Chapter Summaries

Song Ankang helped his family and companions advance in cultivation while Kyoto’s divine protectors were killed or incapacitated. The chapter ended with Seventh-Grade Demonic Creatures and Ghosts preparing to exploit the city’s defenses and coveted treasures.

• Song Ankang raised Qiushi, Dong Xinjie, Peng Xuan'er, and Tang Liuli to the peak of the Qi Nourishing Stage and gave Tang Mingyue and Tang Yelan Sea Blood Fruits to reach the peak of the Earth Gate Realm.
• Tang Mingyue advanced into the Transcendence Realm after repeatedly reading Man Jiang Hong, while Tang Yelan still lacked an opportunity to advance.
• Thunder God was badly wounded and fell into a coma, and Kyoto’s other divine defenders were injured or occupied protecting the surrounding region.
• A Great Anomaly God ambushed and killed the last Middle God able to fight near Kyoto, leaving the city without a battle-ready Middle God.
• News of Kyoto’s weakened defenses spread, and Seventh-Grade Demonic Creatures and Ghosts began coveting the city’s resources and divine artifacts beneath the Imperial City.

The Sky Swallowing Beast began devouring towns around Kyoto, killing every resident and revealing a threat the weakened gods could not confront. After inspecting Peaceful Town, the three lesser gods feared that Kyoto and its divine artifacts would be vulnerable to a wider attack.

• The mid-level demon god Sky Swallowing Beast swallowed every resident of Peaceful Town and then destroyed several nearby villages and towns.
• The Sun Patrol Division and Night Watch Division reported the attacks to Kyoto's three remaining lesser gods capable of fighting.
• Zhang Xin Fang, Ding Song He, and Wang Xin Jing examined the aura left in Peaceful Town and realized the Sky Swallowing Beast was far stronger than they were.
• Wang Xin Jing warned that failing to stop the beast could expose Kyoto's weakness and lead Demonic Creatures and Ghosts to attack for its divine artifacts.
• Zhang Xin Fang said other places were facing worse demonic disasters and could not provide help without abandoning the people they guarded.

With Kyoto threatened by the Sky Swallowing Beast, Zhang Xin Fang, Ding Song He, and Wang Xin Jing sought the Nine Peaks Sword God’s help but could not contact him while Song Ankang cultivated in seclusion. As the beast devastated the region, Song Ankang perfected Treading Snow Without a Trace and continued pushing the technique beyond its limits.

• Zhang Xin Fang, Ding Song He, and Wang Xin Jing hesitated to pull gods from other regions to defend Kyoto, since doing so would abandon those regions and their people.
• Wang Xin Jing proposed asking the Nine Peaks Sword God to face the Sky Swallowing Beast, and the three gods quietly spread word through the Human Race’s upper ranks to find him.
• Song Ankang remained unaware of the search while he cultivated in seclusion, and Tang Liuli chose not to disturb him.
• The Sky Swallowing Beast grew bolder and killed more than a million people in a few days, swallowing villages, towns, and a small city.
• Song Ankang perfected Treading Snow Without a Trace, gaining extraordinary speed, while the Heavenly Book of Fate Defiance continued to strengthen the technique beyond its limits.

After advancing several techniques, Song Ankang emerged from seclusion and killed the Sky Swallowing Beast with one sword to save Tongxin Town. His strength convinced the Kyoto region that the Nine Peaks Sword God was a Great God, temporarily easing the threat to An City.

• Song Ankang perfected several techniques and became confident he could contend with ordinary Great Gods or escape them.
• Zhang Xin Fang, Ding Song He, and others grew desperate to contact the Nine Peaks Sword God and promised him a reward worth several million High-grade Spirit Stones.
• The Sky Swallowing Beast descended on Tongxin Town, and the townspeople prepared to die while remembering how Seven-Tread Demonic Venerable had once saved them.
• Song Ankang appeared above the Sky Swallowing Beast and killed it with one sword strike, then departed without revealing his face.
• The people of Tongxin Town celebrated the Nine Peaks Sword God, and news of his victory spread across the Kyoto region.
• The Human Race recognized the Nine Peaks Sword God as a Great God, frightening the Demonic Creatures and Ghosts and temporarily relieving the threat to An City.

Song Ankang’s sister-in-law Tang Liuli told him about the Imperial Court’s enormous reward for Nine Peaks Sword God, prompting him to seek the Xia Kingdom’s National Treasury. He arrived at the Imperial City and revealed the Sky Swallowing Beast’s corpse to confirm his identity, leaving its inhabitants in awe.

• Tang Liuli wondered whether Song Ankang was Nine Peaks Sword God, then concluded that he could not be because he had only recently reached the Minor God Realm.
• Tang Liuli told Song Ankang that the Imperial Court had promised Nine Peaks Sword God over ten million High-grade Spirit Stones to kill the Sky Swallowing Beast.
• Song Ankang realized he could claim the reward and seek treasures in the Xia Kingdom’s National Treasury, then hurried to the Imperial City wearing Nine Peaks Brocade Robes.
• Song Ankang’s arrival alerted the Imperial Guards, and Zhang Xin Fang, Wang Xin Jing, and Ding Song He came to meet him.
• Song Ankang displayed half of the Sky Swallowing Beast’s corpse, confirming that he was Nine Peaks Sword God and stirring the Imperial City into an uproar.

Song Ankang traveled to the Imperial City to claim a reward for killing the Sky Swallowing Beast, where three minor gods urged him to become Kyoto's guardian. He refused the dangerous post but agreed to remain in Kyoto and help when he could in exchange for cultivation resources.

• Zhang Xin Fang, Wang Xin Jing, and Ding Song He escorted Song Ankang to the National Treasury and learned he had killed the Sky Swallowing Beast without knowing about the reward.
• Zhang Xin Fang asked Song Ankang to become Kyoto's guardian and command the region, while Ding Song He and Wang Xin Jing stressed the benefits and the danger to its people.
• Song Ankang refused, citing his limited strength and unwillingness to take on Kyoto's responsibilities.
• Song Ankang offered to stay in Kyoto and handle problems he was confident he could resolve in exchange for cultivation resources and treasures.
• The three minor gods thanked Song Ankang for agreeing to remain in the region, though he had declined to become its guardian.

Song Ankang exchanged his merit for all thirty Explosive Spirit Fruits in the Xia Kingdom's National Treasury and used them to accelerate his cultivation. As the front-line crisis deepened, he continued strengthening himself and his Bedside Companions to prepare for what was coming.

• Song Ankang selected all thirty Explosive Spirit Fruits from the National Treasury, and Zhang Xin Fang, Wang Xin Jing, and Ding Song He warned him about their severe side effects.
• Song Ankang assured the three Lesser Gods that a special divine pill neutralized the fruits' side effects, then took the fruits and left Kyoto.
• Song Ankang consumed an Explosive Spirit Fruit every few days and steadily advanced toward the Day Roaming Realm.
• Song Ankang baptized Tang Liuli, Peng Xuan'er, Dong Xinjie, and Qiushi, helping them enter the Foundation Establishment Realm.
• Song Ankang refrained from enslaving more deities and focused on cultivation as the Xia Kingdom's front lines worsened and demons spread across the country.

As Demonic Creatures and Ghosts drove refugees toward Kyoto, Song Ankang’s Song’s Workshop expanded rapidly to meet the demand for basic medicines and help with disaster relief. Song Ankang rewarded its managers and backed further growth, leaving the workshop with more than thirty thousand workers and strong support from refugees and warriors.

• As threats around Kyoto grew and Song Ankang’s sphere of protection shrank, refugees crowded toward the capital, where Emperor of Xia Kingdom’s decree limited entry to youths under sixteen and women with children under three.
• The Tang Family, White Jade Mulberry Forest, and Song’s Workshop took in refugees and provided work, while Wang Yuliang, Hao Jiyong, and their colleagues expanded the workshop to meet soaring demand for medicines.
• Song’s Workshop’s workforce grew from three thousand to more than ten thousand, and its production and profits rose as it took over much of the basic medicinal-herb processing business around An City and Kyoto.
• Song Ankang investigated the workshop’s progress, rewarded Wang Yuliang, Hao Jiyong, Chunhua, and others with dividends, recruited ninth-grade alchemists to make medicines for wounded warriors, and approved more factory sites.
• Within a month, Song’s Workshop exceeded thirty thousand workers, supplied medicine shops and pill shops, and gained the gratitude of refugees and warriors who helped gather medicinal herbs.

Song Ankang stayed in White Jade Mulberry Forest despite Tang Yelan urging him to return to Tang Family Mansion, claiming he was close to an extraordinary breakthrough. As dangers gathered around Kyoto, he tested his power by killing a mid-level demon god with a single Blood Thunder Technique strike.

• Tang Yelan visited Song Ankang, urged him to return to Tang Family Mansion, and promised to provide him with more cultivation resources.
• Song Ankang encouraged Tang Yelan to focus on cultivation, while Tang Liuli left White Jade Mulberry Forest frustrated that she still had no chance to get close to him.
• After Tang Yelan departed, Song Ankang waited for the Boy Demonic Cultivation Technique's backlash and continued practicing martial arts secret techniques.
• Song Ankang traveled disguised to a gorge several hundred li outside Kyoto and targeted a Triangular Iron Crocodile discovered by Black Mountain Old Demon.
• Song Ankang struck the Triangular Iron Crocodile with a three-inch bolt from his Blood Thunder Technique and killed it instantly.

Song Ankang demonstrated that his perfected Blood Thunder Technique and Startling Eye Tribulation could kill Middle God-level creatures, then returned to the White Jade Mulberry Forest. There, Tang Mingyue urged him to leave for safety, but their closeness turned into a kiss before she stopped him from going further.

• Song Ankang killed a Middle Ghost God Matagi Cat instantly with his perfected Startling Eye Tribulation and considered how his techniques might threaten Great God-level foes.
• Song Ankang returned to the White Jade Mulberry Forest and counted several million High-grade Spirit Stones among his expedition’s spoils.
• Song Ankang met Tang Mingyue on his way to the White Jade Tower and accompanied her to the study, where she urged him to return to the safer Tang Family Mansion.
• Song Ankang reassured Tang Mingyue that he would leave after making a breakthrough, then kissed her as she continued to worry about his safety.
• Tang Mingyue briefly yielded to Song Ankang’s advances, but broke free and told him they still could not go further.

Song Ankang refused Tang Mingyue’s plea to move back to the Tang Family Mansion, claiming Song’s Workshop needed his protection. He stayed in White Jade Mulberry Forest, leaving Tang Mingyue and Tang Liuli worried about his safety.

• Tang Mingyue urged Song Ankang to return to the Tang Family Mansion, saying Kyoto had become dangerous and she wanted to see him more often.
• Song Ankang declined, arguing that Song’s Workshop was at a crucial stage and he could not leave it unattended.
• Tang Mingyue pointed out that the workshop’s vice masters could manage it, but Song Ankang claimed rivals might seize its valuable business if he left.
• Song Ankang reassured Tang Mingyue that hired experts, including Golden Core True Persons, guarded the workshop and that Kyoto was no safer than White Jade Mulberry Forest.
• Tang Liuli embraced Song Ankang and urged him to return to the Tang Family Mansion if danger approached.

Song Ankang reassured Tang Mingyue before learning that Zhang Lingfei intended to take Song’s Workshop for the Zhang Family. Zhang Lingfei arrived at the White Jade Mulberry Forest and warned Song that he was in danger.

• Song Ankang comforted Tang Mingyue, then went to meet Dong Xinjie.
• Zhang Xiongzhan and Zhang Lingfei discussed how Zhang’s Workshop was struggling to imitate Song’s Workshop and learned that Song Ankang owned it.
• Zhang Lingfei argued that the Tang Family offered Song Ankang little support and proposed taking Song’s Workshop for the Zhang Family.
• Zhang Xiongzhan approved Zhang Lingfei’s plan, and Zhang Lingfei set out for the White Jade Mulberry Forest with a True Person of the Golden Core Stage.
• Zhang Lingfei met Song Ankang and declared that Song was standing on the brink of disaster.

Zhang Lingfei warned Song Ankang that Song's Workshop had become a target for outside enemies and dissatisfied Tang Family members, then offered to buy it on behalf of the Zhang Family. Song Ankang rejected the low offer, and Zhang Lingfei insisted the sale would save his life.

• Song Ankang had Zhang Lingfei and his Golden Core True Person guard brought to the White Jade Tower's reception hall instead of greeting them himself.
• Zhang Lingfei warned Song Ankang that Song's Workshop faced threats from Demonic Creatures and Ghosts, covetous factions, and Tang Family members who might refuse to help.
• Song Ankang guessed that Zhang Lingfei had come to buy Song's Workshop, and Zhang Lingfei confirmed that the Zhang Family wanted to purchase it.
• Zhang Lingfei offered one hundred thousand taels of silver, and Song Ankang mocked the offer as far below the workshop's earnings.
• Zhang Lingfei argued that the low price included compensation for the dangers the Zhang Family would take on and money to save Song Ankang's life.

Song Ankang rejected Zhang Lingfei’s attempt to take Song’s Workshop and enslaved him and his Golden Core bodyguard with Imperial Orders. He sent them to Zhang Xiongzhan, intending to strip the Zhang Family of its wealth before turning to the other enemies targeting the workshop.

• Zhang Lingfei offered to protect Song’s Workshop in exchange for buying it at a low price, and Song Ankang mocked his shamelessness.
• Zhang Lingfei’s Golden Core True Person bodyguard tried to suppress Song Ankang with his aura, but Song Ankang remained unaffected.
• Zhang Lingfei and his bodyguard assumed Song Ankang was protected by a spirit artifact and pressed him to sell the workshop.
• Song Ankang used two Imperial Orders to enslave Zhang Lingfei and the Golden Core True Person bodyguard.
• The enslaved pair left to find Zhang Xiongzhan, while Song Ankang went to Huanxiang Residence and planned to take the Zhang Family’s resources and investigate the workshop’s other enemies.

Zhang Lingfei reported that he had secured Song's Workshop for the Zhang Family, but Song Ankang’s Sacred Heart True Soul enslaved him, Zhang Xiongzhan, and the Zhang Family Old Ancestor. Song Ankang ordered the Zhang Family to help Song’s Workshop absorb its businesses, setting up a rapid expansion of the workshop’s pill industry.

• Zhang Lingfei told Zhang Xiongzhan and the Zhang Family elders that he had persuaded Song Ankang to hand over Song's Workshop for one hundred thousand taels of silver.
• At a banquet, Zhang Lingfei explained his supposed success, and the Zhang Family elders praised his scheme.
• That night, Song Ankang’s Sacred Heart True Soul used an Imperial Order to enslave Zhang Xiongzhan.
• Zhang Xiongzhan helped Song Ankang enter the Zhang Family Old Ancestor’s secret cultivation grounds, where Song Ankang enslaved the injured ancestor and took the family’s resources.
• Song Ankang ordered Zhang Xiongzhan and the Zhang Family Old Ancestor to help Song’s Workshop absorb the Zhang Family’s businesses and pill industry.

The Zhang Family sacrificed much of its own business to help Song’s Workshop grow into a network of pill shops, leaving Song’s Workshop, Zhang Family, and Tang Family leaders baffled. The factions suspected the Zhang Family’s ancestor had a hidden reason for supporting Song Ankang, but no one knew about Spirit Control.

• The Zhang Family sent its best apprentices, pharmacists, and alchemists to Song’s Workshop and sold it pill shops at low prices, helping it establish dozens of shops.
• Wang Yuliang, Hao Jiyong, and Song’s Workshop’s managers questioned the Zhang Family’s generosity, but followed Song Ankang’s instructions to accept its help.
• Zhang Family members accused Zhang Xiongzhan of sacrificing their business for Song’s Workshop and learned that the family ancestor had approved his actions.
• Tang Family leaders wondered why the Zhang Family supported Song Ankang so strongly while their own family remained distant from him.
• The factions speculated that Song Ankang or Song’s Workshop had helped the Zhang Family’s ancestor, while Spirit Control remained undisclosed.

Song Ankang admitted to Tang Liuli that the Zhang Family respected Song's Workshop because he had intimidated their ancestor, then resisted her invitation to return to the Tang Family Mansion. As danger grew around Kyoto, he began considering a retreat and how to protect the people who mattered to him.

• Tang Liuli asked whether Song Ankang had intimidated the Zhang Family's Divine Ancestor, and he confirmed it while warning her to keep the secret.
• Tang Liuli urged Song Ankang to return to Kyoto, citing the danger from powerful Demonic Creatures and Ghosts lurking nearby.
• Song Ankang declined for now, saying he cared about the people living in the White Jade Mulberry Forest and could escape if threatened.
• Song Ankang reconsidered whether to retreat to Kyoto and thought about arranging protection for Dong Xinjie, Wang Yuliang, Hao Jiyong, Lin An'an, Bai Anjing, Bai Anyue, and his other followers.
• The author thanked readers for the novel's growing subscriptions and promised to continue releasing bonus chapters.

After a nearby manor was attacked by the Eight-Headed Serpent, the Three Tang Sisters went to the White Jade Mulberry Forest to bring Song Ankang home. Song Ankang agreed to return and revealed that he had just become a Transcendence Cultivator.

• Tang Yelan learned that Jingu Manor had been attacked and that the Eight-Headed Serpent had appeared near the White Jade Mulberry Forest.
• Tang Liuli and Tang Mingyue joined Tang Yelan on a trip to bring Song Ankang back to Kyoto.
• The Three Tang Sisters warned Song Ankang that the area was unsafe and insisted he return with them immediately.
• Song Ankang agreed to go back and told the sisters that he had broken through to the ranks of Transcendence Cultivators the previous night.

Song Ankang revealed that he had entered the Transcendence Realm, astonishing the Three Tang Sisters and transforming the Tang Family’s opinion of him. As Song Ankang traveled back to the Tang Family Mansion with the sisters, the family and neighboring powers prepared to welcome the newly celebrated genius.

• Song Ankang told Tang Yelan, Tang Mingyue, and Tang Liuli that he had reached the Transcendence Realm, and each sister reacted with excitement or suspicion.
• Tang Yelan sent a message bird to the Tang Family Mansion announcing Song Ankang’s breakthrough.
• Tang Family members who had criticized Song Ankang changed their opinions after learning he had reached the Transcendence Realm at age twenty.
• The Tang Family’s elders prepared a lavish welcome for Song Ankang, while neighboring families heard of his talent and gathered to see him.
• Song Ankang rode toward the Tang Family Mansion in a carriage with Tang Yelan, Tang Mingyue, and Tang Liuli, unaware of the spectacle awaiting him.

Song Ankang returned to Tang Family Mansion to a lavish welcome, where Tang Yelan publicly raised his standing from son-in-law to her equal. He entered the family residence with the Tang sisters, while Tang Yelan approached as he considered choosing a courtyard.

• Tang Yelan told Song Ankang she had arranged places in Kyoto for people from White Jade Mulberry Forest and Song's Workshop.
• The group reached Tang Family Mansion and found a red bridal-trousseau road lined with Tang Family leaders and nearby factions welcoming them.
• Tang Yelan took Song Ankang's hand and walked beside him, signaling that he held equal status with her rather than remaining merely a Tang Family son-in-law.
• Grand Elder Tang Zhijia praised Song Ankang, told him to keep Song's Workshop's profits, and promised to handle anyone who tried to seize its business.
• Song Ankang entered the direct-line residence and began considering which courtyard to choose before Tang Yelan walked over to him.