Chapter Summaries

Geng Zhongtang sent three disciples to Dijing City after they swore loyalty to the Flying Wolf Alliance, while Qin Fengming and his companions continued their journey, worried that the expected interception had not appeared. As they prepared to leave a rest stop, two groups approached from opposite directions, and the old man surnamed Xiao detected them.

• Geng Zhongtang ordered three people to swear loyalty to the Flying Wolf Alliance, then sent them toward Dijing City with storage rings and instructions.
• Geng Zhongtang left Wolf Leap Mountain, reflecting that the success of his plans would determine whether he could advance further.
• After ten days of travel, Qin Fengming worried that the expected interceptors had failed to appear and discussed with Shang Lingxi the possibility of killing their two escorts if necessary.
• Five people chose a spot near Wolf Leap Mountain to ambush Qin Fengming's group, concealing themselves beneath a red silk treasure.
• As Qin Fengming and the others prepared to resume their journey, the old man surnamed Xiao sensed spiritual power approaching rapidly from both the north and south.

Xiao Yong and Qin Fengming’s group were cornered by two groups of cultivators seeking the Nourishing Yin Wood. Xiao Yong admitted he had it and sent its box between the opposing groups, but a female cultivator warned everyone not to be fooled.

• Xiao Yong planted flags to set up a formation as two groups of Core Formation cultivators approached from opposite directions.
• The newcomers formed a triangle around Xiao Yong, Zhang Bing, Wei Yuehua, Qin Fengming, and Shang Lingxi, leaving them vastly outnumbered.
• A yellow-faced pursuer demanded the Nourishing Yin Wood, and a peak Foundation Establishment cultivator from the other group also offered safe passage in exchange for it.
• Xiao Yong admitted the divine wood was in his possession and sent its wooden box toward the forest between the two groups.
• Cultivators from both sides rushed toward the box, but a middle-aged woman warned them to stop, halting those who had fallen behind.

Xiao Yong activated the Yin Soul Locking Demon Array after a cultivator exposed his trap, trapping four Core Formation cultivators while the others prepared to fight him. As the battle began, Qin Fengming gave Shang Lingxi talismans and urged her to escape, while Xiao Yong struggled to hold off the peak Core Formation cultivator’s powerful treasure.

• A female cultivator recognized Xiao Yong’s scheme, but he activated the Yin Soul Locking Demon Array and trapped four cultivators inside it.
• Sixteen ghosts, including several ghost commanders, attacked the four trapped cultivators, who joined forces to defend themselves.
• The cultivators outside the array realized Xiao Yong had nearly lured them into his trap, and the peak Core Formation cultivator launched a black bowl at him.
• Qin Fengming gave Shang Lingxi Earth Evasion Talismans and Turn Ground into Steel talismans, telling her to escape when the fighting became chaotic.
• Xiao Yong told Banner Leader Zhang, Steward Li, Elder Wei, and the others to flee, then used his paired mandarin duck axe and a dagger-axe to hold back the black bowl.

As the cultivators fought over the Nourishing Yin Wood, Qin Fengming used the confusion to flee, drawing Hong Lu and another pursuer away from the battlefield. He escaped on the White Swift Boat, but Hong Lu and the woman pursued him with their own means.

• A late Core Formation man and woman joined forces with the opposing cultivators, while Li Ling, Wei Yuehua, and Shang Lingxi engaged their attackers.
• Qin Fengming realized the others had dismissed him as a threat and fled on a spiritual artifact as Hong Lu gave chase.
• Qin Fengming recognized Hong Lu as the man who had come to kill Zhang Bing and sped away aboard the White Swift Boat.
• Hong Lu pursued Qin Fengming, relying on his greater speed and a spirit beast skilled at tracking scents.
• The woman summoned the Wind Chasing Bird Puppet and chased after Qin Fengming and Hong Lu.

Four cultivators trapped in Qin Fengming’s Yin Soul Locking Demon Array found that the ghosts could not be killed and their magic treasures were being drained, while the battles outside remained locked in stalemate. Qin Fengming fled by boat without concern for his pursuers, as Shang Lingxi fought to buy him time.

• The four trapped cultivators retrieved their weakening lifebound treasures and used other magic treasures to fight off the ghosts.
• Two fierce ghosts re-formed after being struck down, so the cultivators tried to break through the array’s barrier, but the ghosts and black mist intercepted their treasures.
• The white-faced middle-aged man struggled against a late Core Formation opponent, while Xiao and his companions fought a Peak Core Formation cultivator.
• Shang Lingxi used her Nascent Soul spiritual sense to rescue Li from two late-stage opponents and kept fighting to give Qin Fengming time to escape.
• Shang Lingxi realized the departing early Core Formation cultivator was Hong Lu and feared for her younger brother, while Qin Fengming remained calm as two cultivators pursued him.

Qin Fengming fled from Hong Lu and a female cultivator, using spiritual liquid to keep his White Swift Boat moving at speed. After realizing Hong Lu could track him with a spirit-tracking beast, Qin Fengming stopped in the mountains and waited to face his pursuers.

• Qin Fengming used the battle's chaos to escape while Hong Lu pursued him and the female cultivator followed farther behind.
• Qin Fengming replenished his spiritual power with a blue liquid bead and changed direction after leaving Hong Lu beyond the range of his spiritual sense.
• Qin Fengming heard a distant explosion that he believed came from a Core Formation cultivator detonating, then sensed Hong Lu and the female cultivator approaching.
• Hong Lu used a spirit-tracking beast to find Qin Fengming's trail again, and Qin Fengming realized he could not shake the pursuit by fleeing alone.
• Qin Fengming descended onto a mountain peak and waited for Hong Lu and the female cultivator to arrive.

Qin Fengming lured Hong Lu close by pretending to be frightened and offering him treasure, then revealed that he knew Hong Lu’s identity and killed him with a powerful talisman. With Hong Lu dead and the female cultivator searching nearby, Qin Fengming hid himself inside the mountain rock.

• Hong Lu caught up to Qin Fengming, who pretended to plead for his life and offered a Blood Fox Alliance treasure vault in exchange for mercy.
• Hong Lu moved within striking distance, and Qin Fengming revealed that he knew Hong Lu was posing as Zhang Bing before attacking with a Sun-Shooting Talisman.
• The talisman pierced Hong Lu’s natal magic treasure and killed him, while Qin Fengming’s yellow little beast swallowed Hong Lu’s soul.
• Qin Fengming searched Hong Lu’s body, burned the corpse, and decided not to pursue the female cultivator who had stopped nearby.
• Qin Fengming used a talisman to sink into the mountain rock, and the female cultivator was astonished to see Zhang Bing disappear.

Qin Fengming confronted Yin Bizhu after she investigated the disappearance of her companion, Hong Lu, and concealed his identity while fighting her. He recognized her as the Radiant Tiger Alliance cultivator whose recommendation jade pendant could help him enter Manghuang Mountain, and the encounter ended as he evaded her Chaos Sky Silk and prepared a counterattack.

• Yin Bizhu flew toward the place where Qin Fengming had disappeared, but Qin ambushed her from the mountain forest and claimed that Hong Lu had taken his own life.
• Yin Bizhu saw through Qin’s lie, challenged him, and sent a jade-green ring spirit artifact at him.
• Qin and Yin Bizhu exchanged four top-grade spirit artifacts apiece, leaving both surprised by the other’s wealth.
• Yin Bizhu unleashed the Chaos Sky Silk, and Qin recognized her as Yin Bizhu of the Radiant Tiger Alliance and decided he needed her recommendation jade pendant.
• Qin used the Azure Cloud Maze to dodge the Chaos Sky Silk, then threw out another treasure as Yin Bizhu stared in shock at his speed.

Qin Fengming used Zhang Bing’s disk and a Black Spider to defeat Yin Bizhu and expose her as the Radiant Tiger Alliance’s Flag Master. He invoked the 108 Merchant Guilds’ pact and the Nourishing Yin Divine Wood to pressure her, leaving their negotiation unresolved.

• Zhang Bing’s disk formed a vortex that entangled Yin Bizhu’s Chaos Sky Silk and challenged its power.
• Qin Fengming summoned a Black Spider, which trapped Yin Bizhu and her giant bird in its web.
• Qin Fengming sealed Yin Bizhu’s magic power, collected the abandoned treasures, and exposed her identity by removing her mask.
• Yin Bizhu admitted she had no reason to deceive Qin Fengming and argued that the merchant guilds would not care about trouble in Quzhou.
• Qin Fengming cited the pact of the 108 Merchant Guilds and warned that the Blood Fox Alliance would pursue the matter because of the Nourishing Yin Divine Wood.

Qin Fengming negotiated with Yin Bizhu over the Nourishing Yin Wood, accepting spirit stones and pills in exchange for her silence and returning her belongings. When he detected an approaching Core Formation cultivator, he freed Yin Bizhu and fled, leaving her to escape as well.

• Yin Bizhu offered spirit stones and a poisonous oath to keep the Nourishing Yin Wood secret, and Qin Fengming agreed to negotiate.
• Qin Fengming claimed the Nourishing Yin Wood had already been secretly sent away, then accepted one hundred thousand spirit stones and two pills from Yin Bizhu.
• Yin Bizhu asked Qin Fengming to return her Household’s spirit tools and magic treasures, and he agreed once she swore her oath.
• Qin Fengming detected a fast-approaching Core Formation cultivator, freed Yin Bizhu from the restriction, returned her belongings, and fled on his white flying boat.
• Yin Bizhu broke out of the spiderweb, sensed the approaching cultivator, and fled on her flying bird.

Yin Bizhu and Wei Nanzhong pursued Qin Fengming after suspecting he might possess the Nourishing Yin Wood, but he escaped into the mountain rock using Earth Evasion Technique. Wei revealed a swarm of Gold Devouring Insects to flush him out.

• Wei Nanzhong caught up with Yin Bizhu and ordered her to pursue the fleeing Qin Fengming, suspecting the Nourishing Yin Wood might be with him.
• Yin Bizhu drove the Wind Chasing Bird after Qin Fengming, whose escape boat could not match its speed.
• Qin Fengming put away his boat and vanished into the mountain forest with Earth Evasion Technique.
• Wei Nanzhong searched the area with his divine sense but could not find Qin Fengming hiding underground.
• Wei Nanzhong released more than a thousand Gold Devouring Insects and explained that they could consume earth and use Earth Evasion Technique.

Qin Fengming hid underground from Yin Bizhu and the Old man surnamed Wei, but Wei's black beetles found him and began devouring his defenses and treasures. He used his Innate Refined Fire to engulf all eight beetles, though their fate remained unclear.

• The Old man surnamed Wei explained that his Gold Devouring Insects had changed after swallowing a Blackgold ore vein, then sent them into the mountain forest.
• Qin Fengming hid fifty zhang underground, hoping to evade Yin Bizhu and the Old man surnamed Wei rather than fight a Core Formation cultivator.
• Three black beetles reached Qin Fengming and gnawed at his Five Elements barrier, then devoured his high-grade spirit artifact Giant Sword.
• Five more beetles joined the attack, making Qin Fengming's barrier flicker as he searched for a way to stop them.
• Qin Fengming released eight flames of Innate Refined Fire, which engulfed all eight beetles; after a few breaths, the flames returned to him.

Yin Bizhu learned from Wei Nanzhong that Feng and Xu had died when four cultivators detonated themselves inside a formation, while the survivors pursued the Nourishing Yin Divine Wood. After Wei Nanzhong discovered that eight of his Gold Devouring Insects had been killed, he and Yin Bizhu flew toward Qin Fengming, whom they believed was Zhang Bing.

• Wei Nanzhong told Yin Bizhu that Feng and Xu had died in an explosion caused by four cultivators trapped inside a formation detonating themselves.
• Wei Nanzhong explained that he had captured Xiao Yong after the blast, while a married couple killed Li Ling and pursued Wei Yuehua.
• Wei Nanzhong said he had followed Xiao Yong because he suspected the Nourishing Yin Divine Wood was with Zhang Bing, and Yin Bizhu concluded that they needed to capture Zhang Bing and search his soul.
• Wei Nanzhong sensed that eight of his Gold Devouring Insects had been killed and flew southeast with Yin Bizhu.
• Wei Nanzhong and Yin Bizhu reached Qin Fengming, where Wei Nanzhong saw his remaining beetles swarming toward him.

Qin Fengming named his upgraded flame the Spirit Devouring Netherflame, then faced a growing swarm of Gold Devouring Insects sent by the Old man surnamed Wei. The swarm broke through his Five Elements barriers, but stopped before his enormous emerald flame canopy as Wei sensed his location.

• Qin Fengming celebrated killing eight Gold Devouring Insects and named his fused flame the Spirit Devouring Netherflame.
• The Old man surnamed Wei sent more than a thousand Gold Devouring Insects into the mountain forest to hunt Zhang Bing, while Yin Bizhu watched uneasily.
• Qin Fengming used the Spirit Devouring Netherflame to destroy successive groups of beetles, but hundreds more converged on his position.
• The beetles shattered Qin Fengming’s Five Elements barriers, forcing him to gather his flames into a canopy around himself.
• The remaining beetles halted before the emerald canopy, and the Old man surnamed Wei sensed Qin Fengming through his connection to them and resolved to discover how Zhang Bing had killed his insects.

Qin Fengming and Old man surnamed Wei remained trapped in a stalemate beneath and around the mountain rock, until Qin Fengming unleashed his Silver Sheath Worms against Wei's Gold Devouring Insects. The worms began slaughtering the black beetles, leaving Wei shocked as he sensed their deaths.

• Qin Fengming stayed protected inside the mountain rock by the Spirit Devouring Netherflame while Old man surnamed Wei's beetles could not reach him.
• Old man surnamed Wei learned from a beetle that Qin Fengming's flame was destroying the insects, and he told Yin Bizhu that Zhang Bing was trapped underground.
• Qin Fengming realized his Silver Sheath Worms might overcome the Gold Devouring Insects and released several thousand of them.
• The Silver Sheath Worms fought the black beetles, survived their attacks, and killed hundreds within the time it took to burn a stick of incense.
• Old man surnamed Wei sensed hundreds of his Gold Devouring Insects disappearing and realized Qin Fengming was slaughtering them.

After Qin Fengming’s Silver Sheath Worms destroyed the Old man surnamed Wei’s spirit insects, Wei attacked the underground terrain to force him out. Qin Fengming escaped the attacks and fled toward a nearby mountain, hoping to lose the pursuing Core Formation cultivator there.

• The Old man surnamed Wei learned that his spirit insects had been wiped out and attacked the mountain with his purple whip to dig out Zhang Bing.
• Qin Fengming discovered through a Silver Sheath Worm that Wei’s strikes were penetrating deep underground, so he recalled his insects and began moving away.
• The Old man surnamed Wei sent his remaining spirit insects into the tunnel, found Qin Fengming’s trail, and directed his purple whip after him.
• Qin Fengming fled diagonally upward and dodged Wei’s strike before racing away across the ground.
• Qin Fengming headed for a nearby mountain, believing its terrain would help him shake off the pursuing Wei.

Qin Fengming escaped Old man surnamed Wei by entering a mountain and using a Turn Ground into Steel talisman to block the Core Formation cultivator’s attacks. A month and a half later, he reached Wushan City to meet Shang Lingxi, uncertain whether she had survived the explosion during her escape.

• Qin Fengming sensed Old man surnamed Wei’s attacks and dodged them while fleeing toward a mountain.
• Qin Fengming entered the mountain and used a Turn Ground into Steel talisman, preventing Old man surnamed Wei from striking through the rock.
• Yin Bizhu wondered whether Zhang Bing was connected to a black-faced talisman seller she had met, while Old man surnamed Wei waited above the mountain.
• Qin Fengming slowly traveled through the mountain and left undetected three days later, while Old man surnamed Wei and Yin Bizhu remained on the peak.
• Qin Fengming arrived in Wushan City a month and a half later, hoping to meet Shang Lingxi as they had agreed.

After arriving in Wushan City, Qin Fengming searched for Shang Lingxi and found she had not yet arrived. While dining, he overheard Black Crane Sect disciples discuss a spirit-infused treasure soon to appear in Azure Nether Valley, and he became interested.

• Qin Fengming entered Guangyuan Tower and ordered a meal in a private dining area.
• Qin Fengming swept Wushan City with his divine sense but found no sign of Shang Lingxi, so he planned to wait for her somewhere secluded outside the city.
• Qin Fengming recognized two diners as Black Crane Sect disciples and listened as they discussed a treasure expected to appear in Azure Nether Valley.
• The two Black Crane Sect disciples said the Hundred Herbs Sect was turning away Rogue Cultivators and that their sect had sent a message for reinforcements.
• Qin Fengming learned that the treasure might be spirit-infused, which stirred his interest.

Qin Fengming learned that a spirit-infused treasure might have appeared in Azure Nether Valley and went there hoping to claim a share. He found the Hundred Herbs Sect blocking the valley entrance and decided to stir up confusion so more cultivators could enter.

• Qin Fengming learned that a spirit-infused treasure was reportedly forming in Azure Nether Valley and set out from Wushan City to investigate.
• Qin Fengming arrived at the valley entrance, where more than a thousand cultivators had gathered.
• The Yin Twin Fiends of the Hundred Herbs Sect claimed they had sealed the valley to capture a spirit beast and threatened anyone who challenged them.
• The gathered Rogue Cultivators backed down, while several Foundation Establishment cultivators withdrew to wait for reinforcements.
• Qin Fengming decided to make the situation more chaotic, changed his clothes in a secluded place, and flew back toward the entrance.

Qin Fengming, disguised as a yellow-faced Rogue Cultivator, challenged the Hundred Herbs Sect’s control of Azure Nether Valley and fought the Yin Twin Fiends. He drove them back with a powerful drum attack, leaving the gathered cultivators stunned.

• A disguised Qin Fengming walked into Azure Nether Valley, prompting the second brother of the Yin Twin Fiends to confront him.
• The elder brother stopped his second brother from attacking at once and questioned Qin Fengming about his background.
• After the elder brother signaled him to attack, the second brother sent two top-grade spirit weapons against Qin Fengming, who intercepted them with his own weapons.
• When the elder brother prepared to join the fight, Qin Fengming summoned a huge drum and unleashed sound waves that shattered nearby rocks and trees and nearly broke the brothers’ spiritual-power shields.
• The Yin Twin Fiends recalled their spirit weapons and retreated, staring at Qin Fengming in terror.