Chapter Summaries

Fu Qian entered a mission set in his bookstore in Shangjing, where he learned he had to disrupt Jiang En's Promotion Ritual. He met Yuan Shan, who checked on him after the Leaf Island conflict, and the chapter left Fu Qian asking about the people she had gathered and warning her not to bring them to the bookstore.

• Fu Qian entered Containment Scene 3-0009, brought the Bug Whistle, and learned the mission was to disrupt Jiang En's Promotion Ritual.
• Fu Qian discovered he had appeared in his bookstore and recognized Yuan Shan, who came in to check that he was all right.
• Yuan Shan asked about Su Gao, and Fu Qian said her vacation was over.
• Yuan Shan told Fu Qian that the conflict between Siren and An Jing on Leaf Island had caused civilian casualties, and Fu Qian said Sybill had only pretended to defect.
• Fu Qian asked where the people Yuan Shan had gathered were and warned her not to bring them to the bookstore based on what they had learned from Old Man Logan.

Fu Qian asked Yuan Shan about the conflict on Leaf Island and used her knowledge of Nepheli to learn that the dangerous transcendent had once been dean of the Academy’s Institute of Curses. He then asked whether Yuan Shan knew Jiang En, and she said she knew someone with that name.

• Yuan Shan told Fu Qian that council members had gone to Leaf Island after Yin Hehong urgently requested help containing the conflict.
• Yuan Shan said Logan’s situation seemed to be improving and explained that Embo’s death had given her cover to help the new city administrator push through regulations.
• Fu Qian asked about Nepheli, and Yuan Shan identified her as the former dean of the Institute of Curses who had disappeared years ago.
• Yuan Shan warned Fu Qian that Nepheli was among the hardest demigods of her generation to deal with.
• Fu Qian asked whether Yuan Shan knew a transcendent named Jiang En, and Yuan Shan said she knew someone by that name.

Fang learned that Jiang En was a once-famous young genius who had stalled at the Intermediate Tier bottleneck, making him a likely target for Fang’s mission. Although Yuan Shan offered to help locate him, Fang chose to investigate further and went to see Wen Li, curious about the Greedy Worm and Rotten Flesh mentioned in the mission description.

• Yuan Shan told Fang that Jiang En had once been a celebrated genius but had remained stuck at the Intermediate Tier bottleneck for years.
• Fang claimed Jiang En had offended him by taking his youthful-genius reputation, and Yuan Shan worried that Fang intended to kill him.
• Fang reassured Yuan Shan by mentioning Taylor, then she suggested he ask Wen Li for more information about Shangjing.
• After Yuan Shan left, Fang decided not to rush into finding and killing Jiang En, choosing to investigate the mission further instead.
• Fang went to Wen Li’s mansion, where she greeted him and explained that Yuan Shan had told her he was back from his trip.

Fu Qian met with Wen Li to learn about Jiang En and Taylor, then heard about strange nighttime incidents blamed on Taylor. Suspecting the incidents might connect to Jiang En’s Promotion Ritual, he asked Wen Li for the clothes he had ordered and a mask.

• Fu Qian learned that Old Master Wen had recovered and left, and that he had apologized for his earlier behavior.
• Wen Li told Fu Qian that Jiang En lived alone and offered to find his address.
• Wen Li explained that Taylor and the Gullard Family were under pressure after demigod Embo’s execution, and Fu Qian revealed Embo’s illegal potion scheme.
• Wen Li described reports of victims waking naked with bite marks, leading the Night Watchers to suspect Taylor.
• Fu Qian considered whether the incidents might involve Jiang En’s Promotion Ritual and asked Wen Li for his clothes and a mask.

Fu Qian prepared a fierce mask and flowing-sleeved coat before heading out at night to investigate Taylor Gullard, whom he suspected might help him learn about Jiang En. He reached Taylor’s residence and watched Taylor slip past the Night Watchers’ surveillance using a supernatural darkness.

• Fu Qian sketched a fierce mask design, then painted it onto a blank mask Wen Li already owned.
• Wen Li arranged a flowing sleeve for Fu Qian’s trench coat and gave him the addresses of Jiang En and Taylor Gullard.
• Fu Qian explained that he would approach Taylor first to avoid alerting anyone or accidentally completing a mission tied to Jiang En.
• Fu Qian arrived at Taylor’s residence and spotted an Intermediate Tier Night Watcher monitoring the courtyard.
• Fu Qian saw a patch of supernatural darkness evade surveillance and transform into the tall, pale Taylor Gullard.

Fu Qian followed Taylor Gullard after he secretly left his residence and discovered that Taylor was using a drunken woman as bait to hunt for the real culprit. After Taylor pursued Fu Qian into an alley and trapped his feet with shadows, Fu Qian challenged him by name and claimed he had come to seek his instruction.

• Fu Qian watched Taylor Gullard sneak out wearing a gray cloak that concealed his presence, then followed him through the night.
• Taylor went to the neon-lit area where Embo's first victim had been found and hid near a barely conscious woman, watching the men who approached her.
• After the woman left in a taxi, Fu Qian drew Taylor's attention and led him into a quiet alley.
• Taylor caught Fu Qian's feet with living shadows and confronted him, while Fu Qian identified himself as someone seeking Taylor's instruction.

Fu Qian confronted Taylor Gullard and challenged him, but Taylor tried to leave because he had urgent business tied to vampire honor. Taylor redirected Fu Qian toward Jiang En, revealing that Jiang En had been attending an underground gathering to overcome his bottleneck.

• Taylor attacked Fu Qian with his vampire claws, but Fu Qian blocked the strike with a claw of his own.
• Fu Qian freed himself from the shadows trapping his legs and prepared to fight, but Taylor asked him to stop and explained that he had something important to do.
• Taylor told Fu Qian that events in Shangjing concerned vampire honor, then tried to send him away.
• Fu Qian said he would seek out Jiang En, prompting Taylor to warn that Jiang En might not be at his known address.
• Taylor told Fu Qian that Jiang En had recently been attending an underground gathering at night to find a way past his bottleneck.

Fu Qian learned from Taylor about an underground gathering connected to Jiang En’s Promotion Ritual and infiltrated it. He discovered a well-guarded black-market auction and noticed that one attendee was below Intermediate Tier.

• Fu Qian questioned Taylor, learned the gathering’s address, and left after calling himself the Great Fortune Ming King.
• Taylor realized Fu Qian had concealed his grafted powers and suspected he was connected to the organization skilled in grafting.
• Fu Qian reached the gathering and used Blood Conquest to enter without passing the guards.
• Fu Qian found a hooded group trading extraordinary materials and watched the Phantom Flower Balls go unsold.
• When the host offered Young Mermaid Serum, Fu Qian looked toward the only attendee who was not at Intermediate Tier.

Fu Qian watched a private gathering where a young man acquired serum and Tooth Choker, then noticed signs that the trades had been arranged to pass items to him. He headed to Brother Jiang En’s address, wondering whether the young man had unknowingly been helped by powerful figures.

• A young man bought serum from the host, who warned him about the risks of possessing it in Shangjing.
• The young man exchanged a prepared box with the woman selling Tooth Choker and received the supernatural item.
• Fu Qian left the gathering to conserve his health, then secretly watched the host and the woman exchange boxes and the young man’s offer after the other guests departed.
• Fu Qian suspected the gathering had been staged to deliver two items to the young man and went to Brother Jiang En’s address.

Fu Qian broke into Jiang En’s fortified basement and provoked him into a fight, revealing his vampire-like claw and then using an unseen force to pull Jiang En toward it. Jiang En was left helplessly drawn toward Fu Qian’s threatening hand.

• Fu Qian located Jiang En in a basement and forced open its reinforced door.
• Fu Qian introduced himself as the Great Fortune Ming King and taunted Jiang En about being ignored by Taylor.
• Jiang En tried to dismiss Fu Qian and conceal what he had been doing, but Fu Qian’s mockery provoked him into attacking.
• Fu Qian wounded Jiang En with a black claw, prompting Jiang En to realize Fu Qian was a vampire.
• Fu Qian beckoned with his left hand, and an invisible force began pulling Jiang En toward his claw.

Fu Qian confronted Jiang En, wounded him, and taunted him into a challenge for the following night. After leaving, Fu Qian sensed a powerful being watching him and suspected Jiang En had a hidden protector.

• Fu Qian evaded Jiang En’s attacks and tore flesh from his shoulder with an invisible strike.
• Fu Qian noticed the Tooth Choker embedded in Jiang En’s arm and saw that Jiang En’s wounds were healing quickly.
• Fu Qian taunted Jiang En, promised to return the next day, and demanded he admit that Northern Jiang En and Southern Taylor were all talk after losing.
• Jiang En let Fu Qian leave, then repeated the challenge time through gritted teeth.
• Fu Qian reasoned that the pressure would force Jiang En to act that night, then sensed a powerful being watching him and suspected it was Jiang En’s hidden protector.

Fu Qian was ambushed at night by a masked attacker wielding a radiant hand crossbow and red ropes. He destroyed the attacker’s net with golden light, then claimed to recognize the technique and thanked him, leaving the confrontation unresolved.

• Fu Qian suspected that unseen observers were monitoring Jiang En, then took increasingly desolate routes through the night.
• Fu Qian narrowly dodged black bolts fired by a masked attacker and challenged him to fight openly.
• The attacker used the bolts to form three red ropes around Fu Qian and tightened them into a net.
• Fu Qian charged the ropes but was forced back into the triangle as they held firm and closed in.
• Fu Qian released golden light that disintegrated the net, then pressed his palms together and said he understood the technique and wanted to thank the attacker.

Fu Qian escaped Darnetta’s trap and fought him, using the ambusher’s black vortex to defeat him while hiding the extent of his own injuries. After Darnetta pretended to die and left, Fu Qian realized he was protecting Jiang En and had somehow noticed Jiang En making a move nearby.

• Fu Qian broke free of Darnetta’s trap, intimidated him with his aura, and learned the ambusher’s name.
• Darnetta tried to distract Fu Qian with a promised advancement method, then fired a black vortex and fled.
• Fu Qian chased Darnetta and used his grip on him to make the vortex strike Darnetta instead.
• Darnetta pretended to die, recovered, and concluded that Fu Qian’s chest wound would keep him occupied while Jiang En dealt with matters.
• Fu Qian, hidden nearby, overheard Darnetta and inferred that he was Jiang En’s old man and had seen Jiang En make a move.

Fu Qian followed Jiang En to a hotel and discovered that Jiang En was using the temptation of an unconscious woman to push himself through a dangerous trial. As Jiang En’s body contorted and an enormous snake-shaped mass of muscle surged beneath his skin, one of his old scars split open again.

• Fu Qian let Darnetta go, suspecting that Jiang En’s powerful backers could monitor their conversation, then followed the Thread of Concern toward Jiang En.
• Fu Qian found Jiang En at a nightlife district, disguised with altered features and a wig as he helped an unconscious woman into a taxi.
• Fu Qian followed Jiang En to a hotel and watched him carefully undress and soothe the unconscious woman while struggling against a growing desire.
• Fu Qian realized Jiang En had chosen someone unable to resist him to intensify a personal trial, though he questioned why Jiang En had taken such a risk.
• Jiang En tore open his clothes as a huge snake-shaped mass of muscle moved beneath his skin, and one of his old scars split open.

Fu Qian watched Jiang En use a painful ritual to suppress his bodily urges and strengthen himself, but Jiang En remained dissatisfied with the results. When the window suddenly shattered, Jiang En fled through it.

• Jiang En restrained the mass of flesh inside his body until it dissolved and his wounds healed, leaving him in a more powerful but inhuman state.
• Jiang En resisted the urge to bite and feed on a drunken woman, though he left bite marks on her neck and struggled to force strange flesh back into his mouth.
• Jiang En assessed his progress and decided it was insufficient for the challenge ahead, then tried to continue the ritual.
• The window cracked and shattered, and Jiang En grabbed his clothes and escaped through the opening.

Fu Qian disrupted Jiang En’s ritual and let him escape, then staged the room to make it look as if Taylor had attacked. Jiang En left believing Fu Qian was covering for him, while Fu Qian concluded that killing Jiang En might be the simplest way to complete the mission.

• Fu Qian broke the glass to interrupt Jiang En and help him suppress his urges, prompting Jiang En to flee the room.
• Fu Qian revealed himself near the window, and Jiang En recognized him as Great Fortune Ming King while secretly watching from nearby.
• Fu Qian damaged the room with claw marks, and Jiang En mistook the act for an attempt to frame Taylor and decided he could leave safely.
• Fu Qian confirmed Jiang En had slipped away and escaped before the investigators reached the room.
• Fu Qian reflected that Jiang En’s unusual ritual remained incomplete and considered killing him to finish the mission.

Fu Qian returned to Wen Li’s mansion after disrupting Jiang En’s ritual and discussed the mysterious benefactors aiding Jiang En. The next morning, Wen Li told Fu Qian that Taylor had apparently been arrested at the scene of another crime.

• Fu Qian returned to Wen Li’s mansion masked as the Great Fortune Ming King, then revealed himself and asked why people would secretly help a stranger.
• Wen Li suggested Jiang En might reject help if the benefactors offered it openly, and told Fu Qian about another victim with bite marks like a vampire’s.
• Fu Qian speculated that Darnetta and the others would try to stop him from disrupting their plans, then went to rest.
• The next morning, Wen Li told Fu Qian that Taylor had apparently been arrested at the scene of the crime.

Fu Qian learned that Taylor had been captured after being mistaken for a predator and that Jiang En had announced his withdrawal from the Supernatural Path to avoid Fu Qian's challenge. With the mission countdown nearly over, Fu Qian walked through Shangjing as the Great Fortune Ming King, sensed the spreading rotten-flesh stench, and met the old auction host, who attacked him.

• Wen Li told Fu Qian that Taylor had been caught outside a bar after fleeing people who recognized him, and Fu Qian speculated that another victim appearing during Taylor's detention could prove his innocence.
• Wen Li reported that Jiang En had returned to the Jiang Clan, declared he was giving up the Supernatural Path, and tried to leave the clan.
• Fu Qian inferred that Jiang En was using his supposed loss of ambition as cover to avoid the Great Fortune Ming King's challenge, then asked where the Jiang Clan lived.
• With less than five hours left on the mission countdown, Fu Qian resumed the Great Fortune Ming King's appearance and walked openly through Shangjing.
• Fu Qian sensed a rotten-flesh odor spreading among the people around him and recognized the old man who had hosted the secret auction.
• The old man approached Fu Qian and swung a punch at him without pausing.

Fu Qian was surrounded by Darnetta and the other Transcendents inside the Skinning Realm, where they tried to rot and overwhelm him. He discovered that their injuries were linked, leaving him to investigate how the group shared damage.

• The Old Man attacked Fu Qian, who dodged and unexpectedly accepted the group’s invitation before Darnetta appeared with nearly twenty Transcendents surrounding him.
• Darnetta explained that the Skinning Realm was eroding Fu Qian, while Fu Qian judged that the corruption would take a long time to affect him.
• The group attacked Fu Qian together, but he evaded their strikes and crushed Darnetta’s head before the others’ attacks forced him to disappear again.
• Darnetta’s head quickly returned to normal, and Fu Qian noticed that the Tooth Choker seller and other Transcendents also bore signs of repaired injuries, suggesting they shared damage.

Fu Qian tested how Darnetta’s damage transfer worked, then used the Bug Whistle to summon a monstrous insect against the group. Darnetta vanished with several others, and Fu Qian turned to face the survivors.

• Darnetta revealed that crushing his head did not kill him, and Fu Qian asked how he could be killed for good.
• Fu Qian crushed Darnetta’s head again, but the transferred injuries struck Venerable Tooth Choker instead.
• Fu Qian concluded that the damage transfer repeatedly affected Venerable Tooth Choker, regardless of her distance or changed form.
• Old Man ended the conversation and reminded Fu Qian that less than four hours remained.
• Fu Qian used the Bug Whistle to summon a gigantic insect, which swallowed Darnetta and several others and dragged them underground.
• Fu Qian sensed that Darnetta had vanished and asked the surviving group what they could do about his damage transfer.