Chapter Summaries

Chen Sheng discovered that the flesh-and-blood strange trees shared a hidden consciousness and that the forest was preventing him from leaving. He unleashed his Black Tortoise Transformation and pursued the wounded flesh for several kilometers, but it abandoned its body and escaped, so Chen Sheng turned back toward the Holy Church members.

• Chen Sheng woke Chou, who mistakenly attacked him, then ordered him to watch over the recovering Holy Church members.
• Chen Sheng found that the severed strange trees were still alive and uncovered flesh connecting them beneath the ground.
• Chen Sheng sprinted toward the forest’s outskirts but found the ground shifting and the trees trapping him with regenerating flesh arms.
• Chen Sheng activated his Black Tortoise Transformation and destroyed the enclosing tree wall and the flesh beneath it.
• Chen Sheng pursued the retreating flesh for several kilometers, but it vanished, so he headed back toward the Holy Church members.

Chou and Mao XianSheng’s group came under attack from the Flesh-and-Blood Monster Tree, but Chen Sheng’s arrival drove it away. At the Sleeping Land, Chen Sheng shattered the ground and uncovered a vast mass of living flesh, sensing trapped Martial Arts Association personnel below.

• The Flesh-and-Blood Monster Tree attacked the Holy Church Disciples, and Chou and Mao XianSheng tried to lead the survivors to safety as fleshy arms trapped them.
• The fleshy arms suddenly retreated when Chen Sheng arrived in his Black Tortoise Transformation, and Chou and Mao XianSheng recognized him as Lord Black Tortoise.
• Chen Sheng took Mao XianSheng’s robe, ordered the Holy Church group to keep moving, and led them to the expanded clearing marking the Sleeping Land.
• Chen Sheng stomped the clearing repeatedly, breaking through the surface and exposing the writhing flesh beneath it.
• Chen Sheng sensed human life below the exposed flesh and told the Holy Church members to prepare to depart.

Chen Sheng led the Holy Church disciples through the Flesh Cave, blasting a path toward the Martial Arts Association and searching for the flesh-and-blood consciousness’s core. He reached a cavern where the two groups faced off, identified Chong Shan as a Gluttony Avatar, and raised his arm as the Martial Arts Association leader ordered his people to fire.

• Mao XianSheng divided the Holy Church disciples into teams of three and sent them down into the Flesh Cave.
• Chen Sheng found a top-grade Spirit Seed in Chou’s hand, then blasted through the sealed flesh wall to open a path.
• Chen Sheng led his group through caverns bearing signs of the Martial Arts Association’s passage, collecting scarce resources and following their auras.
• Chou asked whether the Holy Church had detected an anomaly, and Chen Sheng promised to handle any powerful enemy.
• Chen Sheng’s group entered a cavern and confronted the armed Martial Arts Association personnel, including Xiang Zilong and Chong Shan, whom Chen Sheng identified as a Gluttony Avatar.
• Chen Sheng raised his arm, and the middle-aged Martial Arts Association leader ordered his people to open fire.

Chen Sheng subdued the Martial Arts Association members, killed Chong Shan, and grievously wounded Xiang Zilong during the Holy Church’s operation in the Sleeping Land. He sent the Holy Church teams to gather resources while Xiang Zilong struggled to escape and report Chen Sheng’s strength.

• Chen Sheng used his Eye of Truth to make the Martial Arts Association members drop their weapons and rendered their leader unconscious with overwhelming laziness.
• Chong Shan attacked Chen Sheng, who swiftly decapitated and electrocuted him while Xiang Zilong watched.
• Xiang Zilong fled through the flesh wall, but Chen Sheng struck him with a Thunder Dragon and left him badly wounded before deliberately allowing him to survive.
• Chen Sheng ordered the Holy Church members to loot the area, drained the Martial Arts Association members of their fear, and filled them with laziness.
• Chen Sheng sent Chou and Mao to lead separate teams gathering resources while he explored the Sleeping Land; the Flesh Consciousness did not appear.
• Xiang Zilong dug upward through the flesh, injured and afraid, hoping to reach the surface and return to the Martial Arts Association.

Xiang Zilong was overtaken by a flesh anomaly and transformed into a puppet that returned to the surrounding flesh. While searching the Sleeping Land, Chen Sheng discovered that a Holy Church member had no emotions, killed him, and then destroyed the creature that emerged from his body.

• Xiang Zilong blasted through the surrounding flesh with Nuclear Fist, but lost control of his body as a crimson membrane and flesh buds covered him.
• Xiang Zilong entered Inner Vision, found his body silent, and watched his transformed body walk into a slit in the flesh.
• Chen Sheng regrouped with Chou's party after the Holy Church teams collected Spirit Seeds but found no spirit medicine or Qi Knot Stones.
• Chen Sheng singled out an emotionless Holy Church member and smashed his head, revealing that the man was a flesh creature.
• The creature declared Chen Sheng belonged to it and reached for him, but Chen Sheng kicked it into charcoal with lightning.

Chen Sheng discovered that the flesh consciousness had infected Chou and the other Holy Church disciples, then unleashed the third stage of Black Tortoise Transformation to destroy the flesh and pursue its source. He reached a chamber containing a strange body that he suspected was a Celestial and considered following the vessels attached to it.

• Chou and the other disciples fell under the flesh consciousness's control as crimson buds spread across their bodies.
• Chen Sheng realized the underground flesh caves had been designed to keep explorers trapped and infect them.
• Chen Sheng activated Black Tortoise Transformation's third stage, which he called Celestial God Form, and tore through the surrounding flesh with wind and lightning.
• Chen Sheng collapsed the flesh beneath him and pursued the retreating consciousness through the tunnels.
• Chen Sheng entered a chamber and found a humanlike body embedded in a wall, connected to the surrounding flesh by more than a hundred vessels.
• Chen Sheng suspected the body was a Celestial and decided to follow the vessels to find the flesh consciousness.

Chen Sheng traced the Flesh Consciousness’s blood vessels to its heart and destroyed the apparent main body, then uncovered its attempt to survive inside Xiang Zilong’s head. After annihilating the consciousness, Chen Sheng left to check on the other parasitized people.

• Chen Sheng followed the energy flowing from the sleeping Celestial through the blood vessels and opened a passage through the surrounding flesh.
• Chen Sheng found the Flesh Consciousness’s heart and rejected its warning that attacking it might awaken the Celestial.
• Chen Sheng destroyed the heart and picked up Xiang Zilong’s head, only for the Flesh Consciousness to attack and try to escape.
• Chen Sheng blasted away the Flesh Consciousness’s tentacles and used lightning to incinerate Xiang Zilong’s head, exposing the consciousness’s last-ditch escape attempt.
• Chen Sheng withdrew from Celestial God Form and headed back to inspect the other people who had been parasitized.

Chen Sheng discovered that Xiao Hei could sense and devour the Flesh Consciousness’s hidden fragments, allowing him to eliminate its escape plan throughout the Sleeping Land. After Xiao Hei consumed the last fragment, Chen Sheng felt Soul Power flowing into him from the ring.

• Chen Sheng found the Holy Church members alive but covered in foul pus and worried the Flesh Consciousness might still be hiding inside them.
• Xiao Hei left Chen Sheng’s finger, entered a Holy Church Disciple, and extracted a hidden fragment of the Flesh Consciousness.
• Chen Sheng blew the pus off the disciples and let Xiao Hei consume the fragments concealed in their bodies and the surrounding flesh.
• Guided by Xiao Hei, Chen Sheng hunted down and destroyed every remaining fragment of the Flesh Consciousness in the Sleeping Land.
• Xiao Hei swallowed the gathered fragments, returned to Chen Sheng’s finger as a ring, and began transferring Soul Power into him.

Chen Sheng learned that Xiao Hei could gain Soul Power from devouring Flesh Consciousness tainted by Celestial power, then returned to the Holy Church after completing his mission. He arrived at the Church Master’s cave and found Xiang Li there, giving him a chance to test their strength.

• Xiao Hei transferred Soul Power to Chen Sheng after devouring the Flesh Consciousness, but warned him that challenging the sleeping Celestial would get him killed.
• Chen Sheng told the Holy Church group the threat had been dealt with, led them safely to the surface, and reported the mission’s outcome to Vermillion Bird.
• Chen Sheng considered how to assess Venerable Elder and Xiang Li’s strength, then shared a possible plan with Vermillion Bird and Li Wuji.
• Chen Sheng returned to the Holy Church headquarters and entered the Church Master’s cave, where he saw Xiang Li beside the Church Master.
• Chen Sheng used the Eye of Truth to inspect Xiang Li’s attributes and welcomed the chance to test their strength.

Chen Sheng became the Holy Church’s Black Tortoise and tested his strength against Xiang Li, then left to take control of the HuaXi Region base. Meanwhile, Li Wuji sent Li Sheng away to rejoin operations and ordered Phoenix to keep him from learning, hearing, or speaking about what was being arranged.

• Chen Sheng reported on the Sleeping Land mission, concealed Xiao Hei’s role in defeating the flesh-and-blood consciousness, and was appointed the Holy Church’s Black Tortoise overseeing the HuaXi Region.
• After Chen Sheng provoked Xiang Li, the two tested their strength in a handshake until the Holy Church’s Church Master stopped them and rewarded Chen Sheng with a potion that accelerated Authority cultivation.
• Chen Sheng concluded that he could soon match or surpass Xiang Li, set a target of reaching eighty thousand physical attributes, and left Kyoto to take control of the Holy Church base in the HuaXi Region.
• After Chen Sheng left, Xiang Li told the Holy Church’s Church Master that Chen Sheng was exceptionally strong, while the Church Master said he expected Chen Sheng to eventually side with them against the Celestials.
• Li Wuji told Li Sheng to join the next operation and placed Phoenix in charge of caring for him; afterward, he ordered her to ensure Li Sheng could not see, hear, or speak about what was being arranged.

Chen Sheng took command of the Holy Church in HuaXi and ordered its disciples to find people with unusual abilities or hereditary illnesses and bring them to him alive. He settled into a secluded cave to cultivate while waiting for the search to produce results.

• Chou and Chou Mao gathered the HuaXi disciples to greet Chen Sheng as the new Black Tortoise, and he declared that everyone must obey his orders.
• Chen Sheng ordered the disciples to find people with unusual abilities or longstanding hereditary illnesses, bring them to him alive, and avoid harming them.
• Chen Sheng told Chou and Chou Mao to oversee the search, hoping that people with Celestial Being Cells might help Xiao Hei strengthen his Soul Power.
• Mao XianSheng offered Chen Sheng a residence, but Chen Sheng instead asked to be taken to the nearest available lodging and settled in a cultivation cave.
• Chen Sheng dismissed Mao XianSheng, relaxed in the secluded cave, and received spiritual medicine from Holy Church members.

Chen Sheng used his enhanced Soul Power to make his muscles reject lightning, accelerating his physical growth, while Li Wuji reassured Vermillion Bird that Chen Sheng would remain safe amid their conflict with Venerable Elder. Back at Holy Church Base, Chen Sheng examined the people Chou had brought him and found Liu Dehui, a delinquent with Celestial Being Cells and Devour Authority.

• Chen Sheng altered his muscles’ response to lightning and found that his Strength was increasing even without training.
• Vermillion Bird visited Li Wuji, who said Venerable Elder would not target Chen Sheng and promised to keep him safe.
• Phoenix asked Li Wuji whether her brother Azure Dragon would be in danger, and Li Wuji assured her he would protect everyone.
• Chen Sheng checked his training results and saw that his attributes and Skill Points had risen substantially.
• Chou brought more than a dozen captives to Chen Sheng, who identified Liu Dehui as a Celestial Being Cell holder with Devour Authority.
• Liu Dehui swallowed the tape covering his mouth, revealing his Devour ability.

Chen Sheng absorbed Celestial Being Cells from Liu Dehui and two other captives, gaining enough Soul Power to begin altering his bones’ response to lightning. He ended the night with his Strength climbing rapidly and prepared to continue training.

• Liu Dehui’s unusual appetite had awakened his physical abilities, and he joined the Deity Society after Diamond introduced him to Void and the Celestials.
• Chou brought Liu Dehui to Chen Sheng, who used Xiao Hei to absorb Liu Dehui’s Celestial Being Cells and knock him unconscious.
• Chen Sheng had Xiao Hei absorb the cells of two more captives, while it rejected the cells of the third.
• Chen Sheng gained about fifteen percent more Soul Power and began cultivating it to improve his bones’ adaptation to lightning.
• After a night of cultivation, Chen Sheng’s Strength reached 1730, and he turned to the spiritual medicine he had prepared for training.

Liu Dehui woke at home after being abducted by the Holy Church and discovered that his captors had secretly planted a tracker on him. Meanwhile, Chen Sheng learned that two Holy Church Disciples had died in an ambush, then examined a captured Authority user whose disrespect provoked Mao XianSheng.

• Liu Dehui confirmed that his abduction was real, kept it from Mother Liu, and tried to confront his supposed watchers before the Holy Church operative monitoring him dismissed his suspicions.
• The Holy Church operative read that two of his groupmates had died while capturing a mission target and mourned the danger of his own work.
• Mao XianSheng brought Chen Sheng seven captured targets, including four people with the Power of Authority, and reported that two Holy Church Disciples had died in an ambush.
• Chen Sheng ordered compensation for the dead Disciples' families, then examined the surviving conscious captive, Sun Yi, and discovered his Teleportation Authority.
• Sun Yi insulted Chen Sheng, and Mao XianSheng flared with anger and threatened him.

Chen Sheng discovered that Sun Yi belonged to the Deity Society and let him escape so he could lead Chen Sheng to other members. After Sun Yi’s companions were defeated or abandoned, Chen Sheng captured the mysterious girl and left Xiao Hei watching her.

• Sun Yi escaped his ropes, threatened Chen Sheng with a gun, and fired bullets into his head and body, but Chen Sheng remained unharmed and frightened him into fleeing.
• Chen Sheng deliberately pursued Sun Yi at intervals, using the chase to keep him afraid while hoping he would lead Chen Sheng to the Deity Society.
• Sun Yi reached his two companions by a stream, and the girl shrank herself and the others before they tried to escape.
• Chen Sheng caught the girl and stopped the leather-pants man’s sound attack, causing the man to die from his own redirected sound waves as Xiao Hei devoured his Celestial Being Cells.
• Sun Yi teleported away alone, while Chen Sheng approached the unafraid girl; when he vanished, Xiao Hei coiled around her neck.

Sun Yi fled toward the Deity Society’s base with Chen Sheng pursuing him, but Chairman Xu Jian evacuated the organization’s members and left Sun Yi behind. After Sun Yi died, Chen Sheng gained power from his Celestial Being Cells, and Caihua asked to join him so she could stay near Xiao Hei.

• Sun Yi used his remaining strength to flee toward the Deity Society’s basement, leaving a trail for Chen Sheng to follow.
• Xu Jian learned that Chen Sheng was approaching alone, evacuated the Deity Society members with help from Luren and Ling Zhi, and promised that their counterattack would begin soon.
• Sun Yi reached the empty basement, where he died as Chen Sheng arrived; Xiao Hei devoured Sun Yi’s Celestial Being Cells and increased Chen Sheng’s Soul Power.
• Caihua questioned Xiao Hei while waiting in the woods, then told Chen Sheng she wanted to follow him and barked to prove her sincerity.

Ling Zhi failed to uncover the black-robed man’s true strength, so Xu Jian ordered the Deity Society to wait and protect its members until he grew stronger. At the Holy Church Base, Chen Sheng cured Cactus by having Xiao Hei devour her Celestial Being Cells, then sent her back to the Deity Society to help his operations.

• Ling Zhi told Luren and Xu Jian that she could not investigate the black-robed man even after using Sun Yi’s body as the price for her ability.
• Xu Jian told Luren to protect the Deity Society’s members while he advanced his power, and instructed Ling Zhi to rest until he needed her help.
• Chen Sheng dismissed Mao XianSheng and the Holy Church members, then used Xiao Hei to remove Cactus’s Celestial Being Cells and restore her health.
• Cactus thanked Chen Sheng and promised to repay him, then accepted a ring of Xiao Hei and agreed to return to the Deity Society to contact people like herself and cooperate with Mao.
• Cactus ran off laughing after teasing Chen Sheng about their matching couple rings.

Chen Sheng modified nearly all his bones, greatly increasing his attributes, then learned from Vermillion Bird that the Celestials were a distinct human species whose Authority had a different source. Vermillion Bird warned him to stay in the HuaXi Region while trouble gathered around Li Wuji, and Chen Sheng resumed his plans to grow stronger.

• Chen Sheng used his increased Soul Power to modify his bones, raising his Strength by fifty points and his Agility and Constitution by ten points each.
• Vermillion Bird visited Chen Sheng, warned him that the Holy Church's Church Master might know Chen Sheng was working for Li Wuji, and advised him to stay in the HuaXi Region.
• Chen Sheng asked Vermillion Bird about the Power of Authority, and Vermillion Bird said Celestial abilities came from Authority but had a different source from martial artists' powers.
• Vermillion Bird revealed that Celestials were human but not Homo sapiens, with fundamental physical differences, though he knew few details.
• After Vermillion Bird left, Chen Sheng told Chou Mao and another person to eliminate small organizations they encountered if possible, then drank the Spirit Herb Soup and left.

After recovering from his hereditary illness, Liu Dehui investigated others who had been taken by the Mysterious Organization and found they had also been cured. Diamond warned him that the organization had killed Deity Society members, while Liu Dehui urged her to consider contacting them; an unseen figure appeared near Diamond before Liu went to bed.

• Liu Dehui discovered that his hereditary brain illness had vanished and learned that seven other people taken the previous night had also recovered.
• Diamond visited Liu Dehui and warned him to stay home and avoid using his abilities because the Mysterious Organization was hunting people like them.
• Diamond said the Mysterious Organization had killed three official Deity Society members, including her best friend, and that the president wanted to deal with it.
• Liu Dehui told Diamond that the people taken with him had been returned healthy and suggested the Deity Society might contact the Mysterious Organization.
• Diamond promised to tell the president and warned Liu Dehui to keep his findings secret; as she left, Liu briefly saw a figure beside her.
• Liu Dehui returned to bed, unaware that a figure stood silently in his dark room.

Luren used Ling Zhi’s authority to examine Liu Dehui, then killed him on Xu Jian’s orders. Meanwhile, Chen Sheng turned the Holy Church’s tokens into magical artifacts to help its members counter the Deity Society’s hidden attacks, and waited for their next operation to bring him more targets.

• Luren let Ling Zhi examine Liu Dehui and learned that Liu no longer had Celestial Being Cells.
• After consulting Xu Jian, Ling Zhi declared Liu Dehui deserved to die, and Luren shot him in his bed before escaping unnoticed.
• Chen Sheng returned from a night of training and learned from Mao XianSheng that the Deity Society was making Holy Church targets disappear and attacking its members.
• Chen Sheng took Mao XianSheng’s token and infused it with Thunder Essence, creating a magical artifact that could attack nearby enemies with Power of Authority.
• Chen Sheng converted the other Holy Church members’ tokens as well, told them how to use the artifacts on missions, and then accepted the seven people they had brought to the cave.