Chapter Summaries

Jingtian’s fragmented consciousness revived inside the Annihilation Vortex Core, where his ruined remains were slowly being digested. He found a faint survival path through the Scorpion Tail Soul Bone’s Ninth Tentacle remnants and began trying to guide their instinctive absorption to rebuild a vessel.

• Jingtian’s consciousness stirred when his surviving secondary hearts and the surrounding rules rekindled a faint point of awareness.
• Jingtian realized his body and most of his memories were destroyed, and that the Annihilation Vortex Core was slowly consuming what remained.
• Jingtian sensed the Ninth Tentacle’s tiny remnant absorbing nearby rule-influenced energy and insights into poison and Guixu Assimilation.
• Jingtian chose to guide the remnant’s instinct so it might repair itself and eventually form a vessel capable of movement.
• Jingtian suppressed distractions with the silence rule and began imitating the remnant’s absorption amid the Annihilation Vortex Core.

After a faint current expelled the hybrid from the Annihilation Vortex Core, it drifted through the Soul-Devouring Undercurrent and was hauled ashore on a fishing boat. Nearly lifeless, it ended up in a filthy processing pool, where the Ninth Tentacle’s instinct to absorb nourishment stirred again.

• A brief outward current cast the hybrid from the Annihilation Vortex Core, and the surrounding destructive energy tore away much of its substance.
• The hybrid drifted to the outskirts of the Soul-Devouring Undercurrent, then rode a warm current toward coastal waters as its consciousness faded.
• A fishing crew hauled up a coral stone bearing the hybrid and tossed it into a barrel of miscellaneous scraps.
• Sailors unloaded the barrel onto a cart, which carried the coral stone and hybrid to a processing plant outside town.
• A worker rinsed the scraps in a concrete pool, and the coral stone became wedged near the drain amid decaying matter and faint energy residue.
• The Ninth Tentacle’s nearly dormant absorption instinct stirred, and a faint crack sounded within the hybrid.

Jingtian’s tiny remains were carried in frozen offal to a freezing base in the Far North, where the extreme cold slowed their dissipation and subtly reshaped their essence. The remains formed a fragile connection between the Ninth Tentacle’s instinct and a protected fragment of their Origin, becoming a frozen seed before being prepared for shipment across the Heaven Dou Empire.

• Jingtian’s remains resonated with the extreme cold during the convoy’s journey, and their dissipation noticeably slowed.
• The freezing environment protected the remains’ last energy and laws, while the Ninth Tentacle’s devouring instinct turned inward and began to examine its own nature.
• The convoy delivered the cargo to a Soul Guidance Freezing Base, where the remains developed a fragile connection between the Ninth Tentacle’s instinct and the sliver of Origin.
• After deep-freezing, the remains were labeled for shipment throughout the Heaven Dou Empire, their existence reinforced and their core imprinted with the Far North’s cold.

A shipment of frozen scraps carrying Jingtian’s remains traveled rapidly from the Extreme North to Dugu Bo’s outpost beside Myriad Poison Pool. Dugu Bo left the cargo to thaw under poisonous miasma, while the fragment entered a deeper sealed slumber and waited for its ice shell to break.

• Soul Masters loaded the frozen scraps onto reinforced wagons and rushed them south from the Extreme North Ice Warehouse.
• The cold journey subtly refined the fragment’s resonance with extreme cold and silence.
• The convoy reached Sunset Forest, where mute servants transferred the still-frozen cargo to a flatbed wagon bound for Myriad Poison Pool.
• Dugu Bo stacked the frozen masses on a black stone platform and left the poison vapors to melt them slowly.
• The fragment’s newly formed shell deepened its dormancy, sealing its devouring instinct and faint consciousness as it waited for the ice and shell to break.

The remnants of Jingtian’s Ninth Tentacle broke free from the Ice Seal and awakened in the Myriad Poison Pool, where they began devouring its toxic energy. The newborn poison sludge subdued the pool’s creatures with Jingtian’s lingering soul pressure and continued expanding its domain.

• The frozen mass melted in the Myriad Poison Pool, freeing the coral fragment that held the Ice Seal seed.
• The shell around the Ninth Tentacle’s remnants dissolved, awakening their hunger and forming a dark poison sludge that rapidly devoured the pool’s energy and matter.
• The commotion drew venomous creatures from the mud, including a Bone-Eroding Poison Python that lunged at the sludge.
• Jingtian’s lingering soul pressure erupted from the poison sludge, freezing the python and forcing every nearby creature into submission.
• The poison sludge rejected the python as impure food and continued devouring the pool while its creatures cowered.

The Deep Sea Demon Octopus’s shattered consciousness reawakened as a small mass of Yuni at the bottom of the Myriad Poison Pool. Unable to control the conflicting energies in its body, it concealed itself and focused on survival.

• The newborn consciousness recognized that it had returned in the form of a bowl-sized mass of Yuni.
• It sensed that its core and the energies inside its body were unstable and could cause it to die again.
• Fearing the green-haired human above, it suppressed its energy and presence to blend into the pool’s sediment.
• It cautiously drew in mild Toxic Energy while rejecting more violent energies, then fell silent to preserve its existence.

Dugu Bo investigated a fleeting trace of powerful soul beast pressure near the Myriad Poison Pool but found nothing unusual. The hidden mass of poison sludge concealed itself as ordinary mud, then resolved to stay hidden and seek a soul core so it could grow stronger.

• Dugu Bo sensed a brief, imposing pressure near the Myriad Poison Pool and suspected a powerful soul beast was nearby.
• Dugu Bo searched the pool with his mental power and poisonous soul power but found only ordinary creatures and remnants in the mud.
• Dugu Bo warned the unseen presence and swept the pool with his Titled Douluo pressure, yet detected no response.
• The mass of poison sludge absorbed and assimilated Dugu Bo's probing and pressure, disguising itself as ordinary poisonous mud.
• After Dugu Bo left, the sludge realized its leaked pressure had drawn him there and resolved to conceal itself more deeply, limit its devouring, and pursue a soul core.

After Dugu Bo left Myriad Poison Pool, the Poison Sludge seized its chance to devour the pool’s poison, essence, and creatures to grow stronger. It began clearing out Myriad Poison Pool and planned to leave for Star Dou.

• Dugu Bo scanned Myriad Poison Pool, reinforced its poison formation, and left Sunset Forest for an extended period.
• The Poison Sludge confirmed Dugu Bo was gone and decided to devour everything it could in Myriad Poison Pool.
• The Poison Sludge unleashed its Devouring force field, draining poisonous water and Yuni essence while consuming insects swept into its vortex.
• The Poison Sludge grew larger and denser as its unstable core struggled to process the massive influx of poison and matter.
• The Poison Sludge crawled across the pool bottom, stripping away its essence and resolving to grow stronger before leaving for Star Dou.

The Poison Sludge finished devouring the Myriad Poison Pool and struggled out of the water, nearly overwhelmed by the energy packed into its body. It set off southwest through Sunset Forest, seeking human carriages and a route toward Star Dou.

• The Poison Sludge consumed nearly all the pool’s essence, leaving its water diluted and its remaining life devoured.
• Its core consciousness suppressed the urge to keep eating and forced its overloaded body to leave before the terrifying human returned.
• The Poison Sludge concealed its energy and slowly crawled out of the Myriad Poison Pool onto the rocks.
• It sensed human carriages near the forest’s outskirts and recalled a vague route pointing southwest toward Star Dou.
• The Poison Sludge began its slow journey southwest, leaving a narrow trail of withered and decayed plants behind it.

Dugu Bo returned to the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well and discovered that an unknown creature had drained the essence from his Myriad Poison Pool. Finding faint corrosive traces leading toward the outskirts of Sunset Forest, he pursued the culprit toward areas of human activity.

• Dugu Bo returned from the Tang Sect and noticed that the poison in his Myriad Poison Pool had been greatly diluted.
• Dugu Bo found the pool stripped of its poisonous insects and essence, with the surrounding poisonous grasses withering.
• Dugu Bo searched for an intruder but found no clear aura or evidence of how the pool had been plundered.
• Dugu Bo spotted unusual damp marks and corrosive stains on the Rock beside the pool, indicating that something had crawled out toward the forest outskirts.
• Dugu Bo followed faint traces of poison through Sunset Forest and continued tracking the culprit toward the boundary of human activity.

Dugu Bo followed faint corrosive traces through Sunset Forest, but a sudden downpour erased the trail and forced him to question workers at a nearby road shelter. He left to search farther along the road, unaware that the thief who Devoured the Myriad Poison Pool might be concealed beneath the ordinary cart beside him.

• Dugu Bo tracked faint poisonous traces through Sunset Forest until heavy rain washed them away.
• Dugu Bo abandoned the forest trail and flew to a nearby road entrance to question drivers and laborers.
• The workers told Dugu Bo about ordinary caravans and a flatbed cart that had only delivered hay to Li Village.
• Dugu Bo scanned the workers and the cart but found no obvious signs of the thief, then vowed to investigate farther along the road.
• After Dugu Bo departed, the thief remained concealed in the dark, mud-covered underside of the flatbed cart.

After Dugu Bo vanished into the rain, cart drivers prepared to leave the area, unaware that the Poison Sludge had hidden itself in their cart’s axle. The cart carried it toward town as it endured crushing pressure and began to sense that its energy was becoming slightly more compact.

• The cart drivers discussed Dugu Bo’s terrifying presence and agreed not to tell anyone what they had seen.
• The older driver and Lao Chen pushed their sluggish flatbed cart toward town, blaming its resistance on mud or gravel.
• The Poison Sludge shifted into the axle and wheel-hub crevices, using the cart’s mechanism as a concealed refuge.
• As the cart rolled through the rain, the Poison Sludge endured pressure and vibration while its chaotic energy structure seemed to grow slightly more compact.
• The cart drivers continued toward town without noticing the living substance beneath their cart.

A weakened black substance recovered in an abandoned courtyard after the drivers discarded the cart it had clung to. When it heard travelers discussing Star Dou Forest and a route through the Balak Kingdom, a remnant command stirred, and it attached itself to another cart headed that way.

• The older driver discovered that the black stain on the axle destroyed a brush and a wooden stick, then dragged the cart to an abandoned courtyard with his companions.
• The black substance slowly recovered by absorbing decay and life from the ruined courtyard, occasionally feeding on rats and feral cats.
• The black substance sensed two travelers discussing a trip to Star Dou Forest through the southeast near the Balak Kingdom.
• Hearing the words Star Dou Forest awakened a fragment of its will and gave it a clear urge to go there.
• The black substance slipped beneath a cart parked by the road and concealed itself among the wood and grime.

A concealed protagonist traveled beneath Old Wang’s herb-gathering convoy toward the edge of Star Dou Forest, struggling to endure the jolting ride and suppress its hunger and presence. After reaching a forest clearing for the night, it slipped from the cart into shadowed rocks and moss, with Star Dou drawing nearer.

• Old Wang gathered over thirty laborers and hired Soul Elders Zhang and Li to escort the herb-gathering convoy, setting limits on how far they would enter the forest.
• The protagonist hid beneath a battered cart and endured a rough, exhausting journey while suppressing its energy whenever Soul Master Zhang scanned the convoy.
• As the convoy approached Star Dou Forest, the protagonist sensed nearby creatures and Soul Power, intensifying its hunger and awareness of its weakness.
• The convoy camped in a forest clearing, and the protagonist quietly left the cart to hide among damp rocks, rotting leaves, and moss.

At the mountain camp, Soul Elders Zhang Yuan and Li Kui discussed their unease about the convoy’s dark, lifeless shadows, while Zhang Yuan searched the area with his Mental Power and found nothing unusual. The hidden protagonist avoided detection and sank deeper into the rocks, wary of Zhang Yuan as the convoy approached the forest.

• Li Kui complained to Zhang Yuan that Soul Master subsidies had been cut off and said the escort job felt unsettling.
• Zhang Yuan admitted he had sensed something faintly wrong beneath the carts but dismissed the shadows as an effect of damp ground and firelight.
• Zhang Yuan swept the rocks and nearby cart with his Mental Power while the protagonist concealed all signs of life and Soul Power.
• Finding no clear anomaly, Zhang Yuan told Li Kui to sleep and took the watch as Li Kui dozed off.
• The protagonist relaxed after Zhang Yuan's search passed over him, then hid deeper in the rocks to avoid exposure before reaching Star Dou.

The hidden substance endured the journey to a temporary camp in Star Dou Forest, then slipped from beneath a cart into a cliff fissure while Zhang Yuan searched for it. As dusk fell, it planned to leave the camp, find the place calling to it, and hunt for energy.

• Zhang Yuan and Li Kui led the herb-gathering team through dangerous forest to a defensible clearing and helped establish camp.
• The hidden substance slipped from beneath an abandoned cart and moved into a narrow fissure in the cliff.
• Zhang Yuan sensed a faint trace, searched the cart and fissure, but found no evidence of anything hiding there.
• Zhang Yuan returned to the camp with Li Kui, and the substance relaxed once their scrutiny passed.
• The substance decided to venture deeper into the forest and hunt for energy before seeking the place tied to its obsession.

The weakened, concealed mass of poisonous mud left its crevice to search Star Dou Forest for prey and energy. Unable to find anything it could safely devour, it pressed deeper into the poisonous forest as its core neared collapse.

• Driven by hunger and weakness, it left its hiding place and crept through the forest at night in search of a soul beast to devour.
• It avoided a swarm of Venom Sting Bees and found only scraps from a hunt, while its hunger and core pain continued to worsen.
• As it entered an area of poisonous miasma, it sensed that poison-adapted prey might be easier to hunt and cautiously absorbed a little energy from the surroundings.
• It sensed vast, dangerous auras farther southeast but continued toward them because it could find no prey and was close to dying.
• After hours of crawling through a region without soul beasts or Soul Masters, its core nearly stopped pulsing and it felt itself beginning to dissipate.

Cuiling, a young Emerald Swan healer, found a mysterious, dying creature in the Star Dou Forest and tried to heal it. The creature suddenly attacked and killed her, leaving her final warning unsent.

• Cuiling sensed a faint aura of withering near the edge of the core region and flew to investigate.
• She found a badly injured mass of Yuni beneath a boulder and approached it with a stream of healing light.
• The creature erupted with darkness and pierced Cuiling with a Xiliu before she could react.
• The attack drained Cuiling's life force, and she died after releasing one final cry toward the Lake of Life.

As his consciousness returned, the Pseudo-Core absorbed the Emerald Swan’s corpse and restored him, and he realized he had killed the healer who had tried to save him. Enraged soul beasts converged on the clearing, leaving him trapped and facing likely death.

• The Pseudo-Core absorbed the Emerald Swan’s life essence and began to recover.
• His memories returned, and he recognized the Swan as a healer who had approached him with kindness.
• He realized his battle instincts had led him to kill the Emerald Swan and was overcome with guilt and fear.
• He considered fleeing the Star Dou Forest before the Swan’s kin discovered what had happened.
• Several powerful soul beasts rushed toward the clearing and surrounded him, sealing off his escape routes.

Bi Ji sensed Cuiling's death and rushed to the scene, while Di Tian identified the suspected killer as the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger and went after her after discovering the Sky Azure Bull Python and Titan Giant Ape were missing. The sludge-like being remained beside Cuiling's corpse as hostile soul beasts surrounded him.

• Bi Ji sensed an Emerald Swan's dying cry, recognized that one of her people had been killed, and sent Di Tian a warning before racing toward the southeast.
• Di Tian detected dark devouring energy at the scene and concluded that the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger had killed Cuiling to consume her life force.
• Di Tian found that the Sky Azure Bull Python and Titan Giant Ape were missing and could not be reached, raising fears that the killer had accomplices or had grown stronger.
• Di Tian hurried to the southeast to protect Bi Ji, destroy the suspected tiger, and find the missing guardians.
• The sludge-like being sensed the approaching threat as savage soul beasts surrounded him and Cuiling's corpse.