Chapter Summaries

Princess Yongxiang investigated the deaths of two attendants after an ambush and ordered her convoy thoroughly searched, while the Thousand Sect Alliance factions plotted another attack. A month later, Zhang Rongfang’s convoy traveled peacefully through Ping Province toward Ci Tong Port.

• Princess Yongxiang learned that the two dead attendants had secretly reached advanced External Medicine strength and ordered the convoy investigated after their deaths.
• Yongxiang’s convoy recovered from the Black-Clad Men’s attack, buried the dead, replaced damaged supplies, and continued toward Ci Tong Port.
• Old Wang discovered that two Quan Di Hall infiltrators had died, while the Blood Road Sect planned to sacrifice its remaining infiltrator in another attempt.
• After a month of uneventful travel, Zhang Rongfang’s convoy entered Ping Province and stopped to prepare food as its oxen grew tired.

Zhang Rongfang used four saved Attribute Points to advance his External Medicine cultivation and gave food and medicine to an injured group of Brothel Households. After a poisoned meal preceded an assassination attempt, Princess Yongxiang took the captured attacker away to interrogate her, leaving Zhang Rongfang demanding answers.

• Zhang Rongfang spent four Attribute Points to strengthen his body and asked Chen Han about External Medicine thresholds and Super Grade experts.
• Zhang Rongfang ordered A Er to give food and medicine to injured travelers, despite the Princess Yongxiang's Caravan refusing to help them.
• The Princess's maid brought Zhang Rongfang's group a meal, but Zhang Rongfang detected an unfamiliar scent and gave his portion to Chen Han.
• The maid transformed and attacked Zhang Rongfang after the poison slowed the convoy; Chen Han and A Yi subdued her, though she shot Chen Han in the head before he recovered.
• Zhang Rongfang ordered Chen Han to kill the assassin, but Princess Yongxiang intervened and took the captive away to interrogate her.

Yong Xiang released Han Jia after learning that the True One Sect had bribed her to poison the convoy’s food and target Zhang Ying, widening the rift with Zhang Rongfang. After reaching Ci Tong Port, Zhang Rongfang learned that the Chain Gang controlled most port labor and translation work and had a powerful backer.

• Yong Xiang questioned Han Jia, learned the True One Sect had paid her to act against Zhang Ying, and let her go with a warning to change her name and live safely.
• Yong Xiang told Zhang Rongfang that Han Jia had acted alone and expelled her; Zhang Rongfang left without arguing, and the Great Dao Sect and Yong Xiang’s caravan stopped traveling together.
• The convoy reached Ci Tong Port, where Prefect Zhao Yanting and local officials welcomed Yong Xiang and Zhang Rongfang.
• Zhao Yanting explained that Citong’s trade made luxury goods and Treasure Medicine relatively cheap, prompting Zhang Rongfang to consider searching for a Hundred-Year Red Ganoderma to refine pills.
• Zhao Yanting told Zhang Rongfang that the Chain Gang, led by Timke, had monopolized most port translation and labor work and resisted government officers with support from a powerful figure.

Zhang Rongfang entered Citong, where he learned about the White Ten and Rebel sects, secured medicinal ingredients, and met local Daoists. After Chen Han explained the Rebel Sect’s opposition to Worship God and the limits of martial arts, Zhang Rongfang began to suspect that his arrival in Citong was no coincidence.

• Zhao Yanting told Zhang Rongfang that the White Ten and Rebel sects operated in Citong and described the city’s many languages and difficulty to govern.
• As Zhang Rongfang’s convoy entered Citong, Rebel Sect members shouted that people should rise up against the court, but the officials ignored them.
• At Far Star Residence, Zhang Rongfang reserved a Hundred-Year Red Ganoderma and sought a suitable place to refine pills.
• Qian Qiu warned Zhang Rongfang that the Rebel Sect attacked Great Dao Sect preachers and would likely oppose his efforts to revive the sect.
• Chen Han told Zhang Rongfang that the Rebel Sect opposed Worship God and relied on martial arts, then explained why even Grandmasters remained vulnerable to Spirit Vein practitioners.

Demon Eagle Xia Long learned that the attempt to kill the Great Dao Sect Daozi had failed and ordered Han Ying to investigate Zhang Rongfang. Meanwhile, Zhang Rongfang repeatedly failed to refine the Golden Toad Skill’s medicine pills, and after ruling out the furnace and ingredients, he considered raising his pill-refining skill.

• Demon Eagle Xia Long received a report that the Blood Road Sect and Quan Di Hall had failed to kill Zhang Rongfang, so he sent Han Ying to Citong to investigate him.
• Zhang Rongfang’s attempts to refine Golden Toad Skill medicine pills failed, and he suspected his technique, the furnace, or the ingredients.
• Zhang Rongfang successfully refined a simple qi-replenishing medicine, confirming that the Pill Furnace worked.
• Zhang Rongfang had Chen Han accompany him to medicine shops, where healers confirmed that his ingredients were genuine.
• Zhang Rongfang reviewed his Attribute Panel and considered using Attribute Points to raise his pill-refining skill.

Zhang Rongfang’s observers from the Taiqing Lineage grew concerned when he showed no signs of harm from practicing the Golden Toad Skill, and they planned to investigate why it was not working. Meanwhile, Zhang Rongfang strengthened his body with attribute points and decided to search for the Eastern Sect Secret Treasure tied to the Spirit Transformation Ritual.

• At the Four Directions Tower, Zheng Shuyang, Yan Shuang, and Miao Yu discussed Zhang Rongfang’s Golden Toad Skill and expected his cultivation to damage his health.
• Half a month later, the three saw Zhang Rongfang looking healthier and stronger, despite their records showing that he had bought the required herbs and refined pills.
• Yan Shuang, Miao Yu, and Zheng Shuyang agreed to inspect the technique manual, medicinal herbs, and Zhang Rongfang’s surroundings to discover why the skill had not harmed him.
• Zhang Rongfang added three attribute points to his External Medicine, bringing his Super Grade External Medicine to its seventh use.
• After confirming he could not refine the pills for the Golden Toad Skill’s second layer, Zhang Rongfang decided to search for the Eastern Sect Secret Treasure connected to the Spirit Transformation Ritual.

Zhang Rongfang confronted Yan Shuang’s unexpected visit and agreed to owe her one future favor in exchange for help with his Golden Toad Skill. As they compared his pill-making process with the Sensing Gate’s knowledge, Yan Shuang revealed that the manual he had received might be a copied version with a flawed formula.

• Zhang Rongfang sent Chen Han and the other two to prepare for their outing while privately considering how to keep them from learning about the Heavenly Maiden Secret Treasure.
• Yan Shuang of the Sensing Gate arrived, and Zhang Rongfang questioned her motives and expressed his deep distrust of her.
• Yan Shuang offered to explain why Zhang Rongfang’s cultivation had stalled in exchange for one future request, and he accepted with limits protecting his principles and those around him.
• Zhang Rongfang showed Yan Shuang his pill furnace and explained that he used Hundred-Year Red Ganoderma as the Golden Toad Skill’s Main Herb.
• Yan Shuang said the Golden Toad Skill had no formula using ganoderma as its Main Herb, and she placed a copied manual on the table after Zhang refused to lend her his.

Zhang Rongfang discovered that the wrong ingredient in his manual had prevented him from advancing, then used the correct Hundred-Year Red to enter the Golden Toad Skill’s Second Layer and raise it to Perfection with Attribute Points. Meanwhile, Yong Xiang recruited Leona’s help for the unrest in Citong, while Leona asked for additional Spirit Veins for her own task.

• Yan Shuang gave Zhang Rongfang a copied manual that specified Hundred-Year Red instead of Hundred-Year Red Ganoderma, and her group concluded that Yue Dewen had altered the prescription.
• Zhang Rongfang bought Hundred-Year Red, successfully refined the medicine, and consumed the pills until he reached the Second Layer Beginner stage of the Golden Toad Skill.
• Zhang Rongfang spent four Attribute Points to advance the Golden Toad Skill to Perfection and endured the technique’s painful simulated cultivation.
• Yong Xiang visited Leona at her manor and asked her to help resolve the chaos in Citong.
• Leona agreed to help if Yong Xiang supplied Spirit Veins, and Yong Xiang offered to lend her the Great Dao Sect practitioners traveling with her.

Zhang Rongfang used Princess Yongxiang’s summons to get his three guards out of the way, then secretly entered Huang Jing Mountain to search for the Eastern Sect’s Secret Cache. Two black-armored followers tracked him into the mountain and began pursuing him.

• Zhang Rongfang explored Citong Bay and learned from a local about the port’s ships and the influence of the White Ten Sect, the Chain Gang, and the Fulier Family.
• Princess Yongxiang summoned Zhang Rongfang’s three guards, and he agreed to let them leave with her messenger.
• After the guards departed, Zhang Rongfang packed his Treasure Armor and map, slipped out of Far Star Residence, and headed for Huang Jing Mountain.
• Zhang Rongfang searched the poisonous mountain for the Secret Cache using the map and medicine to protect himself from the miasma.
• Two black-armored followers found the place Zhang Rongfang had visited, used a creature in a Black Crystal Cage to track his direction, and pursued him.

Zhang Rongfang watched Ding Hong’s group kill a Spirit Vein and witnessed its Silver Threads erupt before turning to ash. Back in Citong, he was approached by a man who claimed to be the father of someone in the hunting party and said Zhang Rongfang had seen their failed fight in the forest.

• Zhang Rongfang secretly watched more than ten people led by Ding Hong kill and repeatedly revive a Spirit Vein until they killed it for the last time.
• The Spirit Vein’s body exploded, sending Silver Threads flying; an arrow struck the corpse, and the threads soon turned to ash.
• Zhang Rongfang memorized Ding Hong, continued searching the forest, and noticed his Golden Toad Skill training had increased his appetite.
• Two Snow Rainbow Pavilion men watched Zhang Ying at a Citong restaurant and discussed monitoring him for the Heavenly Maiden Secret Treasure.
• After earning a Free Attribute Point, Zhang Rongfang began preparing for the Golden Toad Skill’s third layer and considered how to survive a Spirit Vein’s final attack.
• A short, thick-legged man approached Zhang Rongfang and said his son had been among the people who fought the Spirit Vein.

Zhang Yunqi explained to Zhang Rongfang how Spiritized Individuals could be weakened and killed, then revealed that he and his companions guarded one of three Secret Caches. Zhang Rongfang agreed to open the cache with him, leaving their meeting poised to continue.

• Zhang Yunqi led Zhang Rongfang from a crowded street to a private room in the One Person Tea house.
• Zhang Yunqi explained that Spiritized Individuals had to be killed repeatedly after their Spirit Threads fully recovered, eventually triggering a Spirit Burst that exposed a fatal weakness.
• Zhang Yunqi revealed that he and his companions were guardians of a Secret Cache, and that three keys corresponded to three maps and three caches.
• Zhang Yunqi told Zhang Rongfang that Spirit Guards required forty-nine deaths and Spirit Veins ninety-nine, while repeated attacks before full recovery did not weaken them.
• Zhang Rongfang challenged Zhang Yunqi about other ways to kill Spiritized Individuals, and agreed to open the Secret Cache with him.

Zhang Yunqi explained the ranks and abilities of Spiritualized Individuals to Zhang Rongfang before leading him into Huang Jing Mountain to find the Secret Cache. After ambushing two Snow Rainbow Pavilion experts who had been tracking Zhang Rongfang, Zhang Yunqi discovered a secret letter identifying him as a Human Seed and resolved to protect him; the pair continued toward the cache.

• Zhang Yunqi explained the Spirit Guard, Spirit Vein, and Spirit General ranks, including how Civilian Skill and Martial Arts affected Spiritization.
• Zhang Rongfang told Zhang Yunqi that his Martial Arts had only recently reached Super Grade and External Medicine, and admitted he had not known how to deal with the two Snow Rainbow Pavilion experts following him.
• Zhang Yunqi used a Black Jade Flute to signal for help, then ambushed the pursuers, killing one and shooting Ping Yuan before searching them.
• Zhang Yunqi found a Black Spirit Thread and a secret letter identifying Zhang Rongfang as a Human Seed, then decided to protect him.
• Zhang Yunqi gave Zhang Rongfang a short blade that could prevent a Spiritized Person from reviving, and led him deeper into Huang Jing Mountain toward the Secret Cache.

Leona and Princess Yongxiang led an assault on a manor to confront the Grandmaster Taijingzi Yasula Boya, while Zhang Rongfang and Zhang Yunqi entered a hidden cache in Huang Jing Mountain. The chapter ended with Zhang Rongfang opening a document about experiments on Spiritualized Individuals.

• Leona identified the manor as the place where her father’s murderer was hiding and fired a signal flare to begin the siege.
• Yong Xiang recognized Taijingzi Yasula Boya as the Grandmaster inside the manor and sent the Spirit Vein Siege Teams forward.
• Zhang Yunqi and Zhang Rongfang crossed a lake using flippers and poles, then opened the Secret Cache with Zhang Rongfang’s key.
• Zhang Rongfang and Zhang Yunqi found gold, silver, and documents inside the cache’s Stone Hall.
• Zhang Rongfang opened Document Number One and read that it recorded whether fire could completely kill a Spiritualized Individual.

Zhang Rongfang read the Eastern Sect’s records on experiments with Spiritized People and learned how lethal Spirit Threads were and why martial arts favored movement techniques. A newer note revealed that destroying a Worship God statue could permanently kill its corresponding Spiritized Person.

• Zhang Rongfang discovered that Spiritized People repeatedly resurrected, but accumulated deaths could cause madness, memory loss, and Spirit Bursts that killed nearby people.
• Zhang Rongfang learned that Spirit Threads could pierce armor and kill even powerful martial artists, while the records concluded that only movement techniques offered martial arts a sliver of hope.
• Zhang Rongfang read how the Eastern Sect’s experiments with Secret Medicine and Body Tempering failed to produce anyone capable of resisting Spirit Threads.
• Zhang Yunqi found Tong Zhang’s note warning that identity Tokens could monitor the cultivation of their owners’ primary martial arts, and Zhang Rongfang realized his Great Dao Sect Token might expose his progress.
• Zhang Rongfang read Tong Zhang’s records of a Secret Teaching purge and learned that destroying a Worship God statue could completely kill its corresponding Spiritized Person.

Zhang Rongfang uncovered the Eastern Sect’s secrets about Spiritized People and began planning how to verify their findings and develop a way to fight them. Back at Far Star Residence, he found Princess Yongxiang under guarded recovery and encountered the returning Chen Han.

• Zhang Rongfang found the All Under Heaven Blade, forged from Candle Shards, and left the Secret Cache with Zhang Yunqi.
• Zhang Rongfang reasoned that he should gather and cultivate elite Body Tempering martial arts to test whether they could help resist Spirit Threads.
• Zhang Yunqi lost confidence after reading the experiment records, while Zhang Rongfang left Huang Jing Mountain and returned to his residence.
• Zhang Rongfang found Far Star Residence in turmoil and learned that Princess Yongxiang was recovering under the protection of Snow Rainbow Pavilion Spirit Guard Zhao Chengzhi.
• Zhang Rongfang returned to his courtyard and saw Chen Han waiting outside.

After A Yi and A Er were killed by Taijing Zi, Zhang Rongfang accepted Princess Yongxiang’s compensation and focused on strengthening himself through the Golden Toad Skill. Yongxiang began her campaign against the White Ten Sect, ordering Spirit Veins to lead the assault and declaring that the ordinary people gathered at its cathedral should be killed alongside the sect.

• Chen Han told Zhang Rongfang that A Yi and A Er had been killed by Taijing Zi, and Zhang resolved to avoid Worshipping God and cultivate the Golden Toad Skill.
• Princess Yongxiang expressed regret, compensated Zhang for the deaths, and ordered him to prepare for the campaign against the White Ten Sect.
• Zhang refined the medicine pills needed for the Golden Toad Skill’s third layer and gained an Attribute Point.
• Yongxiang and local officials gathered forces around Saint Freian Cathedral, where thousands of people had assembled to pray.
• Yongxiang ordered six Spirit Veins, including Chen Han, to block the White Ten Sect’s charge, then commanded the soldiers to kill everyone gathered at the cathedral.

Yong Xiang’s forces attacked the White Ten Sect’s Great Cathedral, but the sect’s elite warriors broke through the crowd and met them in battle. As Yong Xiang fought the Archbishop, Zhang Rongfang joined the fighting and deliberately prolonged his duel with a Black Armored Knight.

• Yong Xiang signaled the archers to set the Great Cathedral ablaze, and her troops fired on the crowd as White Ten Sect fighters charged their lines.
• White Ten Sect Spirit Veins and Knight Warriors broke through the officers’ ranks, forcing the six Great Dao Sect Spirit Veins and other Super Grade fighters to engage them.
• Yong Xiang activated the Ten Thousand Horses Blade Limit State and drove the Archbishop into retreat with a powerful slash.
• Zhang Rongfang entered the battle and struck a Black Armored Knight, then decided to hide his strength and let the duel continue.
• Zhang Rongfang dodged the Knight’s repeated sword attacks without retaliating, concealing his advantage in speed and strength.

Zhang Rongfang’s encirclement operation collapsed when the injured Taijing Zi ambushed Princess Yongxiang and overpowered the forces sent to protect her. Taijing Zi escaped with Yongxiang, while Zhang Rongfang and his allies pretended to be wounded and slipped away, leaving the White Ten Sect survivors free to flee.

• Zhang Rongfang sensed something was wrong with the White Ten Sect leaders’ apparent lack of precautions as he fought a Black Armored Knight.
• After Princess Yongxiang killed the Three Voids Archbishop, Taijing Zi ambushed her from among the civilians and injured her despite her inner armor.
• Taijing Zi overwhelmed the rescuers, and Yongxiang fled toward Zhang Rongfang and threatened him into intervening; a White Ten Sect follower then knocked Zhang Rongfang unconscious.
• Taijing Zi seized Yongxiang, broke her arm and legs, and escaped with her as Ling Ting’s people pursued him.
• The White Ten Sect survivors fled amid the confusion, while Zhang Rongfang and the other supposedly injured experts got up and left the battlefield.
• In his carriage, Zhang Rongfang ate and reassured Chen Han that he had taught him how to fake injuries and avoid fighting.

After Princess Yongxiang returned to Far Star Residence, she summoned Zhang Rongfang and accused him of deliberately failing to protect her. She ordered her men to cripple him, but Chen Han intervened and was badly wounded as the attack began.

• Zhang Rongfang and Chen Han discussed Princess Yongxiang’s injuries, their duties in Citong, and how Grandmasters gained recognition and defended their arenas.
• Zhang Rongfang and Chen Han returned to Far Star Residence and learned that Princess Yongxiang had come back.
• Yongchun summoned Zhang Rongfang and Chen Han to Princess Yongxiang’s residence, where they found her overseeing the whipping of men who had pretended to faint during the church siege.
• Princess Yongxiang accused Zhang Rongfang of holding back during the attack and ordered Lei An to break all four of his limbs.
• Chen Han blocked two attackers, but one slashed his leg and another seized the Silver Thread trying to heal it, making Chen Han scream in pain.

Zhang Rongfang defended Chen Han from Princess Yongxiang, then learned that the Spirit Veins had permanently damaged Chen Han’s cultivation. Days later, Zhang Rongfang joined the Rebel Sect in ambushing Yongxiang’s convoy, revealed himself, and brought her down as the slaughter ended.

• Zhang Rongfang invoked his status as Daozi of the Great Dao Sect to stop Yongxiang’s guards from attacking him and Chen Han, then led Chen Han back to their courtyard.
• Zhang Rongfang discovered that Chen Han’s Martial Arts and Guanxu Skill had declined after the fight, and sent him away to recover.
• Yongxiang left Citong for the Great Capital, but masked Rebel Sect members blocked her convoy on the road beside Jade Magnolia Lake.
• A masked Three Voids fighter killed Lei An, and the Rebel Sect attacked the convoy, killing its guards and attendants while Yongxiang’s remaining experts fought back.
• Zhang Rongfang revealed his identity to Yongxiang, explaining through his actions that the ambush was his proof of sincerity to the Rebel Sect.
• Zhang Rongfang evaded Yongxiang’s gunfire, killed her saber-wielding protector, and smashed the crippled princess into the ground.