Chapter Summaries

Gan Mingfeng and Meng Zhao deceived Xu Tingyun and the other gang leaders about their identities and injuries while discussing how to enter Lishou Mountain. Xu Tingyun asked them to help find another route past Pai Gang's blockade, and Gan Mingfeng agreed to enter the mountain with them.

• Gan Mingfeng told Xu Tingyun that he had found a fortune-bearing gourd in Lishou Mountain and had returned after two years of preparation.
• Gan Mingfeng blamed Meng Zhao for provoking a Demonic Path expert and explained that his own injury had left him unable to protect himself.
• Meng Zhao defended their actions as righteous, reinforcing the story that he was an impulsive junior disciple of Seven Star Tower.
• Xu Tingyun offered Gan Mingfeng a pill for his internal injury, then explained that Pai Gang had sealed the mountain routes under the protection of a Grandmaster-level expert.
• Xu Tingyun asked Gan Mingfeng to reveal another route into Lishou Mountain, and Gan Mingfeng proposed entering together with the four gang leaders.
• Xu Tingyun promised to protect Gan Mingfeng as they prepared to seek opportunities in the mountain.

Xu Tingyun, Meng Zhao, Gan Mingfeng, and their companions reached Lishou Mountain’s Guardian Forest and confronted the ominous dangers guarding its interior. As Gan Mingfeng searched for the route he had once taken out, Wu Chen sent a Fist Monkey ahead to scout, but it returned injured within minutes.

• Xu Tingyun and the others agreed to enter Lishou Mountain that night and traveled there without attracting the Pai Gang’s sentries.
• The group reached the Guardian Forest and saw black dragon-shaped qi swirling over the mountain.
• Gan Mingfeng recognized the region as the place where he had emerged two years earlier and began trying to recall his route.
• Meng Zhao examined the dragon qi and suspected that someone had tampered with the mountain’s dragon qi.
• Wu Chen sent his trained Fist Monkey into the forest to scout, but it soon returned with a patch of fur torn away.

After the Fist Monkey returned wounded and unable to navigate the Guardian Forest, the group weighed the danger of entering Lishou Mountain. Xu Tingyun and Peng Haibing helped persuade the others to risk Gan Mingfeng’s remembered shortcut, and the group entered the forest with Gan Mingfeng leading and Meng Zhao beside him.

• Wu Chen learned from the injured Fist Monkey that the Guardian Forest was dangerous and disrupted its sense of direction.
• Peng Haibing urged the group to reconsider entering, while Min Tao insisted that he would go into Lishou Mountain.
• Gan Mingfeng described a plank path he had once followed out of the forest, warning that the route might have changed and could not be guaranteed safe.
• Xu Tingyun argued that retreating would break their resolve and risk letting the Grandmaster behind the Pai Gang get ahead; Peng Haibing then agreed to enter.
• The group agreed to follow Gan Mingfeng, with Meng Zhao accompanying him, and entered the Guardian Forest.

Gan Mingfeng's party crossed Guardian Forest without encountering danger, and they suspected Meng Zhao had secretly frightened away the creatures along their path. Elsewhere, Lu Hou'er engraved mysterious patterns into corpses at a cave and asked Mr. Yue how many more such caves remained.

• Gan Mingfeng led Xu Tingyun, Min Tao, Wu Chen, and Peng Haibing through Guardian Forest, where the usual dangers had mysteriously vanished.
• Peng Haibing noticed that dangerous creatures had fled, while Gan Mingfeng suspected Meng Zhao's aura had driven them away without the others noticing.
• Lu Hou'er arrived at a cave guarded by Pai Gang elites and used a Miao saber to engrave intricate patterns into the corpses of beasts and martial artists.
• Lu Hou'er infused the patterns with true qi, drawing in Heaven and Earth Vital Energy and Yin Sha until the corpses took on a wicked aura and seemed to hold new life.
• Lu Hou'er told Mr. Yue that this was the third cave they had found and worried that exploring deeper into Lishou Mountain might bring unforeseen trouble.

Mr. Yue explained that the Demonic Caves around Lishou Mountain were part of a plan to draw on the mountain’s power without awakening the Demon Venerable buried beneath it. He revealed that the buried figure was Xing Tian and predicted a coming golden age of Martial Dao, naming Southern Shen and Northern Meng as the era’s strongest candidates to attain myth.

• Mr. Yue told Lu Hou'er that he wanted six Demonic Cave nodes found and warned that disturbing the Demon Venerable beneath Lishou Mountain would be fatal.
• Lu Hou'er questioned whether the legendary demon could still pose a threat, and Mr. Yue recounted how Heavenly Emperor Shaohao had severed Xing Tian’s head and suppressed him.
• Lu Hou'er and Pai Gang’s thirty elite disciples learned that the buried demon was Xing Tian, whose headless body had continued fighting Shaohao.
• Mr. Yue said heaven and earth were changing and that a golden age of Martial Dao was approaching.
• Mr. Yue named Southern Shen and Northern Meng as the current figures with the greatest hope of attaining myth.

Lu Hou'er questioned Mr. Yue about the prospects of young martial artists and the Ten Absolute Grandmasters as Heaven and Earth changed. Mr. Yue warned him not to pursue Emperor Shaohao’s methods at Lishou Mountain, where War God Xing Tian’s head was suppressed.

• Lu Hou'er asked whether the Ten Absolute Grandmasters could rival Meng Zhao and Shen Tianci as martial arts flourished again.
• Mr. Yue said the older Grandmasters had risen against their era, while Meng Zhao and Shen Tianci had greater prospects of reaching the Mythic realm.
• Lu Hou'er took heart from Mr. Yue’s words and cautiously asked whether Mr. Yue could attain Celestial or even Gods and Devils.
• Mr. Yue said he might glimpse the Great Grandmaster realm but had no hope of becoming Celestial, explaining that higher realms were exceedingly rare.
• Lu Hou'er suggested seeking Emperor Shaohao’s or War God Xing Tian’s inheritance at Lishou Mountain, hoping to learn what Mr. Yue wanted and gain other treasures.
• Mr. Yue warned Lu Hou'er not to touch Emperor Shaohao’s methods or release War God Xing Tian’s head, and threatened to leave him unprotected if he caused trouble.

Lu Hou'er followed Mr. Yue’s orders to manage the Demonic Caves on Lishou Mountain, where the black mist destroyed everything around them. After Mr. Yue left, Lu Hou'er secretly met Brother Tan, a disguised Pai Gang disciple who served the Alliance Leader.

• Mr. Yue warned Lu Hou'er not to let greed endanger the plans involving the Ancient Heavenly Emperor and War God Xing Tian, and told him to prepare for the Young Master's arrival.
• Mr. Yue sent patterned corpses into a Demonic Cave, where unseen creatures devoured them and corrosive black mist erased the surrounding landscape.
• Mr. Yue ordered Lu Hou'er to guard the cave and investigate the mountain's other three Demonic Caves without entering them or allowing anyone else inside.
• After Mr. Yue departed, Lu Hou'er assigned guards and led two Pai Gang disciples toward the mountain's edge, then secretly took one to an old hut.
• Inside the hut, Lu Hou'er greeted the disguised Brother Tan and agreed to follow him, recognizing that the Alliance Leader had sent him.

Lu Hou'er learned from Tan that the alliance leader had sent him to investigate Lishou Mountain because she feared Mr. Yue might seek Xingtian's Head. Tan explained how Emperor Yu had hidden the sealed head in a Cave-Heaven World, leaving Lu Hou'er wondering whether Mr. Yue knew the secret and whether the Demonic Caves he sought were connected to it.

• Tan told Lu Hou'er that the alliance leader had sent him to investigate Lishou Mountain and feared outsiders might seek Xingtian's Head.
• Tan explained that Shaohao had buried Xingtian's Head beneath Lishou Mountain and sealed it with the Five Elements Grand Array.
• Tan revealed that Emperor Yu had reinforced the seal after a flood and fused Lishou Mountain with a Cave-Heaven World to conceal the head.
• Lu Hou'er considered whether Mr. Yue knew about Emperor Yu's secret and whether his search for the Demonic Caves was connected to the Cave-Heaven World.

Lu Hou'er and the man surnamed Tan discussed the danger surrounding War God Xing Tian's Head, the Alliance Leader's instructions, and the growing pressure over Lishou Mountain. They agreed to monitor Mr. Yue and work together while Lu Hou'er expected the remaining Demonic Caves to be found soon.

• Lu Hou'er speculated that the Demonic Caves might connect to War God Xing Tian and Emperor Yu, but promised the man surnamed Tan he would not let greed drive him to seize Xing Tian's Head.
• The man surnamed Tan told Lu Hou'er to watch Mr. Yue's actions and intervene if his group threatened the inheritances of War God Xing Tian, Heavenly Emperor Shaohao, or Emperor Yu.
• The man surnamed Tan warned that Pai Gang's blockade had angered people who were preparing to ask the Old General to intervene.
• The man surnamed Tan reassured Lu Hou'er that the Alliance Leader would prevent the Old General's supporters from forcing their way in, though the blockade should not last too long.
• Lu Hou'er predicted the remaining three Demonic Caves would be found within days and asked the man surnamed Tan to stay and help him.
• The man surnamed Tan agreed to remain, and Lu Hou'er planned to disguise him as his personal guard.

Xu Tingyun and the others faced increasingly bizarre attacks as they traveled deeper into the Guardian Forest, where even ordinary snakes and insects seemed protected by a strange force. The group debated why the dangers had suddenly increased, then reaffirmed Gan Mingfeng’s route and continued toward the mountains.

• Xu Tingyun killed a lizard-like savage beast, while Min Tao cut a venomous snake in half and the group watched poisonous creatures devour its remains in an unnaturally orderly fashion.
• Peng Haibing questioned whether Gan Mingfeng had led them onto the wrong route after the forest’s attacks intensified.
• Gan Mingfeng insisted he remembered the route and said a Fire Cloud Tree should appear after another half li, offering a chance to confirm their path.
• Wu Chen suggested that a hidden person had previously suppressed the dangers around them, while Min Tao confirmed that their direction matched the place where black qi had coiled into a dragon.
• Peng Haibing apologized to Gan Mingfeng and offered him a sacred healing pill, which Gan Mingfeng accepted but put away without taking.

Meng Zhao let the dangers of Guardian Forest expose the group's suspicions while concealing his grandmaster strength. The group reached the Fire Cloud Tree, but Xu Tingyun chose to avoid it and continue toward the opportunities in Lishou Mountain before Pai Gang arrived.

• Meng Zhao withheld his aura as Guardian Forest's strange force intensified the beasts' and insects' dangers, prompting Wu Chen and the others to wonder who had protected them earlier.
• Xu Tingyun and the others suspected Meng Zhao had a treasure that drove off danger, while Gan Mingfeng trusted that the boy could handle their schemes.
• The group fought through the forest and reached the Fire Cloud Tree, whose glowing leaves spread over a barren patch of ground.
• Gan Mingfeng explained that he had eaten fallen Fire Cloud Fruit while wounded and knew little about the tree beyond the fruit's benefits.
• Wu Chen wanted to investigate the tree, but Xu Tingyun judged it too dangerous and urged the group to go around it and hurry after Pai Gang.

Meng Zhao recognized the Fire Cloud Tree as a store of immense fire-element essence and detected traces of the Meng Family’s Red Flag Order in its workings. After he revealed that it could be a rare treasure even for Grandmasters, his companions began considering how to claim it.

• Meng Zhao studied the Fire Cloud Tree and suspected it might have been planted by someone who had mastered the Red Flag Order, perhaps Meng Shentong.
• Gan Mingfeng, Xu Tingyun, Min Tao, and the others noticed Meng Zhao’s attention and wondered whether the tree held a treasure.
• Meng Zhao explained that the tree contained extraordinary fire-element essence and that even Grandmasters might prize it.
• Min Tao and the others grew eager to fight for the tree, reasoning that they had come to Lishou Mountain seeking opportunities.
• Peng Haibing decided the tree might give him a chance to reach the Grandmaster Realm, allowing him to leave the mountain rather than risk venturing deeper.

Meng Zhao confirmed that the Fire Cloud Tree held an extraordinary reserve of fiery essence, prompting Peng Haibing to try to claim it for himself. After the others objected, Peng Haibing agreed to share the treasure, and he approached the tree to test its dangers.

• Meng Zhao used his secret ocular art to confirm the Fire Cloud Tree's exceptional value.
• Peng Haibing proposed taking the tree's essence and leaving Lishou Mountain, but Wu Chen, Min Tao, and Xu Tingyun rejected his claim.
• Meng Zhao proposed dividing the tree's fiery essence and warned that obtaining it might be dangerous.
• Peng Haibing admitted he had acted irrationally and agreed to share the treasure with the others.
• Peng Haibing advanced to within fifty feet of the Fire Cloud Tree while the others watched and prepared to cover him.

Peng Haibing discovered that countless fire-attributed creatures lived on the Fire Cloud Tree, and their attack forced the group to use frost power to drive them back. The group considered searching the tree for treasures, but Xu Tingyun asked Gan Mingfeng whether his Frost Condensing Stone could do the job.

• Peng Haibing spotted countless snake-like insects clinging to the Fire Cloud Tree and accidentally alerted them by snapping a hidden branch.
• Peng Haibing fought off the creatures with his Tyrant Wave Water Force and retreated to the group, warning that he could not hold them back for long.
• Gan Mingfeng explained that the creatures were likely fire-attributed and vulnerable to frost, speaking with knowledge supplied by Meng Zhao.
• Xu Tingyun used his Frost Condensing Stone to send the creatures back onto the Fire Cloud Tree, though the crystal shrank by a third.
• Wu Chen proposed using Xu Tingyun's cold qi to clear the tree and offered him a larger share of any treasures they found.
• Xu Tingyun asked Gan Mingfeng whether the Frost Condensing Stone could achieve their goal.

Gan Mingfeng relayed Meng Zhao’s warning that attacking the Fire Cloud Tree’s snake-like insects with the Frost Condensing Stone could trigger a deadly eruption. As the group refined a plan to lure and kill the creatures, Meng Zhao discovered traces of two enormous beasts that might be their ancestors, leaving everyone wary of a greater threat.

• Gan Mingfeng warned Xu Tingyun and the others that cold energy might provoke the Fire Cloud Tree to erupt.
• Peng Haibing proposed luring the insects away from the tree and using the Frost Condensing Stone to kill them, while Min Tao and Xu Tingyun questioned the plan’s risks.
• Xu Tingyun explained that the Frost Condensing Stone had enough power for two more ordinary uses or one full burst, and Peng Haibing estimated it could kill most of the insects.
• Meng Zhao inspected the area and reported two sets of traces beneath the Fire Cloud Tree, suggesting enormous beasts might have spawned the insects.
• Peng Haibing confirmed the traces and judged the beasts likely huge; the group feared they might be powerful companion beasts, possibly near Grandmaster strength.

Meng Zhao agreed to help the group confront the two snake patriarchs guarding the Fire Cloud Tree, while bargaining for the largest share of the spoils. He explained to Gan Mingfeng that he was concealing his strength and using the others as pawns to investigate the powerful force behind Mr. Yue.

• Xu Tingyun urged the group to avoid the Fire Cloud Tree, but Min Tao argued that they could defeat the beasts together.
• Wu Chen and Peng Haibing asked Meng Zhao whether he could handle the two beasts, and Meng Zhao agreed after securing the lion's share of the spoils.
• Meng Zhao claimed he had a family protective treasure and joined the group's plan to lure the beasts away from the Fire Cloud Tree.
• The group assigned Meng Zhao and Gan Mingfeng to wait on the western side while Peng Haibing approached the tree as bait.
• Gan Mingfeng questioned why Meng Zhao concealed his identity and shared the opportunity, and Meng Zhao said he was using the group to test others and learn about Mr. Yue's powerful backers.

Meng Zhao sent Gan Mingfeng to lure two powerful horned snakes away from the Fire Cloud Tree, then unleashed Flood Dragon Little Nine to confront them. Gan Mingfeng saw the flood dragon’s true form and realized how extraordinary Meng Zhao’s spirit beast was.

• Peng Haibing lured the snakes and insects from the Fire Cloud Tree toward Xu Tingyun and the others, who struck with the Frost Condensing Stone.
• Meng Zhao sensed two fierce beasts awakening and told Gan Mingfeng to draw them toward him according to their plan.
• Gan Mingfeng raced back to Meng Zhao as two enormous, horned red snakes pursued him.
• Meng Zhao released Flood Dragon Little Nine, which grew from its belt-like form into a huge flood dragon and moved to attack the snakes.
• Gan Mingfeng recognized Little Nine as a flood dragon and marveled at Meng Zhao’s power and the spirit beast’s potential.

Meng Zhao watched Flood Dragon Little Nine devour the two submissive snake ancestors, then investigated the Fire Cloud Tree and discovered that it was part of a network channeling fire essence toward an unknown destination. He left the Guardian Forest’s greater secret unresolved, suspecting its energy flowed to a hidden opportunity in or beyond Lishou Mountain.

• Flood Dragon Little Nine overpowered the two snake ancestors through its strength and bloodline, swallowed them, and returned to Meng Zhao’s waist as a belt.
• Gan Mingfeng grew reverent toward Meng Zhao and suggested that he claim the opportunity within the Fire Cloud Tree while Xu Tingyun and the others fought nearby.
• Meng Zhao identified the tree heart two meters above the roots and explained that most of the tree’s fire essence flowed away through its roots.
• Meng Zhao used his Emperor’s Qi Gazing Technique to trace scorching qi through the mountains and concluded that the Guardian Forest was a node feeding an unknown destination.

Meng Zhao and Gan Mingfeng met Xu Tingyun, Min Tao, Wu Chen, and Peng Haibing beneath the Fire Cloud Tree after Meng Zhao drove off its two snake ancestors. The group uncovered a powerful firewood treasure, while Wu Chen and the others continued to covet Meng Zhao’s secret treasure.

• Xu Tingyun, Min Tao, Wu Chen, and Peng Haibing arrived beneath the Fire Cloud Tree and found Meng Zhao and Gan Mingfeng already there, with tracks left by the two snake ancestors.
• Wu Chen asked whether Meng Zhao had driven away the snake ancestors, and Meng Zhao claimed he had used a secret treasure bestowed by an elder of the Seven Star Tower.
• Gan Mingfeng explained where the Fire Cloud Tree’s treasure was hidden, and Min Tao cut into the trunk with Qi Blades.
• Min Tao retrieved a dark-red block of wood that contained residual power comparable to a Grandmaster’s strength.

After the group recovered the Fire Cloud Tree heart, Gan Mingfeng persuaded the others to entrust it to the Seven Star Tower for pill refinement. Meng Zhao accepted the treasure and absorbed its fire essence, gaining new insight into the Red Flag Order.

• Peng Haibing, Wu Chen, and the others worried that dividing the small Fire Cloud Tree heart would waste its concentrated power.
• Gan Mingfeng proposed using the heart as the main ingredient for pills and offered to arrange the refinement through the Seven Star Tower.
• Xu Tingyun realized Gan Mingfeng was guiding them toward his plan, while Meng Zhao saw through his motives and let the arrangement proceed.
• Min Tao, Peng Haibing, and Wu Chen supported Gan Mingfeng's proposal, and Xu Tingyun reluctantly agreed.
• Xu Tingyun sent the Fire Cloud Tree heart to Gan Mingfeng, who passed it to Meng Zhao.
• Meng Zhao felt the tree heart's fire essence strengthen his Red Flag Order cultivation and glimpsed martial mysteries the Meng Family had never explored.