Chapter Summaries

The City Defense Army attacked the Sun family, whose private soldiers fought back fiercely and inflicted heavy casualties. As reinforcements arrived and surrounded the courtyard, the Sun family faced near-certain defeat.

• The City Defense Army surrounded the Sun family and discovered dozens of its armored private soldiers blocking the rear courtyard.
• Second Master Sun denounced Zhu Chang and ordered his troops to hold off the City Defense Army while he waited for reinforcements.
• The Sun family's private soldiers overwhelmed the outnumbering City Defense Army with superior armor, coordination, and willingness to die.
• Second Master Sun charged the City Defense Army commander, and the two fought with broad sabers.
• Jiang Qiao judged that the Sun family's scattered reinforcements could not match the City Defense Army, while Sun Bingwen explained that the family's main forces were outside the city.
• City Defense Army reinforcements arrived and ordered their soldiers to kill every member of the Sun family.

City Defense Army reinforcements used Armor-Piercing Crossbows to overwhelm the Sun family, while Sun Bingwen explained how powerful clans relied on weapons, poison, and Xiantian experts. As the soldiers prepared to kill the remaining Sun family members, Jiang Qiao paralyzed everyone in the courtyard and walked toward the commanders.

• The reinforcements fired Armor-Piercing Bolts, leaving most of the Sun family's private troops unable to fight and killing martial artists who had come to support them.
• Sun Bingwen told Jiang Qiao that the Wang family had a suspected Innate ancestor and the Zhou family could draw on the Fan family's Peacock's Smile poison.
• Second Master Sun, severely wounded, continued to block the doorway to the rear courtyard as the City Defense Army prepared to fire again.
• The young commander mocked the Sun family and threatened to conscript its women and children for the soldiers.
• Jiang Qiao emerged from the main hall and paralyzed the young commander and every soldier in the courtyard.

Jiang Qiao confronted the city guards attacking the Sun family and learned that Lord Zhu was hoarding supplies while the guards terrorized Lan Guan City's residents. After the commander tried to excuse their actions, Jiang Qiao killed him and more than two hundred guards with his Ghost Domain.

• Jiang Qiao restrained two commanders, and the younger one mistook him for a hidden Xiantian Expert allied with the Sun family.
• The young commander invoked Lord Zhu and offered to take Jiang Qiao to him, claiming the Prefectural Yamen was trying to keep the city stable.
• Jiang Qiao challenged the commander's claims, pointing out that Lord Zhu was hoarding food and the guards were targeting both wealthy clans and ordinary people.
• The commander insisted that the guards were only collecting supplies and punishing families that resisted, but Jiang Qiao saw through his excuses.
• Jiang Qiao agreed with the commander's reasoning sarcastically, then used his Ghost Domain to turn the two hundred guards, including a newly arrived squad, into blood mist.

Zhu Chang ordered the Wang family executed after his men failed to find the Flowing Cloud Qi, while the city remained sealed by a Vicious Ghost. A lieutenant then reported that more than three hundred city guards sent against the Sun family had mysteriously turned into blood mist.

• Zhu Chang learned that his men had breached the Wang family's residence but had not found the Flowing Cloud Qi, which was likely at the ancestral shrine outside the city.
• Zhu Chang ordered every Wang family member executed, and the Bald Man withdrew to prepare the defenses.
• The Bald Man reflected that Zhu Chang might kill the participants in the Wang family operation and blame their deaths on the evil entities and Vicious Ghost.
• A lieutenant reported to the Bald Man that three units of city guards sent to the Sun family had all died in battle.
• The lieutenant said the Sun family's defenders had been defeated, but then the city guards suddenly turned into blood mist.

A lieutenant reported that a hidden Sun family Xiantian Expert had annihilated more than two hundred soldiers, prompting the Bald Man to take the news to Lord Zhu. Meanwhile, Jiang Qiao explored Zhu Chang’s underground refuge, found a book of strange historical incidents and a note about a possible Path to Another World, then was confronted by an ominous voice.

• A lieutenant told the Bald Man that more than two hundred soldiers had turned into blood mist, and the Bald Man recognized that the Sun family had concealed a powerful Xiantian Expert.
• The Bald Man ordered the lieutenant to accompany him to see Lord Zhu.
• Jiang Qiao explored the underground refuge beneath the Prefectural Yamen and found looted books in a room on its lowest level.
• Jiang Qiao read accounts of strange incidents, including a deadly snowfall that had killed more than seven hundred people in Wangmu Town.
• Jiang Qiao found an annotation linking a beggar on Feixia Mountain to a rumored Path to Another World.
• An unseen speaker accused Jiang Qiao of sneaking into the Main Camp and demanded to know whether he understood his crime.

Jiang Qiao entered Zhu Chang’s underground camp to inspect the Wang family’s books, where Zhu Chang confronted him and revealed his forces and a sinister Flying Dagger. The chapter left them facing off, with Jiang Qiao mocking Zhu Chang’s name instead of submitting to his threats.

• Jiang Qiao searched the Wang family’s book collection in Zhu Chang’s tunnel and praised the books he found.
• Zhu Chang confronted Jiang Qiao, admitted to wiping out the Wang family, and described his plans for the Zhou and Fan families.
• Zhu Chang’s seven guards used a formation to combine their strength, while Zhu Chang revealed a Flying Dagger that carried an ominous power.
• Zhu Chang demanded that Jiang Qiao kneel and help him destroy the Zhou family, threatening him with death if he refused.
• Jiang Qiao mocked Zhu Chang by comparing his brain to pig intestines.

Zhu Chang attacked Jiang Qiao in a fury, but Jiang Qiao proved overwhelmingly stronger and left Zhu Chang shocked and injured. Zhu Chang tried to use his Xiantian Aura to escape, only to discover that it had gone out.

• Zhu Chang charged Jiang Qiao with a Flying Dagger and a claw strike, while his guards watched in surprise.
• Jiang Qiao crushed Zhu Chang's left palm and caught the Flying Dagger between two fingers.
• Zhu Chang demanded to know who Jiang Qiao was and released his Xiantian Aura to isolate him and flee.
• Zhu Chang discovered that his Xiantian Aura had gone out.

Jiang Qiao captured Zhu Chang and destroyed the Prefectural Yamen’s underground fortification while displaying overwhelming power. The Bald Man watched Jiang Qiao take Zhu Chang away and resolved to warn others that the young expert had to be eliminated.

• Jiang Qiao suppressed Zhu Chang, leaving him unable to use his Xiantian Aura or martial cultivation.
• Jiang Qiao swept aside Zhu Chang’s seven guards, and the resulting gale collapsed the tunnel and killed them.
• Jiang Qiao emerged from the wreckage carrying Zhu Chang, while Sun Bingwen and the arriving city guards watched in shock.
• The Bald Man arrived late, saw Jiang Qiao take Zhu Chang, and decided to send a warning that Jiang Qiao’s potential had to be snuffed out.

Jiang Qiao destroyed the Ghost Tree in Lan Guan City with a massive bolt of lightning, ending the city’s crisis and drawing attention from powerful factions. A hundred miles away, he examined the Wood Heart he had taken from the tree.

• Jiang Qiao entered the Inner City and drew the Ghost Tree’s evil creatures and vines toward him.
• Jiang Qiao summoned a colossal bolt of black lightning that broke the Ghost Tree’s seal and destroyed the tree and the creatures it had produced.
• Observers outside Lan Guan City witnessed the lightning and relayed news of the event, while some suspected a Heavenly Human Realm expert had appeared.
• Wealthy clans and aristocratic families entered the city after the crisis, anticipating conflict over Zhu Chang’s actions and the mysterious expert.
• Jiang Qiao studied the Ghost Tree’s Wood Heart in a mountain temple a hundred miles outside Lan Guan City.

Young Master Fan and a Capital envoy argued over the Wang Family’s revenge, the cost of Zhu Chang’s killings, and the identity of the Heaven and Human Realm expert who ended the Vicious Ghost’s siege. Their party approached Lan Guan City, with a ruined temple visible on the mountainside ahead.

• The brocade-robed man urged Young Master Fan to mediate with Wang Zizai and offered compensation, arguing that preserving the Wang Family mattered more than revenge.
• Young Master Fan accused the Capital of expecting Wang Zizai to accept humiliation and demanded to know how the deaths of six aristocratic clans would be compensated.
• The brocade-robed man blamed Zhu Chang for acting recklessly but denied that the Capital had ordered the slaughter.
• The brocade-robed man asked whether Young Master Fan knew the newly emerged Heaven and Human Realm expert, and Young Master Fan denied knowing them while warning that Qingzhou would not conceal such an expert.
• The group neared Lan Guan City, passing toward a mountain range with a dilapidated temple halfway up its slope.

Jiang Qiao learned that the Ghost Tree’s Wood Heart could restore an Awakened’s vitality, though it became ineffective beyond the sixth tier, and considered cultivating it further. Meanwhile, Prefecture Official Zhao’s party approached the Mountain God Temple to settle disputes over Lan Guan City, and Young Master Fan decided to confront the stranger inside.

• Jiang Qiao discovered that the Wood Heart restored vitality but offered little help to powerful Awakened, and he considered using it as a seed for further cultivation.
• Prefecture Official Zhao and Young Master Fan traveled toward the Mountain God Temple while seeking a place to rest and settle the remaining details concerning Lan Guan City.
• After a subordinate reported a stranger inside the temple, Prefecture Official Zhao ordered him driven out because the temple had been requisitioned.
• The subordinate was hurled from the temple down to the foot of the mountain, prompting Zhao’s soldiers to draw their sabers.
• Young Master Fan proposed going inside to see who was hiding in the temple.

Jiang Qiao effortlessly killed Prefecture Official Zhao and the soldiers who tried to seize him at the Mountain God Temple. He spared Young Master Fan and asked whether the Fan family was planning a rebellion.

• Prefecture Official Zhao ordered his soldiers to seize Jiang Qiao, but Jiang Qiao quickly knocked them down.
• Young Master Fan recognized Jiang Qiao as a distinguished young man, while Jiang Qiao mocked the group and refused to leave.
• Jiang Qiao hurled a stone that shattered Prefecture Official Zhao’s Xiantian Aura, destroyed his hand, and killed two men behind him.
• Prefecture Official Zhao recognized Jiang Qiao as a possible Heavenly Human Realm expert and begged for mercy, but Jiang Qiao killed him.
• The soldiers fled and were killed, leaving only Young Master Fan alive in the temple.
• Jiang Qiao asked Young Master Fan whether the Fan family was planning a rebellion.

Jiang Qiao learned that the Fan Family had been quietly preparing for trouble and was invited to meet its ancestor, a Heavenly Human. He left the invitation open while asking how many Heavenly Humans Great Qi had, and Young Master Fan revealed that one belonged to the Imperial Family.

• Jiang Qiao told Young Master Fan that Zhu Chang had sent evidence of the Fan Family’s secret plans directly to the Capital.
• Young Master Fan admitted that the Fan Family had allied with other clans to guard against the Capital’s Old Nobles and asked Jiang Qiao to meet the Fan Family ancestor.
• Jiang Qiao considered accepting the invitation because the ancestor might know more about the world and whether Half-Gods existed.
• Young Master Fan explained that the Capital’s Old Nobles had five Heavenly Humans, while the Fan, Liu, and Su Families each had one.
• Young Master Fan said the final Heavenly Human belonged to the Imperial Family.

Jiang Qiao asked why the Imperial Family had once been able to suppress the powerful factions, and Young Master Fan linked its decline to a mysterious fire at the Founding Emperor’s Imperial Mausoleum. He revealed that the mausoleum held secrets the Fan family did not record, though he had visited it once and seen nothing unusual.

• Young Master Fan told Jiang Qiao that an Imperial Family member had reached the Heavenly Human Realm and would likely side with the Old Nobles of the Capital in a war.
• Jiang Qiao asked how earlier emperors had kept the aristocratic clans and nobles obedient despite the Imperial Family’s limited strength.
• Young Master Fan said a mysterious winter fire had broken out at East Mountain about ninety years earlier, apparently originating inside the Founding Emperor’s Imperial Mausoleum.
• Young Master Fan explained that the Capital’s nobles grew bolder after the fire, eventually sidelining Imperial power and reducing later emperors to figureheads.
• Young Master Fan said reports of hauntings increased after the fire, but the Fan family had few written records about the mausoleum’s secrets.
• Young Master Fan recalled visiting the mausoleum thirty years earlier for Great Qi’s six-hundredth anniversary ceremonies, where he saw only its grandeur and heavy security.

Jiang Qiao met the Fan Family Old Ancestor, confirmed that Great Qi’s people had come from Tongling Island, and asked how the world had changed supernatural power into martial qi. The old ancestor began explaining the world’s origins by asking Jiang Qiao whether he knew about the Nether Sea.

• Jiang Qiao accompanied the Fan Family Young Master to the Fan Family Ancestral Home, where he met the Fan Family Old Ancestor.
• Jiang Qiao and the Fan Family Old Ancestor recognized each other’s strength, and Jiang Qiao confirmed that the old man stood at the peak of the Eighth Tier.
• Jiang Qiao told the Fan Family Old Ancestor that he had come from Tongling Island and had entered this world by accident while exploring the research institute.
• The Fan Family Old Ancestor revealed that Great Qi’s ancestors had come from Tongling Island and that the research institute had struggled to send people into this world.
• The Fan Family Old Ancestor said that other Heavenly Human experts had likely guessed Jiang Qiao was an outsider and were heading to Qingzhou to investigate him.
• Jiang Qiao asked what had happened to Tongling Island and why supernatural power had become martial qi, and the Fan Family Old Ancestor began his answer by asking whether Jiang Qiao knew about the Nether Sea.

Jiang Qiao learned that Tongling Island’s ancestors came from an island in the Nether Sea and developed the Life Replacement Technique, which led to the transformation of humans into Vicious Ghosts. The old man explained how their research turned supernatural power into cultivable true qi, while Jiang Qiao concluded that Mountain Ghosts had once been humans seeking resurrection.

• The old man revealed that Tongling Island’s ancestors had migrated from an island deep in the Nether Sea.
• The old man explained that the ancestors brought an incomplete technique for exchanging human and ghost fates, then discovered how to transform humans into Vicious Ghosts while preserving their personalities.
• Jiang Qiao connected the Life Replacement Technique to the Evolver path and considered how it had split into two different lines of research.
• The old man said Vicious Ghosts ate people to gather human emotions and consciousness, and suggested that Mountain Ghosts had once been humans seeking resurrection.
• Jiang Qiao inferred that the ancestors had transformed supernatural power into true qi so people could cultivate Mental Power instead of obtaining it by devouring others.

Young Master Fan turned away a Jiang family relative and received a letter instructing the Fan family to disregard envoys from the Capital City. Meanwhile, Jiang Qiao learned about lands beyond Great Qi and asked the Fan Family Old Ancestor whether Feixia Mountain held a gateway to another world.

• Young Master Fan told his Sixth Uncle-in-law that the Fan family could withstand the political fallout from Prefecture Official Zhao's death and dismissed him.
• Young Master Fan reflected on the Jiang family's marriage alliance with the Qin family and their apparent decision to remain between the Capital City and local clans.
• Third Grandfather praised Young Master Fan and gave him a letter telling the Fan family head to leave Capital City envoys waiting or dismiss them.
• The Fan Family Old Ancestor described regions beyond Great Qi, including Million Copper Mountain, the northern Icefield, and inhabited islands in the eastern sea.
• Jiang Qiao asked whether Feixia Mountain contained a gateway to another world.

Jiang Qiao learned how Great Qi’s Void Realm and the Nine Tiers were maintained, then offered to help the Fan Family Old Ancestor and the other Heavenly Humans advance to the Ninth Rank in exchange for a favor. The old man eagerly asked how Jiang Qiao could teach him, but Jiang Qiao had not yet revealed what he wanted.

• The Fan Family Old Ancestor explained that the dead entered connected Ghost Domains called the Void Realm, which Great Qi’s rules kept separate from the living world.
• The old man explained that the rule called “Matter and Self as One” drew power from Great Qi’s inhabitants and that nine Heavenly Humans would trigger a seal preventing new ones from appearing.
• The Fan Family Old Ancestor described a mysterious iron-chain bridge over a Black Hole at the far northern Icefield, which the founding ancestor had speculated might lead to Outer Heaven.
• Jiang Qiao told the old man about sensing Outer Heaven and confirmed that he had reached the Ninth Rank.
• The Fan Family Old Ancestor admitted that the Heavenly Humans suspected rules were necessary for reaching the Ninth Rank but had no way to learn how to obtain them.
• Jiang Qiao promised to help the Fan Family Old Ancestor and the other Heavenly Humans advance, provided the old man did one thing.

Jiang Qiao questioned the Fan Family Old Ancestor about Great Qi’s past, the Great Ancestor, and the Imperial Mausoleum’s rules. He learned that a fire at the mausoleum may have weakened the Imperial Family’s power, while the truth about the Great Ancestor’s fate remained unknown.

• Jiang Qiao asked the Fan Family Old Ancestor how the family learned about the Supernatural World and why the Great Ancestor had died.
• The Fan Family Old Ancestor explained that Tongling Island visitors and altered ancestral records were their main sources of information about Great Qi’s founding.
• He recounted how Emperor Xian Zong, nearing the Imperial Family’s lifespan limit, decided to explore the Imperial Mausoleum of the Founding Emperor.
• The Fan Family Old Ancestor revealed that the mausoleum’s rules could suppress cultivators’ strength and that the Sacred Tree of State let emperors invoke those rules across Great Qi.
• Jiang Qiao concluded that the fire at the Great Ancestor’s Mausoleum ninety years earlier might have weakened the emperor’s ability to suppress the aristocratic clans.

The old man recounted how Emperor Xian Zong’s investigation of the Founding Emperor’s mausoleum ended in the emperor’s strange death and left the mausoleum sealed. He explained that a fire ninety years ago revealed the Everburning Lamps had run out of oil, then described two theories about the Ancestor Emperor’s fate, including that he went to Outer Heaven.

• Emperor Xian Zong defied the great clans and opened the Founding Emperor’s mausoleum, hoping to find a way to escape the Imperial family curse.
• Emperor Xian Zong found no remains, books, or cure inside, and ordered the mausoleum sealed after the chamber gate would not close and some Everburning Lamps appeared to lose oil.
• Seven days later, dense fog enveloped the imperial palace, and Emperor Xian Zong was found dead in his quarters with his body covered in white fur.
• Ninety years ago, a fire at the mausoleum revealed its gate was open, and investigators found that all the Everburning Lamps had been consumed.
• The old man said the Ancestor Emperor may have become a Vicious Ghost or gone to Outer Heaven, possibly through the Abyss at the end of the Northern Lands.