• Fang Cheng emerged from the fiery impact and faced Jiang Chen, while Xu Hao recognized him as his boss.
• Jiang Chen and Fang Cheng traded taunts about their past encounters, and Jiang Chen claimed his Zombie True Form was empowered by his Absolute Domain.
• Jiang Chen sent a bone spur toward Xu Hao, but Fang Cheng appeared in front of him and caught it before burning away its deathly aura.
• Jiang Chen and Fang Cheng unleashed their aura fields, then Jiang Chen vanished and attacked Fang Cheng with four bone spikes as Xu Hao flew clear.
• Fang Cheng blocked the bone spikes with a golden barrier, identified Jiang Chen's Flash Step as Space Jump, and said Cheng Jiashu had revealed Jiang Chen's abilities and weaknesses.
• Fang Cheng vanished from Jiang Chen's attack and reappeared behind him, swinging a golden-flamed kick.

Fang Cheng battled Jiang Chen, enduring the ancient corpse king’s Flash Step attacks and striking back with overwhelming force. After Fang Cheng revealed he could predict Jiang Chen’s landings using information from Cheng Jiashu, the fight continued, while a white-suited figure appeared at the entrance of Ancient Locust Village outside the Inner World.

• Fang Cheng’s Flame Whirlwind Kick smashed Jiang Chen through the ancestral hall, but Jiang Chen regenerated and rose from the ruins.
• Jiang Chen used Flash Step to ambush Fang Cheng, who dodged and met his attacks head-on as their clashes devastated the courtyard.
• Fang Cheng struck Jiang Chen’s concealed bone-spike attack with a Turning Cannon Fist, then anticipated his next Flash Step and punched him out of the void.
• Fang Cheng told Jiang Chen that Cheng Jiashu had explained the Cheng Clan bloodline ability’s activation and flaws, enraging Jiang Chen.
• A slender figure in a white suit appeared at the entrance of Ancient Locust Village outside the Inner World.

Cheng Jiashu reached the Ancient Locust Ancestral Hall and began setting up a ritual to open a passage into the Inner World. Inside, Fang Cheng revealed his immense physical durability against Jiang Chen’s attacks, then counterattacked and broke the Zombie King’s bone spikes and struck his knee.

• Cheng Jiashu entered the ruined ancestral hall, placed a Bronze Buddha by the well, and arranged talismans into a Bagua Array.
• Cheng Jiashu chanted an Esoteric sutra, causing the space above the well to ripple and reveal sounds from the Inner World.
• Jiang Chen attacked Fang Cheng with bone spikes, but Fang Cheng withdrew his True Qi and endured the strikes with his bare body.
• Fang Cheng expanded his muscles and advanced through Jiang Chen’s attacks, resisting the bone spikes and black lightning with his Blood Qi.
• Fang Cheng smashed Jiang Chen’s bone spikes with a powerful punch, then struck the Zombie King’s left knee with a High-Frequency Vibrating Hidden Force.

Fang Cheng crippled Jiang Chen with a devastating assault, but the Zombie King sacrificed villagers to recover and unleashed his Sea of Corpses and Blood domain. Fang Cheng countered with Domain Expansion and a resplendent golden palace, leaving Jiang Chen stunned as Fang Cheng prepared to finish him.

• Fang Cheng dislocated Jiang Chen's knee, pierced his chest with a Knife Hand, and battered him with a relentless barrage of flaming punches.
• Jiang Chen detonated his Corpse Qi to escape, then drained two villagers to heal his injuries and regrow his bone spikes.
• Jiang Chen rose into the air and expanded his Domain of Law, Sea of Corpses and Blood, flooding the ruins with blood and corpses.
• Fang Cheng revealed that he could fly and activated Domain Expansion, causing a golden divine palace and sea of fire to overwhelm Jiang Chen's domain.
• Jiang Chen stared in fear at Fang Cheng's Dharma Aspect as Fang Cheng pointed at him and told him to die.

Fang Cheng overwhelmed Jiang Chen in the Inner World, destroying his Demon Army and forcing him to rely on the Gathering Yin Formation. After Cheng Jiashu cut off the formation’s connection to the earth veins, Fang Cheng trapped Jiang Chen in his Golden Palace’s light and launched his finishing attack.

• Jiang Chen sent a Demon Army against Fang Cheng, who used his Golden Palace’s Solar True Fire to destroy the spirits and purify their souls.
• Jiang Chen attacked Fang Cheng with bone spikes and revealed that the Gathering Yin Formation drew power from the earth veins.
• The Inner World began collapsing when Cheng Jiashu disrupted the formation core from outside, cutting off the yin energy supply.
• Fang Cheng’s Resplendent Divine Palace overwhelmed Jiang Chen’s weakened domain and trapped him in a golden beam that sealed his escape.
• Fang Cheng charged at Jiang Chen and unleashed Infinite Combo, Flame Gatling Punch.

Fang Cheng destroyed Jiang Chen and escaped the collapsing Inner World, gaining enough experience for Palm Technique to reach Master Level and unlock “Condensing Qi into Gang.” After reuniting with Xu Hao, Fang Cheng and his companion discovered Cheng Jiashu climbing out of the well and asking whether Jiang Chen was truly dead.

• Fang Cheng overwhelmed Jiang Chen with a barrage of flaming punches and obliterated him with a final strike, causing the Inner World to collapse.
• Fang Cheng returned to the ruined courtyard of Ancient Locust Village, where Supervisor Wu and Qian Dongming had survived beneath the altar.
• The System Panel rewarded Fang Cheng with skill experience and announced that Palm Technique had reached Master Level, granting him “Condensing Qi into Gang.”
• Xu Hao returned after hiding in an Old Locust Tree, confirmed Jiang Chen was dead, and boasted to Fang Cheng about his supposed bravery.
• Fang Cheng heard a faint voice question whether Jiang Chen had truly died, and he and Xu Hao saw Cheng Jiashu climb out of the well.