Chapter Summaries

Fang Han improved his cultivation speed after raising his Root Bone Talent and continued advancing toward Second Grade Mid-Stage. Elsewhere, Qi Zhen killed Zhang Yuan Heng with a demonic art, and Fang Han learned that experts affiliated with the Seven Sects had begun disappearing.

• Fang Han found that his improved Root Bone Talent had raised his cultivation speed to match his Sword Art talent, then refined an Earth Spirit Pill through the night.
• Qi Zhen ambushed Zhang Yuan Heng on the road, revealed his identity, and declared that the Iron River Gang would eventually trample the Azure Profound Sect.
• Qi Zhen defeated Zhang Yuan Heng and drained his essence with a demonic art, leaving Zhang Yuan Heng to realize what the Iron River Gang was cultivating before he died.
• Fang Han cultivated with an Earth Spirit Pill and sensed that he was nearing a breakthrough to Second Grade Mid-Stage.
• Qui Lan told Fang Han that experts from major powers affiliated with the Seven Sects had been disappearing, including elders associated with Vajra Temple and the Tyrant Blade Sect.

After learning that experts from forces affiliated with the Seven Sects had vanished, Fang Han was assigned by Chen Tianyuan to investigate. He memorized Zhang Yuan Heng’s scent and picked up its trail outside the prefectural city, following it north.

• Fang Han suspected the Iron River Gang was behind the disappearances, but Chen Tianyuan told him that one of its elders had vanished too.
• Chen Tianyuan explained that tracking efforts had found no clear clues and assigned Fang Han to investigate the missing experts from the Azure Profound Sect’s affiliated forces.
• Fang Han visited the Zhang Clan and used Zhang Yuan Heng’s unwashed robe to memorize his scent with Thousand-Mile Soul Lock.
• Zhang Yuanshan gave Fang Han Zhang Yuan Heng’s fixed route among three clan properties north of the city.
• Fang Han activated Thousand-Mile Soul Lock outside the north gate and found Zhang Yuan Heng’s aura leading along the road north.

Fang Han tracked Zhang Yuan Heng’s aura to a bloodstained road and discovered signs that the injured man had been killed and dissolved with Corpse-Dissolving Water. He narrowed the possible attackers to twelve upper third-rank martial artists, recognized Qi Zhen’s aura among them, and found Qi Zhen on the road ahead.

• Fang Han followed Zhang Yuan Heng’s aura past the Zhang Clan Herb Fields and Blood Rice Manor to a road marked with dried blood and a massive saber strike.
• Fang Han traced the blood trail into the forest and found a clearing scorched by what he identified as Corpse-Dissolving Water.
• Fang Han used Thousand-Mile Soul Lock to filter the auras of people who had passed through the area and narrowed the suspects to twelve upper third-rank martial artists.
• Fang Han recognized Qi Zhen’s distinctive aura among the twelve and decided to investigate him first.
• Fang Han followed Qi Zhen’s trail for several dozen li and came face-to-face with Qi Zhen on the road.

Fang Han confronted Qi Zhen, who admitted killing Zhang Yuan Heng and revealed that he had become a gate-breaking martial artist. After their clashes showed Fang Han could match his strength, Qi Zhen unleashed a powerful saber strike, and Fang Han stepped forward to meet it with his sword.

• Fang Han stopped Qi Zhen on the official road and accused the Iron River Gang of meddling in the Azure Profound Sect's affairs.
• Qi Zhen admitted that he had killed Zhang Yuan Heng and said the dead had no need to know why the Iron River Gang was secretly attacking people from major factions.
• Qi Zhen revealed his greatly increased strength and attacked Fang Han with a golden Saber Aura, which Fang Han met with the Cloudsplitter Sword.
• Fang Han recognized Qi Zhen as a gate-breaking martial artist, but blocked his next powerful saber attack and said Qi Zhen still could not kill him.
• Qi Zhen gathered his Internal Qi and unleashed an even more terrifying saber strike, and Fang Han stepped forward to meet it with a condensed sword stroke.

Fang Han fought Qi Zhen in the wilderness and wounded him with the Cloudsplitter Sword, but Qi Zhen unleashed a demonic art that greatly increased his strength. Fang Han recognized the art as the source of the Iron River Gang’s sinister schemes, and their battle continued with both fighters clashing amid a cloud of dust.

• Fang Han shattered Qi Zhen’s Saber Aura and pressed him with rapid sword attacks.
• Fang Han cut Qi Zhen’s left ribs, forcing him to retreat and fear that Fang Han would kill him in the wilderness.
• Qi Zhen released the restraint on his hidden Internal Qi, turning it blood-red and boosting his power.
• Fang Han recognized Qi Zhen’s aura as demonic art and concluded that he had been devouring experts’ essence and qi to increase his cultivation.
• Qi Zhen attacked Fang Han with his blood-red saber, and the two resumed their fierce battle.

Fang Han revealed the Windshock Sword, a spirit weapon, and used it to turn the battle against Qi Zhen. After wounding Qi Zhen and forcing him back, Fang Han declared that Qi Zhen would die there.

• Qi Zhen struck Fang Han with a powerful saber attack, but Fang Han’s body-tempering art and armor limited the injury.
• Fang Han drew the Windshock Sword from his storage ring, shocking Qi Zhen and stirring his greed.
• Fang Han’s spirit weapon split Qi Zhen’s Saber Aura and sent him staggering backward with an injured hand.
• Fang Han pressed his advantage with a rapid sword assault and cut Qi Zhen’s right shoulder, sending him through several trees.
• Fang Han pointed the Windshock Sword at the bleeding Qi Zhen and said that Qi Zhen would die there.

Fang Han defeated and killed Qi Zhen, then looted his valuables and converted the Danyao and saber into wealth through the System. With 1.5 million gold, he could now give his Secret Technique Talent a Level 8 Amplification.

• Fang Han used the Windshock Sword and Wind God Step to overwhelm Qi Zhen, whose soft armor could not protect him from the sword's penetrating force.
• Fang Han stabbed Qi Zhen through the forehead after Qi Zhen's blood-colored astral qi failed to stop the Windshock Sword, killing him.
• Fang Han searched Qi Zhen's body and took banknotes, jade bottles of Danyao, Corpse-Dissolving Water, a Medium Grade Dharma Weapon soft armor, and a black saber.
• Fang Han recharged the Danyao for 70,000 gold and the saber for 700,000 gold, raising his wealth to 1.5 million gold.
• Fang Han considered using the wealth to give his Secret Technique Talent a Level 8 Amplification.

Fang Han concluded that the Iron River Gang was secretly practicing demonic arts and sent an urgent warning to the Azure Profound Sect. Two days later, Chen Tianyuan and the other six sect masters arrived and confirmed that Qi Zhen’s corpse bore traces of demonic arts.

• Fang Han suspected the Iron River Gang was using absorbed factions and captured martial artists to support its demonic cultivation.
• Fang Han carried Qi Zhen’s corpse to an Azure Profound Branch Courtyard and sent a messenger hawk to warn Chen Tianyuan that the Iron River Gang was likely a hidden demonic sect.
• Fang Han stayed at the branch courtyard while waiting for a response from the sect.
• Two days later, Fang Han sensed seven powerful auras approaching and met Chen Tianyuan and the six other sect masters outside the courtyard.
• Chen Tianyuan and each of the six sect masters examined Qi Zhen’s corpse and confirmed that he had practiced demonic arts.

The Seven Sects confirmed that the Iron River Gang was a hidden demonic-art sect and launched a coordinated campaign to destroy it. As the sects wiped out the gang’s outposts, three Grandmasters and more than a hundred experts gathered at its headquarters.

• Chen Tianyuan and the other six sect masters agreed to join forces against the Iron River Gang and sent orders for an immediate attack.
• Ku Ming led Vajra Temple monks in wiping out a mine, where they confirmed that the stationed elder had cultivated demonic arts.
• Lei Luo led Tyrant Blade Sect forces in attacking a medicinal field and killed an elder whose demonic arts erupted out of control.
• Xie Ming’s Lingyun Sword Sect force seized a market district and confirmed that its Iron River Gang elder had used demonic arts.
• The Seven Sects received reports that demonic-art practitioners had appeared at the gang’s branches throughout Qingyang Prefecture.
• Gu Changqing, Lei Lie, Silent, and more than a hundred Seven Sects experts assembled at the Iron River Gang headquarters.

Gu Changqing and the Seven Sects found Iron River Gang’s headquarters abandoned, while Yan Wuji led a retaliatory strike against Azure Profound Sect. The Seven Sects ambushed him at the mountain, and Huiming and Liu Meiniang attacked as the confrontation began.

• Gu Changqing led more than a hundred Seven Sects experts into Iron River Gang’s headquarters, where they found Yan Wuji and most senior members gone.
• Yan Wuji killed five Azure Profound Sect guards and led dozens of Iron River Gang elites toward the sect, intending to destroy it while Gu Changqing was away.
• Huiming and Liu Meiniang confronted Yan Wuji in a plaza where more than a hundred Seven Sects experts awaited him.
• Huiming struck Yan Wuji with a golden palm while Liu Meiniang thrust at his waist and ribs.

Huiming and Liu Meiniang fought Yan Wuji while the Seven Sects battled the Iron River Gang at the Azure Profound Sect. Fang Han slew Yang Yuan and Han Kui, but Yan Wuji escaped, leaving the Grandmasters worried that the other sects might also have been attacked.

• Yan Wuji met Huiming and Liu Meiniang's combined attacks, then fought them as the battle spread across the plaza.
• Fang Han killed Yang Yuan with one sword strike as she fought two Azure Profound Sect stewards.
• Fang Han killed Han Kui in three sword strikes after interrupting his fight with a Hundred Flower Valley elder.
• The Seven Sects overwhelmed the Iron River Gang's forces while Huiming and Liu Meiniang wounded Yan Wuji.
• Yan Wuji used an escape secret art to flee, and Huiming and Liu Meiniang failed to catch him dozens of li beyond the Azure Profound Sect.

After Yan Wuji escaped the battle at the Azure Profound Sect, Fang Han pursued him using Thousand-Mile Soul Lock but lost his trail when Yan Wuji concealed his aura. Fang Han then followed the Iron River Gang attackers’ lingering traces and reached a manor near a city, which might lead him to Yan Wuji’s hidden stronghold.

• Huiming told Chen Tianyuan that Yan Wuji had escaped despite being severely wounded by Huiming and Liu Meiniang.
• Fang Han volunteered to track Yan Wuji, and Chen Tianyuan warned him not to approach the grandmaster if he found him.
• Fang Han followed Yan Wuji’s aura to a cave, where he found bloodied robe strips but no trace of Yan Wuji after the fugitive concealed his aura with secret medicine.
• Fang Han returned near the Azure Profound Sect and followed the residual auras of the Iron River Gang attackers northwest.
• After tracking the auras for nearly four hundred li, Fang Han found that they led toward a manor in the woods outside a medium-sized city.

Fang Han captured a guard from the Iron River Gang’s manor and learned that Yan Wuji had returned during the night, taken a bundle from the inner vault, and left. The guard also revealed that the manor held more than ten cartloads of valuable treasures, giving Fang Han a possible path toward the gold needed for Level Nine Amplification.

• Fang Han sensed five martial artists inside the manor but could not detect Yan Wuji’s aura.
• A gray-clad guard left the manor, and Fang Han followed and captured him in a remote forest.
• Fang Han tied up the guard and forced him to answer questions by demonstrating his Sword Qi.
• The guard said Yan Wuji had returned around midnight, wounded and covered in blood, taken a bundle from the inner vault, and departed.
• The guard revealed that more than ten cartloads of valuable treasures had been brought into the manor a day earlier, and Fang Han considered using them to recharge the System Panel.

Fang Han secretly returned to the Iron River Gang estate, killed its remaining guards, and looted the inner treasury. He raised his possessed wealth to 11.21 million gold, enough to activate a Level 9 amplification.

• Fang Han killed the gray-clad man after learning the inner treasury's location and decided to keep the estate's wealth for himself.
• Fang Han used Wind God Step and Shadowveil to return to the estate and killed four remaining martial artists.
• Fang Han broke into the inner treasury and found spiritual herbs, precious ores, treasures, and martial arts manuals, but the Grandmaster Martial Art and top-tier manuals were gone.
• Fang Han collected the manuals for the Fang Clan and recharged the System Panel with the treasury's valuables.
• Fang Han's possessed wealth rose to 11.21 million gold, surpassing the requirement for a Level 9 amplification.

After failing to find Yan Wuji, Fang Han returned to Azure Profound Sect and spent his wealth on a 512-fold Root Bone Talent amplification, accelerating his cultivation. Meanwhile, the Seven Sects gathered to discuss Yan Wuji’s escape and the danger he posed to Qingyang Prefecture, but they had no clear way to locate him.

• Fang Han searched the Iron River Gang manor for hidden chambers, found none, and returned to Azure Profound Sect.
• Fang Han told Chen Tianyuan that Yan Wuji had concealed his aura in a mountain cave and that his trail had gone cold.
• Fang Han used 10 million gold to raise his Root Bone Talent amplification from 256-fold to 512-fold, then found that his Internal Qi gathered much faster and estimated he would reach Second Grade Mid-Stage within five days.
• The sect masters of the Seven Sects met to discuss Yan Wuji’s escape and agreed that his return threatened Qingyang Prefecture.
• Hua Nishang pointed out that Yan Wuji could hide his aura and that searching the vast prefecture for him would be extremely difficult.

Ling Wuyuan agreed to let Fang Han study Nether Pavilion’s secret tracking art so the sects could search for Yan Wuji. Fang Han then broke through to Second Grade Mid-Stage, awakened the Sound Divine Treasury, and tested its ability to weaponize sound.

• Chen Tianyuan said Fang Han’s High Grade tracking technique could not locate the concealed Grandmaster Yan Wuji, prompting the others to ask Ling Wuyuan for Nether Pavilion’s secret art.
• Ling Wuyuan agreed to let Fang Han consult and cultivate the Nether Guide manual once, on the condition that Fang Han neither copy nor share it.
• Fang Han swallowed an Earth Spirit Pill and used the Azure Profound Art to break through the bottleneck into Second Grade Mid-Stage.
• Fang Han opened his twenty-third Acupoint and awakened the Sound Divine Treasury, which let him carry Internal Qi through sound and shatter a teacup with a spoken word.
• Fang Han sensed that his strength now surpassed a First Barrier Breakthrough martial artist and believed he would soon approach the strength of a Second Barrier Breakthrough martial artist.

Fang Han received Nether Guide, a top-tier tracking secret technique from Nether Pavilion, and was ordered by Chen Tianyuan to master it so he could track the escaped Yan Wuji. After boosting his Secret Art Talent, Fang Han studied the manual and learned that it tracked living beings by their auras rather than by scents.

• Fang Han practiced the Void-Sundering Sword Manual until Qui Lan told him the Sect Master had summoned him urgently.
• Chen Tianyuan gave Fang Han Nether Guide, which Nether Pavilion had provided on the condition that Fang Han alone could cultivate it.
• Chen Tianyuan ordered Fang Han to master the technique quickly so he could help find and eliminate Yan Wuji.
• Fang Han spent one million gold to raise his Secret Art Talent Amplification to 256 times, then studied Nether Guide.
• Fang Han comprehended the manual by noon and recognized that it tracked the auras of living beings, unlike Thousand-Mile Soul Lock, which focused on scents.

Fang Han cultivated the Nether Guide to the Beginner stage in a little over a day, gaining a ten-li perception range. Meanwhile, the recovering Yan Wuji vowed revenge on Fang Han, leaving Fang Han concerned that he could not afford to cultivate step by step.

• Fang Han successfully activated the Nether Guide on his fifth attempt and developed a perception that detected the auras of living beings while filtering out nonliving objects.
• Fang Han repeatedly cultivated the technique, expanding his range from several dozen zhang to several li, then reached a ten-li radius and the Beginner stage.
• Yan Wuji recovered to forty percent strength in a prepared mountain cave and blamed Fang Han for the Iron River Gang's destruction, vowing to kill him after healing.
• Fang Han realized that his Thousand-Mile Soul Lock foundation had been exhausted and worried that Yan Wuji would recover before he could cultivate further.

Fang Han received Spirit Nose Pills specially prepared by the Sect Master and used them to rapidly improve his Nether Guide cultivation, bringing Minor Accomplishment within reach so he could hunt Yan Wuji. After fully recovering, Yan Wuji set out for White Glow City, vowing revenge on the Azure Profound Sect.

• Fang Han learned that the Sect Treasury had no Spirit Nose Pills, then Qui Lan delivered a pouch of pills sent by the Sect Master.
• Fang Han took a Spirit Nose Pill and found that it greatly accelerated his Nether Guide cultivation.
• Several days later, Fang Han neared Minor Accomplishment and planned to use his improved tracking senses to find and kill Yan Wuji.
• Yan Wuji fully healed his injuries, blamed the Azure Profound Sect for the fall of his Iron River Gang, and swore revenge.
• Yan Wuji arrived at White Glow City in disguise.

Yan Wuji entered White Glow City to gather intelligence and began a massacre of the Seven Sects' branches, driven by hatred for the sects that destroyed the Iron River Gang. By the end of the night, he had swept through every branch in the city, growing stronger as he devoured his victims' vital essence.

• Yan Wuji killed four men in a tavern and drained a fifth after forcing him to reveal the locations of the Seven Sects' branches.
• Yan Wuji waited until nightfall, then infiltrated the Azure Profound Sect's branch and killed all fifty-three people there, including elder Zhao Mai.
• Yan Wuji raided the Hundred Flower Valley branch and killed all forty-two people stationed there.
• Yan Wuji entered the Tyrant Blade Sect branch and killed all thirty-seven people.
• Yan Wuji swept through the Lingyun Sword Sect, Vajra Temple, Rain Listening Tower, and Nether Pavilion branches, leaving no survivors as his blood-red Internal Qi grew stronger.