Chapter Summaries

Meng Zhao infiltrated the Zhou Family estate and overheard Zhou Gushan’s younger brother having an affair with Zhou Gushan’s wife or concubine. Their conversation confirmed that Zhou Gushan had sent two deathsworn to kill Meng Zhao after initially hesitating, leaving Meng Zhao with proof of the Zhou Family’s involvement.

• Meng Zhao used his divine art to conceal himself and slipped over the Zhou Family’s walls.
• He passed the loosely guarded outer grounds and found the patrols in the middle section much more carefully organized.
• Meng Zhao overheard Zhou Gushan’s younger brother and Zhou Gushan’s wife or concubine flirting secretly in a rockery.
• The younger brother revealed that Zhou Gushan had decided to send two deathsworn after someone urged him to act against Meng Zhao.
• Meng Zhao confirmed that the Zhou Family had attempted to assassinate him and considered using the affair to humiliate Zhou Gushan.

Meng Zhao captured Zhou Gushan’s younger brother and sister-in-law to question them about the Zhou Family. After restraining the woman for resisting, he asked the younger brother who had summoned Zhou Gushan when he hesitated to assassinate Meng Zhao.

• Meng Zhao subdued Zhou Gushan’s younger brother and sister-in-law and took them to an empty room to interrogate them.
• Meng Zhao released their acupoints, warned them to answer truthfully, and demonstrated his power by scorching the floor.
• Zhou Gushan’s younger brother agreed to cooperate, but his sister-in-law defiantly asked whether Meng Zhao meant to harm her husband.
• Meng Zhao sealed the woman’s acupoints again and asked the younger brother who had summoned Zhou Gushan when he hesitated to assassinate Meng Zhao.

Meng Zhao interrogated a Zhou Family man and used the Evil Eye Secret Technique to extract information from a woman, strengthening his suspicion that the Xun Family had backed Zhou Gushan’s assassination plot. He learned that Zhou Gushan worshiped the Great Pudu Buddha Venerable, raising the possibility that he was connected to the Pudu Cult.

• Meng Zhao concluded that someone beyond the Zhou Family had encouraged Zhou Gushan to target him, and the young man suspected the Xun Family head was behind the plot.
• Meng Zhao questioned the young man about the Zhou Family’s assassins, guards, and strength, but learned little beyond that the family had no Grandmaster Realm fighter.
• Meng Zhao sealed the young man’s acupoints and used the Evil Eye Secret Technique to place the woman under his control and question her.
• The young man secretly coveted Meng Zhao’s technique and imagined using it to seduce the Xun Family mistress, but Meng Zhao sensed his thoughts.
• The woman revealed that Zhou Gushan worshiped a statue of the Great Pudu Buddha Venerable, prompting Meng Zhao to suspect a connection to the Pudu Cult.

Meng Zhao investigated Zhou Gushan’s possible ties to the Pudu Cult and grew concerned that the cult had infiltrated powerful families across several prefectures. Meanwhile, Zhou Gushan was forced to accept the Holy Envoy’s demand for full and timely offerings, despite his family’s financial hardship.

• Meng Zhao questioned a Zhou Family woman about Zhou Gushan’s behavior and a Buddhist statue while considering whether the Pudu Cult had orchestrated an assassination attempt against him.
• Zhou Gushan reviewed ledgers showing the resources his family had supplied to the cult and lamented that its demands were growing beyond what the Zhou Family could afford.
• The Holy Envoy confronted Zhou Gushan over a late offering that had fallen thirty percent short and dismissed his explanation of the family’s losses.
• The Holy Envoy warned Zhou Gushan to deliver the next offering on time and make up the shortfall or face the Law Enforcement Hall.
• Zhou Gushan suppressed his anger and agreed to comply as the Holy Envoy left.

Zhou Gushan recovered the three ultimate arts of Mountaintop Temple and searched for a way to combine them into the Immovable Wisdom King Subduing Demon Great Hand Seal. He remained unable to connect the arts, while revealing that the Pudu Cult held his father Zhou Xiangchen hostage and used that leverage to drain the Zhou Family’s resources.

• After a visitor left, Zhou Gushan vented his anger, then calmed himself and restored the scattered papers with his martial force.
• Zhou Gushan opened a hidden compartment in his study and retrieved the Great Demon Subduing Fist, Thirty Character Demon Subduing Great Curse, and Immovable Wisdom King Body.
• Zhou Gushan recalled how his grandfather Zhou Wangqiao had sought to reunite the three arts and restore their source, the Immovable Wisdom King Subduing Demon Great Hand Seal.
• Zhou Gushan revealed that his father Zhou Xiangchen was alive but held captive by the Pudu Cult, which had forced him to spend the Zhou Family’s resources.
• Zhou Gushan laid out the three arts’ visualization images and searched them for a connection, but his decade-long effort had yielded nothing.

Meng Zhao infiltrated the Zhou Family residence and discovered that Zhou Gushan possessed a Buddhist Exotic Treasure concealing Grandmaster power, while another mysterious force remained hidden. Meanwhile, Zhou Gushan studied his family's secret techniques and began cultivating with incense, unaware that Meng Zhao had entered the estate.

• Meng Zhao searched Zhou Gushan’s shrine and identified the Great Pudu Buddha Venerable statue as an Exotic Treasure infused with Grandmaster-level Buddhist power.
• Meng Zhao concluded that the statue was separate from the sinister aura near the Zhou Family estate and left without disturbing anything.
• Zhou Gushan studied the visualization diagrams of three secret manuals, continuing a practice his family had pursued for generations without success.
• Zhou Gushan put away the manuals, lit special incense, and entered a deep state of Martial Dao Cultivation.

Zhou Gushan cultivated the Demon Subduing Great Incantation and Immovable Wisdom King Body to bring his Buddhist martial arts closer in strength to the Great Demon Subduing Fist. Meng Zhao secretly watched and recognized Zhou Gushan’s hidden power and the Buddhist techniques he practiced, while the mantra stirred the Ziwei Star sealed in Meng Zhao’s Sea of Consciousness.

• Zhou Gushan focused his cultivation on the Demon Subduing Great Incantation and Immovable Wisdom King Body to help unite his three martial arts.
• Meng Zhao silently arrived on Zhou Gushan’s roof and used Flood Dragon Little Nine’s eyes to watch him cultivate through a small opening.
• Meng Zhao judged that Zhou Gushan’s internal power was comparable to Niu Dali’s, though he could not determine their likely combat outcome.
• Meng Zhao enhanced his hearing and heard Zhou Gushan chant a Buddhist mantra, which stirred the Ziwei Star sealed in his Sea of Consciousness.
• The Heaven-Illuminating Divine Mirror suppressed the disturbance, and Meng Zhao identified the chant as the Demon Subduing Great Incantation and suspected Zhou Gushan practiced the Immovable Wisdom King Body.

Meng Zhao recognized that Zhou Gushan possessed three Buddhist Supreme Skills and coveted them as a path to forging an extraordinary martial foundation. He chose to stay hidden and seek a chance to acquire the skills and possibly the Four Symbols Heaven Shaking Bow, while remaining prepared to confront the Zhou Family if necessary.

• Meng Zhao identified Zhou Gushan's techniques as the Demon Subduing Great Incantation and the Immovable Wisdom King Body, and realized the Zhou Family had gathered all three skills derived from the Immovable Wisdom King Subduing Demon Great Hand Seal.
• Meng Zhao considered using the Heaven-Illuminating Divine Mirror to fuse the three skills and strengthen his cultivation, potentially advancing beyond the Greatmaster realm.
• Meng Zhao briefly wanted to kill Zhou Gushan and seize the skills, but suppressed his greed after considering the Zhou Family's hidden threats and Greatmaster-level Buddha statue.
• Meng Zhao decided to remain concealed and watch for a chance to steal the skills or exploit the assassination attempt to pressure the Zhou Family.
• Meng Zhao suspected the Zhou Family might know the Four Symbols Heaven Shaking Bow's whereabouts and resolved to pursue both the weapon and the Buddhist divine art.

Zhou Gushan worried that the Meng Family and Pudu Cult threatened the Zhou Family and left his study to continue his secret plans. Meng Zhao stole the hidden box of three supreme techniques and followed him to a guarded martial arena, where he watched to see what Zhou Gushan would do.

• Zhou Gushan struggled to harmonize his two martial arts and feared the Pudu Cult would eventually destroy the Zhou Family.
• Zhou Gushan hid the secret box behind the bookshelf and hurried out of the study.
• Meng Zhao used Flood Dragon Little Nine to open the mechanism and secretly pulled the box through the roof into his hand.
• Meng Zhao tracked Zhou Gushan through the Zhou Family's heavily guarded inner grounds without being detected.
• Meng Zhao followed Zhou Gushan to a secluded martial arena and wondered why he had come there in the middle of the night.

Meng Zhao secretly followed Zhou Gushan to a hidden passage beneath a bronze statue, drawn by a powerful, blood-soaked aura concealed within the Zhou Residence. He descended after Zhou Gushan, suspecting someone dangerous was hidden underground, and relied on his concealment techniques to avoid detection.

• Meng Zhao sensed a sinister aura flare when Zhou Gushan stepped onto a particular spot in the training ground and deduced that it came from a powerful person.
• Meng Zhao suspected the hidden person might be Hui Kong, one of the Thirteen Ultimate Fierce Monks, though the aura’s immense vitality made him question whether Hui Kong was imprisoned.
• Zhou Gushan turned a bronze statue of the human meridians, opening a hidden doorway in its back.
• Zhou Gushan descended underground, and Meng Zhao followed him into the passage despite the risk of being trapped.
• The statue’s doorway closed behind them as Meng Zhao trusted his layered concealment arts to keep him hidden from whoever waited below.

Meng Zhao secretly followed Zhou Gushan to an underground altar, where he discovered that the supposedly dead Zhou Wangqiao was alive, imprisoned above a blood pool and wielding demonic power. As Zhou Wangqiao urged his grandson to submit to the Pudu Cult for now, Meng Zhao realized the cult might be connected to Hui Kong.

• Meng Zhao followed Zhou Gushan through a dark passage to a hidden altar filled with a bubbling pool of blood.
• Zhou Gushan knelt and asked to see his grandfather, revealing that Zhou Wangqiao was alive despite reports of his death.
• Zhou Wangqiao rose from the blood pool on a blood lotus, restrained by four chains, and asked Zhou Gushan what had happened.
• Zhou Gushan described the Zhou Family's predicament and the Pudu Cult's pressure, explaining that he could no longer endure its exploitation.
• While listening unseen, Meng Zhao suspected that the Pudu Cult was connected to Hui Kong and that the buddha statue might be meant to threaten Zhou Wangqiao.
• Zhou Wangqiao told Zhou Gushan to keep agreeing to the Pudu Cult's demands because Zhou Gushan's father was in its hands and the family could rebuild later.

Zhou Wangqiao explained why he had tolerated the Pudu Cult’s demands, prompting Zhou Gushan to press him about the family’s past and the identity of the cult’s master. Zhou Wangqiao revealed that the master was not Hui Kong and that he had already learned much about the man through the Buddha statue the cult had sent.

• Zhou Wangqiao argued that surrendering some of the Zhou Family’s wealth would be better than risking the family’s destruction in a fight with the Pudu Cult.
• Zhou Gushan challenged his grandfather’s reluctance to resist and asked why the cult had taken his father, Zhou Xiangchen.
• Zhou Wangqiao asked Zhou Gushan to identify the Pudu Cult Master, and Zhou Gushan guessed that it was Hui Kong.
• Meng Zhao agreed that Hui Kong seemed a likely candidate based on his Buddhist origins, strength, and ambitions.
• Zhou Wangqiao denied that the Pudu Cult Master was Hui Kong and explained that he had examined the Grandmaster power hidden in the cult’s Buddha statue using his Nine Transformations of Qi and Blood.

Zhou Wangqiao revealed that the Pudu Cult Master was likely his former Eldest Senior Brother, whose divine essence in the Buddhist statue let him monitor the Zhou Family. Meng Zhao and Zhou Gushan realized the Pudu Cult might be only part of Hui Kong’s greater power, leaving Zhou Gushan to reconsider whether his family could resist it.

• Zhou Wangqiao explained that he and the Pudu Cult Master had both been disciples of Hui Kong, and that the Cult Master was likely his Eldest Senior Brother.
• Zhou Wangqiao recounted how he and two fellow disciples had betrayed Hui Kong, who was poisoned before fighting the Holy Monk and disappearing after the battle.
• Zhou Gushan concluded that the Pudu Cult Master had sent the Buddhist statue to watch the Zhou Family after suspecting Zhou Wangqiao had faked his death.
• Zhou Wangqiao revealed that the statue held a thread of the Cult Master's divine essence, which could transmit everything it sensed once triggered.
• Meng Zhao suspected that Hui Kong had spent his years in hiding building a powerful faction, and understood why Zhou Wangqiao feared confronting him.
• Zhou Gushan fell silent as he realized he had underestimated the Pudu Cult and his family's weakness.

Zhou Wangqiao explained the painful history of his betrayal of Hui Kong and revealed how the Zhou Family obtained its two Buddhist arts. He warned Zhou Gushan that the Demon Incarnation Blood Soul True Scripture was dangerous and could not be passed down, leaving the family to rely on its Buddhist inheritance.

• Zhou Wangqiao rejected Zhou Gushan’s suggestion to recruit his former fellow disciples and recounted how Third Senior Brother went mad and Sixth Junior Brother traded the two Buddhist arts for the Demon Incarnation Blood Soul True Scripture.
• Meng Zhao overheard Zhou Wangqiao’s account and reflected on Hui Kong’s resentment and the importance of Sixth Junior Brother’s role in obtaining the Zhou Family’s inheritance.
• Zhou Gushan asked why Zhou Wangqiao had not taught him or his father the demonic scripture.
• Zhou Wangqiao explained that the scripture was incomplete, carried hidden dangers, and would bring the Zhou Family persecution if its practice became known.
• Zhou Wangqiao urged Zhou Gushan to uphold righteousness and preserve the family’s three ultimate arts, even if the Zhou Family fell.

Meng Zhao learned that Zhou Wangqiao was alive, had reached the Grandmaster realm, and was protecting the Zhou Family, forcing Meng Zhao to abandon plans for an immediate attack. He left the Zhou Residence with a plan to exploit the Pudu Cult against Zhou Wangqiao, while recognizing that the world held powers beyond the Grandmasters he had once considered supreme.

• Zhou Wangqiao explained his reasons for protecting the Zhou Family and seeking the Buddhist Supreme Skills, then sank into the blood pool as Zhou Gushan left the chamber.
• Zhou Gushan departed without noticing Meng Zhao, who had been hiding above him, and Meng Zhao returned outside the Zhou Residence.
• Meng Zhao concluded that Zhou Wangqiao made an open assault on the Zhou Family too dangerous, but considered using the Pudu Cult to turn the conflict to his advantage.
• Meng Zhao reflected on Hui Kong’s surviving disciples and the emergence of Celestial Being and Gods and Devils experts, resolving to reassess the wider martial world.

Meng Zhao stole Zhou Gushan’s secret box and found three Buddhist Supreme Skills that could be combined into a lost divine art. Zhou Gushan discovered the theft, blamed a famed martial-world thief, and tightened the Zhou Family’s defenses without suspecting Meng Zhao.

• Meng Zhao opened Zhou Gushan’s stolen secret box and found three Buddhist Supreme Skills derived from the Immovable Wisdom King Subduing Demon Great Hand Seal.
• Meng Zhao planned to study the manuals and gather other divine arts to improve his martial foundation and perfect the Heavenly Capital Imperial Dragon Ziwei Scripture.
• Zhou Gushan’s brother and sister-in-law concealed their affair and said nothing about the night’s intrusion because they feared he would discover them.
• Zhou Gushan found the secret box missing and, after inspecting the damaged roof, concluded that a peerless thief had stolen it without entering the study.
• Zhou Gushan ruled out his staff and Meng Zhao as suspects, then strengthened the Zhou Family’s defenses against future thefts.

Heavy snow cut off Lingwu City’s supply routes, driving up food and heating prices and causing deaths among the poor. The Pudu Cult holy envoy’s plan to buy grain and recruit hungry residents failed, and his followers began questioning the cult and considering selling themselves to aristocratic clans.

• Heavy snow froze Lingwu City’s rivers and halted transport, causing food and heating prices to rise as the poor began freezing and starving.
• The Pudu Cult holy envoy sent two subordinates to buy grain, but small shops sold out and major dealers restricted large purchases.
• The holy envoy realized he could not use food relief to draw impoverished residents into the cult, while more than thirty-five people had already died.
• A subordinate reported that the cult’s followers were losing faith in Great Pudu Buddha Venerable and considering selling themselves to aristocratic clans for food and shelter.
• The holy envoy’s expression darkened as he heard that his followers were close to breaking.

The Pudu Cult Holy Envoy worried that the snow disaster would drive followers away, then considered demanding aid from the Zhou Family. The chapter ended when he learned the Meng Family had arrived to distribute food and provide physicians, raising the question of Meng Zhao’s involvement.

• The Holy Envoy said grain, medicine, and cold-weather supplies would bring the Pudu Cult’s followers back and attract more believers.
• The Holy Envoy proposed demanding supplies for three thousand people from the Zhou Family, but his subordinates warned that the family had already given heavily and might resist.
• The Holy Envoy reduced his request to supplies for five hundred people and said their value would count against the Zhou Family’s next offering.
• A subordinate entered and reported that the Meng Family had arrived to distribute grain and porridge and had brought physicians.
• The Holy Envoy recognized the Meng Family’s name and thought of the grudge between his side and Meng Zhao.

The Pudu Cult Holy Envoy feared the Meng Family’s power, but Lü Yue and Cao Zhan led a force that surrounded his residence and confronted him. The Holy Envoy suspected they had come to settle the Cult’s feud with Meng Zhao and silently prepared to fight.

• The Holy Envoy learned that Meng Zhao had crippled or wounded three of the Pudu Cult’s Four Great Dharma Kings and resolved to avoid the Meng Family.
• After hearing a crowd approach, the Holy Envoy saw his residence surrounded and the gate kicked open by Lü Yue, Cao Zhan, and their armed followers.
• Lü Yue asked whether the Holy Envoy belonged to the Pudu Cult, and the Holy Envoy identified the group as people from the Meng Family.
• Lü Yue pressed the Holy Envoy to guess why they had come, while the Holy Envoy stayed silent and circulated his true qi in preparation for a fight.

Lü Yue and Cao Zhan confronted the Pudu Cult's Holy Envoy and offered him wealth, martial arts manuals, and cultivation resources to join Meng Zhao. The Holy Envoy leaned toward accepting but asked what Meng Zhao expected of him and whether he could be protected from the Cult Master.

• Lü Yue warned the Holy Envoy that resistance would leave him unable to escape, and the Holy Envoy asked whether the Meng Family intended to fight or make peace.
• Lü Yue had chests of gold, silver, pearls, and jewels brought in to tempt the Holy Envoy.
• Lü Yue offered the Holy Envoy further martial arts manuals and cultivation resources if he joined Meng Zhao.
• The Holy Envoy weighed the offer against the danger of betraying the Pudu Cult and asked what duties Meng Zhao would require and whether his safety could be guaranteed.