Chapter Summaries

Jiang Qiao trapped the woman in a layered net of lightning, revealing that he had hidden the technique while she thought he was weakening. As the net tightened, she realized she was in mortal danger and warned that Fengyin Mountain reinforcements would arrive in ten minutes.

• Lightning fused with the woman's body and stiffened her, while Jiang Qiao pulled the net tighter.
• The woman tried to pierce the restraints with her staff, but each broken pocket of lightning was filled by the layers behind it.
• Jiang Qiao explained that he had concealed the technique while the woman was distracted by their battle and her own injuries.
• The woman accused Jiang Qiao of pretending to be exhausted and realized that capturing him for the Ancestor was no longer possible.
• Trapped and afraid, the woman warned Jiang Qiao that Fengyin Mountain reinforcements would arrive in ten minutes, but he told her to die.

Jiang Qiao trapped the fierce woman in a web of electricity and attacked her relentlessly, overcoming her defensive transformation and hidden curse. He killed her before reinforcements arrived, leaving only a puddle of mush.

• Jiang Qiao bound the woman with arcs of electricity and refused to flee or delay for Fengyin Mountain's reinforcements.
• Jiang Qiao transformed into a giant with eight arms and battered the trapped woman, while she alternated between a weakened form and a tougher, swollen body.
• Jiang Qiao merged his eight arms into a thunderous battle-axe and smashed through the woman's defenses, discovering that her chest held no heart.
• The woman used a deprivation curse that forced Jiang Qiao to vomit up a heart and lungs, but it failed to affect his thunder-based power.
• Jiang Qiao continued hacking at the woman and killed her after three minutes, leaving only a puddle of mush.

After the massacre at Qinggua Town, the county seat learned of Fengyin Mountain’s power and feared retaliation, so its officials prepared for trouble and requested reinforcements. Jiang Qiao headed for the prefectural city with a caravan, whose owner reluctantly let him join after seeing his strength and gold.

• The county seat’s officials spread warnings about the demons, learned that the three Grandmothers of Fengyin Mountain had threatened revenge, and began preparing for an attack.
• The County Magistrate asked his subordinates to seek help from Lord City God and the prefectural city and to coordinate preparations with nearby counties.
• Jiang Qiao joined a caravan bound for the prefectural city after the guards were too intimidated to stop him and the owner accepted his payment.
• The caravan owner grew uneasy about Jiang Qiao’s unexplained wealth and strength, fearing he might be a deranged killer.

Jiang Qiao questioned a merchant caravan shopkeeper about Star Prefecture, its authorities, and the demons of the region. He learned about the terrifying Grandmothers of Fengyin Mountain, while the nervous shopkeeper worried Jiang Qiao might cause trouble.

• Jiang Qiao reassured the shopkeeper that he was neither a murderer nor a bandit, then warned him not to judge people by appearances.
• Jiang Qiao asked about Star Prefecture, and the shopkeeper described its population, powerful constables, Ghost-Carriers, and the fearsome but unseen Lord Prefect.
• The shopkeeper recounted encountering an Outer-Realm Demon and said a mysterious expert had recently killed a demon responsible for a blood sacrifice in Qinggua Town.
• Jiang Qiao asked what the Grandmothers of Fengyin Mountain were and joked that they were elderly women forced to work.
• The shopkeeper warned Jiang Qiao not to speak carelessly and explained that the Grandmothers were beautiful Ghost-Carrier attendants of Fengyin Mountain's Old Ancestor.

Jiang Qiao entered the Prefectural City, studied its supernatural Blade Constables and powerful residents, and bought a greatsword and a Flintlock Gun. A procession sent by Lord Prefect arrived and invited him to meet their master.

• Jiang Qiao parted from the caravan near the Prefectural City, leaving the relieved caravan master to continue toward the city.
• Jiang Qiao entered the city without inspection and discovered that its Blade Constables had supernatural, artificial bodies but lived like ordinary people.
• Jiang Qiao explored the city's shops and streets, bought a greatsword and a Flintlock Gun, and observed numerous powerful Ghost-Carriers.
• Jiang Qiao sensed incense-scented mist and saw a ghostly procession carrying a sedan chair approach him.
• An old man in a red brocade robe bowed to Jiang Qiao and invited him to meet Lord Prefect.

Jiang Qiao accepted the Star Prefecture City God's invitation and met Yan Yishu, the Ninth-Rank City God Prefectural Lord. They exchanged friendly words while privately suspecting each other, leaving their intentions unresolved.

• Jiang Qiao entered the sedan chair and marveled at how the City God's incense power distorted time and space.
• Jiang Qiao considered the dangers of the Path of Incense and Fire and wondered how this world let a living person follow it so early.
• The sedan chair brought Jiang Qiao to the palace, where he compared Yan Yishu's presence with the far more powerful City God System expert he had encountered before.
• Yan Yishu introduced himself as the City God of Star Prefecture and invited Jiang Qiao inside for wine.
• Jiang Qiao and Yan Yishu exchanged polite compliments while each privately judged the other as crafty and potentially dangerous.

At a banquet with the prefectural City God, Jiang Qiao learned why the Mountain Ghosts fled to Fengyin Mountain and how their survivors became the Old Ancestor. The Old Ancestor remained hidden in the mountain’s depths, driven by fractured consciousness and madness.

• Yan Yishu toasted Jiang Qiao and thanked him for slaying the evil spirits that killed Qinggua Town’s citizens.
• The Civil Judge asked Jiang Qiao about his origins, and Jiang Qiao said he had been pulled into this world while exploring the Other Shore.
• Jiang Qiao asked the City God’s officials about the Mountain Ghosts and the Old Ancestor of Fengyin Mountain.
• The Civil Judge explained that the Mountain Ghosts fled into Fengyin Mountain, where they used its terrain to defeat the City God Temple’s hunters.
• The Mountain Ghosts turned on one another for lack of Blood Food, and the survivors merged into the Old Ancestor, whose conflicting consciousnesses left it unstable and mostly confined to the mountain.

Jiang Qiao learned that the City God and other Prefectural Lords sought a safe world where they could relocate their believers to escape the tunnel drawing their Small World inward. He revealed that he knew of a prosperous, modern world nearby, but warned that it contained a Great Terror and seemed to have a Half-God.

• Jiang Qiao learned that the Mountain Ghosts could not leave Fengyin Mountain for long and heard more about the Small World’s history.
• The City God asked whether Jiang Qiao had encountered a safe, habitable world, explaining that their Small World was being pulled toward a devouring tunnel.
• The City God explained that the Prefectural Lords planned to send believers to another world first, then establish a faith network and eventually migrate on a larger scale.
• Jiang Qiao recalled Yang City and told the City God that he had found a prosperous, modern world nearby.
• Jiang Qiao warned that the world’s gravity made travel difficult and that a Great Terror, seemingly a Half-God, was there.

Jiang Qiao told Yan Yishu and the other City Gods about a vast world containing a Half-God, and they concluded it might be the Other Shore. Yan Yishu planned to consult the City Gods of other cities while Jiang Qiao stayed in Star Prefecture.

• Jiang Qiao revealed that the world he had encountered contained a Half-God, several Ninth Ranks, and a Divinity Ninth Tier existence.
• Yan Yishu asked what the world looked like, and Jiang Qiao described it as boundless, shapeless, and connected to the Void Abyss.
• Yan Yishu and the others concluded that the world might be the Other Shore they had long sought.
• Jiang Qiao pretended to regret passing through the world's gates without entering and asked whether they could overcome its Half-God.
• Yan Yishu said the City Gods needed to discuss the news and asked Jiang Qiao to remain in Star Prefecture, which he agreed to do.

Jiang Qiao explored the desert north of Star Prefecture, where he encountered dangerous creatures and investigated a whirlpool. A lavish procession appeared, and its arrogant Young Master cursed Jiang Qiao for digging near the whirlpool.

• Jiang Qiao learned about the desert's whirlpools, buried cities, underground ocean, and the tensions between Star Prefecture and Mingzhou Prefecture.
• Jiang Qiao traveled deeper into the desert and observed dried corpses, stealthy sandworms, and caravans using Hollow Tubes to detect threats.
• Jiang Qiao stopped to dig into a whirlpool.
• A procession carrying a massive Imperial Carriage appeared, and someone accused Jiang Qiao of endangering an honored guest.
• The Young Master sent a vicious curse at Jiang Qiao and laughed as his followers praised him.

Jiang Qiao confronted the Mingzhou Prefecture City God's third son and his entourage after they attacked him, then revealed overwhelming power when they tried to seize him. The chapter ended with Old Man Jin attempting to teleport away with the Young Man in Brocade Robes, while Jiang Qiao warned them not to leave.

• The Young Man in Brocade Robes ordered his men to capture Jiang Qiao, but Jiang Qiao appeared atop the carriage and confronted him and Old Man Jin.
• Old Man Jin revealed that the young man was the third son of the Mingzhou Prefecture City God, and the young man threatened to kill Jiang Qiao's family after Jiang Qiao insulted the City God.
• Jiang Qiao unleashed a thunderous power that stunned the procession, and the guards who had attacked him exploded.
• Old Man Jin grabbed the frightened Young Man in Brocade Robes and tried to use a Black Wooden Token to escape, but Jiang Qiao warned them not to leave.

Jiang Qiao learned that the City God of Mingzhou Prefecture maintained ties with Evolvers and killed the group after rejecting Old Man Jin’s offer to negotiate. He discovered that their City God was connected to Fengyin Mountain, whose members he already knew.

• Old Man Jin pleaded for mercy, offering compensation, intelligence about Star Prefecture, and his City God's friendship.
• Jiang Qiao pretended to accept the offer, then attacked after suggesting he should discipline the City God's son.
• Old Man Jin opened a misty portal and tried to escape with the Young Man in Brocade Robes while six guards fought to hold Jiang Qiao back.
• Jiang Qiao destroyed the portal and killed the six guards with lightning.
• Jiang Qiao killed the Young Man in Brocade Robes and Old Man Jin, learning that their City God had ties to Fengyin Mountain.

The Mingzhou City God learned that his third son had died near Star Prefecture and suspected a Daoist Visitor who wielded the Thunder Art. He summoned powerful allies and prepared to travel to Star Prefecture to confront the threat.

• The Mingzhou City God discovered that his third son’s spirit tablet had shattered and learned the son died near Star Prefecture after a passage portal was destroyed.
• A subordinate reported seeing a flash of lightning when the portal broke, leading the Mingzhou City God to connect the death to Yan Yishu’s message about a Thunder Art expert from the Daoist sect.
• The Mingzhou City God ordered Judge Huang to bring the Great Grandmother of Fengyin Mountain and sent Judge Liu to fetch Mr. Yu from Sanxing Lake.
• The Mingzhou City God ordered his Imperial Carriage prepared so he could accept Yan Yishu’s invitation and travel to Star Prefecture.

Jiang Qiao dug through the desert and discovered a strange underground sea, where he began to feel the curse that had killed an Eighth Tier Expert. He suspected the curse spread through knowledge of it and continued searching the seabed.

• Jiang Qiao dug through the buried city and found more sand beneath it, then broke through into a vast chamber above the underground sea.
• Jiang Qiao descended into the sea and discovered that its temperature rose with depth, though translucent fish lived in the scalding water.
• Jiang Qiao reached the smooth seabed and felt an unsettling discomfort that he suspected was the curse that had killed an Eighth Tier Expert.
• Jiang Qiao reasoned that the curse might spread through mental influence and knowledge of it, then opened his Ghost Domain and searched the seabed.

Jiang Qiao found an inexplicable stone leg beneath the sea, then returned to Star Prefecture and was confronted by a murderous woman who had tracked him down. The woman destroyed the inn around him and accused him of killing someone.

• Jiang Qiao discovered a stone-carved human leg on the seafloor that he could touch but could not examine or damage, and he suspected it was connected to a Half-God.
• Jiang Qiao explored the underground sea without finding anything else, then returned to the desert without knowing whether its curse had infected him.
• Jiang Qiao found the Young Man in Brocade Robes and his companions still dead in the desert, and wondered why the Mingzhou Prefecture City God Temple had not come to retrieve them.
• Jiang Qiao returned to Star Prefecture and stayed at an inn instead of visiting the City God Temple.
• A supernatural space silenced and isolated the inn, and a coldly beautiful young woman destroyed it, killing everyone inside except Jiang Qiao.
• The young woman confronted Jiang Qiao and said he had killed someone and made her search for him.

Jiang Qiao faced Grandmother Liu of Fengyin Mountain, who came to avenge her people, but the Star Prefecture commander intervened and enforced the ban on weapons. Grandmother Liu left after warning that others might still seek revenge, while Jiang Qiao learned Yan Yishu planned to demand answers from the Mingzhou Prefecture lord.

• Grandmother Liu confronted Jiang Qiao, accusing him of killing people from Fengyin Mountain, and Jiang Qiao laughed at her imposing display.
• Jiang Qiao shattered the surrounding darkness and found himself back at the ruined Star Prefecture inn as Grandmother Liu remained in the air.
• A Star Prefecture commander surrounded Grandmother Liu's group and warned her that weapons were forbidden and Jiang Qiao was Yan Yishu's honored guest.
• Grandmother Liu agreed to postpone the matter for Yan Yishu's sake but warned Jiang Qiao that others might not show the same restraint.
• Jiang Qiao told the commander he had killed the Mingzhou City God's third son in self-defense, and the commander said Yan Yishu would demand an explanation from the Mingzhou Prefecture lord.

Yan Yishu confronted the City God of Mingzhou Prefecture and Great Grandmother of Fengyin Mountain over their secret cooperation and the slaughter of civilians. The City God defended their plan to cooperate with Fengyin Mountain, while the confrontation remained unresolved.

• The girl from Fengyin Mountain told the City God of Mingzhou Prefecture that Yan Yishu intended to protect the outsider and that she planned to take him to her old ancestor.
• Yan Yishu arrived with soldiers and accused the girl of carrying out a Blood Sacrifice in Qinggua Town and killing more than a hundred people in the prefectural city.
• The girl used the Mountain Ghost’s supernatural power to nullify Yan Yishu’s attack.
• The City God of Mingzhou Prefecture revealed his cooperation with Fengyin Mountain and argued that sacrificing civilians and ending their war would help them advance up the Divinity Staircase.
• Yan Yishu mocked the City God for enabling Fengyin Mountain’s atrocities, while the City God urged him to abandon the search for the Other Shore and support their plan.

Yan Yishu rejected Mingzhou Prefecture City God's proposal to cooperate with Fengyin Mountain, arguing that the demons would inevitably grow greedy and that the Mountain Ghost could not be trusted. He ended by questioning what the Mountain Ghost would need to advance and what had happened to the other Mountain Ghosts who fled into Fengyin Mountain.

• Mingzhou Prefecture City God argued that sharing some oxen and horses with Fengyin Mountain could prevent conflict and help everyone survive the world's destruction.
• Yan Yishu warned that Fengyin Mountain's demons had repeatedly increased their demands for blood food and had secretly raised vicious ghosts using living people.
• Mingzhou Prefecture City God claimed Fengyin Mountain's ancestor could restrain the demons and that cooperation offered their best chance to escape the tunnel.
• Yan Yishu cited the Mountain Ghost's hidden worship through Yang San Taiye and warned that cooperation could help the Mountain Ghost gain influence and escape Fengyin Mountain.
• Yan Yishu asked the Great Grandmother of Fengyin Mountain what the Mountain Ghost would rely on to advance and where the other Mountain Ghosts had gone.

Yan Yishu sealed Star Prefecture’s capital and confronted Fengyin Mountain’s Great Grandmother after she rejected his demand for cooperation and his threat to collect the blood debt of Qinggua Town. As fighting began around her compound, Jiang Qiao watched from an inn and sensed that his recovered stone leg had moved.

• Yan Yishu declared that Star Prefecture and several other prefectures would refuse to cooperate with Fengyin Mountain and vowed to collect the blood debt of Qinggua Town.
• Fengyin Mountain’s Great Grandmother rejected Yan Yishu’s demands and threatened to kill him, prompting Yan Yishu to challenge her.
• Yan Yishu sealed Star Prefecture’s capital, using his City God power to trap the Great Grandmother and strengthen himself within his jurisdiction.
• Jiang Qiao watched soldiers surround the compound where the Great Grandmother was staying as blue incense smoke rose and fighting sounds came from inside.
• Jiang Qiao reflected on the Path of Incense and Fire and the Longevity God Church, then sensed that his recovered stone leg had moved.

Jiang Qiao discovered that the stone leg reacted to the Mountain Ghosts’ power as Yan Yishu battled the Great Grandmother of Fengyin Mountain. The two continued testing each other without landing a decisive blow, while the fighting around them threatened to turn against the Mountain Ghosts.

• Jiang Qiao traced the stone leg’s tremors to the Great Grandmother of Fengyin Mountain’s power, which he recognized from the shadows moving through the incense haze.
• Mingzhou Prefecture City God’s clone failed to defeat Yan Yishu and turned to attack the soldiers fighting the Great Grandmother’s Yin Soldiers.
• The Great Grandmother of Fengyin Mountain ordered Mingzhou City God to hold off the soldiers while she confronted Yan Yishu.
• Yan Yishu crushed several of the Great Grandmother’s apparent forms, but she repeatedly reappeared and evaded his attacks.
• Jiang Qiao watched from a hundred meters away and judged that neither Yan Yishu nor the Great Grandmother could yet land a decisive attack.