Chapter Summaries

Yun Langyue told Uncle Wu that Xu Yongfeng had failed to secure her cooperation but had requested an introduction to the Yunliu Merchant Guild’s powerful connections instead. After explaining the guild’s history and her own role in reclaiming it, she learned that Su Ming had left with Xu Qianqian and chose to let him go, curious about what he planned to do.

• Yun Langyue told Uncle Wu that Xu Yongfeng had offered benefits for an introduction letter to major powers after she rejected his proposal to help him deal with the Xu Family's eldest son.
• Yun Langyue left the decision about Xu Yongfeng's request to her mother, the Yunliu Merchant Guild's president.
• Uncle Wu recalled how Yun Langyue had rescued her mother and him, eliminated the families that had attacked the Yun Family, and restored the family’s authority in the guild.
• Yun Langyue asked where Su Ming was and learned that he had gone out with Xu Qianqian.
• Yun Langyue declined Uncle Wu’s offer to bring Su Ming back and decided to wait to see what he would do.

Su Ming and Xu Qianqian found Xiao Hai'er growing weaker because her blood essence and bloodline had been damaged. Since restoring her with human blood would require draining dozens of people, they discussed other remedies, and Su Ming finally brought out a red-veined stone that stirred Xiao Hai'er's interest.

• Su Ming arrived at Xu Qianqian's villa with her and found Xiao Hai'er lying weakly on an ice platform in the pool.
• Xu Qianqian explained that Xiao Hai'er's injuries had depleted her blood essence and damaged her bloodline.
• Xu Qianqian told Su Ming that full recovery through blood would require draining dozens of people, while animal blood and partial transfusions would not suffice.
• Su Ming rejected seeking Yun Langyue's help because he feared owing her another favor, and he could not recall having a suitable restorative item.
• Su Ming took a red-veined stone from his inventory and showed it to Xiao Hai'er, whose eyes brightened with delight and longing.

After Xiao Hai'er consumed a Crimson Vein Stone, she recovered, awakened her bloodline, and grew powerful enough to threaten Xu Qianqian. Su Ming decided to raise her with more stones, and Xu Qianqian asked him to provide some for her.

• Su Ming fed Xiao Hai'er a Crimson Vein Stone, restoring her health and awakening her bloodline.
• Xiao Hai'er's newfound strength surpassed that of an ordinary Three-Star Professional and approached a Four-Star Professional.
• Xiao Hai'er hid behind Xu Qianqian when Su Ming called her over, so Su Ming restrained her and pulled her into his arms.
• Su Ming offered Xiao Hai'er Crimson Vein Stones as food in exchange for her obedience, explaining that he would raise her without making her drink human blood.
• Xu Qianqian asked Su Ming to provide her with some Crimson Vein Stones.

Xu Qianqian agreed to help Su Ming acquire high-quality, inexpensive supernatural items in exchange for Crimson Vein Stone, while Xiao Hai'er accepted his offer of the stone in return for obeying him. Su Ming gave Xiao Hai'er a Mirage Pearl to hide her identity and took the now-invisible Mermaid Maiden with him.

• Xu Qianqian sought Crimson Vein Stone to strengthen herself, and Su Ming offered her some in exchange for helping him collect supernatural items.
• Xu Qianqian agreed to try arranging the trade through her family, though she warned Su Ming she could not guarantee success.
• Su Ming offered Xiao Hai'er Crimson Vein Stone if she obeyed him, and she reluctantly accepted.
• Su Ming gave Xiao Hai'er a Mirage Pearl that concealed her from others and made her invisible.
• Su Ming led Xiao Hai'er away from the villa, realizing the Mirage Pearl could help her infiltrate and ambush enemies.

Longyao City struggled with the aftermath of the Huaming Campaign as Su Ming learned that a Hazard Breed was hiding among the stragglers and the mayor’s family had been attacked. Xu Qianqian suspected Sin might be behind the attack, putting Su Ming at risk because Xiao Hai'er was their target.

• Longyao City assigned semi-compulsory missions to Demon Hunter Academy students as Phantom Demon stragglers continued to threaten the city and casualties from the Huaming Campaign left it short on manpower.
• Xu Qianqian told Su Ming that a Hazard Breed had escaped into the city and the mayor’s family had been massacred, with the mayor presumed captured and his daughter missing.
• Xu Qianqian explained that Longyao City had made hunting the Hazard Breed and finding the mayor’s family its highest-priority Rank SS missions, further straining its remaining forces.
• Xu Qianqian said the Wang Family had been weakened by the Huaming Campaign and that the city’s leaders suspected an outside force had attacked it.
• Su Ming suspected Sin, and Xu Qianqian warned that Su Ming could be targeted because Xiao Hai'er was Sin’s target.

Su Ming began training in the Demon Blade Technique with Fire Fang, using his exceptional spirituality to correct his form and improve rapidly. He pushed through the physical strain with an Alchemy Potion and resolved to strengthen both his Hunter and Warlock abilities as Longyao City grew more dangerous.

• Su Ming let Xiao Hai'er play in the training room's pool while he prepared to practice.
• Su Ming chose the powerful, defense-poor Demon Blade Technique because his physical attributes and Pattern Sight suited it.
• Su Ming practiced with Fire Fang and rapidly corrected his technique through his extraordinary spirituality.
• Su Ming stopped when his body began to ache, then drank an Alchemy Potion to recover and continue training.
• Su Ming planned to practice the Demon Blade, study two advanced Spiritual Arts, develop his Silver Arm and combined-class tactics, and increase his power in both classes.

An Zijin, Jiang Wanyu, and Yao Beibei discussed their absent seniors and the strange incidents reported around Longyao City. Jiang Wanyu remained in the academy with her Alchemy Weapon despite pressure from others to give it up, and she changed the subject by suggesting they visit Su Ming.

• An Zijin explained that upper-year students had more missions, while she and her friends had relatively light workloads.
• An Zijin described how Lei Hao and Ye Bai were training, and said Su Ming had been studying in seclusion and she had not seen him for four hours.
• Jiang Wanyu raised concerns about a rise in strange, unresolved incidents around Longyao City, and Yao Beibei agreed that something felt wrong.
• An Zijin and Yao Beibei worried that Jiang Wanyu might be targeted because people wanted her Alchemy Weapon, but Jiang Wanyu refused to send it home.
• Jiang Wanyu suggested that the three girls go see Su Ming, successfully changing the subject.

Su Ming mastered the Demon Blade Technique and realized his Nightmare Breed bloodline and body were nearing the limit needed to awaken Demonization. When An Zijin, Jiang Wanyu, and Yao Beibei arrived at the training room, they were flustered by his sweaty appearance, while Xiao Hai'er hid in the pool.

• Su Ming used Fire Fang to defeat every opponent in the training simulator and declared that he had mastered the Demon Blade Technique.
• Su Ming fed Xiao Hai'er a Crimson Vein Stone, then considered how his bloodline and body were approaching the limits required for Demonization.
• Su Ming concluded that his Nightmare Breed bloodline gave him the potential to reach the peak of a Lesser Hunter and awaken Demonization soon.
• Xiao Hai'er hid in the swimming pool when the visitor chime rang, and Su Ming went to open the door.
• An Zijin, Jiang Wanyu, and Yao Beibei arrived to see Su Ming and blushed at his sweat-soaked appearance.

Su Ming warned An Zijin, Jiang Wanyu, and Yao Beibei that Longyao City remained dangerous, then discussed his recent training and discovered that An Zijin had mastered an intermediate Spiritual Art. Impressed by her exceptional talent, Su Ming decided to nurture her.

• Jiang Wanyu pointed out that strange incidents and rising mission frequency suggested Longyao City’s situation was worsening, and Su Ming warned the three girls to stay together and avoid leaving the Academy District unnecessarily.
• Jiang Wanyu and Yao Beibei asked about Su Ming’s training, and he said he had been studying high-sequence Spiritual Arts without revealing that he had mastered an advanced technique.
• Jiang Wanyu revealed that two members of their original team could use intermediate Spiritual Art, prompting Su Ming to realize that An Zijin had learned Octagonal Crystal Barrier.
• An Zijin told Su Ming she had mastered the technique he had given her, and he praised her talent and resolved to help her develop it further.

Su Ming gave An Zijin a spellbook for Stasis Lock and promised to find her an advanced Spiritual Art, prompting her to pursue him until Jiang Wanyu and Yao Beibei intervened. Later, Su Ming found the academy convenience store closed, followed Xiao Hai’er’s warning about blood, and entered to confront a fast-moving attacker.

• Su Ming gave An Zijin the Stasis Lock spellbook and told her to keep his ability to obtain valuable spellbooks secret.
• Su Ming promised to find An Zijin an advanced Spiritual Art, and she became so emotional that she chased him until Jiang Wanyu and Yao Beibei dragged her away.
• Su Ming went looking for food late at night, found the academy convenience store closed, and heard Xiao Hai’er warn him of a smell of blood.
• Su Ming spotted a damaged store window, entered the dark convenience store, and found a shadow stuffing snacks into its mouth.
• The shadow lunged at Su Ming, and their collision shook the store and blasted its entrance and windows apart.

Su Ming defeated a frenzied attacker at the Academy Welfare Store, who turned to sand and left behind a badge marked “King.” Xu Qianqian told him the attackers were members of the Wang family and invited him to her villa to discuss the strange incidents.

• Su Ming fought a frenzied man outside the Academy Welfare Store and defeated him with his glowing right fist, collapsing part of the store wall.
• The attacker muttered about a young lady, warned someone to run, then turned to sand; Su Ming found a badge marked “King” among his clothes.
• Su Ming returned to the dormitory and called Xu Qianqian, who said similar sand-vanishing attackers had appeared throughout Longyao City.
• Xu Qianqian revealed that the attackers were members of the Wang family, whose head and heiress had gone missing after the family was attacked.
• Xu Qianqian invited Su Ming to her villa to discuss the situation, and he agreed to come despite the late hour.

Su Ming visited Xu Qianqian’s villa at her invitation and provoked her private soldiers, especially Lie, before Xu Qianqian sent them away. Xu Qianqian brought Su Ming inside to talk after revealing she had been training because she disliked feeling weak.

• Su Ming arrived at Xu Qianqian’s villa and was stopped by Lie, Yin, and the private soldiers guarding it.
• Yin went to fetch Xu Qianqian after Su Ming explained that she had invited him.
• Su Ming teased Lie about failing to protect Xu Qianqian and tricked the private soldiers into thinking she had arrived.
• Lie attacked Su Ming, who easily dodged his attacks without striking back.
• Xu Qianqian appeared and ordered the private soldiers to leave, while Su Ming continued teasing Lie.
• Xu Qianqian told Su Ming she had been practicing because insufficient strength was unpleasant, then invited him inside to talk.

Su Ming visited Xu Qianqian and learned that Wang Family members had been drained of their blood and used as sacrifices in a suspected ritual, possibly connected to 'Evil' and an accomplice among Longyao City's upper echelon. Concerned that the threat could reach them, Su Ming decided to interfere and revealed an Alchemy Tool that could disrupt rituals and other alchemical effects.

• Su Ming met Xu Qianqian in her room and returned the identity badge taken from a bizarre attacker, which she confirmed belonged to the Wang Family.
• Xu Qianqian explained that the Wang Family’s direct line had only two members because bloodline standards determined who counted as a direct descendant.
• Xu Qianqian told Su Ming that Wang Family members had been drained of blood and might have been sacrificed in a ritual, with the culprit still unknown and 'Evil' among the suspects.
• Xu Qianqian warned that an accomplice of 'Evil' might be among Longyao City's upper echelon and could target people connected to her and Su Ming.
• Su Ming decided to trip up the people behind the crimes and showed Xu Qianqian a Hindrance Smoke Wave that could interfere with alchemy and rituals.

A ruthless-looking man’s blood sacrifice ritual to free the sealed “King” was disrupted when Su Ming released the Hindrance Smoke Wave across Longyao City. The Wang Family’s young lady escaped with the “sword,” and the black-clothed expert set out to track her down.

• The ruthless-looking man learned that sacrificing more than four hundred Wang Family branch-line members had barely affected the seal, so he ordered his subordinates to prepare Wang Xiao and his daughter as direct-line sacrifices.
• Su Ming warned Xu Qianqian that the Hindrance Smoke Wave would disrupt rituals and alchemy across Longyao City, and she approved its release.
• Su Ming launched the Hindrance Smoke Wave, whose magnetic ash spread across the city and caused the ritual to malfunction, the sacrifices to awaken, and parts of the ruins to collapse.
• A subordinate reported that the Wang Family’s young lady had escaped with the “sword,” and the ruthless-looking man killed him and ordered a search.
• The black-clothed expert identified a special magnetic fluctuation as the likely cause of the ritual’s failure, then agreed to track down the Wang Family’s young lady and the “sword.”

Su Ming warned Xu Qianqian that the people behind the ritual might target her after tracing the Hindrance Smoke Wave, and proposed using her as bait in a coordinated ambush. Xu Qianqian agreed to involve her father and Longyao City's factions, while Su Ming planned to join undercover as a mysterious expert and keep Xiao Hai'er hidden.

• Su Ming explained that an 'Evil' collaborator among Longyao City's higher-ups could use detection department records to identify Xu Qianqian as the source of the Hindrance Smoke Wave.
• Su Ming proposed tracking who accessed the detection intelligence, then ambushing the attackers and using them to uncover those behind the Wang Family attack and ritual.
• Xu Qianqian agreed to tell her father and organize an ambush with the Xu Family's allies and Longyao City's other major factions.
• Su Ming said he would pose as the mysterious expert previously sent by the Yun Family to protect Xu Qianqian, and Xu Qianqian accepted his decision to join.
• Su Ming decided Xiao Hai'er should stay hidden and persuaded her by reminding her that she wanted the Crimson Vein Stone and to evolve into a Greater Phantasmal Demon.

Su Ming and Xu Qianqian identified Mo Leng, head of the Mo Family, as the Longyao City official likely collaborating with 'Sin' to capture Xiao Hai'er and aid its secret rituals. Su Ming concluded that 'Sin' was the true mastermind, but its ritual’s purpose and its use of Wang Family members as sacrifices remained unknown.

• Xu Qianqian confirmed that only one city official had requested a detection department report within an hour of Hindrance Smoke Wave being used, and Su Ming inferred that the official was investigating with a specific purpose.
• Su Ming reassured Xu Qianqian that the 'Sin' forces in Longyao City were unlikely to have enough strength to overwhelm the city, and Xu Qianqian agreed to proceed with their planned ambush.
• Xu Qianqian revealed that the official was Mo Leng, the current head of the Mo Family and a Longyao City councilor.
• Su Ming connected the Mo Family’s Nightmare Breed ancestry and desire to restore its bloodline to Mo Leng’s likely interest in capturing Xiao Hai'er.
• Su Ming reasoned that 'Sin' had manipulated the Mo Family and was the true mastermind behind the Wang Family attacks and cruel rituals, while the ritual’s purpose and its use of Wang Family members as sacrifices remained unclear.

Xu Qianqian told Xu Yongfeng that she had disrupted Evil’s ritual and become its target, prompting him to prepare Longyao City’s forces for a battle on Xu Family territory. Su Ming joined the operation in disguise as the mysterious expert King Ming.

• Xu Qianqian told Xu Yongfeng about Hindrance Smoke Wave, the Mo Family’s collusion with Evil, and the plan to use her as bait, angering her father.
• Xu Yongfeng ordered Xu Qianqian to stay in the Xu Family territory, but she warned that Evil might attack the family there.
• Xu Yongfeng revealed that he had secured his father’s approval and coordinated with Longyao City’s powers to ambush Evil and confront it on Xu Family territory.
• Xu Yongfeng recognized the masked figure as the expert who had saved Xu Qianqian during the Huaming Campaign and asked his identity.
• Su Ming introduced himself as King Ming, and Xu Yongfeng welcomed him into the operation, believing the Yun Family had sent him.

Su Ming, disguised as King Ming, met with Xu Yongfeng and Xu Qianqian to discuss the coming operation and how the Xu Family would handle the Mo Family. After Xu Yongfeng’s spy failed to see through Su Ming’s enchanted equipment, Su Ming sensed the spy watching him and prepared to make ready for the operation as danger drew near.

• Xu Yongfeng welcomed Su Ming as King Ming, whose strength and apparent ties to the Yun Family made him a valuable ally, and Su Ming kept his identity hidden with a rehearsed persona.
• Xu Qianqian asked how the Xu Family would deal with the Mo Family, and Xu Yongfeng said the forces in Longyao City would isolate them before investigating their alleged ties to 'Evil.'
• After Su Ming and Xu Qianqian left, Xu Yongfeng asked Shadow to identify King Ming, but Shadow said King Ming’s equipment blocked his special eyesight.
• Xu Yongfeng decided against having Shadow follow King Ming, fearing that discovery would damage the Xu Family’s trust with him.
• In the corridor, Su Ming sensed someone had been watching him and then told Xu Qianqian they should prepare for the coming operation.

Mo Leng and Sin’s ruthless leader each planned to betray the other as Sin prepared to hunt Xu Qianqian. Meanwhile, a young Wang Family survivor escaped through the ruins with the mysterious Sword, and the ruthless man led his forces toward the Xu Family manor.

• Mo Leng told the ruthless man that Xu Qianqian had disrupted the ritual, while the ruthless man promised to help him recapture the Phantasmal Demon Cub.
• After ending the call, Mo Leng revealed he planned to exploit Sin’s clash with Longyao City’s families to seize the Phantasmal Demon Cub and flee.
• A young Wang Family survivor hid from Sin’s searchers, remembered her father’s warning, and escaped carrying the Sword.
• A black-clad expert found the girl’s hiding place and pursued her trail.
• The ruthless man gathered his subordinates and arrived at the Xu Family manor to target Xu Qianqian.

Su Ming accompanied Xu Qianqian to a gathering of Longyao City's major families and factions, where High-level Professionals sized up the mysterious protector known as King Ming. Gao Xu recognized Su Ming as the expert who had forced him back, and his account left another attendee eager to test Su Ming.

• Su Ming took leave from the Demon Hunter Academy and spent the day with Xu Qianqian, who told him she had prepared another shipment of Crimson Vein Stones.
• Xu Qianqian invited Su Ming to a gathering of influential families and factions, explaining that it would help him learn who might become his allies or enemies.
• Xu Qianqian and Su Ming entered the outdoor gathering together, drawing the attention of the assembled experts, including Gao Xu and Xu Yanyan.
• A casually dressed man asked Gao Xu about his previous loss to Su Ming, and Gao Xu described Su Ming's unusual perception and powerful right hand.
• The casually dressed man became curious about Su Ming and wanted to test him.