Chapter Summaries

Su Qing designed new mounted Lizard Puppets, refined Mysterious Armor Horses, and prepared a set of cavalry for Ge Changyuan. After working through the night, he took out the Blood Lotus Fruit, ready to advance both his body cultivation and Qi cultivation.

• Su Qing drew blueprints for Riding Archer Lizards, Heavy Cavalry Lizards, and Riding Saber Lizards, and set aside eight archers and two saber riders for Ge Changyuan.
• Su Qing refined over twenty Mysterious Armor Horses from materials for fifty sets and successfully inscribed them with Intelligence Runes.
• Su Qing bought unranked weapons and modified Lizard Warriors into mounted Puppets, setting ten aside for Ge Changyuan and planning to sell the rest himself.
• Su Qing returned to the Spirit House exhausted after working through the night, bathed, and assessed his progress to Tier 1 Mid-Grade Body Cultivator and the brink of Late Qi Refining.
• Su Qing took out the Blood Lotus Fruit, intending to use it to advance to Tier-1 High-Grade Body Cultivator and Late Qi Refining Stage.

Su Qing consumed a Blood Lotus Fruit and Profound Iron Essence, advancing to a Tier-1 High-Grade Body Cultivator while improving his cultivation and bone structure. He then headed to North City with his puppets as Rogue Cultivators discussed his exploits and speculated about his new Lizard Knights.

• Su Qing ate the Blood Lotus Fruit and gave its seed to Fire Egg, then both absorbed its energy.
• Su Qing swallowed hundreds of Profound Iron Essence pellets, kindling sparks in his Adamantine Furnace and reaching Tier-1 High-Grade Body Cultivation.
• Su Qing found that his bone structure had improved but remained lower-grade mid-grade, while his sea of consciousness had grown to roughly the size of a small pool.
• Su Qing decided to wait until after the approaching Beast Tide before undergoing Refining Self into Puppet again, then packed his ten new puppets.
• Su Qing traveled toward North City with Bear Two, Fire Egg, and twelve Lizard Knights, drawing attention from Rogue Cultivators.
• Rogue Cultivators praised Su Qing's past victories and debated whether his Lizard Knights could match his Dog-Horse Knights, while lamenting that his Demoness Puppets were no longer for sale.

Su Qing promoted his new Lizard Knights at his stall and, after comparing them to the Wang Family’s Dog-Horse Heavy Cavalry, decided to challenge the market leader. Hai Changqing then produced thirty-four Dog-Horse Knights and proposed a battle against Su Qing’s ten Lizard Knights.

• Rogue Cultivators balked at the Lizard Knights’ price of fourteen thousand Spirit Crystals, until Hai Changqing asked Su Qing how they worked.
• Su Qing praised the Lizard Knights and, angered by Hai Changqing’s comparison to Dog-Horse Puppets, claimed that one could match three and ten could hold off a hundred riders.
• Liang Hai Shun and He Lian Xian warned Su Qing that insulting the Wang Family’s signature Puppets could provoke the powerful Puppet clan.
• Su Qing reconsidered and decided that challenging the Dog-Horse Heavy Cavalry was the best way to make the Lizard Knights known, despite the risk of conflict with the Wang Family.
• Hai Changqing revealed thirty-four Dog-Horse Knights and challenged Su Qing to have ten Lizard Knights fight them, promising to buy some if they proved their strength.
• Liang Hai Shun and He Lian Xian mistook Hai Changqing’s challenge for a costly performance Su Qing had arranged to undermine the Wang Family.

Su Qing’s Lizard Knights battled Hai Changqing’s Dog-Horse Heavy Cavalry outside the Forward Camp, drawing a crowd and the Wang Family’s attention. The Lizard Knights decisively won, leaving the Wang Family Puppet Masters to face the public defeat of their famed cavalry.

• Su Qing and Hai Changqing brought their puppets to open ground outside the Forward Camp, followed by nearly a thousand Rogue Cultivators and the Wang Family’s Puppet Masters.
• Su Qing noticed the Wang Family’s Flying Dog Puppets and wondered whether they would sell their Aerial Control Rune inheritance.
• Wang Xing suspected Hai Changqing was helping Su Qing and prepared to enter the field himself if Hai deliberately lost.
• The Riding Archer Lizards used the Long Sky Falling Goose Arrow to shatter the Dog-Horse Heavy Cavalry’s barriers and shoot down many riders before they could engage.
• Hai Changqing’s cavalry failed to catch the faster Riding Archer Lizards, while the Heavy Cavalry Lizards defeated the remaining Dog-Horse Heavy Cavalry with spear attacks.
• The Riding Saber Lizards never needed to fight as the Mysterious Armor Horses bit and kicked the fallen cavalry mounts.

Hai Changqing’s Dog-Horse Heavy Cavalry lost badly to Su Qing’s Lizard Knights, making the new Puppets popular among Rogue Cultivators. Su Qing turned the crowd’s demand into an auction, but first honored his promise to let Hai Changqing choose two.

• Wang Xing called off another fight with Su Qing and led the Wang Family Puppet Masters back, deciding they needed different Puppets to counter the Lizard Knights.
• Hai Changqing returned to Forward Camp with his damaged Dog-Horse Heavy Cavalry, admitted Su Qing’s Lizard Knights were superior, and praised their price.
• Liang Hai Shun, He Lian Xian, Pang Feifan, Shao De Long, Niu Thirteen, and the others blended into the crowd and encouraged Rogue Cultivators to buy Su Qing’s Puppets.
• After the Lizard Knights drew a crowd at his stall, Su Qing announced that the ten available would go to the highest bidders, starting at ten thousand Spirit Crystals.
• Su Qing told the bidders that Hai Changqing would choose two Lizard Knights first, honoring the promise he had made after their battle.

Su Qing sold the Lizard Knights and negotiated with Hai Changqing to trade six Heavy Cavalry Lizards for Hai Changqing’s Spirit Refining Secret Method. After earning over 170,000 Spirit Crystals, Su Qing invited his supporters to a feast, but they all declined.

• Hai Changqing bought two Riding Archer Puppets and told Su Qing that his unusual Spiritual Sense let him control many puppets.
• Su Qing asked Hai Changqing to sell his Profound Grade Ultimate-Rank Spirit Refining Secret Method, and they agreed to trade it for six Heavy Cavalry Lizards within ten days.
• The remaining Lizard Knights sold at auction, bringing Su Qing’s ten puppets more than 170,000 Spirit Crystals in total.
• Su Qing thanked the friends who had supported him against the Wang Family by inviting them to dine at the Hundred Treasures Tower.
• Su Qing was stunned when his friends repeatedly turned down the feast.

After selling his new puppets and celebrating with his friends, Su Qing returned home to find Liu Yun'er waiting with news of his rapid cultivation and a reminder of their deal. He asked why she had risked visiting the Forward Camp, leaving her purpose undisclosed.

• Su Qing accepted puppet orders from his fellow cultivators, who promised to support him against the Wang Family and urged him to reveal more of his strength.
• Su Qing celebrated the success of his new puppets with his friends and agreed to visit Sun Yan and the other sisters.
• Su Qing returned home drunk and found Liu Yun'er waiting for him.
• Liu Yun'er praised Su Qing's progress to Late Qi Refining and reminded him to craft the Demoness Puppet within two years.
• Su Qing told Liu Yun'er that his dolls gathered and dispersed spiritual energy, then asked what business had brought her to the Forward Camp.

Liu Yun'er asked Su Qing to make a hundred Bee Scout Puppets for her mission in the Hundred Beasts Mountain Range, then spent time with him before departing. Afterward, Su Qing planned how to turn four beast skeletons into puppets and began preparing to refine a Phantom Leopard.

• Liu Yun'er told Su Qing that Tier 2 Demon Kings were gathering in the Hundred Beasts Mountain Range and requested a hundred Bee Scout Puppets, offering two bottles of Blood Vitality Pills in exchange.
• Su Qing gave Liu Yun'er the puppets, and she asked him to spend more time touching her before leaving in a plume of black smoke.
• Su Qing replenished his energy and decided to finish existing Lizard Knight orders while releasing new ones gradually.
• Su Qing chose to refine the Black Mountain Tiger skeleton into an Overlord Tiger, the Silver-Winged White Tiger into a Biomimetic Intelligent Puppet, and the Shadow Leopard skeletons into Phantom Leopards.
• Unable to buy the Overlord Tiger materials until the next morning, Su Qing opened the Phantom Leopard requirements and prepared to refine one.

Su Qing refined two Phantom Leopards: the first became a powerful but uncharming fighter, while the second proved exceptionally adept at stealth and charm. Meanwhile, the Wang Family debated how to retaliate against Su Qing after their puppet sales collapsed, but could not find a safe way to harm him.

• Su Qing found that his first Phantom Leopard was too bulky for effective Shadow Evasion and speed, but discovered that its transformed leopard woman could overpower powerful puppets.
• Su Qing refined a second Phantom Leopard with a Tier 3 Biomimetic Rune, giving it superior Shadow Evasion, speed, and charm in leopard woman form.
• Su Qing tested the second Phantom Leopard’s abilities in the Spirit House, then planned to visit the Hundred Treasures Pavilion and make time to chat with Sun Yan and the others.
• The Wang Family’s puppet masters complained that Rogue Cultivators were returning their Dog-Horse Heavy Cavalry and considered ways to retaliate against Su Qing.
• The Wang Family rejected hiring the Lang Tian Gang or using Cloud Mountain Sect connections, then discussed a price war and again proposed making Su Qing one of their own.

Su Qing sold Lizard Knights to the village chiefs and learned that the Wang Family had come to recruit him as a son-in-law. He declined their offer and assured them he planned to sell only a limited number of Puppets each month.

• Su Qing spent Spirit Crystals on materials while remaining alert for retaliation from the Wang Family.
• Ge Changyuan and the village chiefs visited to buy Lizard Knights, while Wang Xing and Wang Junli arrived with several Female Cultivators.
• Su Qing sold the village chiefs ten Lizard Knights for eight thousand Spirit Crystals each, surprising Wang Xing with his low production costs.
• After thanking Su Qing and leaving spirit melons and vegetables, Ge Changyuan and the village chiefs departed.
• Wang Xing offered to bring Su Qing into the Wang Family as a son-in-law, pointing out the Female Cultivators for him to choose from.
• Su Qing declined to marry into the Wang Family and promised to sell only ten or twenty Lizard Knights per month.

Wang Xing invited Su Qing to visit the Wang Family and discuss Puppet Master techniques, while Wang Junli’s arrogance turned the invitation into a challenge to meet at Su Qing’s courtyard. Wang Xing warned Junli that Su Qing was far more skilled than he was, but Junli remained determined to go.

• Wang Xing set aside the marriage proposal and invited Su Qing to visit the Wang Family, hoping to learn about his Puppet Master techniques.
• Wang Xing scolded Wang Junli for insulting Su Qing, and Su Qing suggested the Wang Family send people to his courtyard instead.
• Su Qing praised Wang Junli and invited him to visit, and Junli agreed to give him pointers.
• Wang Xing warned Junli that Su Qing was close to Tier 2 and had far more practical experience refining Puppets, but Junli refused to believe him.
• Wang Xing eventually stopped trying to prevent Junli from visiting Su Qing, while the rejected Wang Family Female Cultivators returned dejected.

Su Qing received the White Tiger Silver Wings and arranged for Liang Hai Shun to conceal his courtyard with a formation. He learned that He Lian Xian had become a Tier 2 Artifact Refiner and a guest elder of the Hundred Treasures Pavilion, but needed qualification to bid on a Foundation Establishment Pill.

• Su Qing told Liang Hai Shun and He Lian Xian that the Wang Family had politely tried to recruit him as a son-in-law, and both men warned him to remain wary of them.
• Su Qing asked Liang Hai Shun to set up a Yellow Sand Sky Covering Formation in exchange for two Heavy Cavalry Lizards.
• He Lian Xian delivered the White Tiger Silver Wings, explaining that their four Spirit Crystal slots had been added without compromising their flight speed.
• Su Qing praised He Lian Xian for advancing to Tier 2 Artifact Refiner and gifted him a Riding Archer Lizard.
• He Lian Xian revealed that he had joined the Hundred Treasures Pavilion as a Level 2 Guest Elder to gain the qualification to buy a Foundation Establishment Pill, and Su Qing asked why the qualification was necessary.

Su Qing learned that Foundation Establishment Pill quotas were reserved for influential forces and would likely be earned through service during the coming Beast Tide. After sending his visitors away, he secured his courtyard and revised his plans for refining tiger-bone Puppets, ending with the bones’ lingering pressure intimidating even him.

• He Lian Xian and Liang Hai Shun explained that only thirty-six people could bid for the Foundation Establishment Pill quotas, and Liang Hai Shun revealed that he had already secured one through his connection to Fate Comes Pavilion’s Pavilion Master.
• Su Qing agreed to finish the Lizard Knights within ten days, and He Lian Xian and Liang Hai Shun left after teasing Liang Hai Shun about his past romance.
• Su Qing fortified his courtyard with Puppets and guards, then began preparing to refine the Overlord Tiger using the Black Mountain Tiger’s bones.
• After He Lian Xian turned the White Tiger Silver Wings into a Tier 2 Magic Artifact, Su Qing changed his design to make two Overlord Tigers, an Overlord Black Armor Tiger, and an Overlord Silver Wings Tiger.
• The Black Mountain Tiger’s bones frightened Fire Egg and Bear Two, so Su Qing sent them out to sell goods and used a Calming Talisman before beginning his work.

Su Qing began refining the Overlord Tiger, preparing costly Tier 3 talisman water and modifying its design to favor power and defense. Bear Two earned Spirit Crystals by selling Dual-Blade Lizards, while Su Qing considered buying Blazing Fire Cannons for the armor Puppet.

• Su Qing concluded that tiger bones could let the Overlord Tiger release pressure even without a Tier 2 Demonic Core.
• Su Qing modified Wood Spirits to help prepare the tiger bones, then bought materials and successfully brewed four bottles of Tier 3 Biomimetic Talisman Water.
• Bear Two sold a Dual-Blade Lizard for 15,000 Spirit Crystals, and Su Qing severed his Spiritual Sense Link to transfer it to the buyer.
• Su Qing decided the Overlord Tiger should emphasize strength and defense, then added two adjustable shoulder mounts for Magic Cannon Puppets to its Blueprint.
• Su Qing considered buying two Blazing Fire Cannons from Hundred Treasures Pavilion, then received Bear Two's request to sever the link to a second Dual-Blade Lizard.

Su Qing brought two Explosive Hammer War Bears to the Hundred Treasures Pavilion, hoping to exchange them for Blazing Fire Cannons, while Bear Two completed another lucrative Dual-Blade Lizard sale. Shopkeeper Liu instead offered Su Qing the Blazing Fire Cannon Blueprint in exchange for the War Bear Blueprint or a promise to supply the Puppets, leaving Su Qing wary of provoking the Fire Phoenix Immortal Kingdom.

• Su Qing offered Shopkeeper Liu two Explosive Hammer War Bears in exchange for two Blazing Fire Cannons.
• While Shopkeeper Liu considered the trade, Bear Two sold four more Dual-Blade Lizards, bringing the customer’s total purchases to six for roughly ninety thousand Spirit Crystals.
• Su Qing saw that the buyer was a veiled person whose attire suggested they were a Curse Spirit Master.
• Shopkeeper Liu proposed exchanging the Blazing Fire Cannon Blueprint for the Explosive Hammer War Bear Blueprint or Su Qing’s ongoing commitment to refine the Puppets.
• Su Qing objected that obtaining the blueprint could draw retaliation from the xenophobic, vengeful Phoenix Descendants of the Fire Phoenix Immortal Kingdom.

Su Qing traded a commission to the Hundred Treasures Pavilion for a Blazing Fire Cannon Puppet Blueprint, then discovered that a Curse Spirit Master had robbed Bear Two and Fire Egg. He returned home vowing to prepare revenge against the thief.

• Su Qing agreed to refine Explosive Hammer War Bears for the Hundred Treasures Pavilion in exchange for a Blazing Fire Cannon Puppet Blueprint and a finished cannon.
• Su Qing hurried home to collect Bear Two’s Spirit Crystals, but Fire Egg ran to him battered and reported that they had been robbed.
• Su Qing followed Fire Egg’s scent to the attack site and learned that the thief had used Su Qing’s own Dual-Blade Lizards to ambush them and steal their goods and nearly one hundred thousand Spirit Crystals.
• Fire Egg told Su Qing that the thief had disrupted its and Bear Two’s divine senses with a strange chant, leading Su Qing to identify him as a Curse Spirit Master from Curse Spirit Market.
• Su Qing returned to the residential district with Bear Two and Fire Egg, endured his neighbors’ mistaken guesses about their injuries, and vowed to take revenge while studying his nearly completed Overlord Tiger.

Su Qing drew Tier 3 runes to bring the Overlord Tiger Puppet to life, then gave it intelligence that produced a boastful, foul-mouthed personality. The puppet was left unfinished as Su Qing struggled to add its remaining runes, while Tiger Egg revealed it planned to help sell puppets by charging customers exorbitant prices.

• After lamenting his losses and adding more expenses to his ledger, Su Qing began drawing Tier 3 Biomimetic Runes on the Overlord Tiger Puppet.
• Su Qing used Qi Recovery Pills and a Blood Vitality Pill to finish the tiger’s eyes, then spent three days making Lizard Knights while recovering his strength.
• Su Qing drew a Tier 3 Intelligence Rune on the tiger’s forehead, but the Overlord Black Armor Tiger emerged with an arrogant, insulting personality.
• Su Qing scolded the tiger and named it Tiger Egg, then attempted to add a Tier 2 Damage Reduction Rune and failed several times.
• Tiger Egg told Su Qing it would earn back the Spirit Crystals he spent by helping sell puppets, prompting Su Qing to insist that his business was legitimate.

Su Qing sold Lizard Knights to the Rat King and Bear King Teams as demonic beasts advanced on the Forward Camp, then captured and beat Wei De Bao for betraying him. Wei De Bao revealed that a Tier 3 Demon King was driving the Beast Tide and that a Golden Core Grand Cultivator would soon arrive, earning Su Qing’s cautious forgiveness and an offer to buy more puppets.

• Sun Yan and Niu Thirteen visited Su Qing to buy Lizard Knights for their teams, and he sold each team four.
• Su Qing found Wei De Bao lurking near his home, invited him inside, and trapped him among his puppets.
• Su Qing had the Explosive Hammer War Bears beat Wei De Bao for revealing his identity to the Demoness, until Wei De Bao offered information.
• Wei De Bao revealed that a Golden Core Grand Cultivator would soon reach the Forward Camp and that a Tier 3 Demon King was driving the Beast Tide.
• Wei De Bao said his Foundation Establishment brother-in-law had returned from investigating the Hundred Beasts Mountain Range, and Su Qing agreed to treat him as a friend if the information proved true.

Su Qing sold Wei De Bao two Riding Archer Puppets and learned of a Tier 3 Demon King threatening the Forward Camp. Wei traded the Dragon's Roar Overlord Spear for two Sea Woman Beauty Snakes, leaving Su with a powerful body-cultivation technique and plans to warn fellow cultivators.

• Wei De Bao warned Su Qing not to reveal that a Tier 3 Demon King backed the demon beasts, and Su resolved to alert Niu Ya, Tang Wanqing, and the others.
• Wei De Bao bought two Riding Archer Puppets from Su Qing for fifty thousand Spirit Crystals so he could earn Combat Merit.
• Wei De Bao offered the Dragon's Roar Overlord Spear, a rare hereditary body-cultivation technique, after Su Qing showed interest in combat techniques.
• Su Qing presented his Sea Woman Beauty Snakes, and Wei De Bao agreed to trade the Dragon's Roar Overlord Spear for two of them.
• Su Qing accepted the inheritance, and Wei De Bao left with the Sea Woman Beauty Snakes.

Su Qing fitted Tiger Egg with Blazing Fire Cannons and tested its transformation forms, gaining new ways to wield the Puppet’s power. He ended by activating the quieter Overlord Tiger Armor, whose strength thrilled him and whose silence suited him.

• Su Qing made Wei De Bao swear not to reveal what he had seen or heard, then checked the camp and judged the demon-beast incursion minor.
• Su Qing installed two Blazing Fire Cannons on Tiger Egg, which destroyed a target, part of the courtyard, and a nearby Rogue Cultivator’s Spirit House; Su Qing repaired the damage and compensated the Rogue Cultivator.
• Su Qing activated Tiger Egg’s second form, Overlord Giant Tiger, and learned that it could use its own abilities, amplify his combat skills, or fight automatically.
• Su Qing tested the Overlord Giant Tiger form, then switched Tiger Egg to its third form, Overlord Tiger Armor.
• Su Qing found that the armor greatly increased his strength and could conceal itself in his Dharma Robe, while Tiger Egg remained silent and automatically adjusted the armor to incoming attacks.