Chapter Summaries

After Fu Qian and Lisha defeated the centipede, they left the mist with valuable spoils, and Lisha agreed to repay Fu Qian by helping him submit a materials application. Fu Qian requested Kalaodola's demigod flesh for an upcoming field expedition, and Lisha led him to the clean storage area while warning him not to shed.

• Lisha asked whether Fu Qian wanted to explore deeper, but he said he had caused enough trouble for the day.
• Lisha stored their spoils and left the mist with Fu Qian, then told him she owed him a favor.
• Fu Qian asked Lisha to help him fill out a materials application, and she agreed despite suspecting he had planned it in advance.
• Fu Qian requested Kalaodola's demigod flesh for an upcoming field expedition, and Lisha accepted his explanation.
• Lisha led Fu Qian toward the storage area and gave him a strip of cloth, explaining that she was worried he would shed in the sterile space.

Fu Qian accompanied Professor Lisha to the sealed room containing the demigod Kalaodola and watched her capture a strand of Kalaodola’s flesh in a metal cylinder. Lisha gave the cylinder to Fu Qian with safety instructions, and he left to begin his examination while she continued working.

• Fu Qian accepted the protective clothing and followed Professor Lisha to Kalaodola’s containment room.
• Lisha explained that transcendents could provoke Kalaodola and opened the room’s heavy metal door.
• Fu Qian saw Kalaodola’s amorphous flesh sealed inside a suspended metal tank.
• Lisha lured out a strand of Kalaodola’s flesh with her blood and trapped it in a metal cylinder.
• Lisha handed the cylinder to Fu Qian and warned him to keep it away from supernatural items.
• Fu Qian said he would begin his examination soon and encouraged Lisha to make progress before he returned.

Fu Qian tested how the Warehouse affected Kalaodola’s flesh and blood, then traveled through the bookshop in Shangjing to the Western Plains disguised as Gorimshaw. He began his visit by confronting a cautious Transcendent at his heavily secured home and asking him for information.

• Fu Qian took the lab’s surplus operating budget and adjusted the clock so Liu Shuang would not notice his absence.
• Fu Qian left Kalaodola’s flesh and blood in the Warehouse and observed that it stayed subdued before putting on the Messenger and returning to the bookshop.
• Fu Qian changed clothes, adopted Gorimshaw’s appearance, and used Blood Conquest to travel to the Western Plains.
• Fu Qian visited a heavily security-conscious Western Plains Transcendent instead of going straight to the Huang family manor.
• Fu Qian told the wary man that whether he would kill him depended on the circumstances.

Fu Qian questioned Hao Ke about the recent calm in Xiyuan and the Night Watcher’s increased presence, but Hao Ke sprang a trap and dropped him into a specially made pit. Fu Qian broke through the metal and seized Hao Ke by the neck, leaving him subdued.

• Hao Ke agreed to answer Fu Qian’s questions and introduced himself.
• Hao Ke said Xiyuan had been peaceful and that the Huang Family had become more cautious after the Night Watcher sent in more people.
• Hao Ke claimed he only knew the Night Watcher’s deployment followed a discreetly handled accident with multiple casualties.
• Hao Ke activated a trap that dropped Fu Qian into a deep pit made from specially designed materials.
• Fu Qian shattered the metal trap, grabbed Hao Ke by the neck, and asked if he understood.

Fu Qian, calling himself Gorimshaw, confronted Hao Ke after foiling his trap and confirmed that a shadow had come to Xiyuan. Hao Ke offered to help him, while Fu Qian revealed that he had selected Hao Ke as one of the city’s promising elites and had found no sign of trouble at the dormant volcano.

• Hao Ke tried to drop Fu Qian into a prepared trap, but Fu Qian escaped and forced Hao Ke to explain himself.
• Fu Qian gave Hao Ke the name Gorimshaw, and Hao Ke apologized for mistaking his intentions.
• Hao Ke admitted he had no evidence of danger but felt that Xiyuan’s unusual peace concealed something brewing.
• Fu Qian confirmed that a shadow had come to Xiyuan, and Hao Ke offered to do whatever Fu Qian needed.
• Fu Qian reflected that he had selected Hao Ke for his distinctive qualities and that the dormant volcano showed no unusual activity.

Fu Qian, still investigating Xiyuan’s unnaturally peaceful atmosphere as Gorimshaw, questioned Hao Ke about other suspicious developments. He focused on Blood Lion Huang Zhixun’s unexplained return and asked Hao Ke to gather the independent cultivators’ elite circle for a discussion.

• Fu Qian refused to use the King of Prison Break’s form to investigate Xiyuan and urged Hao Ke to keep thinking about why the region seemed too normal.
• Hao Ke recalled that Blood Lion Huang Zhixun had returned to Xiyuan about a week earlier.
• Fu Qian dismissed Huang Zhixun’s chances of becoming a demigod and asked why he had returned after staying away from his family.
• Hao Ke explained that neither Huang Zhixun nor the usually proud Huang Clan had shown themselves or reacted much since his return.
• Fu Qian considered whether Huang Zhixun’s return was linked to his earlier conflict with him and Chief Yuan in Shangjing.
• Fu Qian asked Hao Ke to bring together the elites in his independent cultivator circle for a discussion.

Hao Ke weighed Fu Qian’s offer to gather his acquaintances, then left to seek them despite having promised to stay. Fu Qian, meanwhile, examined the peaceful Western Plains and went to find the Night Watcher Tan Mingxue.

• Fu Qian told Hao Ke he could gather his friends, stay, or leave, and then vanished.
• Hao Ke suspected Fu Qian might be offering him a chance to survive the shadow, regretted his earlier choice, and left to find his acquaintances.
• Fu Qian concluded that gathering people would test whether the Western Plains’ unnatural peace caused any reaction.
• Fu Qian observed the relaxed Night Watchers and used Blood Conquest to approach Tan Mingxue.

Fu Qian, disguised as Captain Qiao, visited Tan Mingxue after watching her secure a mysterious rag doll with a trace of divinity. He raised concerns about the Huang family, and Tan Mingxue revealed that Huang Zhixun had returned with two others.

• Fu Qian recognized Tan Mingxue as the Night Watcher overseeing the region and noticed a sinister rag doll beside her.
• Tan Mingxue inspected the doll, placed it in its coffin-shaped box, and locked it in a cabinet.
• After watching Tan Mingxue look toward the volcano crater, Fu Qian knocked on her door while disguised as Captain Qiao.
• Fu Qian warned Tan Mingxue that the Huang family seemed suspicious and offered to investigate them.
• Tan Mingxue said she already had the situation under control and revealed that Huang Zhixun had returned with two others.

Fu Qian questioned Tan Mingxue about Huang Zhixun’s plans and learned that he and his companions were seeking a giant tree tied to the Huang family’s home and the Ill Omen incidents. Tan Mingxue suspected Huang Zhixun had encountered the tree before, but assured Fu Qian that contact with it had become increasingly difficult.

• Fu Qian asked Tan Mingxue what Huang Zhixun and his two companions were looking for, and she said they sought something connected to the Huang family’s ancestral home.
• Fu Qian asked whether their goal involved Ill Omen, and Tan Mingxue revealed that a giant tree stood atop the mountain near the Huang family’s home.
• Tan Mingxue explained that ordinary people and Transcendents could rarely contact the tree, and that Ill Omen and the merchant Lu Xing were likely contaminated through dreams.
• Fu Qian suggested Huang Zhixun might have encountered the tree, and Tan Mingxue agreed that he may have heard its call before leaving home.
• Tan Mingxue said Huang Zhixun and his companions would not get the chance to become like Ill Omen because the tree had grown harder to contact since the earlier incident.

Fu Qian suspected the Night Watchers were monitoring the missing tree and learned that Sha Ming and Miranda were among the visitors investigating it. While secretly observing the base, he spotted a woman spying on the Night Watchers, then watched her move away as Blood Conquest unexpectedly deactivated.

• Fu Qian questioned Tan Mingxue in her dream, learned the names Sha Ming and Miranda, and chose not to press her about Ragdoll.
• Fu Qian left the dream and reasoned that Huang Zhixun, Sha Ming, and Miranda might be seeking clues about the tree through the Night Watchers.
• Fu Qian secretly watched a woman observing the Night Watchers' base and suspected she belonged to the visiting expedition team.
• Fu Qian recalled Su Gao killing an intruder from the same window during an earlier mission.
• Fu Qian approached the woman, who moved away, and Blood Conquest deactivated without him turning it off.

Fu Qian discovered that an unseen force prevented him from approaching the departing woman and suspected the mountain’s strange bald summit was connected to Huang Yuanchang’s beheading aura. He went to meet Hao Ke, whose allies waited in a damaged safe house until Fu Qian appeared at dawn.

• Fu Qian used Blood Conquest twice to test the woman’s protection and found he could not get closer than the same fixed distance.
• Fu Qian connected the treeless mountaintop to Huang Yuanchang’s beheading aura and wondered whether the trio had gained protection like Ill Omen.
• Fu Qian checked the demigod flesh of Kalaodola in its metal cylinder, then headed to meet Hao Ke.
• At a safe house in Xiyuan, Qiu and two others questioned Hao Ke about his destroyed home and his promised high-ranked visitor.
• Fu Qian stepped from a shadowed corner and apologized, saying he had just crossed time zones and had lost track of the time.

Fu Qian arrived at Hao Ke’s gathering and asked the group to reconsider what was unusual in Xiyuan. Qiu realized she could not remember saying goodbye to Yuli, who had gone to her other residence to meet her boyfriend.

• Fu Qian arrived unexpectedly at Hao Ke’s gathering and asked whether anyone had noticed anything unusual in Xiyuan.
• Qiu said that she and the others had noticed nothing out of the ordinary, then asked Fu Qian what the shadow over Xiyuan was.
• Fu Qian claimed that he was the shadow, then revealed he had been joking and urged them to reconsider his question.
• Qiu remembered that Yuli had another residence where she met her boyfriend, and said she had visited Yuli there the previous day.
• Qiu realized she could not remember how she had said goodbye to Yuli.

Qiu led Fu Qian and the others to Yuli’s villa after realizing she remembered leaving without saying goodbye to her or her boyfriend. They found Yuli and her boyfriend murdered, and the group faced the mystery of what had happened to them.

• Qiu explained that she remembered every detail but had left without saying goodbye to Yuli or her boyfriend, which made her suspect something was wrong.
• Hao Ke and the others agreed to check on Yuli, and Qiu led them toward her villa.
• Hao Ke smelled blood inside the house, and Fu Qian confirmed there was blood but no immediate danger.
• The group found Yuli and her boyfriend decapitated in the living room, while Qiu clutched Yuli’s body and the others examined the man’s head.

Fu Qian examined the murdered Yuli and her boyfriend as Qiu’s account of leaving them behind came under suspicion. He identified Qiu as a possible killer, then revealed that he too had been beheaded as he raised his own head.

• Fu Qian and the others found Yuli and her boyfriend dead, making Qiu’s unexplained departure seem suspicious.
• Hao Ke proposed that the killer had mentally influenced Qiu, but Qiu questioned why the murderer would have spared her.
• Qiu asked whether the deaths were caused by the shadow over Xiyuan, and Fu Qian said the shadow might involve actual people.
• Qiu asked Fu Qian where to find the killers, and he pointed to her, saying the possibility still needed confirmation.
• Fu Qian formed a frost spear and told Qiu that she had sentenced Yuli and her boyfriend to beheading.
• Fu Qian lifted his own head from his neck and greeted the others.

Fu Qian revealed that Qiu had gained the same Sacred Law protection associated with Ill Omen, and demonstrated its power by attacking Tang Si. The group accepted the warning and tried to understand why Yuli had attacked Qiu, but Qiu still could not explain why she had failed to notice the deaths or left the scene as if nothing were wrong.

• Fu Qian confirmed that Qiu's frozen shoulder showed she had the ability associated with Ill Omen.
• Fu Qian struck Tang Si with an icy spear, and Tang Si's protective shard stopped it from piercing his chest.
• Tang Si apologized for probing Fu Qian about the secret incident and explained what had led him to ask.
• Fu Qian said Tang Si had not offended him but had been impolite by wasting time.
• Qiu asked whether Yuli had triggered her Sacred Law protection, and Fu Qian confirmed it.
• Qiu questioned why Yuli had attacked her and why she had left the scene without noticing anything.

Fu Qian theorized that the corrupt tree was secretly protecting multiple people in Xiyuan, possibly causing the strange attacks and deaths around Qiu. As he prepared to leave, Qiu chose to remain and investigate, and Fu Qian directed her toward the Huang family.

• Fu Qian considered how the corrupt tree might secretly protect people in Xiyuan and trigger unconscious attacks or counterattacks.
• Fu Qian told Qiu to think things over and refused to answer more questions, then thanked the group and prepared to leave.
• Hao Ke tried to ask Fu Qian for a reward, and Fu Qian said that discovering the danger in Xiyuan already counted as one.
• Tang Si asked for advice, and Fu Qian suggested Hao Ke could leave by daybreak but warned that Qiu was not necessarily Xiyuan’s only anomaly.
• Qiu said she would stay and investigate, and Fu Qian suggested she look into the Huang family.

After Gorimshaw left, Hao Ke and his companions chose to stay in Xiyuan and investigate the anomalies surrounding Yuli’s death. Fu Qian, satisfied with their decision, headed to the Huang manor disguised as Captain Qiao.

• Tang Si asked Hao Ke whether Gorimshaw had told him they could choose what to do, and Hao Ke confirmed it.
• Qiu asked the group what they should do next, and the wild-haired man, Tang Si, and Hao Ke each chose to stay.
• Qiu thanked them on Yuli’s behalf and said they needed to plan how to investigate while remaining useful.
• Fu Qian reflected that either the group staying or trying to escape Xiyuan could give him useful information about the anomalies and the Sacred Law.
• Fu Qian reached the Huang manor and, disguised as Captain Qiao, remarked that it seemed quieter than usual.

Fu Qian infiltrated the Huang estate and ran into Xiao Ying, who eventually led him toward the family’s hidden mountain passage. He followed her deeper into the passage, where the Huang family’s three leaders were likely gathered.

• Fu Qian entered the unusually quiet Huang estate in disguise to warn the Huang family and investigate their situation.
• Xiao Ying recognized Fu Qian and questioned why he had come, while he told her the western plains had a new leader.
• Fu Qian asked Xiao Ying to take him to Old Master Huang Leji, and she left him under a maid’s watch while she went to check.
• Fu Qian slipped away from the maid and followed Xiao Ying through a hidden entrance into a concealed passage.
• Fu Qian sensed Xiao Ying hurrying ahead and realized the Huang family’s three leaders were probably deeper inside.

Fu Qian learned that the Huang family was conducting a secret rescue operation inside the volcano after Blood Lion went missing, while Xiao Ying tried to alert them to a suspicious Night Watcher. Xiao Ying pretended to leave Huang Jianyuan, then doubled back toward Fu Qian’s hiding place and prepared to act.

• Xiao Ying told Huang Jianyuan that a Night Watcher had entered secretly and might be trying to warn the Huang family.
• Huang Jianyuan refused to let Xiao Ying pass because his father had ordered him to guard the entrance and keep everyone out.
• Fu Qian overheard that Blood Lion was missing and the Huang family’s elite were searching for someone inside the volcano.
• Fu Qian suspected the rescue operation had a hidden purpose connected to Huang Zhixun’s return to the ancestral grounds.
• Xiao Ying pretended to leave, then doubled back and hid near Fu Qian’s position.

Fu Qian watched Xiao Ying fail to get past Huang Jianyuan, whose strange protection made him impossible for her to perceive. He traveled deeper into the mountain, then returned to the Warehouse and went home, leaving Xiao Ying approaching the bridge.

• Fu Qian followed Xiao Ying as she tried to sneak past Huang Jianyuan, but Huang's protection made them unable to perceive each other.
• Fu Qian reasoned that Huang automatically slipped into a displaced dimension when an unobservable attacker approached, making him a poor gatekeeper.
• Fu Qian passed the two guards and reached a junction with a chain suspension bridge as Xiao Ying drew closer behind him.
• Fu Qian removed the Messenger mask and returned to the Warehouse, where he collected equipment.
• Fu Qian used the mark on his wrist to go home, changed clothes, and activated the mark again.