Recaps

Su Qing welcomed Ge Changyuan, learned how the demonic beast crisis had unexpectedly boosted Ge Changyuan’s income, and heard that Tang Wanqing had become a leading monster hunter. Ge Changyuan then arranged a large order for puppets to help nearby villages transport goods and defend themselves, leaving Su Qing with a profitable job and plans to reward his friend.

• Ge Changyuan visited Su Qing with produce and offered him several hundred Spirit Crystals to repay the cost of Ge Ling’s Spirit Lotus Leg, but Su Qing refused the payment.
• Ge Changyuan explained that he had harvested most of his spirit rice before the beasts arrived and that demand for his Beast Binding Ropes had surged.
• Ge Changyuan told Su Qing that Tang Wanqing had earned the title of Bear King Hunter and led a prominent force in the Hunting Grounds.
• Ge Changyuan asked Su Qing to make thirty Iron Horses, fifty Wood Oxes, and twelve Lizard Warriors for nearby villages, which had pooled a deposit of ten thousand Spirit Crystals.
• Su Qing accepted the order and planned to reward Ge Changyuan and make a Lizard Warrior for his family.

After hearing that a Headless Evil Spirit was roaming nearby, Su Qing bought materials and chose the Misty-Sun Treasure Umbrella to protect himself. Shopkeeper Liu then tried to keep Su Qing close to Hundred Treasures Pavilion by offering support for new puppet designs.

• Ge Changyuan warned Su Qing that he had seen a burly Headless Evil Spirit near the Market before dawn, and Su Qing suspected it was connected to the headless lanterns at the Gao Family Butcher Shop.
• Su Qing decided to buy an Exorcism Magic Artifact, rode to Hundred Treasures Pavilion, and spent 4,646 Spirit Crystals on materials for his puppets.
• Su Qing rejected the Warm Sun Jade Pendant and examined the Misty-Sun Treasure Umbrella, whose runes and Flamingo-hide canopy made it a powerful weapon against evil entities.
• Su Qing negotiated the umbrella's price, and Shopkeeper Liu offered a discount while acknowledging that Su Qing could not sell Lizard Warriors to Hundred Treasures Pavilion because of his deal with Fate Comes Pavilion.
• Shopkeeper Liu offered to supply materials for Su Qing's future puppet testing, hoping to preserve their relationship as Liu Yun'er's growing power made the Demoness Puppet trade difficult.

Su Qing struck a deal with Hundred Treasures Pavilion to supply Spirit Lotus Legs and Azure Steel Legs, then discovered that his health and lifespan had improved. He continued refining Puppets and planned to build a Lizard Guard before visiting Ge Family Village, while hoping to obtain a Magic Cannon Puppet Blueprint.

• Su Qing sold Shopkeeper Liu on the Spirit Lotus Legs and Azure Steel Legs, and Shopkeeper Liu promised to prepare materials for him.
• Su Qing found no sign of trouble at Gao Family Butcher Shop and decided to keep watching for a few more days.
• Su Qing discovered that his condition had improved to Slightly Depleted Qi and Blood and his lifespan had increased by sixteen years.
• Su Qing delivered a Lizard Warrior, then refined more Lizard Warriors, Iron Horses, and Wood Oxen to fulfill orders and earn back his Spirit Crystals.
• Su Qing planned to build a twelve-Puppet Lizard Guard before visiting Ge Family Village, and wished the System Panel would provide a Magic Cannon Puppet Blueprint.

Su Qing advanced his puppet-making skills, bought the Immovable Heavenly King Technique, and discovered that the Evil Entity had returned to the Gao Family Butcher Shop. He fortified his courtyard and studied the combat skill as he prepared for the danger.

• Su Qing refined nine Lizard Warriors, sold four of them, and improved his Rune proficiency, though his Immortal Path Rune had not yet reached Tier-2.
• Su Qing bought food and Qi Recovery Pills, then learned from Tong Xin that Tu Da was selling the Mysterious Grade Low Rank Immovable Heavenly King Technique.
• Tong Xin negotiated with Tu Da, and Su Qing bought the combat skill for about five percent of its market price.
• Su Qing replaced the Wood Spirit Servants at the Gao Family Butcher Shop and saw the two eerie Head Lanterns in their recorded images.
• Su Qing realized the Evil Entity had returned after seven days, secured his courtyard with Lizard Warriors and Exorcism Talismans, and opened the Immovable Heavenly King Technique.

Su Qing examined the Profound Grade Immovable Wisdom King Technique and decided to try its costly external refinement method despite his poor innate aptitude. After buying materials and enduring his first medicinal bath, he discovered how little his body could absorb and finished the chapter accepting another bath to wash off the grime.

• Su Qing read about the Immovable Wisdom King Technique’s Heavenly King Armor and Adamantine Furnace, and recognized that its internal and external methods justified its Profound Grade.
• Su Qing considered the technique’s steep material costs but decided to test its external refinement method, which he believed would not harm his body.
• Su Qing bought enough ingredients for ten medicinal baths and worked late refining three Lizard Warriors while his Wood Spirit Servants prepared the first bath.
• Su Qing endured the painful, itching medicinal bath and felt his aches ease, but his body absorbed less than half the medicinal power.
• Su Qing judged that his poor innate bones made Body Cultivation inefficient, performed the technique’s exercises, and took a second bath to clean off the black sludge.

After completing a squad of Lizard Warriors and strengthening himself through cultivation, Su Qing learned that Li Erhe had been found dead without his head and suspected the Gao Family Butcher Shop’s Wandering Evil had created more Headless Evil Spirits. He encountered the exhausted Gao Erqiang, sold him two puppets, and left wondering whether the Evil Entity had targeted Gao Erqiang himself.

• Su Qing finished his Lizard Puppet orders and assembled twelve Lizard Warriors for himself, while his cultivation improved his physique, Qi and blood, and lifespan.
• Su Qing learned that leather craftsman Li Erhe had been killed and his head taken, and he concluded that the Gao Family Butcher Shop’s Wandering Evil had spawned Headless Evil Spirits that were harming nearby cultivators.
• Long Feifan and other cultivators told Su Qing that workers were disappearing at the Gao Family Butcher Shop and that people had seen two Head Lanterns hanging there.
• Gao Erqiang stopped Su Qing and warned him against taking side paths at night, then asked to buy two puppets.
• Su Qing sold Gao Erqiang two Lizard Warriors for eighteen hundred Spirit Crystals each, then wondered why Gao Erqiang was returning to the dangerous butcher shop and whether the Evil Entity had targeted him.

Su Qing spent his recent earnings on materials and puppets, then agreed to travel with Hundred Treasures Pavilion to the Hunting Grounds and refine Spirit Lotus Legs for injured cultivators. Old Daoist urged him to seek him out after reaching Peak Qi Refining, promising a major opportunity tied to Tier 3 Biomimetic Runes.

• Wang Rong welcomed Su Qing after his ten Lizard Warriors sold well, and he collected materials for the next month's order before leaving Fate Comes Pavilion.
• Su Qing spent much of his earnings at Hundred Treasures Pavilion, where Shopkeeper Liu offered him five hundred Spirit Crystals for each Spirit Lotus Leg he refined during an escorted trip to the Hunting Grounds.
• Su Qing agreed to leave for the Hunting Grounds in three days and headed to the Stall Area, where Old Daoist was selling Exorcism Talismans amid rumors about the Headless Evil Spirit and the Gao Family Butcher Shop.
• Tong Chang asked whether Su Qing planned to attempt Tier 3 Biomimetic Runes, but Su Qing declined because he lacked the cultivation to use them.
• Tong Chang promised Su Qing a major opportunity if he returned after reaching Peak Qi Refining, but refused to reveal its nature.

Su Qing bought an Armored War Bear and began reverse-engineering and refining another one for protection before his trip to the Hunting Grounds. A Headless Evil Spirit appeared at his gate, but Su Qing used the bear and Exorcism Talismans to destroy it.

• Su Qing tested his newly purchased Armored War Bear and found his powerful spiritual sense let him control it alongside twelve Lizard Warriors.
• Su Qing decided to refine another Armored War Bear from an Ironback Bear skeleton and spent two nights and a day preparing its materials.
• Su Qing inscribed the required runes, successfully completing the Tier 2 Demonic Beast Rune despite his limited proficiency.
• A sinister wind and knocks at the gate reminded Su Qing of a previous Evil Entity, so he hid inside the purchased Armored War Bear and sent a Lizard Warrior to open the gate.
• The Headless Evil Spirit killed the Lizard Warrior and asked Su Qing for his head, but Su Qing struck it with the Armored War Bear's paw, using Exorcism Talismans to pin and destroy it.

After destroying the Headless Evil Spirit, Su Qing nearly succumbed to the Evil Script it left behind, but recognized the danger and destroyed the rune. He decided to lie low in the Spirit Field District while continuing to strengthen himself and expand his Puppet force.

• The Lizard Warrior and Wood Spirit Servants cleaned the evil entity’s corpse fluid, revealing a strange rune in the Armored War Bear’s paw print.
• The rune’s whispers bewitched Su Qing and urged him to copy it, but the Spider Doctor’s repairs alerted him that it was harming him, and he broke free.
• Su Qing ordered the Armored War Bear to smash the rune and had the Lizard Warrior bury the remains under Exorcism Talismans.
• Su Qing realized the rune was Evil Script that could corrupt anyone who drew it, and resolved to travel with Hundred Treasures Pavilion to the Spirit Field District and keep a low profile.
• Su Qing replaced the fallen Lizard Warrior, took a medicinal bath, and assessed his progress toward becoming a Tier 1 Body Cultivator.

Su Qing warned his neighbors about the Headless Evil Spirit and its lingering Evil Script, then traded a Heavy Armor Lizard Warrior to Pang Feifan for a Spirit Dog and three hundred Spirit Crystals. Pang Feifan left with the Puppet, while Su Qing learned the dog carried a trace of Huodou bloodline.

• Su Qing confronted Pang Feifan and the other Rogue Cultivators who had come to check whether he had died, then showed them the pit where his Puppets had killed the Headless Evil Spirit.
• Su Qing advised the cultivators to buy Lizard Puppets and Exorcism Talismans, and warned them that the Evil Script left by the dead Evil Entity could beguile them.
• Pang Feifan said he might move to the Central District because his spirit dog had been barking fiercely, but the other cultivators chose to stay.
• Pang Feifan returned to buy a Lizard Puppet, and he and Su Qing negotiated a trade involving his Spirit Dog.
• Su Qing accepted the Spirit Dog and three hundred Spirit Crystals in exchange for a Heavy Armor Lizard Warrior, and Pang Feifan told him the dog had a trace of Huodou bloodline.

Su Qing trained his newly acquired Spirit Dog, named it Fire Egg, and spent the day coating and activating a heavily armored Armored War Bear. With Bear Two successfully completed and his forces assembled, he felt ready to venture into the Hunting Grounds.

• Su Qing released the Spirit Dog, failed to command it, and named it Little Gold before it breathed fire at him and earned the name Fire Egg.
• Su Qing scolded Fire Egg, fed it Tusked Boar meat, and later had the Wood Spirit Servants prepare it a meal, winning its eager loyalty.
• Su Qing spent the day coating a second Armored War Bear with five thousand jin of Profound Iron Essence to make it a durable mobile fortress.
• Su Qing installed Crimson Moon Stones, supplied Bear Two with Spirit Crystals, and successfully activated it.
• Su Qing surveyed Bear One, Bear Two, twelve Lizard Warriors, Fire Egg, and his talismans, and decided the group could handle a trip through the Hunting Grounds.

Hundred Treasures Pavilion led a group of White Cloud Market Town’s Hundred Arts cultivators toward the Hunting Grounds, including Su Qing and his puppets. Along the way, Guo Qiao Lian questioned Su Qing about the Spirit Lotus Legs he made, and the group continued traveling after their discussion ended.

• Ma Tuan and Qing He led a Hundred Treasures Pavilion escort alongside Liang Hai Shun, He Lian Xian, Guo Qiao Lian, Su Qing, and other accomplished cultivators toward the Hunting Grounds.
• Rogue Cultivators recognized Su Qing’s Armored War Bears, Golden Treasure Dog, and Lizard Warriors, and watched Guo Qiao Lian ride beside him and ask him questions.
• Guo Qiao Lian pressed Su Qing to explain how Spirit Lotus Legs let cultivators with severed legs resume Mana Circulation.
• Su Qing explained that the craft required Medical Runes, Tier 2 Biomimetic Runes, and specialized puppet knowledge, then described how the runes could repair a damaged body and simulate a new limb.
• Su Qing and Guo Qiao Lian continued discussing their professions until her White Tooth Elephant stopped to eat; she thanked him and offered to treat him if he was ever injured.
• As Su Qing reflected on the cost of feeding Guo Qiao Lian’s elephant, another Rogue Cultivator moved close beside him.

Su Qing learned that Shopkeeper Liu had assembled the team to hunt a Tier 2 Demonic Beast for Hundred Treasures Pavilion’s upcoming Baiyun Auction. After the group reached Hao Family Village, Su Qing planned to visit Ge Family Village alone before their departure to deliver goods and payment.

• Su Qing befriended Liang Hai Shun, who explained that the team was likely targeting a Tier 2 Demonic Beast to strengthen Hundred Treasures Pavilion’s standing at the Auction.
• Liang Hai Shun described how Cloud Mountain Sect’s Auction burdened merchants, and he and Su Qing discussed the costs Hundred Treasures Pavilion faced in the Central District.
• Guo Qiao Lian, Ding Ping, and the other Professionals joined the conversation, and the group agreed to earn Spirit Crystals in the Hunting Grounds before pursuing the dangerous hunt.
• The party reached Hao Family Village, where they would stay for one night before leaving the market’s protected range.
• Su Qing decided to visit Ge Family Village alone to hand over the goods and payment before the team set out the next morning.

Ge Changyuan endured the villagers’ suspicion while waiting for Su Qing to deliver the Puppets. Su Qing arrived early with an imposing group of Puppets, restoring Ge Changyuan’s prestige and prompting the villagers to prepare the remaining Spirit Crystals.

• Ge Changyuan refused Yuan Ailan’s suggestion to check on Su Qing, insisting they wait until their one-month deadline passed.
• Ge Changyuan spent a sleepless night worrying that Su Qing might not fulfill the deal as villagers pounded on his gate.
• Su Qing arrived at Ge Changyuan’s home with two Armored War Bears and twelve Lizard Warriors, startling Ge Changyuan.
• Su Qing announced that he had refined all the ordered Puppets and had come to deliver them.
• Ge Changyuan welcomed Su Qing inside as villagers praised their connection, and young villagers hurried to notify the village chiefs to bring the Spirit Crystals.

Su Qing visited Ge Family Village to complete the village chiefs’ Puppet order while learning about growing danger in the Hunting Grounds. After collecting the remaining payment and leaving for Hao Family Village, he secretly left Ge Changyuan a Heavy Armor Lizard Warrior.

• Ge Changyuan told Su Qing that demonic beasts were increasing near the Hunting Grounds and that a Tier 2 Black Mountain Tiger had killed more than a dozen Rogue Cultivators.
• Su Qing chatted with Ge Ling while waiting for the nearby village chiefs to arrive.
• Su Qing displayed thirty Iron Horse Puppets, fifty Wood Ox Puppets, and twelve Lizard Warriors, which the village chiefs inspected and praised.
• The village chiefs paid Su Qing the remaining twenty-three thousand-plus Spirit Crystals, and he left to rejoin the team in Hao Family Village.
• Ge Changyuan returned home and found that Su Qing had left him an extra Heavy Armor Lizard Warrior.

Su Qing joined Hundred Treasures Pavilion’s party on the way to the Hunting Grounds and rented out his Puppets for a thousand Spirit Crystals. The party passed a Cloud Mountain Sect inspection after Ma Tuan paid the leading disciple, while Su Qing regretted losing his former official position.

• Fire Egg carried Su Qing to the party outside Hao Family Village, where Su Qing apologized for arriving late.
• Qing He asked why Su Qing had put away his Puppets, and Su Qing agreed to deploy them after Hundred Treasures Pavilion paid him and promised compensation for losses.
• Su Qing released his Puppets, and Ma Tuan and Qing He discussed his strength and whether he would help the party if a fight broke out.
• The party set off for the Hunting Grounds and encountered Cloud Mountain Sect disciples demanding to inspect their Storage Bags.
• Ma Tuan secretly paid the leading disciple, who let Hundred Treasures Pavilion pass without inspecting its members’ Storage Bags.
• Su Qing condemned the Cloud Mountain Sect’s corruption and regretted giving up his official position.

Su Qing's party crossed the Hunting Grounds and reached the Forward Camp, where they settled in before continuing toward Black Tiger Mountain. Su Qing stayed inside his Hiding Cave, planning to secure the camp with his puppets before venturing out.

• Su Qing watched former Spirit Planters kill a Wolf Tiger Beast in the valley, and his party waited until they finished before passing through.
• The party traveled across the wilderness toward Black Tiger Mountain and stopped at the Forward Camp.
• Ma Tuan placed Spirit Houses at the corners of their lodging area, and Liang Hai Shun began setting up a protective array.
• Qing He asked Su Qing to have his puppets help patrol the camp at night, and Su Qing agreed.
• Su Qing declined to leave his Hiding Cave and planned to release the Wood Spirit Servants after dark to watch the surroundings.

At the Forward Camp, Su Qing struggled to sell his Puppets until he discovered that Rogue Cultivators were eager to buy Demoness Puppets, earning deposits and sales. Just as he headed back to refine more, Guo Qiao Lian asked him to make a Spirit Lotus Leg for an injured cultivator willing to pay six thousand Spirit Crystals.

• Su Qing explored the Forward Camp, rented a Spirit House, and tried to sell his Lizard Warriors to a powerful Body Cultivator named Wei Debao.
• Wei De Bao rejected the Lizard Warriors but eagerly bought a Demoness Puppet and paid a deposit for a custom-made one.
• Su Qing promoted the Demoness Puppets and sold three Lizard Puppets and six Demoness Puppets, collecting deposits for orders he still needed to refine.
• Guo Qiao Lian found Su Qing and told him about a cultivator with a severed leg who wanted a Spirit Lotus Leg.
• Su Qing agreed to make the leg after hearing that the injured cultivator would pay six thousand Spirit Crystals.

Su Qing accepted the job of crafting Spirit Lotus Legs for Niu Ya, a famed hunter whose three legs had been severed. After he began installing the prosthetics, two legs were fitted successfully, but the third needed adjustments because Niu Ya had misrepresented its measurements.

• Su Qing traveled with Guo Qiao Lian to Niu Ya’s camp and found the injured hunter surrounded by his worried brothers.
• Su Qing asked Niu Ya about the shape of his new legs, and Niu Ya gave him inaccurate measurements for the middle leg out of embarrassment.
• Su Qing used White Jade Lotus Root and his Puppet Master techniques to craft Spirit Lotus Legs while Guo Qiao Lian watched in amazement.
• Su Qing installed the first two legs, drawing a shocked cry from Guo Qiao Lian at his rough-looking method.
• Su Qing found that the third leg did not fit, and Niu Ya admitted it should be shorter and thinner.

Su Qing began refining a Meditating Doll, hoping it would cultivate in sync with him and improve his cultivation prospects. His first attempt failed when he could not align the doll’s cultivation frequency with his own, leaving him to try again with the many material sets he had prepared.

• Niu Ya tested the Spirit Lotus Legs, walked on them, and later repaid Su Qing by delivering a demonic beast as payment.
• Su Qing grew busy refining puppets and treating the wounded with Guo Qiao Lian, while learning that Tang Wanqing was hunting at the Dwarf Mountain Defense Line.
• After a caravan delivered the materials, Su Qing spent over twenty thousand Spirit Crystals on more than twenty sets of Meditating Doll materials and prepared to refine one.
• Su Qing assembled a doll in his own likeness, inscribed its runes, and activated it with fragments of five Spirit Crystals.
• Su Qing tried to synchronize the doll’s cultivation frequency with his own, but after more than an hour the doll began smoking and the refinement failed.

After repeated failures refining a Meditating Doll, Su Qing recognized that Gambler's Blight had driven him to risk too many Spirit Crystals. He stopped and sought Guo Qiao Lian's help improving his Spiritual Sense Micro-manipulation, and she readily agreed to teach him.

• Su Qing failed to refine more than twenty Meditating Dolls over three days, gaining only a small amount of proficiency while spending over ten thousand Spirit Crystals.
• After an explosion injured him, Su Qing realized he had fallen into Gambler's Blight and stopped refining before risking his entire fortune.
• Su Qing determined that weak Spiritual Sense Micro-manipulation was causing failures at the Spiritual Synchronization step and went to find Guo Qiao Lian.
• Su Qing considered offering Guo Qiao Lian the Spider Doctor in exchange for instruction, but she agreed to teach him without hearing his proposed terms.

Su Qing and Guo Qiao Lian exchanged teachings, with her passing on the first two levels of her family’s Needle Control Technique and him giving her a booklet about Biomimetic Runes. After Guo Qiao Lian left, Su Qing began studying the technique while Fire Egg guarded the house.

• Guo Qiao Lian explained that her inherited Needle Control Technique was a Profound Grade Secret Technique and offered to teach Su Qing its first two levels.
• Guo Qiao Lian copied the first two levels of the Needle Control Incantation while Su Qing prepared a booklet of his Biomimetic Rune insights for her.
• Su Qing gave the booklet to Guo Qiao Lian, who accepted it after he said they were friends helping each other.
• Su Qing gave Fire Egg over a hundred pounds of beast meat and told it to guard the house instead of mooching food from others.
• After Guo Qiao Lian and Fire Egg left him alone, Su Qing focused on studying the Needle Control Technique.

Su Qing studied the Needle Control Incantation and realized his Spirit Splitting skills were far too crude to craft a Meditating Doll, so he went to buy cultivation materials. At Hundred Treasures Pavilion, Qing He proposed a job that would have him turn her Fire Spirit Sword into a puppet.

• Su Qing memorized the Spirit Refining instructions and learned that Spirit Splitting required extensive practice and specialized spiritual materials.
• Su Qing went to Hundred Treasures Pavilion, where he met Tong Xin, who was temporarily managing the shop for Shopkeeper Liu.
• Su Qing ordered materials for cultivating the Needle Control Incantation, and Qing He warned him that the technique was dangerous.
• Qing He drew her Fire Spirit Sword and revealed that she wanted Su Qing to inscribe it with a Tier 2 Intelligence Rune and transform it into a puppet.

Qing He asked Su Qing to turn her oversized Fire Spirit Sword embryo into a puppet that could move and fight on its own, and he agreed to try. Qing He paid for five sets of materials in advance, leaving Su Qing eager to begin the profitable job.

• Qing He asked Su Qing to refine her Fire Spirit Sword embryo into a puppet capable of following commands and fighting independently.
• Qing He explained that the oversized sword had been cast from a single piece of Crimson Fire Profound Crystal, but she could not wield it with her spiritual power or Sword Control Art.
• Su Qing agreed to attempt the puppet refinement after warning Qing He that he could not add the special effects of an artifact refiner.
• Su Qing accepted Qing He's offer to have Ma Tuan serve as the sword's sparring partner during testing.
• Tong Xin demanded five hundred Spirit Crystals per set of materials, and Qing He paid for five sets as an advance on Su Qing's work.

Su Qing refined a Meditating Doll and achieved Spiritual Synchronization, causing it to generate spiritual power in sync with his own. He left the chapter with a new, seemingly endless source of cultivation energy as the Black Mountain Tiger hunt approached.

• Su Qing cultivated the Needle Control Incantation for a month while earning Spirit Crystals and improving his puppet-making skills.
• Qing He returned from Black Tiger Mountain and asked Su Qing to finish a Magic Sword Puppet before the planned hunt; he promised to deliver it within half a month.
• Liang Hai Shun and He Lian Xian worried about the dangers of the Black Mountain Tiger hunt, then bought Lizard Warriors from Su Qing.
• Su Qing used five sets of materials before successfully activating a Meditating Doll and began cultivating alongside it.
• Su Qing synchronized his spiritual power with the Meditating Doll through Spiritual Synchronization, and another identical pulse of spiritual power appeared in his sea of consciousness.