Chapter Summaries

Zhang Lingshan met Chen Youming, who revealed the Hidden Sects’ influence over the Heaven Ranking and warned that they had targeted the Zhang Family. Chen Youming proposed helping Zhang Lingshan open his Throat Mansion before using him to infiltrate the Demon Suppression Sect, but Zhang doubted Li Bufan would take the bait.

• Zhang Lingshan followed Nan Yu’s instructions for taking Sea Urchin Aconitum and climbed Green Shade Mountain to meet an old man at a thatched cottage.
• The old man introduced himself as Chen Youming and explained that he had gained power by paying a price, while Nan Yu was his collaborator rather than his subordinate.
• Chen Youming told Zhang Lingshan that three Heaven Ranking experts, including Zhang Chengen and himself, had opened hidden mansions without Hidden Sect backing, while many others served the Hidden Sects for access to that power.
• Chen Youming revealed that Zuoqiu Jian was Li Bufan’s illegitimate son and said the Hidden Sects had caused Zhang Lingshan’s family’s decline and his ancestor’s disappearance.
• Chen Youming claimed Zhang Lingshan was likely Zhang Quyi’s descendant and might inherit the Zhang Family Ancestor Manifestation, then warned that Li Bufan had sent him into danger to draw it out.
• Chen Youming proposed opening Zhang Lingshan’s Throat Mansion and having Li Bufan capture him so they could destroy the Demon Suppression Sect from within, but Zhang questioned whether Li Bufan would agree to take him there.

Chen Youming helped Zhang Lingshan expand his Throat Mansion and Nether Palace with Netherworld Fire, then sent him back to Jianghai City with a pendant to conceal his strength. Zhang Lingshan left to report to Li Bufan, while Chen Youming revealed his confidence that Zhang would have no choice but to oppose the Demon Suppression Sect.

• Chen Youming led Zhang Lingshan into his Nether Palace world and told him to absorb Netherworld Fire to open his Throat Mansion.
• Zhang Lingshan tested one flame, then absorbed enough Netherworld Fire to expand his Throat Mansion to ten mu and his Nether Palace to ten mu.
• Zhang Lingshan used the Life and Death Bell and Life and Death Wheel to escape the darkness, and Chen Youming gave him a jade pendant to conceal his strength.
• Chen Youming told Zhang Lingshan to return to Central Province and report to Li Bufan, and Zhang Lingshan warned him not to leave him fighting alone.
• Zhang Lingshan returned to Jianghai City and vanished before Nan Shaoyin and Nan Shaole, who decided to search for him.
• Chen Youming told his ox-horned subordinate that Zhang Lingshan would inevitably oppose the Demon Suppression Sect and that their turn to act would soon come.

Zhang Lingshan left Jianghai City in Feng Zhengfeng, Dang Zi'an, Mu Huanyue, and the Nan sisters’ care while he and Zhao Taixuan searched for the scattered volumes of the Supreme Mystery Scripture. They reached the Sea Province Demon Alliance, where the Ox-Head Guards unexpectedly welcomed Zhang Lingshan as their returning lord.

• Zhang Lingshan assigned Feng Zhengfeng, Dang Zi'an, Mu Huanyue, Nan Shaoyin, and Nan Shaole to guard and govern Jianghai City before departing with Zhao Taixuan.
• Zhang Lingshan learned that Zhao Taixuan knew the locations of several Supreme Mystery Scripture volumes, and they set off to seek the remaining ones.
• Zhao Taixuan explained that the Sea Province Demon Alliance was the Nine Provinces Demon Alliance’s headquarters and a stronghold against the South Sea’s Sea Monsters.
• Zhang Lingshan changed into martial clothes and removed his Jade Pendant, letting his powerful qi and blood show so he would blend in among the Demon Alliance’s members.
• Zhao Taixuan brought Zhang Lingshan to Demon Alliance City, where the Ox-Head Guards saluted Zhang Lingshan and welcomed him back as their lord.

Zhang Lingshan entered Demon Alliance City, recognized its familiar construction as Xu Zhongyin’s work, and reunited with Xu Zhongyin and the aged Cang Tianbai. After learning Cang Tianbai was near death from burning his lifespan, Zhang Lingshan revealed a Sea Urchin Aconitum that could help him open his Dantian Mansion and extend his life.

• Zhao Taixuan failed to sense the Supreme Mystery Scripture, so Zhang Lingshan sent him outside and continued into Demon Alliance City alone.
• Zhang Lingshan followed markings to a palace and found Xu Zhongyin, whose legs had been crippled during an ambush in the Mist Realm.
• Xu Zhongyin called out Cang Tianbai, who appeared drastically aged and said his lifespan was nearly exhausted after burning it to reach Meridian Opening Realm Peak.
• Cang Tianbai warned Zhang Lingshan that a monster in the Mist Realm had targeted his bloodline and drained much of his Blood Essence Qi.
• Zhang Lingshan showed Cang Tianbai a Sea Urchin Aconitum, and Xu Zhongyin explained that it could help him open his Dantian Mansion and prolong his life.

Zhang Lingshan helped Cang Tianbai take the Sea Urchin Aconitum, then sought the Demon Alliance's copy of the Supreme Mystery Scripture. He learned that Snake Vice-Alliance Master held it, and Old Ape Head offered to take him to meet the dangerous vice-leader, advising him to call himself Mountain Lord.

• Zhang Lingshan gave Cang Tianbai the Sea Urchin Aconitum, and Cang Tianbai began absorbing it.
• Zhang Lingshan asked Xu Zhongyin to help locate the Demon Alliance's Supreme Mystery Scripture, and Xu Zhongyin took him to see Old Ape Head.
• Old Ape Head confirmed that Snake Vice-Alliance Master had the scripture and warned that he was difficult and dangerous to approach.
• Zhang Lingshan insisted on meeting Snake Vice-Alliance Master, and Old Ape Head examined his powerful body and believed his claim that he was a mountain demon.
• Old Ape Head agreed to escort Zhang Lingshan to Snake Vice-Alliance Master and told him to call himself Mountain Lord.

Zhang Lingshan confronted Snake Qingchan to obtain a copy of the Supreme Mystery Scripture, discovered that she was badly injured, and offered to protect her in exchange for the text. After revealing that Li Bufan had caused her wounds, Snake Qingchan began explaining her past fight with him.

• Old Ape Head brought Zhang Lingshan to Snake Qingchan’s icy cavern, but she initially refused to see him.
• Zhang Lingshan challenged Snake Qingchan and identified her hidden injuries, prompting her to attack him.
• Zhang Lingshan’s Zhang Family Qi and Blood Flame forced Snake Qingchan to retreat, and he clarified that he wanted a copy of the Supreme Mystery Scripture rather than to kill her.
• Snake Qingchan recognized Zhang Lingshan’s interest in the scripture’s Mystical Power and agreed to speak with him after he offered protection.
• Snake Qingchan revealed that Li Bufan had scarred and seriously injured her, and Zhang Lingshan asked which Mansion Treasury she had opened.
• Snake Qingchan said she had opened the Throat Mansion.

Zhang Lingshan learned secrets about Li Bufan from Snake Qingchan and received her Larynx Mansion Attack Secret Method after agreeing to help her contact Snake Zhengming. After spending twenty days with her, he returned to Xu Zhongyin’s hall and hurried toward Flower Province with several new leads and requests.

• Snake Qingchan revealed that Mu Huanyue was descended from Li Bufan and could let him observe Zhang Lingshan, then asked Zhang Lingshan to find Snake Zhengming in Snake Secluded Valley.
• Snake Qingchan gave Zhang Lingshan the Supreme Mystery Scripture, listed Li Bufan’s connected family members, and shared what she knew about Li Bufan.
• Snake Qingchan taught Zhang Lingshan the Larynx Mansion Attack Secret Method and instructed him to use Earth Essence Qi to seal her injuries.
• After twenty days in Snake Qingchan’s cavern, Zhang Lingshan returned to Xu Zhongyin’s hall and gave him three Sea Urchin Aconitums for Mister Cang.
• Zhang Lingshan set out for Flower Province, agreeing to look for a Divine Doctor who could treat Xu Zhongyin’s legs.

Zhang Lingshan entered the Mist Realm alone on his way to Flower Province and fought a grotto full of strange beings. He absorbed the smoky entity led by Blade Demon Li Qingshan, who revealed that Gongye Chang Geng had betrayed his disciples, and continued toward Flower Province seeking ways to strengthen his body.

• Zhang Lingshan gave Zhao Taixuan a copy of the Supreme Mystery Scripture and asked him to guide him toward the copies in Flower Province.
• Zhang Lingshan and Zhao Taixuan agreed to travel through the Mist Realm separately, with Peony City as their meeting place, and Zhao Taixuan opened a passage for Zhang Lingshan.
• Zhang Lingshan entered a dark, corpse-filled grotto and used his Qi and Blood Flame and Wind Dragon Twister to burn the strange beings.
• The surviving demons merged into a smoky figure, which threatened to take Zhang Lingshan's body, but he attacked it with his Opening Heavenly Eye.
• Blade Demon Li Qingshan emerged from the smoky figure, accused Gongye Chang Geng of selling out his disciples, and tried to possess Zhang Lingshan before the Qi and Blood Fire Seed burned him away.
• Zhang Lingshan absorbed Li Qingshan and the remaining smoky figure into his Nether Palace Space, then hoped Flower Province's creatures could help strengthen his physical body.

Zhang Lingshan was swept into Eye Gentleman’s funeral procession in the Mist Realm and learned that its mourners sought the dead gentleman’s eyesight enhancement. As the rites ended, a mysterious eye chose him, but his own Heavenly Eye diverted its gaze to another mourner.

• Zhang Lingshan left a cave only to find himself trapped in a funeral procession whose dead Eye Gentleman’s power his Heavenly Eye could not perceive.
• Zhang Lingshan learned from Huai Sanniang that mourners could gain an eyesight enhancement by wailing at Eye Gentleman’s funeral, and he was silenced and forced to continue with the procession.
• Lu Hede and Xue Dasao joined the procession, followed by dozens more; Zhang Lingshan watched as the mourners reached the grave and the giant Nose, Mouth, and Ear Gentlemen performed the rites.
• Zhang Lingshan wept with the mourners, and a vertical eye appeared in the sky and fixed its gaze on him.
• Zhang Lingshan’s Heavenly Eye flared and redirected the vertical eye toward another man, who cried out in terror as he was chosen instead.

Zhang Lingshan absorbed the Purple Mansion Divine Radiance in Gentleman's Tomb, then learned that opening more than one thousand mu had trapped him in the Mist Realm. Xue Dasao revealed that he could not leave and would remain there until he died.

• Eye Gentleman was sacrificed, and the Purple Mansion Divine Radiance opened and rapidly expanded Zhang Lingshan's Purple Mansion.
• Zhang Lingshan recognized the Four Lords as a strange Mansion Treasury cycle and left Gentleman's Tomb with the others.
• Huai Sanniang tried to seize Zhang Lingshan, but he ignited his Qi and Blood Fire Seed before Lu Hede intervened.
• Xue Dasao asked Zhang Lingshan how much Purple Mansion space he had opened, and he claimed it was one thousand one hundred mu.
• Xue Dasao told Zhang Lingshan that crossing the one-thousand-mu threshold had trapped him in the Mist Realm until his death.

Zhang Lingshan learned that his enormous Purple Mansion would make returning to the Nine Provinces Continent dangerously difficult, but he could use the Mist Realm’s folded spaces to teleport. After receiving the Mist Devouring Evil Art from Xue Dasao, he used his Heavenly Eye to find a fold and teleported away, only to face another threat in the Mist Realm.

• Xue Dasao explained that Zhang Lingshan’s 2,300-mu Purple Mansion would subject him to extreme space compression if he returned to the Nine Provinces Continent.
• Lu Hede demonstrated how the Mist Realm’s shifting, folded planes enabled teleportation, then gave Zhang Lingshan a Qian Yuan Dao Jade Pendant and asked him to help the sect or find it a successor.
• Xue Dasao asked about the Xue Family, then left Zhang Lingshan a copy of the Mist Devouring Evil Art, a risky body-tempering method based on absorbing the Mist Realm’s mist.
• Zhang Lingshan decided his Panel and Qi and Blood Fire Seed would protect him from the method’s dangers and sought a safe place to cultivate.
• Zhang Lingshan activated his Heavenly Eye, spotted a folded-space point, and teleported away, but a sinister wind attacked him from behind.

Zhang Lingshan cultivated the Mist Devouring Evil Art, opened and greatly expanded his Heart Mansion, and gained clouds that could rapidly heal his body. After searching through smaller Mist Realm spaces, he encountered Huai Sanniang, who attacked while teasing him and claimed he could not return to the Nine Provinces Continent or the Basic Mist Realm.

• Zhang Lingshan used the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi stored in his body to burn away most of the Blood Red Crystal in his heart, then absorbed mist and discovered that his body had to break down and regenerate to adapt to it.
• Zhang Lingshan refined the remaining crystal with mist, opened his Heart Mansion, and used its seven apertures to draw in mist and purify it into healing clouds.
• Zhang Lingshan repeatedly absorbed the mist in the space, collected its creatures and plants, and then leaped through other spaces to continue cultivating and capturing Yin Spirits.
• Zhang Lingshan entered a space claimed by someone else and left when its owner warned him away, then continued leaping through spaces that were smaller than the Mist Realm he first entered.
• Huai Sanniang found Zhang Lingshan and explained that he could not return to the Nine Provinces Continent or the Basic Mist Realm, then suddenly moved behind him and attacked.

Zhang Lingshan trapped Huai Sanniang in his flames, learned about the Mist Realm’s three layers, and defeated her with his Heavenly Eye. He extracted her knowledge about absorbing Mansion Treasures, then refined the spiritual power left behind as he considered how to grow stronger.

• Zhang Lingshan surrounded Huai Sanniang with flames and forced her to explain the Mist Realm’s layers and the dangers of returning to the Basic Mist Realm.
• Huai Sanniang attacked Zhang Lingshan with her hair needles, but his Heavenly Eye broke her Wind Mansion and crippled her.
• Zhang Lingshan absorbed ownerless mental power and asked Huai Sanniang how to absorb and shatter other Mansion Treasures.
• Zhang Lingshan burned Huai Sanniang and tried to destroy her Purple Mansion, but the Life and Death Wheel turned her into a yin soul, which he absorbed.
• Zhang Lingshan concluded that his Throat Mansion was too small to shatter Huai Sanniang’s Purple Mansion and continued refining the spiritual power drifting nearby.

Zhang Lingshan absorbed ownerless power in the Second Layer of the Mist Realm, strengthened his abilities, and used the Caterpillar to lure and defeat a powerful Glowing Moth for its Energy Points. After improving his body and the Three Yang True Scripture, he prepared to gather more Energy Points, while Withered Wood Senior Brother sensed the Caterpillar’s return.

• Zhang Lingshan broke through to the Third Level of Divine Consciousness, opened his Wind Mansion, and expanded his Heart Mansion while refining ownerless power across the Mist Realm.
• Zhang Lingshan brought out the Caterpillar, attracted a Glowing Moth, and defeated it with the Life and Death Bell and his Heart Mansion flames, gaining a large amount of Energy Points.
• Zhang Lingshan gathered enough Energy Points to advance the Flawless Leakless Skill, strengthening his body and reaching the late stage of the Meridian Opening Realm.
• Zhang Lingshan perfected the Three Yang True Scripture and discovered that it could fuse with several other techniques, but he lacked the Energy Points to do so.
• Zhang Lingshan took the Caterpillar out again, and Withered Wood Senior Brother opened his eyes and said that it had appeared again.

Zhang Lingshan fused his cultivation methods into the Scorching Sun Dragon Illumination Art, then fell into the Basic Mist Realm while trying to return to the Nine Provinces Continent. Unable to safely use his eyes to find a way home, he wandered through the mist and approached a fleeing pair who recognized him.

• Withered Wood Zen Master briefly saw the passage to the Third Layer of the Mist Realm disappear before he could pinpoint it.
• Zhang Lingshan used thirty-three trillion Energy Points to fuse his cultivation methods into the Scorching Sun Dragon Illumination Art and tested its fire-dragon power.
• Zhang Lingshan weakened himself by drawing in his Purple Mansion and fell into the Basic Mist Realm, but a Hidden Space Guardian struck him when he opened his eyes to search for Flower Province.
• Zhang Lingshan decided to travel through the mist using Divine Consciousness and look for someone who could help him locate his destination.
• A young man and woman fled pursuing Mist Realm Gray Shadows in a sedan, using Heavenly Corpse Sect Members and a stitched Demon Beast to hold them back.
• The young man hid with the woman when Zhang Lingshan approached, and he recognized the brightly glowing, eyes-closed stranger.

Zhang Lingshan reunited with Zhang Lingyu and Kou Guan in the Mist Realm, where he effortlessly destroyed the gray shadows pursuing them. After discovering Kou Guan’s past connection to the Heavenly Corpse Sect, he spared him and asked him to translate a secret cultivation record.

• Kou Guan recognized Zhang Lingshan as the man he had nearly encountered at the Heavenly Corpse Sect stronghold near Jiang City and begged him to spare his life.
• Zhang Lingyu introduced Zhang Lingshan as her brother and explained how she had made a Strange Beast from Demon Beast Remains to defend them.
• The Strange Beast exploded, and Zhang Lingshan wiped out the attacking Mist Realm gray shadows with a casual wave.
• Zhang Lingshan recognized the corpse aura on Kou Guan and learned that he had destroyed the Heavenly Corpse Sect; Kou Guan presented a record of the Heavenly Demon Corpse Refining Great Art.
• Zhang Lingshan recalled Kou Guan’s role in the events near Jiang City, then spared him because he had saved Zhang Lingyu and asked him to translate the record.

Zhang Lingshan let Kou Guan refine his body into a Heavenly Demon Corpse, then used his Qi and Blood Fire Seed to absorb its power and improve his physique. He and Zhang Lingyu followed Kou Guan toward Flower Province, where Zhang Lingshan began teaching her the Qi and Blood Bell and considered using the Supreme Mystery Scripture to derive more cultivation methods.

• Zhang Lingshan asked Kou Guan to refine his body into a Heavenly Demon Corpse, and Kou Guan completed the process with the materials he had.
• Zhang Lingshan activated his Qi and Blood Fire Seed, refined the corpse’s outer skin, and improved his physical body.
• Kou Guan told Zhang Lingshan about strange creatures near Flower Bridge and Frost Silkworm Silk in Flower Province, so Zhang Lingshan agreed to lead the way there with Zhang Lingyu.
• Zhang Lingshan teased Zhang Lingyu about Kou Guan, then corrected her by saying they were the orthodox Zhang Family and taught her the Qi and Blood Bell.
• Zhang Lingshan planned to pass the Qi and Blood Bell to trustworthy Zhang family members and considered using the Supreme Mystery Scripture to derive more techniques.
• Kou Guan announced that they had arrived in Flower Province.

Zhang Lingshan endured the Nine Provinces Continent’s Space Compression Force after leaving the Mist Realm, then absorbed mental power from its rules while fighting to survive. As his physical body neared collapse, his Profound Gold Intent became ready to advance, and he recognized that he needed Stat Points.

• Zhang Lingshan tore open the Mist Realm and told Kou Guan and Zhang Lingyu to leave him alone while he faced the realm’s suppression.
• The Space Compression Force crushed Zhang Lingshan’s body, but he stayed alive and began searching his Panel for a way to strengthen himself.
• Zhang Lingshan realized he could absorb mental power from the rules mixed into the compression force, while Kou Guan set up the Corpse Control Great Array to protect him.
• Zhang Lingshan steadily gained mental power, but the compression pierced his heart and forced him to stop absorbing and focus on advancing his Profound Gold Intent.
• Zhang Lingshan checked his Panel, saw his mental power had reached 300,000 and his Profound Gold Intent had turned yellow, and realized he needed Stat Points.

Zhang Lingshan drilled underground to complete his breakthrough into the Profound Gold Body, while Hu Yanjiushi investigated the well and clashed with Hua Jiuniang. The chapter left Hua Jiuniang frozen by an Extremely Cold Ice Bee as Hu Yanjiushi remained inside the well.

• Zhang Lingshan endured the Space Compression Force and began transforming into the Profound Gold Body deep underground.
• Kou Guan and Zhang Lingyu found the well, but Hu Yanjiushi trapped them and demanded to know how it had formed.
• Hu Yanjiushi threw Zhang Lingyu into the well, then lowered what he thought was Kou Guan into it, unaware Kou Guan had switched places with a corpse.
• Hua Jiuniang confronted Hu Yanjiushi over Hu Yanqing bullying a junior from her family, and Hu Yanjiushi evaded her attack by entering and sealing the well.
• An Extremely Cold Ice Bee stung Hua Jiuniang, freezing her, and she wrapped herself in blooming flowers to defend herself.

Kou Guan and Zhang Lingyu escaped Hu Yanjiushi in the well, where Zhang Lingshan rescued them and captured their pursuer. After the Hua Family recognized Zhang Lingshan’s strength, he asked to visit Hua Wuyue and left Hu Yanjiushi to Zhang Lingyu.

• Kou Guan and Zhang Lingyu descended the well on a corpse, and Zhang Lingyu’s blood-reinforced thread net briefly burned Hu Yanjiushi as he followed them.
• Zhang Lingshan grabbed Zhang Lingyu and Kou Guan from below, then seized Hu Yanjiushi and drained his strength.
• Zhang Lingshan emerged from the well with Zhang Lingyu and Kou Guan, startling the six Hua Family women who had gathered outside.
• Zhang Lingshan asked to copy the Hua Family’s Supreme Mystery Scripture and learned that Hua Wuyue had returned to Flower Province.
• Zhang Lingshan tossed Hu Yanjiushi to Zhang Lingyu, who began tearing him apart while Zhang Lingshan praised her mercilessness.