Chapter Summaries

Dark-red smoke turned people in the shelter into man-eating Beast Chi, and the chaos spread as the creatures multiplied. Luo Yan kept Tie Jun and Little Flower away from the panicked crowd and killed a Beast Chi that attacked them, leaving Tie Jun stunned by his strength.

• Luo Yan noticed the dark-red smoke gathered around adults and youths but avoided young children, and he drove it away by circulating his cultivation technique.
• Luo Yan told Tie Jun to keep Little Flower close and stay within seven steps of him as people began transforming into Beast Chi and attacking others.
• Luo Yan identified the creatures as Beast Chi created by the Hate Curse Technique and suspected a Nightmare Level giant beast might be in the Undercity.
• People rushed toward the shelter's electronic gate while bitten corpses revived as Beast Chi and attacked the crowd.
• Luo Yan refused to enter the chaotic crush with Tie Jun and Little Flower, then killed an attacking Beast Chi with Star Splitter and a crimson Solar Ray.

Luo Yan fought through the chi beast outbreak at a shelter while protecting Tie Jun and Little Flower. He led them out to the street, where the Undercity was shrouded in dark-red fumes, and the middle-parted man offered them a car.

• Luo Yan refused to rush the shelter entrance, then killed two chi beasts chasing a middle-parted man and let him stay near Tie Jun.
• Luo Yan saved a fallen girl and killed the chi beast pursuing her, but her boyfriend urged the crowd to rely on him for protection.
• As the crowd stampeded through the entrance and chi beasts attacked, Luo Yan led Tie Jun and Little Flower away instead of protecting the approaching people.
• The middle-parted man struck the boyfriend with a police baton and followed Luo Yan as Luo Yan cut down the chi beasts in their path.
• Luo Yan led Tie Jun and Little Flower onto the chaotic street, saw the Undercity covered in dark-red fumes, and got into a car driven by the middle-parted man.

Jiang Yun Rong eliminated the Chi Beasts that had transformed inside the Mecha Legion Command Center as the Undercity descended into chaos. Zhe Kui sealed the city with Blood Calamity Prison, while Luo Yan discovered that its runic boundary suppressed Primal Energy and saw Mo Lei ignite as he crossed it.

• Jiang Yun Rong killed the Chi Beasts in the Command Center, then learned from Xu Wei that monsters were attacking civilians throughout the city and ordered him to share the idea that Visualization Technique cultivators might resist the transformation.
• Zhe Kui used the deaths of at least a thousand people to complete Blood Calamity Prison, sealing the Undercity and suppressing its cultivators.
• Luo Yan activated Unbounded Blazing Eyes and saw blood-red runes spread across the sky; his Primal Energy was suppressed, but his Dragon Dragon Blood Essence power, primordial spirit, and sword shadows remained active.
• Luo Yan followed the Mo father and son to the sewage culvert and saw runes blocking the passage out of the Undercity.
• Mo Lei ignited and exploded as the Mo father and son's car crossed the runic boundary.

Luo Yan discovered that the mysterious symbols killed cultivators carrying Primal Energy while ordinary people could pass, then fled with Tie Jun and Little Flower as a Steelbone Chimera Beast appeared. Elsewhere, Qi Fei tried to escape the Undercity but encountered a horde of Chimera Beasts attacking the fleeing crowd.

• Mo Lei's Primal Energy ignited when he touched a mysterious symbol, killing him, and a blood-lit object from his corpse entered the symbol.
• Luo Yan realized the symbols reacted to cultivators with Primal Energy, and he and Tie Jun decided to head for the corps headquarters rather than risk the surface.
• A Steelbone Chimera Beast emerged from the tunnel, killed Mo Xiao, and prompted Luo Yan to reverse the car and flee.
• Qi Fei abandoned his car amid a traffic jam and led his guards on foot toward the Undercity exit.
• Chimera Beasts attacked the crowd on the road, and a massive Brute Elephant variant charged through vehicles near Qi Fei.

As Pingyao descended into chaos, Lin Xianglan was attacked by an ex-lover turned Nightmare Beast, while Zhengde Academy sent its senior students and teachers to defend the city. Luo Yan’s group ran out of fuel near the Underground City Legion headquarters, where Luo Yan encountered an aberrant Human Nightmare wielding a cursed spear.

• Lin Xianglan’s ex-lover transformed into a Nightmare Beast, dragged her back into the mansion, and attacked her.
• The principal ordered Zhengde Academy’s second- and third-year students and teachers to join the city defense, and 147 people set out together.
• Luo Yan’s car ran out of fuel, so he left Iron Army and Little Flower concealed inside and went to retrieve an armored vehicle.
• Luo Yan gathered a machine gun and grenades from the battlefield before dodging a strike from an aberrant Nightmare Beast.
• Luo Yan identified the attacker as a Zhekui Human Nightmare that retained some of its former skills and could use Curse Nightmare on its spear.

Zhe Kui transformed the Old City around Azure Cloud Alley into a demonic domain, beginning to draw it into Yanfu and forming a colossal creature. Luo Yan agreed to guide Jiang Yun Rong to the danger’s source, but he saw a gigantic beast rise near the Old City and fled inside after his ability revealed it was too terrifying to examine.

• Zhe Kui’s demonic symbol spread across the Old City as he described the area sinking toward Yanfu and began transforming into the core of a colossal creature.
• Jiang Yun Rong asked Luo Yan to guide her to the source of the danger, and he agreed while arranging for Iron Army and Little Flower to be protected by the corps.
• Luo Yan told Iron Army he would not accompany him, and Iron Army resolved to stay alive for Little Flower.
• A powerful gust cleared the smoke and flames, revealing a dark-red giant beast near the Old City that roared and shook the Undercity’s holographic canopy.
• Luo Yan used Unbounded Blazing Eyes on the beast, felt pain and overwhelming fear, and retreated into the armored vehicle.

A Giant Beast named Zhe Kui appeared in the Old City, and Jiang Yun Rong mobilized the Pingyao Legion and Zhengde Academy to fight it. Luo Yan used Unbounded Blazing Eyes to uncover fragments of information about the beast, then sent Jiang Yun Rong only its traits while keeping its name and classification secret.

• The Legion Command Center detected a Giant Beast in the Old City, but its Spectrum Signal could not be read, so Jiang Yun Rong ordered every available Mecha deployed.
• Jiang Yun Rong told Luo Yan she would draw the Giant Beast away while he led the elite unit to investigate the source of the danger.
• Luo Yan forced himself to study the Giant Beast with Unbounded Blazing Eyes, suffering severe pain and bleeding from his eye as its information appeared.
• Luo Yan read the fragmented details “Zhe Kui,” “Acquired Ghost (Beast Form),” and “Immense Strength, Moving Mountains and Filling Seas.”
• Luo Yan sent Jiang Yun Rong a message about the Giant Beast’s traits but withheld its name and Acquired Ghost classification.

Zhe Kui transformed into a Red Beast and realized that someone had used an Obstacle Breaking Dharma Eye to spy on his origin, then recognized Jiang Yun Rong’s Divine General as a human-made puppet. Luo Yan joined an elite squad heading toward the Old City, where the mecha had begun fighting the beast.

• Zhe Kui sensed someone observing his origin and concluded that a human had awakened a powerful Obstacle Breaking Dharma Eye.
• Zhe Kui saw Jiang Yun Rong’s Divine General emerge and identified it as a puppet combining human mechanical arts and techniques.
• Captain Song Hu introduced Luo Yan to the squad members Chen Hao, Xu Jing, Zhu Qian, and Blue Edge as their guide for finding the source of danger.
• The mecha attacked the Red Beast while Mystic Arts practitioners raised barriers to protect the central urban district.
• The Armored Command Vehicle shook from the battle as the squad discussed the Red Beast’s unregistered Spectrum Signal, and Zhu Qian asked Luo Yan to guess its rank.

Song Hu’s team fought through a pack of Nightmare Beasts, with Chen Hao, Zhu Qian, Xu Jing, and Blue Edge supporting the assault while Luo Yan absorbed Calamity Light. Elsewhere, Zhengde Academy’s survivors cleared their block, but a slain student transformed into a Human Nightmare.

• Chen Hao shot a charging Nightmare Beast through the smoke, and more than twenty beasts surged toward Song Hu’s team.
• Song Hu and Blue Edge fired on the beasts while Xu Jing used her Filaments to deploy a grenade among those knocked down by her Soldier Puppets.
• Chen Hao and Zhu Qian killed more beasts with sniper and rifle fire, and Blue Edge burned the remaining attackers with blue flames.
• Luo Yan followed Song Hu onward after Amber Light Qi absorbed Calamity Light from nearby rifts, leaving him feeling full.
• A teacher from Zhengde Academy led surviving students after they cleared a block, but the student who had been eaten rose again as a Human Nightmare.

A Human Nightmare transformed from Xintian attacked the Zhengde Academy students and soldiers, forcing their teacher to fight it at great cost. Meanwhile, Jiang Yun Rong faced a Red Beast whose undetectable Spectrum Signal and mountain-moving Exotic Art overwhelmed the mecha around her.

• The Human Nightmare blocked the soldiers’ gunfire with Mystic Arts, then used Xintian’s Combat Skill to kill several soldiers.
• The Human Nightmare wounded the Academy teacher and spread a Curse Nightmare across his hand, so he severed half his arm to stop it.
• The teacher unleashed eighteen streams of Blade Aura, destroyed the Human Nightmare, and was carried away after exhausting his Primal Energy and damaging his foundation.
• Undercity forces continued fighting across the city as Chimeric Beasts and their variants caused heavy casualties.
• Jiang Yun Rong struggled against the Red Beast, which uprooted buildings and hurled them at mecha while its Spectrum Signal evaded radar.

Jiang Yun Rong fought a powerful Red Beast with Star Picker, while Luo Yan guided Song Hu’s squad through the Old City against a growing horde of Chi Beasts. The squad began targeting newly encountered variants as they pushed deeper into the ruins.

• Jiang Yun Rong suspected the Red Beast was above Nightmare Level and found that Inferno barely damaged it.
• Star Picker used Stars Shift to evade an attack, then unleashed Star Array and filled the Red Beast with sword strikes.
• Luo Yan led Song Hu’s squad nearly two kilometers into the Old City, where Chi Beasts and new variants attacked them.
• Xu Jing used crystalline Filaments to hurl a massive boulder into the horde, crushing countless Chi Beasts.
• Luo Yan explained the variants’ abilities, and Song Hu assigned his squad targeted opponents.
• Chen Hao killed the Human Nightmare with sniper shots, while Zhu Qian attacked Steelbone with her Dual Sabers.

Luo Yan and the team defeated the mutants and reached the Blood River Cauldron, which powered Zhe Kui and sustained the curse sealing cultivators inside the city. Unsure what would happen if they attacked it, Luo Yan urged caution as Chen Hao offered to shoot it from a distance.

• Zhu Qian precisely stripped the flesh from Steelbone, while Blue Edge burned Manephant and Song Hu froze and shattered the remaining mutants.
• Luo Yan and the others found the incense burner amid the ruined courtyard, where dark-red smoke sank into cracks in the ground.
• Luo Yan used his Unbounded Blazing Eyes to identify the black mass inside the burner as the Blood River Cauldron, formed from blood energy and the resentment of the dead.
• Luo Yan explained that the cauldron powered Zhe Kui and sustained the curse sealing cultivators inside the city, but warned that attacking it could trigger an unknown danger.
• Chen Hao offered to shoot the cauldron from a distance, but Luo Yan warned that even a shot could provoke a strange backlash.

Luo Yan and the Primordial Spirit Projection destroyed the Human Nightmares formed from Chen Hao’s squad, then the Projection struck the Mountain River Cauldron and unleashed a flood of filthy Blood Rivers. The sword shadow and a transformed Azure Dragon protected Luo Yan and began purifying the furnace.

• The Primordial Spirit Projection’s gilded sword shadow destroyed the Human Nightmares formed from Chen Hao, Xu Jing, and Blue Edge.
• Luo Yan used Blood Executioner, New Moon, and Yi River Wind and Smoke to defeat the Human Nightmares formed from Song Hu and Zhu Qian.
• After all of Song Hu’s squad’s Human Nightmares were slain, the Primordial Spirit Projection sensed the Mountain River Cauldron and cut through it with the sword shadow.
• The Blood River Cauldron expanded and shattered, releasing filthy Blood Rivers that surged toward Luo Yan.
• The sword shadow swept away the leading Blood River while the Qing Jiao transformed into a golden-horned Azure Dragon and helped purify the furnace with its flames.

Luo Yan watched the Dragon Dragon Blood Essence devour the Blood River until the danger passed, then mourned Song Hu and the others who had died. Elsewhere, Zhe Kui escaped the ruined battlefield after the Primordial Tent detected him, while Jiang Yun Rong remained cautious near the collapsing Red Beast.

• Luo Yan saw the Lizard Dragon projection grow and devour the Blood River, then return to his body after the river and calamity light disappeared.
• The Primordial Spirit Projection recalled its fading sword shadow, and Qing Jiao weakened and returned to the projection.
• Luo Yan saw the Blood River Cauldron's cracks collapse and the symbols vanish from the sky, then grieved for Song Hu and the others.
• Zhe Kui's Red Beast body rotted as the Primordial Tent detected his Heavenly Ghost aura, and Jiang Yun Rong kept her distance from it.
• Zhe Kui crawled from the Red Beast's flesh, endured the Primordial Tent's Solar Gang Fire, used the Hong Yin Curse to conceal himself, and fled the battlefield.

Luo Yan returned to Pingyao Underground City after the Blood River Cauldron disaster and told Jiang Yun Rong that Song Hu and the others had sacrificed themselves. When their relatives and friends blamed him for surviving, Tie Jun defended him, and Jiang Yun Rong arrived to support the old man.

• Luo Yan returned alone with the recoverable remains of Song Hu's team and told Jiang Yun Rong that they had been transformed by the backlash of the Exotic Arts.
• Luo Yan reached the Legion headquarters, reunited with Tie Jun and Little Flower, and told them to stay in the city until the chaos passed.
• Song Bao and the others confronted Luo Yan, demanding to know why Song Hu, Xu Jing, and Zhu Qian had not returned.
• Luo Yan refused to explain, and the grieving group accused him of abandoning Song Hu's team and called him a coward.
• Tie Jun stepped in and rebuked the crowd for blaming Luo Yan, and Jiang Yun Rong entered and praised his defense.

After Jiang Yun Rong told Luo Yan that the giant beast had vanished without a trace, she taught him the Stars Shift footwork. Jiang Yun Rong then returned to the Pingyao Mecha Legion, where she confronted the City Lord of Guangling, a man she had not heard from in years.

• Jiang Yun Rong told Luo Yan that the giant beast's remains had disappeared and wondered whether it had been only a beast form rather than its true body.
• Jiang Yun Rong taught Luo Yan Stars Shift, and he learned to leave three afterimages after practicing for an afternoon.
• Xu Wei informed Jiang Yun Rong that reinforcements and supplies had arrived from Guangling and that its City Lord was waiting in her office.
• Jiang Yun Rong entered her office and accused the City Lord of caring too little to contact her for years.

Di Zheng reconciled with Jiang Yun Rong, and Luo Yan left Pingyao Underground City with Tie Jun and Little Flower. At a roadside camp, Luo Yan cultivated the Blood Transformation Scripture and neared a breakthrough after Dragon Dragon Blood Essence’s stored blood energy began circulating through the technique.

• Di Zheng told Jiang Yun Rong that he had stayed away because he feared holding her back, and admitted he had returned because he feared never seeing her again.
• At dinner, Luo Yan learned he would leave the next day and heard that first-year students would soon enter the Forbidden Land for training.
• Di Zheng ordered Luo Yan to practice Stars Shift, and Luo Yan trained through the night until he produced another afterimage.
• Luo Yan drove Tie Jun and Little Flower out of Pingyao Underground City and took a detour to an underground camp for the night.
• Luo Yan cultivated the Blood Transformation Scripture, and Dragon Dragon Blood Essence’s stored blood energy fueled his progress toward a breakthrough.

Luo Yan used blood energy from the Blood River Cauldron to strengthen his Blood Transformation Scripture and broke through to its second layer. He realized the technique could amplify Opening the Essence Gate and wondered what the Dragon Dragon Blood Essence might become after awakening.

• Luo Yan cultivated the Blood Transformation Scripture with blood energy from the Blood River Cauldron while his Primordial Spirit Projection shaped some of it into a red cord.
• Li Si returned to the tent and told the others that Luo Yan seemed dangerous; the men discussed their plan to trap the Mysterious Fish in a dead pond.
• Luo Yan solidified his foundation, broke through to the second layer, and condensed blood energy into a point between his brows.
• The Primordial Spirit Projection's red cord became a scarlet snake, which rubbed against the Qing Jiao before both projections faded.
• Luo Yan left his tent and realized the Blood Transformation Scripture could strengthen Opening the Essence Gate; he also sensed the Dragon Dragon Blood Essence had fallen asleep again.

After a Yanfu Realm Space opened and a giant beast fell from the sky, Luo Yan found a Nether Fish turning a pool into poisonous Ren Water. As he tried to kill it, Li Si and his armed group confronted him, claiming the fish as their Mysterious Fish.

• Luo Yan, Iron Army, and Little Flower left camp, but Luo Yan drove off the road and into the hills when a Yanfu Realm Space opened overhead and a giant beast descended.
• Luo Yan stopped near a stream and spotted a pool where fish-shaped gray light was converting the water into degraded Ren Water, which was poisonous to humans.
• Luo Yan identified the black, golden-finned fish as a Nether Fish, a juvenile Kun, and realized the blocked pool had trapped it while it transformed the water.
• Luo Yan concealed his aura, then attacked the Nether Fish with a sword aura after it stirred up the water to hide itself, but the fish dodged beneath the surface.
• Li Si and seven or eight armed people appeared, ordered Luo Yan to stop, and claimed the Nether Fish as their Mysterious Fish.

Luo Yan fought off the men trying to seize the Nether Fish, but it escaped during the battle. After reaching Guangling, he arranged a home and job for Tie Jun and his grandson, then learned Yang Lixie had started dating Liu.

• Luo Yan refused to let the scar-faced man and his companions take the Nether Fish, and Li Si fled when the fighting began.
• Luo Yan killed the men who attacked him, but the Nether Fish escaped through rubble blasted apart during the battle.
• Luo Yan searched the dead men, returned to Tie Jun, and told Di Zheng about the Nether Fish before leaving with Tie Jun and his grandson.
• After reaching Guangling, Luo Yan asked Yang Lixie to find Tie Jun and his grandson a place to stay, and Yang Lixie arranged them an apartment and a gatekeeper job.
• Yang Lixie invited Luo Yan to a banquet and told him that Liu had agreed to try dating him.