Chapter Summaries

Zhang Lingshan nourished his stomach and small intestine, reached the Three Viscera Realm, and continued breaking through while comprehending cultivation methods on the Skill Transmission Pagoda’s ninth floor. Zhang Xiujie took advantage of the reduced pressure to reach the ninth floor, but Zhang Lingshan attacked and killed him.

• Zhang Lingshan nourished his stomach and small intestine, expanded the Nether Palace, and advanced to the Three Viscera Realm.
• Zhang Xiujie entered the Skill Transmission Pagoda and climbed higher because Feng Yuchuan’s presence had reduced the pressure.
• Hua Wuyue and the others realized the pressure was lower, and the crowd rushed into the pagoda to climb and comprehend cultivation methods.
• Zhang Xiujie reached the ninth floor and discovered that Zhang Lingshan had already reached the Four Viscera Realm.
• Zhang Lingshan attacked Zhang Xiujie with his Heavenly Eye Divine Light, and Zhang Xiujie begged for his life and offered to submit.
• Zhang Lingshan revealed his identity, then snapped Zhang Xiujie’s neck and killed him.

After Zhang Lingshan killed Zhang Xiujie and absorbed his yin spirit, Zhang Xiujie’s death alerted the Zhang Family and sent Zhang Xianbai toward the Skill Transmission Pagoda. Meanwhile, Flying Leaf Elder brought Pei Xingdou and Cai Feng before the Skill Transmission Hall, where Chen Langzong questioned Pei Xingdou about Feng Yuchuan and the treasure that healed him.

• Zhang Lingshan refined Zhang Xiujie’s yin spirit for ten billion Energy Points, took his corpse and cultivation resources, erased the battle traces, and resumed cultivating on the ninth floor.
• Zhang Xianbai learned that Zhang Xiujie’s Soul-Seeking Jade Talisman had shattered, realized he was dead, and led other Zhang Family elders toward the Skill Transmission Pagoda.
• The Skill Transmission Elders failed to trace Feng Yuchuan’s identity beyond Cai Feng, while Flying Leaf Elder revealed that he had found Cai Feng and Pei Xingdou.
• North Wind Elder froze Pei Xingdou while demanding answers, but Flying Leaf Elder restored him and asked Chen Langzong to conduct the interrogation.
• Chen Langzong recognized that Pei Xingdou had used Thousand Year Stalactite Marrow to recover his cultivation, and Pei Xingdou concealed Zhang Lingshan’s role by describing it as an unfamiliar green blade of grass.

Chen Langzong deduced that Feng Yuchuan was Zhang Lingshan and uncovered how he and Pei Tong had saved Pei Xingdou with Thousand Year Stalactite Marrow. The elders’ investigation was interrupted when Zhang Xianbai arrived, furious over Zhang Xiujie’s death in the Skill Transmission Pagoda.

• Chen Langzong reasoned that Feng Yuchuan had escaped the trial land through a river connected to the Azure Melody River and had taken Pei Xingdou away to heal him.
• Chen Langzong summoned Pei Liang, who identified Pei Tong’s closest friend in the trial land as Zhang Lingshan; the Hall Master then revealed that Zhang Lingshan and Pei Tong had brought Pei Xingdou the Thousand Year Stalactite Marrow.
• The elders argued over who should investigate Zhang Lingshan’s background, but Chen Langzong said the background had already been reported by Cang Changzhen.
• Chen Langzong and the twelve Skill Transmission elders rushed outside when Zhang Xianbai and other members of the Central Province Zhang Family arrived.
• Zhang Xianfeng announced that Zhang Xiujie was dead, and Zhang Xianbai showed Chen Langzong Zhang Xiujie’s shattered Soul-Seeking Jade Talisman as proof.

Zhang Xianbai accused the person on the Skill Transmission Pagoda’s Ninth Layer of killing Zhang Xiujie and nearly fought Chen Langzong before the group learned that Feng Yuchuan was actually Zhang Lingshan, a descendant of Zhang Quyi. Zhang Xianwu suspected Zhang Lingshan had stolen the Hidden Guard branch’s cultivation method, leaving Zhang Xianfeng resolved to protect him as they awaited his exit from the pagoda.

• Zhang Xianbai questioned the Zhang Family members and concluded that the person on the Ninth Layer had killed Zhang Xiujie, then attacked the pagoda until Chen Langzong stopped him.
• Zhang Xianbai threatened North Wind Elder, and Chen Langzong intervened before Zhang Xianfeng urged everyone to wait for more information.
• Zhang Xiufeng said Feng Yuchuan seemed to carry the Hidden Guard branch’s aura, and Zhang Xianwu agreed that the connection required investigation.
• Elder Zhang Zetian revealed that Feng Yuchuan was Zhang Lingshan from Jade Province, prompting Zhang Diqi, Chen Guangtuo, and Hua Wuyue to recognize him as their long-lost Grand Uncle and Senior Brother Zhang.
• Zhang Xiufeng identified Zhang Lingshan as a descendant of Zhang Quyi, and Zhang Xianfeng and Zhang Xianwu examined the Qi and Blood Fire Seed Zhang Diqi produced.
• Zhang Xianwu suspected Zhang Lingshan had obtained the Hidden Guard cultivation method improperly, while Zhang Xianfeng reassured Zhang Xiufeng and resolved to protect Zhang Lingshan.

Zhang Lingshan organized the Skill Transmission Pagoda’s Dao Rhyme into the Flawless Leakless Skill, used it to reach Organ Nourishing Realm Perfection, and broke through to the Aperture Opening Realm with the Wind Whisper Hundred Apertures Fruit. Outside the pagoda, the others waited for a month before sensing his breakthrough and realizing he might open far more than thirty-six acupoints.

• Zhang Xianfeng and Chen Langzong stopped Zhang Xianbai from forcibly removing Zhang Lingshan, and everyone waited outside the Skill Transmission Pagoda.
• Zhang Lingshan used 4.4 billion Energy Points to complete the deduction of the Flawless Leakless Skill and cultivate it, reaching Six Viscera Realm Perfection.
• Zhang Lingshan ate the Wind Whisper Hundred Apertures Fruit, absorbed Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi, and broke through to the Aperture Opening Realm.
• Zhang Lingshan decided to open as many acupoints as possible, since thirty-six seemed too few for his talent and foundation.
• After a month, Zhang Xianwu and the others sensed a spiritual energy vortex above the Skill Transmission Pagoda and realized Zhang Lingshan was breaking through to the Aperture Opening Realm.
• Zhang Xianfeng, Zhang Xianbai, Chen Langzong, and the Twelve Elders saw that the vortex suggested Zhang Lingshan might open at least thirty-six acupoints.

Zhang Xianbai attacked Zhang Lingshan during his breakthrough after Chen Langzong summoned Li Bufan, but Zhang Lingshan briefly resisted the White Elephant Stomp before collapsing under the attack. Zhang Xianfeng and Chen Langzong intervened, yet Zhang Lingshan appeared dead from overwhelming Death Qi, leaving Zhang Xianbai convinced he would escape consequences.

• Chen Langzong activated a Communication Talisman to summon Li Bufan, prompting Zhang Xianbai to decide to kill Zhang Lingshan before the Grand Marshal arrived.
• Zhang Xianbai entered the Skill Transmission Pagoda, blocked Chen Langzong with flags, and struck Zhang Lingshan with his White Elephant Stomp.
• Zhang Lingshan used his protective barriers, voice, and Life and Death Bell to resist the attack, while Zhang Xianfeng failed to injure Zhang Xianbai with a surprise strike.
• Chen Langzong confronted Zhang Xianbai, and Zhang Xianfeng reached Zhang Lingshan and forced back the attack's remaining momentum.
• Zhang Xianfeng fed Zhang Lingshan a Nine Revolutions Life Creation Pill, but he and Chen Langzong judged that Death Qi had overwhelmed him beyond saving.
• Zhang Xianfeng vowed to report Zhang Xianbai to the Zhang Family, while Zhang Xianbai dismissed the threat and believed no one would avenge Zhang Lingshan.

After Zhang Xianbai killed Zhang Lingshan, Zhang Lingshan transformed the Death Qi around his body into vitality and revived through the inheritance of Paradise Mountain. He recovered his strength and prepared to kill Zhang Xianbai as the Great Marshal arrived at the Skill Transmission Pagoda.

• Zhang Xianbai stayed at the Skill Transmission Pagoda after killing Zhang Lingshan, while the witnesses mourned and Zhang Xianfeng watched over the corpse.
• Zhang Xianfeng noticed that Zhang Lingshan's Death Qi was growing denser and feared he would become a resentful ghost.
• Zhang Lingshan awakened and used the life-and-death inheritance of Paradise Mountain to transform Death Qi into vitality.
• Zhang Lingshan sealed himself inside the Life and Death Bell, drank the Thousand Year Stalactite Marrow, and restored his body while opening forty-eight major acupoints.
• Zhang Lingshan thanked Zhang Xianfeng for saving him and vowed to kill Zhang Xianbai.
• The Great Marshal arrived at Skill Transmission Pagoda Square and asked Chen Langzong why he had summoned him.

Li Bufan arrived at the Skill Transmission Pagoda and punished Zhang Xianbai for killing Zhang Lingshan, crippling him and warning the Zhang Family. Zhang Lingshan then appeared alive and killed Zhang Xianbai with the Profound Silk Treasure Hammer.

• Chen Langzong told Li Bufan that Zhang Xianbai had entered the Skill Transmission Pagoda and killed Zhang Lingshan.
• The Twelve Elders blamed Zhang Xianbai for the killing, and Li Bufan demanded that he explain why he had acted before Li Bufan arrived.
• Li Bufan used invisible force to break Zhang Xianbai's jaw and legs, tear out his tongue, and throw him away alive.
• Zhang Lingshan descended from the sky and smashed Zhang Xianbai's head with the Profound Silk Treasure Hammer.
• Zhang Lingshan took Zhang Xianbai's Storage Bag.

Zhang Lingshan killed the gravely wounded Zhang Xianbai, then faced questioning and a test from Grand Marshal Li Bufan. Li Bufan appointed him the Demon Suppression Division’s Hammer Wielder and gave him a token to obtain a new war hammer.

• Zhang Lingshan smashed Zhang Xianbai to death, and Zhang Xianfeng identified the killer as Zhang Lingshan and called the killing an internal Zhang Family matter.
• Li Bufan pulled Zhang Lingshan before him, questioned how he had returned from death, and heard about his Paradise Mountain inheritance, Thousand Year Stalactite Marrow, treasure hammer, and Intents.
• Li Bufan tested Zhang Lingshan’s Shattering Intent, and Zhang Lingshan revealed its seventh level while saying his Cutting Intent was at the fourth level.
• Zhang Lingshan denied killing Zhang Xiujie, and Zhang Xianfeng said Zhang Xiujie had brought about his own ruin, so Li Bufan declined to pursue the matter.
• Li Bufan appointed Zhang Lingshan as the Demon Suppression Division’s Hammer Wielder, and Zhang Lingshan accepted.
• Li Bufan gave Zhang Lingshan a Jade Tablet to present to Guan Weigong, who would forge his war hammer and position token.

Zhang Lingshan received the Hammer Wielder post, authority to recruit officials, and a token granting him Guan Weigong’s personal artifact-refining services. He left to build his own force, unaware that Li Bufan intended to use him as a blade and had rejected the idea of taking him as a disciple.

• Li Bufan appointed Zhang Lingshan Hammer Wielder, gave him three hundred official slots, and told him to establish a yamen and prove himself.
• Chen Langzong and the others considered how Zhang Lingshan’s new authority could draw the Zhang family together and put him on a collision course with Zuoqiu Jian.
• Li Bufan urged Zhang Lingshan to rely on the capable people around him, and Zhang Lingshan agreed to build his own enterprise.
• Zhang Lingshan asked to enter the upcoming Skill Transmission Pagoda competition, and Chen Langzong gave him a jade bottle as a private congratulatory gift.
• After Zhang Lingshan departed, Chen Langzong admired Li Bufan’s supposed plan to balance the Zhang family against Zuoqiu Jian, while Li Bufan privately judged Zhang Lingshan unfit to be a disciple but suitable to be a blade.

Zhang Lingshan returned with Zhang Xianfeng to the Zhang Family, where he planned to have his ancestry formally recognized while keeping his guard up. He gave Pei Xingdou Aperture Opening Pills to help him advance and, after reviewing his gains from the Skill Transmission Pagoda, prepared to improve the Three Sovereigns Bell.

• Zhang Lingshan left the Skill Transmission Pagoda with Zhang Xianfeng and explained how Zhang Xiujie had attacked him during the Demon Suppression Envoy selection Trial Land.
• Zhang Lingshan destroyed the Jade Slip containing Demon Fox Transformation and demonstrated his skill at flying by qi control while carrying Pei Xingdou.
• Zhang Lingshan sent Pei Xingdou to the Auxiliary City with a Storage Bag of Aperture Opening Pills, and Pei Xingdou vowed to help establish the Hammer-Wielding Hall.
• Zhang Xianfeng brought Zhang Lingshan to his residence and said he would report him to the family head and arrange for the elders to recognize his lineage.
• Zhang Lingshan sealed himself inside the Life and Death Bell, checked his Flawless Leakless Skill, and decided to spend Energy Points on the Three Sovereigns Bell.

Zhang Lingshan was summoned before the Zhang Family elders, who debated his killing of Zhang Xianbai and questioned whether he truly belonged to the family. He agreed to test his heart at the Ancestral Shrine’s Heart Questioning Stele and entered its isolated space, where he examined the stele.

• Zhang Xianfeng told the elders that Zhang Xianbai had ambushed Zhang Lingshan, and they argued over who was at fault before deciding to summon him.
• Zhang Lingshan arrived with Zhang Xianfeng and intimidated a thick-browed elder who challenged him, while Zhang Lingsong offered him a friendly welcome.
• Zhang Lingshan presented his branch’s family register, but several elders demanded that he prove his identity by undergoing a heart questioning.
• Zhang Lingshan accepted the test after learning that the Heart Questioning Stele could endanger his mind and that the elders hoped he might awaken the Heart Inheritance.
• Zhang Zhongzheng activated an Array Flag to reveal the stele in an interlayer space, and Zhang Lingshan entered despite knowing no one outside could help him.

Zhang Lingshan defeated the Three-Eyed Spirit Monkey inside the Heart Questioning Stele and absorbed its accumulated mental power, advancing his Divine Consciousness to the second level. After emerging from the stele, he discovered that a blood-red crystal had entered his body, leaving the nature of the encounter uncertain.

• Zhang Lingshan entered the Heart Questioning Stele’s Vast White World and used Jade Buddha Transformation to destroy the Three-Eyed Spirit Monkey’s Buddha illusion.
• The Three-Eyed Spirit Monkey attacked Zhang Lingshan with Mind Seizing, but Zhang Lingshan transformed into a Three-Eyed Spirit Monkey and overpowered him with his Heavenly Eye.
• Zhang Lingshan absorbed the monkey’s accumulated mental power, refined it with the Jade Emperor Fetal Respiration Scripture, and advanced his Divine Consciousness to the second level.
• Zhang Lingshan drained the monkey and found a blood-red crystal inside its body, which vanished into him when he picked it up.
• Zhang Lingshan came to outside the stele, realized his body had never left, and found that the crystal inside him was real.

Zhang Lingshan failed to obtain the Heart Inheritance, while the Zhang Family elders argued over whether to accept him. After he tried to uproot the Heart Questioning Stele, they called him insane and Zhang Zhongfu proposed that he prove himself by killing Shi Baifan; Zhang Lingshan ignored the challenge and prepared to leave.

• The elders condemned Zhang Lingshan for Zhang Xiujie's death and his failure at the Heart Questioning Stele, while Zhang Xianfeng and his allies defended his talent and argued that he should remain in the family.
• Zhang Lingshan discovered that he could no longer enter the Heart Questioning Stele, then tried to pull it out of the ground but could not move it.
• The elders seized on Zhang Lingshan's attempt to uproot the stele as evidence that he was mad, and Zhang Zhongzheng called him out of the layered space.
• Zhang Xianfeng asked Zhang Zhongzheng to let Zhang Lingshan enter the Ancestral Hall, but Zhang Zenan objected and Zhang Zhongfu proposed that Zhang Lingshan kill Shi Baifan to prove himself.
• Zhang Lingshan declined to answer Zhang Zhongfu and told Zhang Xianfeng he was leaving.

Zhang Lingzhi entered the Heart Questioning Stele and unexpectedly received the Heart Inheritance after the dead Heart Ape’s third eye sent power into her. While the Zhang Family celebrated her success and planned to make Zhang Lingshan swear secrecy, he suspected her inheritance came from the blood he had spat onto the stele, and Zhang Zenan began plotting to kill him and seize his treasures.

• Zhang Lingzhi returned to the Zhang Family after breaking through to the middle stage of the Meridian Opening Realm and entered the Heart Questioning Stele to claim the Heart Inheritance.
• Zhang Lingzhi found the torn corpse of the Heart Ape, and its third eye shot golden light into her brow before she was expelled from the stele with blood strengthening her heart.
• Zhang Lingzhi announced that she had obtained the Heart Inheritance, and Zhang Zhongzheng and the elders celebrated her as the family’s greatest young genius.
• Zhang Lingshan realized that the blood he had spat onto the stele had entered Zhang Lingzhi and suspected that his Seven Aperture Exquisite Heart’s blood had caused her transformation.
• The elders demanded that Zhang Lingshan swear not to reveal Zhang Lingzhi’s inheritance, while Zhang Zenan secretly resolved to kill him and take his Storage Bags.

Zhang Lingshan rejoined the Zhang Family, swore an oath before the ancestors, and collected resources as a special-class genius. After choosing rare Myriad Manifestation Meteorite Iron and exchanging treasures for Divine Sense Pills, he decided to leave Zhang Xianfeng’s home and build his Hammer-Wielding Hall; Zhang Xianfeng warned him that trouble had arisen at Purple Cloud Ridge.

• Zhang Lingshan merged his branch’s genealogy into the Zhang Family’s and swore not to harm the family, attack its members, reveal Zhang Lingzhi’s affairs, or disclose its secrets.
• Zhang Xianwu recognized Zhang Lingshan as a special-class genius and sent him to the Resource Hall with Zhang Enxu.
• Zhang Lingshan chose Myriad Manifestation Meteorite Iron for his weapon and traded Trial Land treasures for forging materials, then collected pills and exchanged unneeded goods for Divine Sense Pills.
• Zhang Lingshan stayed with Zhang Xianfeng for ten days while refining the Blood-Colored Crystal, then resolved to leave and build his Hammer-Wielding Hall.
• Zhang Xianfeng said he had to go handle recent problems at Purple Cloud Ridge and could not accompany Zhang Lingshan.

Zhang Lingshan secretly followed Zhang Xianfeng’s departure for Purple Cloud Ridge, then confronted and killed Zhang Zenan, revealing that he had truly obtained the Zhang Family’s Heart Inheritance and was exempt from the oath against attacking family members. After Zhang Zenan’s lingering yin spirit was absorbed by Zhang Lingshan’s Seven Aperture Exquisite Heart, it yielded a vast amount of Energy Points.

• Zhang Lingshan suspected the Zuoqiu Family’s seizure of Purple Cloud Ridge was meant to warn Zhang Xianfeng against supporting him, and decided to follow Zhang Xianfeng there in secret.
• After Zhang Xianfeng set out, Zhang Lingshan asked Pei Xingdou to study the family map and lead him toward Purple Cloud Ridge, then went alone to meet Zhang Zenan.
• Zhang Lingshan overwhelmed Zhang Zenan with the Life and Death Wheel, and explained that the oath could not punish him because he was the true recipient of the Heart Inheritance and had removed Zhang Zenan from the family register.
• Zhang Zenan knelt and offered his loyalty in exchange for a share of the Heart Inheritance, but Zhang Lingshan refused and killed him.
• Zhang Zenan’s yin spirit attacked Zhang Lingshan after death, but the Blood-Colored Crystal absorbed it and generated 1 billion Energy Points.

Zuoqiu Wuming and Zuoqiu Huang attacked Zhang Xianfeng at the Fire Spirit Stone Mine and demanded that he hand over Zhang Lingshan for Zuoqiu Wufeng’s death. Zhang Xianfeng was defeated and captured, but insisted that taking him would not bring Zhang Lingshan to them.

• Zhang Xianfeng found the sentries at the mine slaughtered and confronted Zuoqiu Wuming, who challenged him to fight.
• While considering how Li Bufan had weakened the Zhang Family and given Zuoqiu Jian an opening, Zhang Xianfeng fought Zuoqiu Wuming and was overwhelmed by his Path of Slaughter.
• Zuoqiu Wuming demanded Zhang Lingshan, claiming he had killed Zuoqiu Wufeng, but Zhang Xianfeng refused and fled when he sensed the hidden Zuoqiu elder move.
• Zuoqiu Huang struck Zhang Xianfeng with a flying stone, overwhelming him with malice and causing him to fall from the air.
• Zuoqiu Wuming captured Zhang Xianfeng and invited him to his residence, while Zhang Xianfeng said his capture would not force Zhang Lingshan to appear and asked for a clean death.

Zuoqiu Wuming crippled Zhang Xianfeng while trying to use him to draw Zhang Lingshan out, but a Flame Leopard rescued him. Zhang Lingshan revealed that he had become the leopard through Demonization, then offered Zhang Xianfeng a drop of his Essence Blood to help heal his injuries.

• Zuoqiu Wuming tortured Zhang Xianfeng and argued that the Zhang Family was too weakened to oppose the Zuoqiu Family.
• A Flame Leopard attacked Zuoqiu Wuming, seized Zhang Xianfeng, and carried him away while Zuoqiu Huang destroyed its fireball.
• Zuoqiu Huang found that his malice on Zhang Xianfeng had disappeared and went to hunt the Flame Leopard, while Zuoqiu Wuming headed for the Fire Spirit Stone Mine.
• Zhang Xianfeng woke in a mountain cave with Zhang Lingshan and Pei Xingdou, and Zhang Lingshan explained that the Flame Leopard had been his own Demonization.
• Zhang Lingshan offered to help heal Zhang Xianfeng, then sent a drop of his Essence Blood into Zhang Xianfeng's chest.

Zhang Lingshan perfected his fused Red Cloud Dao Art while Zhang Xianfeng recovered through the Heart Inheritance, and Pei Xingdou moved their cave to evade Zuoqiu Huang. The group resolved to fight Zuoqiu Huang and reclaim the Fire Spirit Stone Mine, where Zhang Lingshan planned to establish the Hammer-Wielding Hall.

• Zhang Lingshan fused his cultivation techniques into the Red Cloud Dao Art, gaining enhanced movement and clone abilities along with the Red River Domain and Red Gauze Body Protection Miasma.
• Pei Xingdou used the Star Dipper Compass and array flags to shift their mountain cave to a new location, then explained the basics of his ancient Star Shifting Technique to Zhang Lingshan.
• Zhang Xianfeng shed his charred outer layer and emerged more than a hundred years younger after absorbing Zhang Lingshan's Heart Blood.
• Zhang Lingshan told Zhang Xianfeng that the Heart Inheritance was within him and warned that Zhang Chengen might covet his Heart Blood, so Zhang Xianfeng agreed to keep it secret for now.
• Zhang Lingshan announced that he and Zhang Xianfeng would kill Zuoqiu Huang and reclaim the Fire Spirit Stone Mine as the site of the Hammer-Wielding Hall.
• Pei Xingdou asked Zhang Xianfeng to become the Hammer-Wielding Hall's protector.