Chapter Summaries

Cheng Buzheng exchanged divine blood for the Spirit Materials available for refining new versions of [Blood Linglong], then inspected the items in his rented cave. He concluded that he needed to travel to the Forbidden Sea and use the Dark Market to obtain the remaining materials.

• Cheng Buzheng reached the Divine Blood Hall, presented his Identity Token, and marked the Spirit Materials he wanted in the Jade Slip.
• A Golden Core Mortal Cultivator showed that the treasury's stock could not cover all the materials Cheng Buzheng needed, then reserved the available items for the time it took to burn an incense stick.
• Cheng Buzheng exchanged his divine blood for the reserved Spirit Materials and carefully checked the treasures before leaving the hall.
• Cheng Buzheng rented his former Cave Mansion at Purple Qi Manor, inspected the exchanged materials with secret arts, and confirmed they were genuine.
• Cheng Buzheng decided to travel to a remote stretch of the Forbidden Sea, send treasures over from his true body, and trade at the Forbidden Ancient City's Dark Market for the remaining materials.

Cheng Buzheng’s avatar sold miscellaneous items at the Treasure Pagoda, then visited the Hidden Information Pavilion to ask about Venerable Guanping and Demon Venerable Xiaotian. He paid for information about Demon Venerable Xiaotian with several mid-grade Magic Treasures and received a Jade Slip.

• Cheng Buzheng’s disguised avatar sold miscellaneous items at the Treasure Pagoda for a large quantity of Spirit Stones.
• After noticing several concealed figures entering the Hidden Information Pavilion, Cheng Buzheng changed into his Myriad Transformation Dao Body and entered to buy information.
• Cheng Buzheng asked about Venerable Guanping’s recent movements, but Hidden Seven quoted a price of twenty Class-B rare Spiritual Items and refused divine blood as payment.
• Cheng Buzheng asked about information concerning the deceased Demon Venerable Xiaotian, and Hidden Seven quoted three Grade C rare Spiritual Items.
• Cheng Buzheng offered several mid-grade Magic Treasures, which Hidden Seven accepted before sending him a Jade Slip.

Cheng Buzheng read the Hidden Information Pavilion’s records about Demon Venerable Xiaotian and concluded that Xiaotian and Venerable Guanping had both survived the Thunder Abyss. He sold the Pavilion a carefully limited account implicating Guanping in Xiaotian’s death, hoping it would reach the Spirit Sky Tiger Clan and provoke a confrontation.

• Cheng Buzheng examined the Jade Slip and learned that Demon Venerable Xiaotian had been gravely injured when his life tablet changed, suggesting he had left the Thunder Abyss alive.
• After Hidden Seven concluded the first transaction, Cheng Buzheng offered to sell the Pavilion secret information about a supreme expert.
• Cheng Buzheng planned to implicate Venerable Guanping so the Pavilion would pass the information to the Spirit Sky Tiger Clan and prompt Demon Venerable Xiaocheng to confront him.
• Hidden One, the Pavilion’s master, agreed to consider the information after Cheng Buzheng said it concerned Xiaotian’s death and both sides swore great heart demon oaths.
• Cheng Buzheng identified Guanping and described suspicious circumstances, but withheld details about the Soul Puppet; the two sides completed the sale, and Cheng Buzheng left with his payment.

Cheng Buzheng’s avatar left the Forbidden Ancient City after arranging a scheme against Guan Ping, while the Hidden Information Pavilion’s master sought an audience with Demon Venerable Xiaocheng to gain guidance on his Dao. After months of searching for a secluded sea, Cheng Buzheng and his incarnation used the Heart Spirit Teleportation Gate to transfer Storage Bags, then erased the portal and its traces.

• Cheng Buzheng’s avatar left the Forbidden Ancient City and vowed to give Guan Ping a prepared gift.
• The Hidden Information Pavilion’s master visited the Spirit Sky Tiger Clan, but Grand Elder Lingxiao told him Demon Venerable Xiaocheng was in seclusion.
• Hidden One hinted that his intelligence concerned Demon Venerable Xiaotian and asked Grand Elder Lingxiao to contact him when Ancestor Xiaocheng emerged.
• Cheng Buzheng’s incarnation spent months searching the Forbidden Sea for a stretch of water free from passing cultivators.
• Cheng Buzheng and his incarnation simultaneously opened Heart Spirit Teleportation Gates and sent Storage Bags through them.
• The teleportation portals collapsed, and the resulting spiritual-energy turmoil subsided.

Cheng Buzheng’s incarnation returned to the Forbidden Ancient City under a new identity after sending rare treasures and Spirit Materials to his true body. His true body resumed cultivation, while the incarnation prepared to visit a reputable Dark Market to seek materials for Blood Linglong.

• Cheng Buzheng’s incarnation changed disguises, repaired an Identity Token, and entered the Forbidden Ancient City without using the identity previously seen at the Hidden Information Pavilion.
• Cheng Buzheng’s true body received the incarnation’s Storage Bag and converted ordinary Spirit Stones into Deduction Value before returning to arduous cultivation.
• Cheng Buzheng’s true body reviewed his Nascent Soul Late Stage progress and continued cultivating while in a Spirit Pill detoxification and drug-resistance period.
• Cheng Buzheng’s incarnation returned to Purple Qi Manor as Old Monk Fayang and considered which Dark Market to visit for the needed Spirit Materials.
• Cheng Buzheng’s incarnation chose a destination, put on his cloak and conical hat, and left Purple Qi Manor after nightfall.

Cheng Buzheng visited the Sovereign Dark Market in the Forbidden Ancient City and traded a rare treasure for twenty top-tier Spirit Materials, including two Heart Spirit Diamonds he needed. As the market closed, he learned that it would hold an auction with bottleneck-breaking treasures in one month.

• Cheng Buzheng entered the Sovereign Dark Market and used the Great Luo Dharma Eye to see through cultivators’ disguises and altered auras.
• Cheng Buzheng found the trading district guarded by four openly stationed Half-Step Supreme powerhouses and browsed its stalls without finding what he needed.
• Cheng Buzheng negotiated with a Great Demon stall owner and exchanged one low-grade rare treasure Spiritual Item for twenty top-tier Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures.
• Cheng Buzheng recognized two of the acquired Spirit Materials as Heart Spirit Diamonds needed to cultivate the Heart Spirit Divine Eye.
• A bell announced the market’s closure, and a Half-Step Demon Venerable revealed that the Sovereign Dark Market would hold an auction in one month featuring bottleneck-breaking Spiritual Items.

After failing to find most of the Spirit Materials he needed, Cheng Buzheng learned that he still had no news about Guan Ping or Demon Venerable Xiaocheng. Meanwhile, the Hidden Information Pavilion master met Demon Venerable Xiaocheng and received guidance about breaking through to the Supreme Realm, then asked how the human and demon methods differed.

• Cheng Buzheng spent nights searching Forbidden Ancient City's Dark Markets and traded for the materials needed to reforge the white-haired Old Daoist, but found little else.
• After more than half a month in the city, Cheng Buzheng still had no news about Guan Ping or Demon Venerable Xiaocheng.
• The Spirit Sky Grand Elder brought the Hidden Information Pavilion master to meet Demon Venerable Xiaocheng, accompanied by Clan Elder Changyuan.
• Demon Venerable Xiaocheng sent the two Spirit Sky Tiger Clan elders away and told Hidden One that breaking through to the Supreme Realm required comprehending a thread of law, made possible by fusing Innate Gang Sha and Earthly Turbid Qi.
• Hidden One asked how human cultivators and the Demon Race differed in their methods of breaking through to the Supreme Realm, and Demon Venerable Xiaocheng began explaining.

Demon Venerable Xiaocheng explained the paths to comprehending Law fluctuations and breaking through to the Spirit Transformation realm, then learned the details surrounding Demon Venerable Xiaotian’s death and suspected the Thunder Abyss was involved. After Hidden One left, Xiaocheng warned his descendants to focus on comprehending their bloodline divine abilities and not pry into matters beyond their reach.

• Demon Venerable Xiaocheng told Hidden One that human cultivators could pursue breakthroughs by comprehending divine abilities or using Law Spiritual Items, while demons relied on their bloodlines.
• Hidden One thanked Demon Venerable Xiaocheng, then recounted Cheng Buzheng’s information about Demon Venerable Xiaotian’s death and swore a great heart-demon oath to support his account.
• Demon Venerable Xiaocheng reasoned that Demon Venerable Xiaotian might have been gravely injured in the Thunder Abyss before Venerable Guanping attacked him for a Law Spiritual Item.
• Hidden One asked to leave, and Demon Venerable Xiaocheng allowed him to go.
• Lingxiao Grand Elder and the Clan Elder arrived, and Demon Venerable Xiaocheng rebuked them for resenting his private guidance of Hidden One.
• Demon Venerable Xiaocheng told the two demons to focus on comprehending their bloodline divine abilities and warned them against investigating matters that could bring them harm.

Demon Venerable Xiaocheng revealed that Demon Venerable Xiaotian’s death might be connected to Venerable Guanping and decided to confront him as a way to announce his return. Meanwhile, Cheng Buzheng returned to the Sovereign Dark Market, gathered nearly all the materials needed for his new [Blood Linglong], and watched the auction preparations begin.

• Demon Venerable Xiaocheng told the Spirit Sky Grand Elder and Clan Elder Changyuan that Venerable Guanping may have been the last person to see Xiaotian alive and could be connected to his death.
• Demon Venerable Xiaocheng said he could force Guanping to answer unless Guanping accepted the cost of regressing in cultivation, and ordered the two demons to leave the matter to him.
• Cheng Buzheng arrived at the Sovereign Dark Market and counted six Half-Step Supreme powerhouses guarding its trading district.
• Cheng Buzheng searched the stalls and traded for the materials needed for the new [Blood Linglong], leaving only [Blood Sun Demon Sand] to find.
• Six Half-Step Supremes announced the auction’s imminent start and joined forces to cast a spell, revealing that four were demons and two were human.

The Sovereign Dark Market auction began, and Cheng Buzheng waited for the Blood Sun Demon Sand, a rare material he was determined to obtain. When bidding for it intensified, Gongzhi Yang entered the contest with a huge offer, leaving Cheng Buzheng's response unresolved.

• The six Half-Step Supreme powerhouses arranged the auction hall, and Fairy Moon Spirit introduced herself and opened the auction.
• Bidders competed for a Grand Origin Pill and many other treasures, while Cheng Buzheng remained silent and waited.
• Fairy Moon Spirit presented the Blood Sun Demon Sand, and demonic cultivators began bidding for the Grade A rare treasure.
• Cheng Buzheng used the Great Luo Dharma Eye to identify the bidders as demonic cultivators and recognized Gongzhi Yang among them.
• Gongzhi Yang bid one Grade-A rare treasure and ten Grade-B rare treasure Spiritual Items, stunning the other bidders.

Cheng Buzheng outbid Gongzhi Yang for the Blood Sun Demon Sand, then competed with him for Three Crimson Soul-Returning Grass before stopping just short of his rival’s limit. Gongzhi Yang won the herb and went to complete the transaction under the dark market’s rules.

• Gongzhi Yang revealed his identity and challenged Cheng Buzheng’s bid, but the Half-Step Supremes warned him and ordered the auction to continue.
• Cheng Buzheng offered one Grade A Spiritual Item and twenty Grade B rare Spiritual Items for the Blood Sun Demon Sand, far surpassing Gongzhi Yang’s offer and winning the material.
• Fairy Moon Spirit introduced Three Crimson Soul-Returning Grass, which could strengthen Divine Sense, and Cheng Buzheng bid because his true body needed more Divine Sense.
• Gongzhi Yang repeatedly raised his offer as the herb’s price climbed, but Cheng Buzheng stopped bidding at 1.9 times the opening price.
• Gongzhi Yang won the Three Crimson Soul-Returning Grass and rose to complete the transaction according to the dark market’s rules.

Cheng Buzheng tested whether Gongzhi Yang would interfere with his bids, but Gongzhi Yang remained still as the auction approached its finale. Fairy Moon Spirit revealed that the first finale item was a blueprint for the Purgatory Demon Sword, then began explaining the value of Purgatory Race prison treasures.

• After their earlier bidding clash, Cheng Buzheng decided to test Gongzhi Yang by bidding on treasures, but Gongzhi Yang did not react.
• Cheng Buzheng stopped probing when Gongzhi Yang remained unmoved, and he waited as the auction neared its end.
• Fairy Moon Spirit announced that the auction’s finale included three precious treasures and presented a rune-covered Jade Slip containing a blueprint.
• When guests questioned the blueprint’s value, Fairy Moon Spirit revealed it was for the Purgatory Demon Sword, one of the Purgatory Race’s ten great hell treasures.
• Fairy Moon Spirit explained that Purgatory Race prison treasures and human and demon Magic Treasures shared Spirit Restrictions as their basic structure.

Fairy Moon Spirit revealed that the Purgatory Demon Sword blueprint could expose powerful Spirit Restrictions and announced that bidding required a Spiritual Item capable of helping a Golden Core cultivator reach the Nascent Soul Realm. Cheng Buzheng recognized the blueprint’s importance to advancing his Chaos Dao Tribulation Sword and resolved to bid for it, while the Dark Market stalled to give bidders time to find partners and qualifying items.

• Fairy Moon Spirit explained the blueprint’s value and claimed that studying it could help someone uncover the inheritance behind the legendary Purgatory World-Extinguishing Divine Mill.
• The young Ancestor of the Metal Thunder Sect, who had provided the blueprint, hoped its sale would bring him resources for a Nascent Soul breakthrough, while Gongzhi Yang chose not to bid.
• Cheng Buzheng recognized the Purgatory Demon Sword blueprint and concluded that combining it with his Demonic Purgatory Battle Spear blueprint might let his Heavenly Jade Disc deduce the World-Destroying Divine Mill’s design.
• Fairy Moon Spirit set the reserve price at one Spiritual Item that assisted a Golden Core cultivator’s breakthrough to the Nascent Soul Realm, prompting powerful figures to seek partners who owned such items.
• Fairy Moon Spirit swore that the Dark Market had not copied or examined any auction items and deliberately delayed the auction while bidders negotiated in secret.

Fairy Moon Spirit began the auction for the [Purgatory Demon Sword] blueprint, and powerful bidders drove its price to extraordinary heights. Cheng Buzheng finally entered the contest with a major bid as rival Immortal Arts masters discussed the auction rules, leaving the blueprint’s fate undecided.

• Fairy Moon Spirit completed her heart-demon oath and opened bidding for the [Purgatory Demon Sword] blueprint, setting the starting price at a breakthrough-assisting Spiritual Item.
• Powerful figures bid with rare Spiritual Items, pills, and fruits while Black Robe True Lord and his companions waited for their strongest rivals to act.
• The young Ancestor of the Metal Thunder Sect rejoiced as the bids climbed and a [Nascent Soul Breaking Pill] entered the contest.
• Cheng Buzheng waited until bidders showed signs of fatigue, then offered one [Ancient Flood Dragon Blood Spirit Fruit] and twenty Grade-B rare Spiritual Items.
• Immortal Arts masters recognized Cheng Buzheng as the mysterious bidder who had competed with Gongzhi Yang and discussed whether they could cooperate, but they concluded that auction rules forbade forming an alliance after bidding began.

Cheng Buzheng won the [Purgatory Demon Sword] blueprint with an enormous bid, then watched the auction begin its second finale item, the [Green Lotus True Scripture]. The cultivation technique sparked fierce bidding, while Cheng Buzheng considered selling cultivation techniques for rare treasures in the future.

• Gongzhi Yang decided not to compete further for the [Purgatory Demon Sword] blueprint, saving his resources for a later auction item.
• Cheng Buzheng outbid the other contenders with one [Ancient Flood Dragon Blood Spirit Fruit], three Grade-A rare treasures, and thirty Grade-B rare treasures.
• Cheng Buzheng completed the transaction and returned to his throne as the crowd reacted to his wealth.
• Fairy Moon Spirit introduced the [Green Lotus True Scripture], a fourth-tier cultivation technique that could be cultivated to the Half-Step Venerable realm.
• The auctioneers and cultivators drove the bidding for the [Green Lotus True Scripture] to astonishing heights, and Cheng Buzheng considered selling cultivation techniques for rare treasures.

The auction’s final treasure, the Departing Fire Gang Sha, drew fierce bids from cultivators seeking to advance their cultivation. Gongzhi Yang made a massive offer, but Cheng Buzheng outbid him to keep him from winning easily, leaving the auction’s outcome undecided.

• After the unnamed Mortal Cultivator bought the Green Lotus True Scripture and left, several powerful figures followed to investigate his background, while Cheng Buzheng remained confident he could handle anyone tracking him.
• Fairy Moon Spirit unveiled the Departing Fire Gang Sha and explained that cultivators and great demons needed suitable Innate Gang Sha and Earthly Turbid Qi to advance beyond the late stage.
• Bidding for the Departing Fire Gang Sha began at ten first-grade rare spiritual items and quickly escalated as powerful figures competed for it.
• Gongzhi Yang offered twenty-five Grade-A rare treasures and fifty Grade-B rare treasures, provoking resentment from rivals whose chance at the treasure seemed lost.
• Cheng Buzheng countered with thirty-one Grade-A rare treasures, intending to stop Gongzhi Yang from winning easily despite having to pay with other treasures if necessary.

Cheng Buzheng withdrew from the bidding for the Departing Fire Gang Sha while Demon Venerable Xiaocheng prepared to enter the Forbidden Ancient City. Gongzhi Yang won the auction, and Cheng Buzheng suspected one of his rivals had been planted by the Sovereign Dark Market.

• Cheng Buzheng stopped bidding against Gongzhi Yang to avoid exposing too many cultivation methods and abilities, though his wealth drew greedy attention from other cultivators.
• The Spirit Sky Grand Elder reported that Venerable Guanping was in the Forbidden Ancient City and identified Venerable Daoyuan, Demon Venerable Luosha, and Demon Venerable Xuanba as other Supremes there.
• After learning that the other major figures posed little threat, Demon Venerable Xiaocheng set out with the Spirit Sky Grand Elder to announce his existence to the Cultivation World.
• Gongzhi Yang made a final offer of forty Class-A rare treasures and additional items, warning the other bidders that he would remember anyone who outbid him.
• The auctioneer's hammer fell after no one raised Gongzhi Yang's bid, and Cheng Buzheng suspected that a powerful demon from a minor race might have been planted by the Sovereign Dark Market.

A sudden clash between Supreme experts shattered the formation over the Sovereign Dark Market, and a carefully planned theft cost Gongzhi Yang the [Departing Fire Gang Sha] and his Storage Bag. The Dark Market sealed itself again and began searching for the thief while its guests waited to leave.

• A burst of Supreme power broke the formation over the Sovereign Dark Market, and Cheng Buzheng suspected Venerable Guanping was fighting Demon Venerable Xiaocheng.
• Fairy Moon Spirit ended the auction early, but a flesh-and-blood puppet rushed Gongzhi Yang and was destroyed by six Half-Step Supremes.
• A concealed treasure cauldron trapped Gongzhi Yang, stole his Storage Bag, and revealed that the attacker had used the puppet as a decoy.
• The Half-Step Supremes raised a new formation and began a search, while Fairy Moon Spirit persuaded the guests to wait another quarter-hour before leaving.

After the Dark Market auction ended, Cheng Buzheng witnessed Demon Venerable Xiaocheng and Venerable Guanping clash with the full power of supreme experts. Their battle threatened the Forbidden Ancient City until Demon Venerable Luosha intervened and called on Venerable Daoyuan and Demon Venerable Xuanba to help separate them.

• A secret technique traced Gongzhi Yang’s attacker to an empty treasure seat, but the dragon-serpent could not follow the fugitive beyond the Great Array, so four Half-Step Supremes and Gongzhi Yang pursued outside.
• Fairy Moon Spirit concluded the auction, and Cheng Buzheng left the Dark Market, suspecting that several people were watching him.
• Outside the Dark Market, Demon Venerable Xiaocheng demanded that Venerable Guanping swear a heart demon oath about Demon Venerable Xiaotian’s death, then attacked him with the White Tiger Facing Sky Seal.
• Venerable Guanping summoned a divine pagoda to fight the White Tiger, and their increasingly powerful battle drove Cheng Buzheng and other cultivators to flee the Forbidden Ancient City.
• Demon Venerable Luosha blocked the battle off from the city and ordered Venerable Daoyuan and Demon Venerable Xuanba to help stop the two supreme experts.

After the Supreme Beings stopped Venerable Guanping and Demon Venerable Xiaocheng's fight, Xiaocheng accused Guanping of conspiring with the Purgatory Race to kill Demon Venerable Xiaotian. The chapter left Guanping facing pressure to swear a Heart Demon Great Oath while concealing his injuries.

• Demon Venerable Luosha, Demon Venerable Xuanba, and Venerable Daoyuan intervened, separated Venerable Guanping and Demon Venerable Xiaocheng, and brought them to Luosha's residence.
• Cheng Buzheng witnessed the Supreme Beings' intervention and left the Forbidden Ancient City as its black canopy dispersed.
• Cultivators in the city speculated that Xiaocheng's attack was connected to Demon Venerable Xiaotian's death.
• At Black Spirit Hall, Demon Venerable Xiaocheng said Xiaotian had been with Guanping before his death and suspected Guanping had joined forces with the Purgatory Race.
• Venerable Guanping denied responsibility, while Demon Venerable Xiaocheng demanded that he prove his innocence with a Heart Demon Great Oath.
• Venerable Daoyuan urged Guanping to swear the oath, and Demon Venerable Luosha asked Guanping whether he would accept the proposal.