Chapter Summaries

Zhen Xun learned that the Zhen Family was preparing to withdraw after the Shangyang Family entered the Northland and the Red Dragon Calamity Devil Blade was exposed. Meanwhile, Lu Sheng traded with Zhuo Wenyu for Yin Qi-bearing burial goods and planned to question Hong Mingzi about the Zhen Family’s suspicious movements.

• Zhen Xun met his sister in a ruined mountain building and learned that the Zhen Family would soon withdraw from the Northland.
• Zhen Xun accepted that he needed to prepare for the withdrawal and its aftermath, since the family’s local forces would collapse without its support.
• Lu Sheng met Zhuo Wenyu beside the ruins of Song Family Village and inspected the objects she had collected.
• Lu Sheng accepted three items containing Yin Qi and agreed to obtain blood wine made from the blood of one hundred people in exchange for more goods.
• Zhuo Wenyu asked Lu Sheng to protect her little cauldron, which he agreed to return after she provided fifteen acceptable items.
• Lu Sheng arranged another trade with Zhuo Wenyu and headed to question Hong Mingzi about the Zhen Family’s recent activity.

Lu Sheng visited Hong Mingzi to ask about the Zhen Family and the Red Sun Sect’s martial arts, then considered expanding and combining his own techniques. He left for Xuanwu Pavilion to seek more martial arts to study and fuse.

• Lu Sheng met Hong Mingzi’s new disciples, Lin Honglian and Yuan Zhong, before speaking with Hong Mingzi in the garden.
• Hong Mingzi said the Zhen Family was not in immediate danger and explained that he had taken in disciples to strengthen the Red Sun Sect’s connections.
• Lu Sheng asked about the Red Zenith Heart Method and high-level hard arts, while Hong Mingzi warned him against dividing his attention among too many techniques.
• Lu Sheng offered to guide Lin Honglian and Yuan Zhong in their practice when he had time.
• Lu Sheng decided to search Xuanwu Pavilion for hard arts and internal methods that he could combine, while prioritizing the improvement of his hard arts.

Lu Sheng discovered that his inner qi had reached his body’s capacity, then killed a powerful shadow creature and learned that Jade Lotus Seed had gone missing while investigating disappearances near Pine Cypress River. He decided to investigate the case himself, which involved people vanishing after seeing a sedan chair carried along the river at night.

• Lu Sheng exchanged all his remaining gang contributions for the Blood Jade Skill, but after two days of practice he could not produce any qi and suspected his body had reached its inner-qi limit.
• Lu Sheng struck a shadow creature that had attacked his courtyard, burning it to ash without gaining any Yin Qi.
• Lu Sheng learned from Ning San that Jade Lotus Seed had been missing for two days after pursuing a lead in the Pine Cypress River disappearances.
• Ning San told Lu Sheng that seven or eight people had vanished after approaching a sedan chair carried along the river at night.
• Lu Sheng decided to take on the Pine Cypress River case himself to earn more gang contributions and obtain additional hard martial arts.

Lu Sheng investigated the ghost sedan-chair case and learned that someone else had apparently resolved it before he arrived. On his ride back, he saw the Transformation Gate’s emergency signal and learned the sect was the Red Whale Gang’s hidden force; Hong Mingzi then told him the Zhen Family had fled.

• Lu Sheng went to the dock, questioned Detective Zheng, and decided to wait for the ghost sedan chair to appear.
• Jade Lotus Seed returned exhausted and told Lu Sheng that Detective Wang had disappeared and an unknown pursuer had reached the ghost sedan chair first.
• Lu Sheng rode back toward headquarters despite sensing danger and saw the Transformation Gate’s Fire-Smoke Rescue Signal burning in the distance.
• Jade Lotus Seed revealed that the Transformation Gate was the Red Whale Gang’s hidden force, so Lu Sheng hurried to the Red Whale Ship.
• Lu Sheng reached Hong Mingzi in the garden, where Hong Mingzi told him that the Zhen Family had fled.

After learning that the Zhen Family had fled, Lu Sheng prepared to strengthen himself and the Red Whale Gang for the danger posed by Red Workshop. He gathered martial arts manuals and medicinal supplies, then learned that the Transformation Gate’s sect master had allegedly died in a fire.

• Hong Mingzi told Lu Sheng that the Zhen Family had left and that the Red Whale Gang was preparing to send loyalists and supplies to the Central Plains.
• Lu Sheng refused to rely on luck or flee immediately and asked Hong Mingzi for access to Xuanwu Pavilion’s martial arts manuals.
• Pavilion Elder allowed Lu Sheng to borrow several hard martial arts manuals and copied internal cultivation manuals, warning that the gang would soon remove its resources.
• Lu Sheng gathered medicinal formulas and extra supplies from the Red Whale Ship’s medicine and pill room.
• Lu Sheng saw burned survivors from the Transformation Gate being brought aboard and heard that the sect master had allegedly died in the fire.

Lu Sheng moved his gang to Yan Mountain City and began cultivating the Golden Gauze Skill while preparing for growing unrest. At the same time, Chen Yunxi learned that her family planned to make her Wang Shunyong’s concubine and asked to visit Lu Sheng one last time.

• Lu Sheng found that the Liu Sisters had left him a Flower Appearance Pill and a letter explaining they had fled to avoid an immense danger.
• Lu Sheng moved his gang members into Yan Mountain City, warned Lu Quan'an to remain there, ordered his subordinates to stockpile food, and entered seclusion.
• Lu Sheng began cultivating the Golden Gauze Skill with Golden Fragrance Balm and medicinal broth.
• Chen Daozao told Chen Yunxi to prepare for Wang Shunyong’s visit and revealed that the Chen Family faced demands for much of its wealth from powerful families.
• Chen Yunxi asked to visit the academy one last time to see Lu Sheng, and she cried after Chen Daozao reluctantly agreed.

Lu Sheng pushed himself through secluded training as he neared the beginning stage of the Golden Gauze Skill, while Chen Yunxi returned to her family home and prepared to drug Wang Shunyong’s wine. Her plan was interrupted when a group of men stormed in and beat Wang Shunyong.

• Lu Sheng emerged from hours of training and resolved to continue until he could withstand an Anomaly, then collect items imbued with Yin Qi.
• Chen Yunxi searched East Mountain Academy for Lu Sheng but learned that neither he nor Song Zhenguo had been seen there, and she returned home.
• Chen Daozao showed Wang Shunyong the Universe Mirror, which revealed a series of lifelike paintings when shaken.
• Chen Yunxi secretly drugged two cups of Purple Jade Wine for Wang Shunyong and Chen Daozao, but hesitated as she thought of Lu Sheng.
• A burly man burst into the courtyard, accused Wang Shunyong of stealing his concubine, and ordered his men to beat him while the Chen household stood helpless.

Flying Eagle Hall’s experts intervened after Chen Yunxi’s father tried to arrange for her to become Wang Shunyong’s concubine, and Lu Sheng learned what had happened when he emerged from seclusion. He ordered his men to protect Chen Yunxi’s reputation and told her to wait one year for him, if she was willing.

• Zhao Ziyang and Flying Eagle Hall’s men beat Wang Shunyong at Chen Yunxi’s home, then left with him after Chen Daozao collapsed.
• Jade Lotus Seed heard how Flying Eagle Hall had planned the intervention and waited outside Lu Sheng’s secluded courtyard with its experts.
• After learning Chen Daozao had tried to drug Chen Yunxi and give her to Wang Shunyong, Lu Sheng told her to wait for him for one year if she wished.
• Lu Sheng ordered the men to keep his promise to Chen Yunxi secret and to break one of Wang Shunyong’s legs while claiming Wang had tried to molest her.

Lu Sheng advanced his hard-skill training, mastering the Golden Gauze Skill and developing the Dusk Drum Pill Skill while his body grew larger. In Yan Mountain City, Zhang Yuandong and Li Shan investigated the Transformation Gate Master’s death and questioned how a powerful expert could have perished in a fire.

• Lu Sheng raised the Golden Gauze Skill to the Third Layer, gaining stronger resistance to sharp weapons and a strength enhancement, then tested its defense with a Pig Slaughtering Blade.
• Lu Sheng spent three days cultivating the Dusk Drum Pill Skill, using a formation of Wolf Fang Maces to temper his body until he reached its entry level and shattered the maces’ chains.
• Lu Sheng noticed that his hard-skill training had made him much larger, ordered larger clothes, and prepared to bring the Dusk Drum Pill Skill to mastery.
• Zhang Yuandong questioned why the Zhen Family would abandon the Red Whale Gang and asked Li Shan about the Transformation Gate Master’s death.
• Li Shan confirmed that the Transformation Gate Master had burned to death, and Zhang Yuandong doubted that the Spirit Focus expert could have been trapped and killed by an ordinary fire.

Lu Sheng mastered and raised the Dusk Drum Pill Skill, pushing his body through a dramatic transformation and gaining a compact build with far greater strength and defense. The chapter left him laughing as he tested his newly enhanced power, while Zhang Yuandong and Li Shan vanished after a strange red-shoed figure appeared.

• Zhang Yuandong and Li Shan found the garden guards missing, and Zhang Yuandong disappeared while Li Shan searched for his footprints.
• Li Shan followed Zhang Yuandong’s tracks until a pair of red-shoed feet appeared before him, after which a red shadow flashed and Li Shan vanished.
• Lu Sheng entered the Dusk Drum Pill Skill after exhausting training and used Deep Blue to raise it through its three layers.
• Lu Sheng’s body gained stronger rebound, strength, and defense, then compressed from a huge, monstrous form into a more ordinary build.
• Lu Sheng crushed the air with his fist and laughed at the immense power he had gained.

The Red Whale Gang debated the Shelin Association’s disappearance and unrest across Northland while Lu Sheng considered his growing strength and the threat of the Red Workshop. He went to Yan Mountain City’s Prefectural Office, where he encountered the Prefect, the Flying Curtain Army’s commander, and the Surveillance Division’s chief.

• Hong Mingzi and the Red Whale Gang’s leaders discussed the vanished Shelin Association leadership, but no one volunteered to investigate the disappearance.
• Lu Sheng assessed his hard martial arts and decided to seek Yin Qi and gather intelligence about the Red Workshop.
• A subordinate told Lu Sheng that the Shelin Association’s leader and Vice Society Master had disappeared, and that the Prefectural Office had requested his attendance.
• Lu Sheng ordered Xu Chui and Ning San to accompany him to the Prefectural Office and learned about Yan Mountain City’s status and its ties to the Red Whale Gang.
• Lu Sheng met Prefect Li Rongxian, Commanding General Yuan Xu, and Surveillance Division chief Old Taoist Bai Feng at Pine-Welcoming Hall.

Lu Sheng investigated the attacks on the Red Whale Gang’s allies as the Red Workshop’s forces closed in, then accepted leadership of both the Red Sun Sect and the gang after Hong Mingzi revealed the Zhen Family had left. During Lu Sheng’s succession ceremony, eerie laughter sounded from beyond the hall doors, and a red-shoed figure began to enter.

• At the yamen, Lu Zhenyi and Commander Yuan Xu questioned Lu Sheng about the Shelin Association’s missing leaders, but a report arrived that all seventy-two members of the Three Surplus Gate had been killed.
• Lu Sheng found Yin Qi at Chen Jiaorong’s jade pendant, failed to reach Zhuo Wenyu, and later learned that Red Whale Gang outposts and members were disappearing.
• After settling his relatives, Lu Sheng answered Hong Mingzi’s summons and accepted the Red Sun Sect master and Red Whale Gang leader positions, learning that the Zhen Family had abandoned its base.
• Hong Mingzi publicly began the succession ceremony, but guards and an Elder vanished after investigating sharp cracking sounds outside the hall.
• A red shoe appeared as eerie laughter came through the opening doors, and Lu Sheng rose from the throne with the succession shoulder guard secured on his shoulder.

Lu Sheng killed the Red-Clothed Woman who attacked the Red Whale Hall, revealing his overwhelming strength in the Yang Extremity State. After taking charge as Gang Leader Lu, he led the others outside to face the other ghosts waiting beyond the gate.

• Lu Sheng met the Red-Clothed Woman as she entered the hall and defeated her with a single brutal assault.
• Lu Sheng crushed the woman's head, and her body burned away into black ash.
• Lu Sheng returned to his normal form and told the stunned Red Whale Gang members that the Red Workshop would likely attack again.
• Hong Mingzi recognized the many martial arts Lu Sheng had mastered, and Lu Sheng told the elders to call him Gang Leader Lu.
• Chen Ying warned that the Red Whale Gang had become a target, and Lu Sheng said more ghosts were outside before opening the gate.

Lu Sheng fought the Red Workshop’s deputy master, Red Umbrella, to a standstill before she burned away and escaped. With the Red Whale Gang’s ship badly damaged and the Zhen Family gone, he decided to seek support from another faction and ordered preparations for the next day’s negotiations.

• Red Umbrella attacked Lu Sheng aboard the Red Whale Ship, and the two unleashed a full-force clash that set the deck ablaze.
• Lu Sheng broke through Red Umbrella’s defenses and injured her, but she ignited herself and vanished before he could destroy her completely.
• Hong Mingzi identified Red Umbrella as the Red Workshop’s deputy master and warned Lu Sheng that the gang could not withstand further attacks alone.
• Lu Sheng and Chen Ying reasoned that the Red Workshop’s main force might have pursued the Zhen Family, giving the Red Whale Gang a chance to act.
• Lu Sheng decided to gather the gang’s businesses and personnel and seek refuge with another great faction, instructing Hong Mingzi and Chen Ying to prepare for a visit the next day.

Lu Sheng negotiated a new alliance for the Red Whale Gang at a gathering in the Commandant Manor, choosing the Shangyang Family despite its less favorable terms. Shangyang Jiuli gave him a communication token and left to resolve the Red Workshop dispute that night.

• Cheng Xingba welcomed the Red Whale Gang delegation and learned that Lu Sheng had become its leader.
• Lu Sheng met representatives Xiao Hongye, Shangyang Jiuli, and Xu Feihong, who offered terms for the gang's allegiance.
• Shangyang Jiuli offered seventy percent tribute and a permanent family representative, while Xu Feihong demanded ninety percent in exchange for securing two trade routes.
• Lu Sheng chose the Shangyang Family and asked Jiuli to deal with the Red Workshop.
• Jiuli promised to visit the Red Workshop that night, gave Lu Sheng a communication token, and departed.

Lu Sheng learned about the seven Marks of the Restraint Level and the great families’ power, then chose to place the Red Whale Gang under the Shangyang Family’s protection. After returning to the Red Whale Ship, he and Hong Mingzi discussed the gang’s losses and uncertain future as Lu Sheng prepared to manage the aftermath.

• Xiao Hongye and White Wind Taoist explained that Restraint was divided into seven Marks and described Shangyang Jiuli’s exceptional strength and the great families’ ties to divine weapons.
• Lu Sheng learned that Xiao Hongye was a steward of Carefree Manor and connected the manor to the Carefree King.
• Lu Sheng returned to the Red Whale Ship, told Hong Mingzi that the gang had chosen the Shangyang Family, and promised compensation for the families of fallen members.
• Lu Sheng and Hong Mingzi discussed the Red Whale Gang’s losses, its changing allegiance, and the possibility of a power vacuum in the Northland.
• Lu Sheng announced the decision to the remaining upper ranks and said he would take control of the gang and manage the aftermath once Shangyang Jiuli confirmed the Red Workshop’s situation.

Li Shunxi and the Liu Sisters joined Master Qing Shui on the way to a group opposing the Carefree King, while Northland’s famine and supernatural unrest worsened. In Yan Mountain City, Lu Sheng received Xiao Hongye’s invitation to a banquet and decided to attend that evening.

• Master Qing Shui ambushed and killed a Black Guard messenger from Carefree Manor, then revealed the message about the Zhen and Shangyang Families to Li Shunxi.
• Li Shunxi and the Liu Sisters agreed to travel with Master Qing Shui toward a destination where others also sought to punish the Carefree King.
• Lu Sheng and Hong Mingzi discussed Northland’s worsening famine, rising ghost activity, and the Shangyang Family’s limited involvement.
• Lu Sheng learned that his search for Yin Qi items had stalled after Zhuo Wenyu disappeared, leaving him without a source of Yin Qi.
• A gang member delivered Xiao Hongye’s banquet invitation, and Lu Sheng decided to meet the Carefree Manor steward that evening.

Lu Sheng learned that Lu Yingying was pregnant by a scholar who had disappeared, and he arranged for her to receive water while she knelt in the sun. At a gathering with Xiao Hongye and Bai Feng, Lu Sheng killed Ling Feng with one blow after accepting his challenge, leaving the two hosts shaken.

• Lu Sheng learned that Lu Yingying was pregnant by an unidentified scholar and that Lu Quan'an had ordered her to kneel in the sun.
• Lu Quan'an asked Lu Sheng to investigate the scholar, and Lu Sheng agreed before returning to his cultivation.
• Lu Sheng told Qiao'er to bring Lu Yingying water, then traveled to Xiao Hongye's estate to meet Xiao Hongye and Bai Feng.
• Bai Feng introduced Ling Feng, who challenged Lu Sheng to a duel and pressured him to demonstrate his saber arts.
• Lu Sheng accepted and killed Ling Feng with a single blow, stunning Xiao Hongye and Bai Feng.

Lu Sheng agreed to supply Carefree Manor with a hundred people for its upcoming Law Sacrifice, then accepted Xiao Hongye’s request to investigate a wanted thief in exchange for a Carefree Flower. He left the meeting wary of the great families’ human sacrifices and still uncertain why some Restraint Level opponents were harder to kill than others.

• Lu Sheng killed Ling Feng with a palm strike after pinning him with the Red Zenith Nine Fiends Skill, and he moved with Xiao Hongye and Old Taoist Bai Feng to another room.
• Xiao Hongye told Lu Sheng and Bai Feng that Carefree Manor needed people for its Law Sacrifice, a ritual that used human lives to sacrifice to the family’s Divine Weapon Devil Blade.
• Lu Sheng agreed to provide a quota of one hundred people in exchange for seventy Fake Silver Pills, while reserving the right to change the price in the future.
• After Bai Feng left, Xiao Hongye asked Lu Sheng to investigate a wanted thief who had arrived in Northland and offered him a Carefree Flower as a reward.
• Lu Sheng accepted the task and recalled his encounters with Zhen Yi, the Umbrella Woman, and Ling Feng as he tried to understand why their resilience differed.

Lu Sheng learned how difficult seven-mark Restraint experts were to kill, then nearly lost control when his anger and Yang-heavy cultivation triggered qi deviation. After choosing a Yin-type method to balance himself, he set out to investigate a suspected Restraint Rank case involving a glass mirror.

• Xiao Hongye showed Lu Sheng wanted portraits of Li Shunxi, a monk, and the Liu Sisters, and Lu Sheng agreed to report them if he found them.
• Lu Sheng learned that seven-mark Restraint experts could regenerate from being smashed apart and had to be killed seven times in succession.
• On his way home, Lu Sheng's rage and Yang-heavy cultivation nearly caused qi deviation, but he calmed himself and decided he needed a Yin-type method.
• Lu Sheng selected Treasure Bottle Qi from Xuanwu Pavilion's list of Yin-type inner cultivation methods and planned to hunt ghosts for Yin Qi.
• Jade Lotus Seed told Lu Sheng about a suspected Restraint Rank case, and Lu Sheng chose to handle it personally after reading that it concerned a glass mirror.