Chapter Summaries

After a violent encounter left him badly injured, Chen Mu decided to leave Qingshan County but settled near Qingfeng Temple while he recovered. He equipped his new shelter and began studying medicine, while Jie Jia offered to help him obtain ingredients for copying an expensive healing pill.

• Chen Mu examined the silver, flexible sword, and strange leather pouch he had taken from his enemies, suspecting the pouch contained the vanished Red Paper Effigy.
• When his injuries worsened, Chen Mu bought Three Yang Six Gentlemen Pills from Jie Jia and agreed to postpone leaving Qingshan County for three months.
• Chen Mu chose to live near Qingfeng Temple for protection from Malevolent Spirits and built a Wooden Cabin on Little East Mountain among the laborers' settlement.
• Chen Mu stocked his cabin with supplies and the last four sacks of White Wheat from his old residence, then stayed inside to recover.
• Jie Jia brought Chen Mu medical books, and Chen Mu began studying them to improve his Medicine Crafting and replicate the Three Yang Six Gentlemen Pill.
• Jie Jia offered to find medicinal ingredients through his connections, prompting Chen Mu to suspect he had spotted another business opportunity.

Chen Mu ground his Medicine Crafting proficiency by studying Jie Jia’s medical books and identifying the ingredients in a pill, then discovered that developing herbal seasonings for roast meat also improved his skill. He decided to use cooking experiments to keep advancing without buying rare herbs, while continuing to recover in his cabin.

• Chen Mu agreed to buy herbs from Jie Jia later, then began reading the medical books Jie Jia had found and raised his Medicine Crafting proficiency.
• After spotting a dark figure vault into Qingfeng Temple, Chen Mu chose not to investigate and focused on recovering in his Wooden Cabin.
• Half a month later, Chen Mu finished his medical books, analyzed a Three Yang Six Gentlemen Pill, and decided to try crafting medicines if he could not find more books.
• Chen Mu killed a gray rabbit with a cobblestone and used his herbal knowledge to create a roast meat seasoning recipe.
• Jie Jia arrived to eat the rabbit, and Chen Mu found that inventing the seasoning had raised his Medicine Crafting proficiency, giving him a new way to practice without buying rare herbs.

Chen Mu bought a live wild boar and tested the Crimson Leather Pouch he had obtained from the Round-Faced Daoist by feeding it the animal’s blood. The pouch absorbed all the blood and disgorged a large pile of items, revealing itself as a treasure, and Chen Mu left with it.

• Chen Mu sold his failed rice balls at the settlement market and learned that Old Zhang Liu had wild boars for sale.
• Chen Mu visited Old Zhang Liu and bought the largest wild boar for ten taels of silver.
• Chen Mu carried the boar to a secluded hollow, killed it, and drained its blood into a wooden basin.
• Chen Mu put the Crimson Leather Pouch into the pig blood, and it absorbed the blood completely.
• Chen Mu used sticks to open the pouch, which spilled a large pile of items into the basin before sealing itself shut again.

After looting a strange Five Ghosts Bag, Chen Mu failed to decipher its scripture and turned back to his medicine work, creating a fasting pill and replicating Zhu Yi Pavilion’s secret medicine. He arranged for Jie Jia to sell the medicine and collected herbs from Old Man Liu, but then saw Constable Lu escorting a bloodstained corpse on a stretcher.

• Chen Mu found the Five Ghosts Bag’s instructions among his spoils, learned it could command five modified Yin Soul Monsters, and spent three days trying unsuccessfully to decipher its scripture.
• Chen Mu put the bag and scroll away, copied the scripture, and resumed Medicine Crafting.
• After advancing to Tier 3 Medicine Crafting, Chen Mu made a filling pill and replicated Zhu Yi Pavilion’s Three Yang Six Gentlemen Pill.
• Chen Mu and Jie Jia agreed that Jie Jia would sell bottles of the replicated medicine for six taels each.
• Chen Mu collected medicinal herbs from Old Man Liu at the Settlement market and noticed Constable Lu accompanying yamen runners carrying a bloodstained corpse.

Chen Mu discovered how to recite the Five Ghosts Moving Mountains Incantation and used it to summon and control a Paper Man, though it could barely lift anything. Meanwhile, Cheng Yi and Feng Ren plotted to refine the Heartless Bell while deceiving Constable Lu with claims about Five Qi Pills.

• Chen Mu noticed medicinal scents on Constable Lu and suspected he was taking medicine that stimulated an organ's potential.
• Chen Mu found that the incantation's pace, pronunciation, and emphasis increased its Proficiency, then spent half a month practicing it.
• Cheng Yi traded Constable Lu a Five Qi Pill and told him to find people as ingredients, while secretly preparing to ritual-refine the Heartless Bell.
• Feng Ren appeared after Constable Lu left and confirmed that the organ-based Alchemy story was a deception.
• Chen Mu summoned a Paper Man from the Five Ghosts Bag and controlled it, but it could not lift a pig or a human-sized stone.

Chen Mu discovered that the Five Ghosts Bag could store stones and other objects, but it consumed meat that touched its inner walls. He adapted the bag to protect food and maximize its space, while planning his training and waiting for Jie Jia to find time for their journey.

• Chen Mu used the Five Ghosts Moving Mountains Incantation to store a head-sized stone in the Five Ghosts Bag and realized the bag, not the Paper Men, was the art’s foundation.
• Jie Jia told Chen Mu that his jobs were booked through next month, delaying their departure, while Chen Mu concealed that the Five Ghosts Bag had eaten the meat he carried inside it.
• Chen Mu planned to resume the Body Tempering Technique and practice the Five Ghosts Moving Mountains Incantation, then used the bag to gather fish from the Bailang River.
• Chen Mu discovered that meat touching the bag’s inner wall disappeared, so he lined the interior with tent fabric and stored fish alongside a rock without damage.
• Chen Mu commissioned a compartmented wooden shelf shaped like a Giant Egg, then stored it inside the Five Ghosts Bag to make better use of its space.

Chen Mu trained the Five Ghosts Moving Mountains Incantation while Constable Lu pursued a scholar and was ambushed by a powerful man. On the bridge, Chen Mu tried to help a wounded laborer, but the burly man carrying him blocked Chen Mu’s Iron Lotus Seed with twin blades.

• Chen Mu tested his modified Spirit-Disturbing Smoke on a family of wild boars and knocked them unconscious.
• Constable Lu learned that the scholar had been found, then broke into a cabin to attack the figure inside.
• Chen Mu spent half a month training the Five Ghosts Moving Mountains Incantation by the Bailang River and improved its speed and discretion.
• The burly man in the cabin defeated Constable Lu and accused him of murder and robbery; Lu swallowed a Five Qi Pill and fled.
• Chen Mu encountered the burly man carrying a badly injured laborer on the bridge and threw him an Iron Lotus Seed, which the man deflected with his twin blades.

Chen Mu killed the Black-Clad Strongman after the man betrayed their agreement, then left the injured Lu Jin behind. Feng Ren and Cheng Yi took Lu Jin back to Qingfeng Temple to use him for their alchemical plans, while Chen Mu reflected on how killing had hardened him.

• Chen Mu and the Black-Clad Strongman agreed to part ways, but the man attacked him with a hidden Short Blade.
• Chen Mu countered the attack and killed the Black-Clad Strongman with red mist and an Iron Lotus Seed, then left unconscious Lu Jin on the bridge.
• Cheng Yi and Feng Ren found Lu Jin, and Feng Ren ordered Cheng Yi to use his remaining life potential and organs to refine the Heartless Bell.
• Feng Ren and Cheng Yi discussed the risk of exposure and planned to hurry construction of the Altar, while Feng Ren said he had a substitute for the fifth Human Cauldron.
• Chen Mu cooked fish and reflected that the cruelty of the world had made him colder and more willing to kill.

Chen Mu prepared for his upcoming journey with Jie Jia, then practiced the Five Ghosts Moving Mountains Incantation at the Bailang River. He advanced the incantation to Tier 3, gaining two Paper Men and a five-meter placement range, and headed home with a more versatile combat technique.

• Jie Jia told Chen Mu they would leave on the twenty-first and urged him to bring plenty of food, while Chen Mu agreed to pack rice balls.
• Chen Mu disguised himself as Yang Zhi and heard Settlement laborers speculate about the wolves and the Yamen Runners, but learned nothing about the previous night's incident.
• Chen Mu crossed the stone bridge, noticed blood where the burly man's body had been, and wondered whether Lu Jin had been rescued and whether the County Office would investigate.
• Chen Mu spent the day practicing the Five Ghosts Moving Mountains Incantation and used Drunken Bait to draw fish into the river.
• Chen Mu advanced the incantation to Tier 3, summoned a second Yin Soul Paper Figure, and discovered he could place objects five meters away in two directions at once.
• Chen Mu collected the fish from the river and returned home.

After yamen runners looted the Settlement and conscripted residents to build an Altar, Chen Mu hid on Little East Mountain to prepare travel rations. He met Cheng Ming, learned about people born with an Innate Dao Bone, and ended the chapter dismissing the Gray Wall after seeing he could complete Body Refining in three months.

• Chen Mu learned from Old Man Liu that County Deputy Li Qing had sent yamen runners to force Settlement residents to build the Altar, and he arranged to buy herbs from him.
• Chen Mu found his Wooden Cabin looted and moved into a tent near a pool on Little East Mountain to prepare provisions while waiting for his departure date.
• Cheng Ming found Chen Mu, ate his Pan-Fried Fish Fillet and Fasting Pills, and promised not to tell Qingfeng Temple where he was staying.
• Jie Jia told Chen Mu that people with an Innate Dao Bone could complete Body Refining in a hundred days and form an Armor Soul in three years.
• Chen Mu checked the Gray Wall and saw that his Red Falcon Body Tempering Technique would let him complete Body Refining in three months, then dismissed it and refused to look again.

Li Qing rejected Li Wenlin’s proposal to use a blood-sacrifice artifact, while Chen Mu finished preparing supplies and left the Settlement for Nanyang Prefecture. At the Bailang River, he waited alone in the mist as a rumbling presence approached.

• Li Wenlin told Li Qing about a magical artifact that required living blood sacrifices, but Li Qing forbade him from pursuing it.
• Chen Mu inspected Old Man Liu’s medicinal ingredients, bought the usable goods, and continued preparing food and medicine for his journey.
• Cheng Ming told Chen Mu that Feng Ren had sent him to stay in Qingshan County because it was unsafe, prompting Chen Mu to decide he could not remain there.
• Chen Mu bought the final batch of ingredients from Old Man Liu and said he was leaving for Nanyang Prefecture.
• On December 21, Chen Mu arrived at the Bailang River to meet his companions, but waited alone in thick mist as a rumbling sound and trembling ground signaled something approaching.

Li Wenlin tested the Longevity Gourd’s wine, unaware that the old man used it to kill the prisoners and planned to take revenge on him. Chen Mu left Qingshan County with Jie Jia’s caravan, while Feng Ren died after Cheng Yi poisoned him for the Longevity Elixir.

• Li Wenlin drank wine brewed by the tall, skinny old man’s Yellow Gourd and felt his cultivation bottleneck loosen, then left the prison in the old man’s care.
• After Li Wenlin left, the old man revealed the Longevity Wine was a ruse and released White Mist that killed the prisoners.
• Chen Mu met the Bald Strongman and boarded Jie Jia’s caravan, learning that it belonged to the Zuo Family and carried several of his acquaintances, including Cheng Ming, Du Huai, and Zhang Ye.
• At Qingfeng Temple, Cheng Yi admitted poisoning Feng Ren to obtain the Longevity Elixir, and Feng Ren revealed that the elixir was poison before dying.
• Cheng Ming asked Chen Mu for food, and Jie Jia offered to sell him rice balls on credit, prompting Chen Mu to realize Jie Jia intended to charge Cheng Ming for food he had taken from Chen Mu.

A deadly white mist enveloped Qingshan County, and Chen Mu recognized the danger as the caravan set out through it. After several people died and he forced the caravan onward, he and Jie Jia watched the silent fog from outside, where Jie Jia said the mist itself was wrong.

• Old Man Liu and Li Qing discovered the fog’s deadly effects as people around them became weak and died.
• After a young member of the Zuo Family died, Chen Mu noticed the unnatural silence, and Jie Jia found motionless insects in the fog.
• Chen Mu drove past the Bald Strongman’s blockade, threatening him with a sword, and Master Zuo ordered the caravan to follow.
• Chen Mu sped the Black Lacquer Carriage beyond the fog, and Zhen Fan reported that four more people had died.
• Jie Jia told Chen Mu that restless spirits were not responsible and that something was wrong with the mist.

Chen Mu spent a day resting and training with the convoy in an abandoned village, where he learned of disasters in Qingshan County and rumors of a buried treasure. At Qingfeng Temple, Wu Yin revealed Cheng Yi had poisoned Feng Ren for the Longevity Elixir, while Zhang Ye chose not to investigate the treasure because he had to reach Nanyang Prefecture safely.

• Chen Mu shared food with Jie Jia and Cheng Ming, then spent the day practicing the Body Tempering Technique and Evasive Form.
• Zhang Ye told the group that a fire had devastated Qingshan County and an earthquake had struck near Little East Mountain; Cheng Ming said his master and senior brother were likely safe.
• At Qingfeng Temple, Wu Yin confronted Cheng Yi over Feng Ren's death, and Cheng Yi attacked him but could not penetrate his Armor Soul.
• Wu Yin learned Cheng Yi had poisoned Feng Ren to obtain the Longevity Elixir and told him the elixir had ruined his chance to See Immortality.
• Zhen Fan reported rumors that a treasure beneath Little East Mountain had caused the fire and earthquake, but Zhang Ye decided against investigating because he had paid for safe passage to Nanyang Prefecture.

During the journey to Nanyang Prefecture, Chen Mu developed a way to practice the Red Falcon Body Tempering Technique while sitting in the carriage. Meanwhile, Cheng Yi learned that bringing Cheng Ming to Shouyang Mountain could earn him a chance to leave and pursue immortality, and he resolved to find his junior disciple.

• Chen Mu studied the Body Tempering Technique’s Breathing Method during the carriage ride and gradually learned to activate his muscles while sitting.
• Zhang Ye tried to steal snacks from Chen Mu’s bag, but Chen Mu stopped him with a sudden sword threat; Cheng Ming then shared his own snacks with Jie Jia.
• At Qingfeng Temple, Cheng Yi trained his newly cultivated Soul Force while Wu Yin told him a Thousand Mechanism Token could be obtained by bringing Cheng Ming to Shouyang Mountain.
• Cheng Yi concealed his intentions from Wu Yin and said he would leave to look after Cheng Ming.
• Chen Mu completed a Breathing Method cycle in the carriage, gained one point of proficiency, and insisted that his apparent happiness was actually sadness about his ordinary talent.

Chen Mu traveled with the convoy through Nanyang Prefecture, using the journey to practice his Breathing Method and secure food. After fishing by the river, he encountered an eerie figure appearing repeatedly in his path, and tried to sell her spare clothes.

• Chen Mu refused to sell Zhang Ye roasted rabbit but offered him free meals if he caught the game, then put him to work hunting.
• When Zhang Ye returned with only five small bird eggs, Miss Bai and her enormous maidservant Cui Cui arrived with a wild boar for Chen Mu to cook.
• Cui Cui regularly supplied the group with game, solving Chen Mu’s food shortage and giving him more time to practice.
• After the convoy camped beside a large river, Chen Mu went upstream, poisoned the water with bait, and filled the Five Ghosts Bag with fish.
• On his way back, Chen Mu saw a woman bathing, then encountered the same eerie figure blocking his path in the woods, so he offered to sell her spare clothes.

Chen Mu and Jie Jia survived a Yin Soul Monster encounter, and Chen Mu reached Marrow Cleansing while training on the journey to Nanyang Prefecture. Jie Jia explained that Chen Mu needed to visualize the Divine Intent to continue, then suggested the Red Falcon Body Tempering Technique was a minor lineage.

• Chen Mu called Jie Jia to destroy the Long-Haired Woman, revealed as a Yin Soul Monster, and learned Jie Jia had tried to raise his escort fee to test whether he was possessed.
• Chen Mu realized the Little Paper Men in his Five Ghosts Bag had deterred the monster from possessing him, and he continued traveling with the caravan while training and feeding the bag near rivers.
• At a ruined temple, Chen Mu’s training triggered Marrow Cleansing, though the transformation lasted only about fifteen minutes and Jie Jia initially mistook it for a lengthy process.
• Chen Mu checked the Gray Wall and saw his Red Falcon Body Tempering Technique had advanced to Tier 4, then wondered how to train further without Sheng Hong’s instruction.
• Jie Jia explained that Chen Mu needed to visualize the Divine Intent, then implied the Red Falcon technique was a minor lineage, prompting Chen Mu to point out that Jie Jia had sold a hundred copies of it.

Chen Mu arrived in Nanyang Prefecture and learned that the Red Falcon Body Tempering Technique lacked a Divine Intent, leaving him to seek a stronger inheritance through powerful factions. At the city gate, he parted ways with his companions and rejected Cheng Yi’s payment and demand that he stay away from Cheng Ming.

• Chen Mu asked Jie Jia about Divine Intent inheritances and learned that the Red Falcon Body Tempering Technique had none, while major factions and the military held techniques that did.
• During a rain delay, Chen Mu tested his Marrow Cleansing and found that it greatly improved his speed, agility, and stamina.
• The caravan reached Nanyang Prefecture, where Zuo Sheng arrived with men from the Jinghong Gang, which County Lieutenant Du said recruited only children for its inner ranks.
• At the city gate, Miss Bai and Du Huai left the group, and Cheng Ming reunited with Cheng Yi, who thanked Chen Mu for looking after his junior brother.
• Cheng Yi offered Chen Mu a Silver Note and told him never to appear before Cheng Ming again; Chen Mu refused the money and rode away.

Chen Mu settled into Nanyang Prefecture and teamed up with Jie Jia to make and sell imitation medicines while searching for a Body Tempering Technique with Divine Intent. After finding no suitable manual at the Ghost Market, Chen Mu decided to keep practicing the Red Falcon Body Tempering Technique and investigate the phantom appearing in his mind.

• Chen Mu counted his remaining money and agreed to split profits from a medicine business with Jie Jia, who would provide ingredients while Chen Mu made the pills.
• Two evenings later, Jie Jia took Chen Mu to the Ghost Market aboard a massive black ship and gave him Yellow Dragon Powder and Jade Marrow Pill to imitate.
• At Scarlet Polygonum Hall, Chen Mu recognized the Red Falcon Body Tempering Technique as a manual he had drawn and learned that the shopkeeper did not know about Divine Intent.
• Chen Mu left the Ghost Market without buying a Body Tempering Technique because the White Ape Body Tempering Technique cost six hundred taels and the shop had no information about Divine Intent.
• At home, Chen Mu practiced the Red Falcon Body Tempering Technique and resolved to raise its Proficiency further after noticing a red phantom becoming clearer in his mind.

Chen Mu continued developing his medicine business and refining the Red Falcon Body Tempering Technique, eventually cultivating Soul Force and gaining extraordinary speed. The technique reached its limit, and Chen Mu confirmed that he had finally awakened a bird-shaped Divine Intent and a strange mark on his foot.

• Chen Mu received his first month's Spirit Sand Pill dividends from Jie Jia and gave him Yellow Dragon Powder to test.
• Jie Jia explained how a mastered Body Tempering Technique could nurture Soul Force, but Chen Mu chose to continue with the Red Falcon Body Tempering Technique.
• Chen Mu encountered Zhang Ye at South Market, where the Jinghong Gang was recruiting fighters after several of its halls had been wiped out.
• Chen Mu stockpiled White Wheat in an underground space and continued earning profits from Yellow Dragon Powder.
• After two months of refining his Breathing Method, Chen Mu formed a bird-shaped Divine Intent, developed a black mark on his foot, and discovered that he could move with startling speed.