Chapter Summaries

Su Qing fled Black Tiger Mountain when he heard Liu Yun'er had arrived, but turned back after she threatened his Sky Roc Ship and swore not to harm him. Once the other cultivators left him alone with Liu Yun'er, he gathered his gifts and entered his Spirit House with grim resolve.

• Su Qing fled down Black Tiger Mountain on Fire Egg and discovered that his Sky Roc Ship and puppets had lost their Spiritual Sense Link.
• Liu Yun'er called after Su Qing, threatened the cultivators, swore not to harm him, and then threatened to destroy his Sky Roc Ship.
• Su Qing turned back toward the summit, where the cultivators praised him and then departed after Liu Yun'er let them go.
• The departing cultivators gave Su Qing a Black Light Python and All-Inclusive Great Tonic Pills, while Liang Hai Shun asked him for puppets.
• Su Qing took a tonic pill and the Black Light Python into his Spirit House, where Liu Yun'er had already entered.

Su Qing mistook Liu Yun'er's request for something intimate, but she had summoned him to draw her likeness and then asked him to refine a Puppet. The chapter ended with Su Qing learning what favor Liu Yun'er wanted and reacting with surprise.

• Su Qing saw Liu Yun'er naked and began undressing, but she coldly clarified that she wanted him to draw her likeness.
• Su Qing activated a Tier-2 Clarity Talisman, studied Liu Yun'er, and carefully drafted a detailed blueprint after she allowed him to touch her.
• Liu Yun'er examined Su Qing's drawing, which had Tier 3 Biomimetic and Intelligence Runes inscribed on its reverse, and asked him for a favor.
• Su Qing agreed to help Liu Yun'er, and she asked him to refine a Puppet.
• Su Qing asked whether refining a Puppet was all she wanted.

Su Qing discovered that Liu Yun'er wanted him to create a lifelike Demoness Substitute and agreed to make one within two years. Liu Yun'er promised to gather the rare materials he requested, then ordered him to stay with her for half a month so he could study her mannerisms.

• Liu Yun'er showed Su Qing the Beauty Snake puppet, and Su Qing confirmed that he had made it while denouncing Wei De Bao.
• Liu Yun'er explained that Wei De Bao had given her the Beauty Snake and three Demoness Puppets, prompting her to seek Su Qing's help making a perfect substitute.
• Su Qing described the skills and materials needed for the puppet, and Liu Yun'er asked him to complete it within two years.
• Su Qing listed three sets of rare materials, and Liu Yun'er agreed to prepare them despite their difficulty to obtain.
• Su Qing tried to leave, but Liu Yun'er required him to remain with her for half a month to observe her closely.

Su Qing spent seven days hidden on Black Tiger Mountain with Liu Yun'er, recovering his blood vitality while being forced to watch her practice and refine a Demoness Substitute. He continued making Lizard Warriors for Cloud Mountain Sect, but resented how his confinement kept him from cultivating and earning money.

• Su Qing lamented that hiding on Black Tiger Mountain had cost him time and Spirit Crystals, while Liu Yun'er kept him under close watch.
• Liu Yun'er returned the Sky Roc Ship and gave Su Qing two bottles of Blood Vitality Pills, which helped restore his blood vitality.
• Su Qing recovered enough to digest demonic beast meat and continued refining Lizard Warriors to fulfill his order from Cloud Mountain Sect.
• Liu Yun'er used spiritual pressure to remind Su Qing that observing her was his main task, and Su Qing showed her a Blueprint of her Heavenly Demon Art.
• Liu Yun'er praised Su Qing's painting and lectured him about the Hundred Arts of Cultivation, while Su Qing vowed to surpass her and resented being unable to make more Black Boys.

Su Qing imprinted the Essence Transformation Hand, a Dao pattern that let him copy another cultivator’s Daoist arts through physical contact. When he used it on Liu Yun'er, it selected an offensive art instead of the skills he wanted, so he asked to touch her again.

• Su Qing imprinted the Essence Transformation Hand, suffered a failed Puppet Immortal refinement, and slightly improved his spiritual root and bone structure.
• Su Qing planned to copy Liu Yun'er's Thousand Illusory Bodies or Mystic Insight Finger, then considered trying the technique on Lin Shuangmu and others.
• Liu Yun'er entered Su Qing's room, noticed his weakened condition, and demanded the drawings he had made of her.
• Su Qing brushed Liu Yun'er's hand while handing over the drawings and copied her Mysterious Yellow Great Hand Seal.
• Su Qing disliked the offensive Daoist art he obtained and bluntly asked Liu Yun'er to let him touch her again.

Su Qing accompanied Liu Yun'er to a meeting of Demonic Cultivators, hiding under a Heart-Testing Cloth while studying its rune. Liu Yun'er warned her subordinates to avoid trouble and stir up a Beast Tide, while Su Qing remained hidden and unnoticed.

• Liu Yun'er asked Su Qing to observe how she treated her subordinates and gave him a Heart-Testing Cloth to hide under.
• Su Qing studied the cloth's Illusion Heart Rune and was carried by Liu Yun'er to a Low Mountain where Demonic Cultivators had gathered.
• Su Qing examined the Foundation Establishment cultivators' Azure-Eyed Golden Lion Beast and Alligator Armor Puppet, which seemed to notice him despite the cloth.
• Liu Yun'er rebuked Tang Li and Xu Weiyi for showing off their beast and puppet, then told the gathered cultivators that the Four Markets Merge was expected and Cloud Mountain Sect might send Golden Core Venerables.
• Liu Yun'er ordered her subordinates to avoid causing trouble and instead stir up a Beast Tide, then left while Su Qing was still hiding.

Su Qing overheard demonic cultivators explain the plans behind the Four Markets Merge and a coming Beast Tide, then returned to Black Tiger Mountain to draw Liu Yun'er’s visit. He left with a clearer understanding of the powers shaping the war, but remained under Liu Yun'er’s authority.

• Su Qing hid beneath a red cloth on Low Mountain and listened as demonic cultivators complained about Liu Yun'er and discussed the Four Markets Merge.
• The cultivators revealed that eight Tier 2 Demon Kings would lead a Beast Tide in half a month, using Blood Dissolving Pills planted with methods to control them.
• Xu Weiyi explained that the Desiring Demon Immortal Kingdom’s war with the Cloud Mountain Immortal Kingdom was meant to claim influence and an opportunity while driving away demon beasts without provoking Tier 3 Great Demons.
• Su Qing returned to Black Tiger Mountain and reflected on how the weak became pawns in the Cultivation world.
• Liu Yun'er ordered Su Qing to draw everything he had seen on Low Mountain, and he produced detailed paintings that emphasized her presence and authority.

Su Qing obtained the Profound Grade High-Rank Daoist art Thousand Illusory Bodies by examining Liu Yun'er, then presented her with a portrait that captured her spirit for the Demoness Substitute. Liu Yun'er questioned whether the portrait could fool anyone, while Su Qing asked to keep studying it after they parted.

• Su Qing traded drawings for Liu Yun'er's Tier 2 Heart-Testing Cloth and persuaded her to let him observe her medicinal bath again.
• After examining Liu Yun'er, Su Qing extracted the Daoist art Thousand Illusory Bodies.
• Su Qing painted Liu Yun'er in a white gauze dress and explained how the portrait's spirit could make others accept the Demoness Substitute as real.
• Liu Yun'er praised the portrait but questioned whether it could deceive others, and Su Qing argued that viewers would fill in its inconsistencies themselves.
• When Liu Yun'er tried to put the blueprint away, Su Qing asked to keep studying it so he could recreate its spirit when refining the Puppet.

Su Qing swore to refine a Demoness Substitute for Liu Yun'er within two years, then left Black Tiger Mountain for Forward Camp. He arrived battered and discovered that Forward Camp had changed as several Markets merged, bringing new rivals for his puppet business.

• Liu Yun'er demanded that Su Qing swear three oaths about refining the Demoness Substitute, keeping her commission secret, and working diligently, and Su Qing made her swear not to harm him except through the Mysterious Maiden Jade Scolding Technique after delivery.
• Su Qing and Liu Yun'er parted after agreeing to meet every three months, and he took her Guidance Talisman.
• On the journey to Forward Camp, Su Qing used his puppets and Sky Roc Ship to defeat monsters and rob cultivators, then forcibly imprinted Intimidating Mountains and Seas to make himself look gravely injured.
• Su Qing entered Forward Camp on Fire Egg with several puppets and saw that the four Markets had begun merging, filling the camp with cultivators and new competition.
• Su Qing recognized cultivators from Qingtian Market, Beast Puppet Market, and Rune Painting Market, and worried that the puppet masters would threaten his business.

Su Qing returned to the Forward Camp and reunited with Pang Feifan and the other cultivators, who welcomed him and discussed how new Professionals were changing the market. He learned that the camp's leadership was shifting and planned to use the Blood Lotus Fruit to advance his cultivation before imprinting another Dao Pattern.

• Su Qing found Pang Feifan selling spirit leopards, revealed he had survived the Demoness, and accepted Pang's offer to gather their friends for a welcoming feast.
• Pang Feifan told Su Qing that Professionals from the other Market Towns had expanded the market, while Beast Puppet Market's Puppet Masters threatened Su Qing's puppet business.
• Liang Hai Shun, He Lian Xian, Ma Tuan, and the other cultivators welcomed Su Qing at Hundred Treasures Tower, and he learned Qing He had returned to White Cloud Market Town to seek a Tier-2 breakthrough.
• Ren Yuan asked about the Blood Lotus Fruit, and Su Qing kept quiet while planning to use it to advance his body cultivation and qi refining before imprinting another Dao Pattern.
• Su Qing learned that new Foundation Establishment Grand Cultivators and a Golden Core Venerable might influence the Forward Camp, but Yuan Tianye remained in his position for now.

Su Qing returned to the Forward Camp, delivered his overdue puppet orders to Yuan Tianye, and collected payment for his Lizard Warriors. He learned that the Cloud Mountain Sect still wanted Dual-Blade Lizards, and asked Yuan Tianye what price it would pay for them.

• Su Qing secured a central Forward Camp plot near He Lian Xian and Liang Hai Shun, then made a Beauty Snake modeled on a Sea Woman from the Penglai Immortal Kingdom.
• Su Qing brought fifteen Dual-Blade Lizards and around a hundred and twenty Lizard Warriors to Cloud Mountain Pavilion and told Yuan Tianye an embellished account of his journey.
• Yuan Tianye praised the Dual-Blade Lizards and accepted all the Lizard Warriors for three hundred and sixty thousand Spirit Crystals, but said the sect would not order more of them.
• Yuan Tianye explained that the sect wanted more Dual-Blade Lizards because they had contributed to defeating two Tier 2 Demon Kings at Black Tiger Mountain.
• Su Qing asked Yuan Tianye how much the sect would pay for the Dual-Blade Lizards.

Su Qing secured a large order for Dual-Blade Lizards from Yuan Tianye and used a Sea Nymph Beauty Snake puppet to distract him before heading to the markets to plan his spending and assess rival puppet makers. He ended at the transformed Hundred Treasures Small Shop, having found that his competitors offered a wide range of puppets at cutthroat prices.

• Yuan Tianye agreed to order sixty Dual-Blade Lizards from Su Qing, paying for each puppet upon delivery and treating the war blades as a deposit.
• Su Qing showed Yuan Tianye a Sea Nymph Beauty Snake modeled after He Qiongyu, and Yuan Tianye became captivated as Su Qing left.
• Su Qing went to the East Market and considered buying puppet materials, a better cultivation technique, talisman materials, and supplies for new combat puppets.
• Su Qing surveyed the West Market and found that its established puppet makers sold many specialized beast puppets, including an Armored War Bear for only four thousand six hundred Spirit Crystals.
• Su Qing arrived at the transformed Hundred Treasures Small Shop.

Su Qing visited the newly established Hundred Treasures Pavilion at the Forward Camp to sell loot and buy supplies, while catching up with Tong Xin’s promotion and Shopkeeper Liu’s new position. He brought out three Storage Bags full of goods, leaving Tong Xin to begin assessing the haul.

• Su Qing entered Hundred Treasures Pavilion and met Tong Xin, who explained that Shopkeeper Liu now oversaw second-floor affairs after the Four Markets merged.
• Tong Xin said he had become a Tier 1 Shopkeeper and managed the first floor alongside shopkeepers transferred from the other markets.
• Su Qing told Tong Xin he wanted to both sell goods and buy supplies, then followed him to the pavilion’s rear courtyard to avoid the crowd.
• Su Qing tossed out three Storage Bags and clarified that he intended to sell their contents, not the bags themselves.

Su Qing sold goods recovered from Black Tiger Mountain at the Hundred Treasures Pavilion, pressing Tong Xin for better prices on both the Robber Cultivators’ belongings and a huge haul of demonic beast materials. Tong Xin agreed to buy the materials for 450,000 Spirit Crystals, but Su Qing demanded payment in Spirit Stones and promised he would still spend his remaining Spirit Crystals at the shop.

• Su Qing negotiated the Robber Cultivators’ belongings up to 26,000 Spirit Crystals while keeping their Storage Bags for himself.
• Su Qing encouraged Tong Xin to handle the sale of a Storage Bag full of demonic beast materials instead of handing the deal to Shopkeeper Liu.
• Tong Xin appraised the haul, including three Tier 1 Extreme Demon King corpses, and offered 420,000 Spirit Crystals for the lot.
• Su Qing threatened to take the materials to Fate Comes Pavilion, and Tong Xin raised his offer to 450,000 Spirit Crystals.
• Su Qing asked Tong Xin to settle the payment in Spirit Stones and said he would still spend his Spirit Crystals at the Hundred Treasures Pavilion.

Su Qing sold Tong Xin several magic artifacts, then spent more than three hundred thousand Spirit Crystals on puppet materials and combat gear. He also bought two Puppet Blueprints and a set of Firefly Needles and Mother-Child Boomerangs, leaving him with only forty or fifty thousand Spirit Crystals.

• Su Qing accepted eighteen lower grade Spirit Stones and eighteen thousand Spirit Crystals from Tong Xin, then smoothed over his awkward praise by promising to spend heavily at the shop.
• Su Qing sold his remaining magic artifacts to Tong Xin for eighty thousand Spirit Crystals and denied having any tiger bones or a Tier 2 Demonic Core to sell.
• Su Qing bought materials for puppets, including thirty-six War Blades, six War Hammers, and supplies for more than thirty Meditating Dolls, spending over three hundred thousand Spirit Crystals.
• Su Qing bought blueprints for the Tier-1 Mid-Grade Mysterious Armor Horse and Tier-1 High-Grade Dog-Horse Heavy Cavalry puppets.
• Su Qing bought high-grade Firefly Needles for nine thousand Spirit Crystals and a complete set of Mother-Child Boomerangs for over thirty thousand, leaving only forty or fifty thousand Spirit Crystals.

After leaving Hundred Treasures Pavilion, Su Qing prepared for the coming Beast Tide by refining more puppets and planning to improve his cultivation and equipment. He expected to reach the Late Qi Refining Stage soon and began arranging work on the Silver-Winged White Tiger’s wings.

• Tong Xin told Su Qing that Hundred Treasures Pavilion had no Merit Wooden Fish left after selling him all twelve.
• Su Qing studied the Merit Wooden Fish and Wood Spirit Servants but found no clues, then focused on preparing his Spirit House and puppets for the Beast Tide.
• Su Qing used the Great Wood Spirits and Wood Spirits to help refine nine Meditating Dolls, bringing his total to twenty-one Black Boys and increasing his cultivation speed.
• Su Qing planned to use the Blood Lotus Fruit to reach the Late Qi Refining Stage and attempt Tier 3 Biomimetic and Intelligence Runes.
• Su Qing sent a Lizard Warrior carrying the Silver-Winged White Tiger’s wings to He Lian Xian for refining, then began work on a batch of Lizard Warriors.

Su Qing expanded his puppet forces by completing eight Explosive Hammer War Bears, creating hundreds of Explosive Kill Puppets, and refining more Hummingbird Puppets. Maxing out Hummingbird Puppet proficiency unlocked the Overlord Tiger blueprint, leaving him with a demanding new project requiring rare materials and Tier 3 runes.

• Su Qing completed the eight-member Explosive Bear Squad and equipped each puppet with half a Spirit Stone, but learned he could not use the Jinxing Exploding Bear without a Formation Master.
• Su Qing and the Wood Spirits crafted 382 stealthy Explosive Kill Puppets from Firefly Needles and installed them aboard the Sky Roc Ship.
• Su Qing refined more than 140 Bee Scout Machines, bringing their total to five hundred, after noticing his puppet success rate had improved.
• Su Qing maxed out Hummingbird Puppet refining proficiency and unlocked the Tier 2 Overlord Tiger blueprint, which required costly materials and advanced runes.

Su Qing finished rebuilding his Puppet force and planned new ways to earn money and compete in the Puppet market. He sent Bear Two to sell Lizard Warriors while beginning to develop a Combination Type Puppet called the Lizard Knight.

• Su Qing recognized the Overlord Tiger as an ideal armor-type Puppet and planned to refine one after his cultivation breakthrough.
• Su Qing refined the remaining Bee Scout Machines, bringing his total to more than seven hundred, and decided to work on the Phantom Leopard at his own pace.
• Su Qing persuaded Bear Two to sell Lizard Warriors for commission and sent it to the North City Stall Area with an escort.
• Su Qing decided that Lizard Warriors alone could not meet his needs and planned a new Puppet to challenge the low-end market.
• Su Qing set out to develop the Lizard Knight by studying the Mysterious Armor Horse and Dog-Horse Heavy Cavalry blueprints.

Su Qing’s Armored War Bear sold Lizard Warriors at the Forward Camp while Su Qing studied new Puppet Blueprints and welcomed Ge Changyuan. Ge Changyuan described how the merged markets had made Spirit Planters prosperous and improved their village’s farming conditions.

• Niu Thirteen reassured a confused buyer that Bear Two was selling Lizard Warriors, and Bear Two collected payment before handing one over.
• Bear Two earned a commission from the sales, while Fire Egg carried the Spirit Crystals back to Su Qing after every three Lizard Warriors sold.
• Su Qing turned away a Rogue Cultivator who asked to buy Bear Two, then finished studying the Mysterious Armor Horse and Dog-Horse Heavy Cavalry Blueprints.
• Su Qing welcomed Ge Changyuan into his courtyard after Ge Changyuan found him alive despite rumors that he had died at Black Tiger Mountain.
• Ge Changyuan told Su Qing that spirit vegetable and Spirit Fruit prices had risen, Cloud Mountain Sect had installed farming arrays, and the Spirit Planters had received new rice seed.

Ge Changyuan commissioned Su Qing to make Puppets for twelve villages to defend their fields from thieves, and Su Qing agreed to fill the order. Su Qing bought materials for Mysterious Armor Horses and Talisman Water, then delivered Lizard Warriors to Fate Comes Pavilion, while Wang Rong planned how to secure more business from him.

• Ge Changyuan told Su Qing that thieves were stealing spirit melons and vegetables from the villages, and requested two Dual-Blade Lizards and ten Mysterious Armor Horses.
• Su Qing offered to craft the Mysterious Armor Horses and other suitable Puppets for eighty thousand Spirit Crystals, with Ge Changyuan agreeing to collect them in three days.
• Su Qing bought materials for a hundred Mysterious Armor Horses and several dozen bottles of Talisman Water at Hundred Treasures Pavilion.
• Su Qing delivered thirty Lizard Warriors to Wang Rong at Fate Comes Pavilion in exchange for materials for one hundred and fifty more.
• Wang Rong resented Su Qing's business with Hundred Treasures Pavilion but decided to find other benefits to offer him so he would craft more Puppets for her shop.