Chapter Summaries

Key Plot Points and Events

• Chen Mo captures and interrogates two outer disciples of the Profound Yin Sect, Zhao Santai and Qian Liu, who reveal information about the Spirit Realm.
• Chen Mo learns about the Spirit Realm's vastness, the presence of powerful entities called Great Terrors, and the sects that control its entrances and exits.
• Chen Mo and Ghost Banner Daoist burn the bodies of the captured disciples and return to Chen Mo's house, where they examine the spoils of their encounter.

Character Developments

• Chen Mo demonstrates his ruthlessness and efficiency in dealing with the captured disciples, showing no mercy despite their pleas.
• Ghost Banner Daoist shows loyalty and eagerness to please Chen Mo, offering to refine the captured yin souls into Yin Soul Pearls for him.

Significant Themes

• The vastness and danger of the Spirit Realm, which contrasts with the mortal world's familiarity and safety.
• The power dynamics between sects and the presence of Great Terrors, which highlight the precariousness of life in the Spirit Realm.
• The value of spirit stones as a form of currency in the cultivation world.

Character Interactions

• Chen Mo and Zhao Santai: Chen Mo interrogates Zhao Santai, who reveals information about the Spirit Realm under duress.
• Chen Mo and Ghost Banner Daoist: The two work together to deal with the captured disciples and their bodies, then return to Chen Mo's house to examine their spoils. Ghost Banner Daoist offers to refine the captured yin souls for Chen Mo, showing his eagerness to please.

Summary: “A Bountiful Harvest”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Chen Mo experiments with three spirit stones obtained during the night’s battles and discovers that their energy is pure, refined, and immediately usable. Unlike Yin qi, which requires extensive purification, spirit stones can dramatically accelerate cultivation.
• Ghost Banner Daoist confirms the rarity and value of spirit stones, explaining that they are nearly impossible to obtain in the mortal world and cannot realistically be bought with ordinary silver currency.
• Chen Mo and Ghost Banner Daoist examine the spoils taken from two Profound Yin Sect disciples:
  • Three spirit stones
  • A Soul-Seizing Mirror
  • Two Soul-Calming Nails
  • Exorcism talismans
  • Outer-disciple identification tokens
• They then inspect the much more valuable haul from the Ding Family, including eleven artifacts and numerous talismans. The most notable items are:
  • A short sword infused with Killing Intent
  • A Bewitching Fan that can immobilize weaker opponents
  • A soul-damaging sound-wave drum
  • A century-old, lightning-tempered peachwood sword
  • Various protective, offensive, speed-enhancing, and invisibility talismans
• Ghost Banner Daoist estimates that the Ding Family’s equipment could sell for at least two hundred thousand silver dollars at the Ghost Market, though silver is nearly useless for purchasing spirit stones.
• The possessions of the bald man’s group are revealed to be mostly inferior: bone prayer beads made from human skull fragments, low-grade pills, and a damaged whisk.
• Chen Mo divides the loot into three groups: items for his own use, items for Ghost Banner Daoist to sell, and items whose functions remain uncertain.
• Before leaving for Ganzhou, Ghost Banner Daoist gives Chen Mo a valuable blood jade as repayment for saving his life.
• In return, Chen Mo gives Ghost Banner Daoist the Soul-Seizing Mirror rather than a more powerful artifact. He explains that the mirror suits Ghost Banner Daoist’s current cultivation better than the demanding sound-wave drum.
• Chen Mo promises to obtain a stronger, more suitable artifact for Ghost Banner Daoist once the latter reaches the late stage of Qi Refinement.

Character Developments

• Chen Mo gains a clearer understanding of spirit stones and recognizes how valuable they are for advancing his cultivation. He also demonstrates practical judgment by choosing artifacts according to their users’ abilities rather than simply distributing the most powerful items.
• Ghost Banner Daoist becomes more openly loyal and grateful toward Chen Mo. His gift of the blood jade shows that he recognizes Chen Mo’s superiority and wishes to repay him, though he remains visibly reluctant to part with valuable possessions.
• Ghost Banner Daoist also shows humility and self-awareness when he accepts that he cannot properly control the powerful soul-damaging drum.

Significant Themes

• Scarcity and value: Spirit stones are vastly more valuable than silver because of their rarity and direct usefulness to cultivators.
• Practicality over appearances: The strongest artifact is not necessarily the best choice; suitability depends on the user’s cultivation and control.
• Loyalty and repayment: Ghost Banner Daoist’s blood jade represents gratitude and an attempt to establish or strengthen his relationship with Chen Mo.
• Power through resources: The large haul of artifacts and talismans significantly improves Chen Mo’s material advantages and future potential.
• The divide between worlds: Mortal-world currency has little meaning in the cultivation world, highlighting the separation between ordinary society and the spirit world.

Character Interactions

• Chen Mo calmly evaluates each item while Ghost Banner Daoist provides expertise on its origin, quality, and likely market value.
• Ghost Banner Daoist repeatedly admires the spirit stones and artifacts but avoids asking for them directly, wary of offending Chen Mo.
• Chen Mo notices Ghost Banner Daoist’s hesitation before giving the blood jade and accepts it while making clear that he will reciprocate.
• Their exchange of the blood jade and Soul-Seizing Mirror strengthens their partnership: Ghost Banner Daoist offers gratitude, while Chen Mo rewards him with an artifact suited to his current abilities.

Chapter Summary: “Departure”

Key Plot Points and Events

• At dawn, the Ding Family discusses the masked cultivator who defeated Third Master Ding and seized his Ghost Candle Lantern. Ding He Nian warns that the attacker is likely in the Sha-Condensing Realm and must not be provoked.
• The brothers realize that two half-human, half-corpse cultivators were also killed by the masked man. Their unusual condition suggests connections to the Spirit Realm, creating a serious danger for the Ding Family since the deaths occurred on their territory.
• Ding He Nian secretly sends a blood-written message through a talisman hidden beneath a shrine lamp, implying that he is reporting or seeking help regarding the incident.
• At Jinmen docks, Chen Mo prepares to travel to Kowloon aboard a Li Family cargo ship. His destination is Profound Yin Studio, which possesses the Thousand Grievances Guide, an artifact made from the rare Vengeful Soul Silk needed to complete his Ten Thousand Souls Banner.
• Li Shun, the Li Family steward, welcomes Chen Mo and warns him that Kowloon is plagued by gangs, curse masters, and powerful supernatural threats.
• Chen Mo meets Li Shun’s scholarly son, Li Zongming, who brings him a meal and accompanies the voyage.
• Shortly after the ship departs, seawater begins entering the engine room through a mysterious crack in the hull. Chen Mo senses faint yin energy beneath the ship.
• Li Shun reveals that a passenger liner sank in the area thirty years earlier, killing hundreds and leaving behind vengeful supernatural entities.
• Chen Mo orders everyone onto the deck as the yin energy intensifies. A gigantic, decayed wreck rises from the sea and violently tilts the cargo ship.
• Using Sha-Condensing cultivation, Chen Mo forms a massive palm from seawater and crushes the ghostly wreck back beneath the ocean. The terrified crew witnesses his overwhelming supernatural power, though Chen Mo remarks that the entity escaped.

Character Developments

• Ding He Nian emerges as cautious, experienced, and politically aware. Unlike his younger brother, he understands the danger of provoking a powerful cultivator or becoming entangled with Spirit Realm forces.
• Third Master Ding is humbled by his defeat and forced to abandon his desire for revenge. His pride gives way to reluctant acceptance of his elder brother’s warning.
• Chen Mo is shown to be calm, deliberate, and highly capable. He travels not merely for adventure but to obtain a crucial artifact for completing his Ten Thousand Souls Banner. His quick assessment of the supernatural threat and effortless suppression of the wreck demonstrate his immense strength.
• Li Shun is courteous and ingratiating but becomes visibly frightened when the ship is attacked. His practical concern for the vessel and crew contrasts with his awe toward Chen Mo.
• Li Zongming is introduced as a young, respectful scholar who is inexperienced but eager to prove himself useful and see the wider world.

Significant Themes

• Power and restraint: Ding He Nian emphasizes that survival sometimes requires abandoning pride and refusing to challenge a stronger opponent. Chen Mo, meanwhile, demonstrates controlled but overwhelming force.
• Hidden supernatural networks: The Spirit Realm, heterodox families, corpse-related techniques, and mysterious sects reveal that the mortal world is connected to larger and more dangerous powers.
• The persistence of resentment: The shipwreck’s dead have remained active for decades, suggesting that unresolved hatred can transform into powerful supernatural entities such as Vengeful Soul Silk.
• Departure and uncertainty: Chen Mo’s journey to Kowloon marks a transition into unfamiliar territory, where both human factions and supernatural dangers await.
• Modernity versus the occult: Steamships, steel hulls, docks, and industrial commerce coexist with ancient cultivation, talismans, ghostly wrecks, and mystical artifacts.

Character Interactions

• Ding He Nian counsels Third Master Ding against pursuing Chen Mo, prioritizing the family’s safety over revenge.
• The brothers discuss the implications of the slain half-corpse cultivators and their possible Spirit Realm origins.
• Li Shun treats Chen Mo with extreme respect, personally guiding him aboard and warning him about Kowloon’s dangers.
• Chen Mo remains reserved toward Li Shun but listens carefully to his information.
• Li Zongming respectfully serves Chen Mo and briefly explains his background as a failed student accompanying his father.
• During the sea attack, Chen Mo takes command by ordering Li Shun to move the crew onto the deck, then protects everyone by forcing the wreck back underwater.

This is a chapter from a supernatural Hong Kong/colonial-era story,

Chapter Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• Chen Mo visits Baisitong, an information broker operating in a hidden shop near Temple Street, to learn the location of Profound Yin Studio.
• Before entering, Chen Mo detects a barrier blocking divine sense. He discovers that the barrier is generated by a bronze incense burner using a mixture of Buddhist incense power and folk spiritual techniques.
• Baisitong identifies Chen Mo as a friend of “Boss Lin” after seeing Fatty’s business card and agrees to provide information in exchange for gold.
• Chen Mo learns that Profound Yin Studio is located in Murray House in Central, a place regarded as extremely sinister because it lies on the “dragon’s tail” of Victoria Peak and accumulates yin energy.
• Baisitong reveals that the studio’s master, Gu Yunzhou, moved there ten years earlier and may be attempting to use a hidden Ghost Domain to become a forbidden Corpse-Liberated Immortal.
• The Ghost Domain existed before Murray House was built, when the land was a mass grave. It later became home to the powerful Crimson-Faced Rakshasa. Seven masters once entered to destroy it; only four returned, and the Ghost Domain remained.
• Baisitong also notes that Chen Mo is the third party in the past half month to investigate Profound Yin Studio, suggesting that others are pursuing the same mystery.
• Outside the shop, Chen Mo is confronted by He Ruijiu, known as Uncle Jiu, a Daoist-trained police officer, and Lam Chi-keung, a Wo Shing Wo Red Pole nicknamed Cheung Chau Boy.
• Lam accuses Chen Mo of seriously injuring two of his underlings, who had previously tried to extort money from Chen Mo.
• When Lam attacks, Chen Mo kills him merely by looking at him, scattering his soul through overwhelming divine intent. The two injured gangsters are also beyond saving, their souls damaged by yin energy.
• Terrified, Uncle Jiu orders the police to conceal the supernatural nature of the deaths. The official explanation will be sudden illness, with no killer identified.
• Uncle Jiu instructs the officers never to interfere with Chen Mo again, declaring that ordinary rules do not apply to someone of his power.

Character Developments

• Chen Mo: Demonstrates extraordinary cultivation and absolute confidence. He remains calm and expressionless while negotiating with Baisitong, investigating the Ghost Domain, and confronting gang members. His ability to kill with a glance establishes him as vastly superior to everyone present.
• Baisitong: Reveals himself as a cautious, well-connected information broker who understands the supernatural underworld. He carefully prices information, demands additional payment, and discloses increasingly dangerous secrets about Profound Yin Studio.
• Gu Yunzhou: Though absent, he becomes a major looming figure. His occupation of Murray House and suspected attempt to achieve corpse liberation make him a potentially dangerous forbidden cultivator.
• He Ruijiu/Uncle Jiu: Initially acts as a courteous police investigator, but quickly recognizes Chen Mo’s overwhelming strength. His Daoist instincts allow him to understand the danger, and he pragmatically chooses survival and concealment over enforcing the law.
• Lam Chi-keung/Cheung Chau Boy: His arrogance and gang loyalties lead him to underestimate Chen Mo. His refusal to back down results in his instant death.
• The police officers: Their initial authority collapses into fear. They become witnesses who avoid Chen Mo and follow Uncle Jiu’s order to falsify or obscure the incident.

Significant Themes

• Power beyond conventional authority: Police status, gang influence, and social rules are meaningless before overwhelming cultivation.
• The supernatural hidden beneath ordinary society: Temple Street commerce, organized crime, and colonial police structures coexist with Ghost Domains, yin energy, Daoist techniques, and soul destruction.
• Fate and self-inflicted misfortune: Chen Mo echoes the idea that “fortune and misfortune have no gate; people summon them themselves,” emphasizing that Lam and his men bring about their own deaths through greed and aggression.
• Forbidden cultivation and the cost of immortality: Gu Yunzhou’s possible pursuit of corpse liberation introduces the danger of abandoning humanity for supernatural transcendence.
• Fear and discretion: Those who understand Chen Mo’s strength choose silence. Survival depends on recognizing when rules and confrontation no longer apply.
• Yin land and accumulated resentment: Murray House’s history as a mass grave and the continued existence of its Ghost Domain suggest that violence and death leave lasting spiritual consequences.

Character Interactions

• Chen Mo and Baisitong: Their exchange is a calculated negotiation. Baisitong tests Chen Mo’s seriousness through escalating prices, while Chen Mo responds by producing gold without hesitation.
• Chen Mo and Lam Chi-keung: Lam approaches with gang-backed intimidation, but Chen Mo treats him with detached contempt. Lam’s physical attack is stopped by Chen Mo’s gaze, turning the confrontation into a demonstration of absolute spiritual dominance.
• Chen Mo and Uncle Jiu: Uncle Jiu is polite and cautious, sensing that Chen Mo is not an ordinary traveler. After witnessing the killing, he abandons any attempt to restrain him and ensures the police do not provoke him.
• Uncle Jiu and the police: He Ruijiu takes command after the incident, instructing his men to suppress the truth and report the deaths as sudden illnesses.
• Chen Mo and Lam’s underlings: Their earlier attempt to extort money leads Chen Mo to inflict a supernatural punishment, leaving them spiritually doomed even though they are still technically alive.

Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• An old woman on Temple Street fears for her life after telling Uncle Jiu about Chen Mo.
• Three Yin Mountain Sect disciples (Shi Hu, Liu Qingyuan, and Li Changye) discuss their mission to find Profound Yin Studio and the Corpse Liberation Method, aware of other groups seeking the same.
• In Central, Des Voeux Road, Jian Yin, the president of the Hong Kong Feng Shui Masters' Association, gathers fourteen people to discuss the expanding Ghost Domain at Murray House and plans to enter it to suppress it.
• Mage Bassong from Nanyang joins them, seeking the Corpse Liberation Method.

Character Developments

• Shi Hu: Shows interest in the mission's details and concern for his sect's reputation and resources.
• Liu Qingyuan: Demonstrates analytical skills and calmness, speculating about other groups seeking the Corpse Liberation Method.
• Jian Yin: Reveals his determination to suppress the Ghost Domain, even at great personal risk.
• Mage Bassong: Shows ambition and willingness to take risks for the Corpse Liberation Method.

Significant Themes

• Risk and Determination: Characters face risks and make decisions based on their determination (e.g., Jian Yin, Mage Bassong).
• Competition and Rivalry: Different groups seek the same goal, leading to competition and potential conflict (e.g., Yin Mountain Sect, other feng shui masters, Mage Bassong).
• Information and Power: Know-It-All's information brokerage highlights the power of knowledge and its potential to be exploited.

Character Interactions

• Shi Hu, Liu Qingyuan, and Li Changye: Discuss their mission and share information, showing camaraderie and concern for their sect.
• Jian Yin and the Feng Shui Masters: They interact with respect and deference, acknowledging Jian Yin's leadership and authority.
• Jian Yin and Mage Bassong: They have a tense interaction, each with their own goals, but agree to work together for mutual benefit.

Chapter 287 Summary

Plot Points and Major Events

• Chen Mo arrives at Murray House in Central during a persistent afternoon rain. The building is surrounded by a rapidly expanding Ghost Domain, marked by dead earth aura, gray vapor, and an unnatural chill. He estimates that the current hundred-meter safe zone will disappear within half a month.
• Ghostly faces appear in Murray House’s windows and stare at him with intense malice. Chen Mo ignores them and approaches the entrance.
• An Obsession Manifestation in the form of an old woman warns him that the building “eats people.” Chen Mo recognizes that she is neither human nor a true ghost, but a remnant formed from someone’s dying obsession. Since she cannot harm anyone, he disregards her warning and enters.
• Inside, Chen Mo explores the building with divine sense. The upper floors contain many weak Bound Earth Spirits, while the basement is saturated with powerful Yin energy and several stronger entities.
• A ghost hidden in a pool of dark-red water attacks him after accusing him of stepping on her. Chen Mo destroys it effortlessly with his Merit Banner, causing the other spirits in the building to retreat in fear.
• At the basement entrance, Chen finds a failed sealing array and a massive iron door designed to keep the entities inside from escaping. He tears the thousand-pound door from its frame with one hand.
• In the basement, Chen discovers several vicious ghosts and an incomplete ritual array containing a broken Copper Coin Sword and a strand of black hair. The array has been destroyed by accumulated resentment.
• He uses the Merit Banner to absorb seven or eight vicious spirits, including several nearing the level of fierce Baleful Intent. This fully activates all 999 threads of the banner, strengthening it and giving it a faint dark-gold pattern, though it still does not develop a main-banner spirit.
• Chen’s true goal is the Earth Fiend Yin Energy buried beneath the basement.
• At midnight, Murray House’s Ghost Domain fully opens, expanding roughly one hundred meters and separating the fog-shrouded supernatural area from the ordinary rainy streets.
• Police seal off the surrounding streets. Officer He Ruijiu warns his men to shelter from the coming downpour and explains that ordinary people will instinctively avoid entering the domain.
• President Jian Yin of the Hong Kong Feng Shui Masters’ Association arrives with seven other occult practitioners and enters the Ghost Domain, suggesting that experienced practitioners have come to confront the danger.
• Inside the Ghost Domain, Chen is transported to a bizarre city called Everjoy City. His divine sense is heavily restricted, though his spiritual power and storage space remain usable.
• Everjoy City appears to be holding a temple fair. Its citizens wear heavy white makeup, red flowers on their chests, and clothing resembling that of an ancient era. The flowers chant unintelligible scriptures whenever their hosts breathe.
• The city’s inhabitants casually discuss turning human bodies into lanterns and lampshades. A child warns Chen that those with “dirty” faces may be fed to the terrifying Rat Hag.
• Chen disguises himself with Ghost Skin, copying the city’s makeup, but still lacks the red chest flower and appropriate clothing.
• He enters a clothing shop, where the grotesque shopkeeper demands organs as payment. The shopkeeper offers him a jacket in exchange for his heart and liver, explaining that human organs are the city’s currency. He also warns that failing to dress properly could prevent Chen from attending the City Lord’s birthday banquet and expose him to even greater danger.

Character Developments

• Chen Mo remains calm, ruthless, and confident despite the increasingly dangerous supernatural environment. He treats weaker ghosts as trivial obstacles and demonstrates overwhelming physical and spiritual power.
• His interaction with the Obsession Manifestation shows his growing expertise: he immediately identifies its nature and limitations rather than mistaking it for a normal ghost.
• Chen’s body is shown to be unusually compatible with Yin energy. Instead of being harmed by the basement’s poisonous atmosphere, his spiritual circulation accelerates and his Ghost Skin reacts eagerly.
• His Merit Banner becomes significantly stronger after absorbing the basement’s vicious spirits, establishing a major improvement in his capabilities.
• Chen displays tactical flexibility by disguising his face with Ghost Skin after entering Everjoy City, showing that he understands brute force alone may not be enough in an unfamiliar Ghost Domain.
• He Ruijiu is portrayed as experienced and cautious. His familiarity with Murray House and his practical instructions to the police suggest long-standing knowledge of the supernatural threat.
• Jian Yin is established as an influential occult expert whose personal involvement indicates the seriousness of the Ghost Domain.
• The inhabitants of Everjoy City are revealed to be grotesque, ritualistic, and casually murderous, treating human body parts as ordinary commodities.

Significant Themes

• The boundary between life, death, and spiritual remnants: The old woman’s existence demonstrates that supernatural entities can be formed from memories or obsessions even after the original soul is gone.
• Decay and failed containment: Murray House’s corrupted sealing array shows that neglect and accumulated resentment can destroy protections and allow supernatural forces to spread.
• Power and fear: Chen’s dominance over the lesser ghosts reverses the usual horror dynamic; the spirits themselves fear him.
• Assimilation into the supernatural: Ordinary people exposed to the basement’s Yin energy could gradually become part of the building, emphasizing the danger of prolonged contact with Ghost Domains.
• Identity and disguise: Everjoy City imposes strict visual and social rules. Chen must imitate its residents to avoid standing out, suggesting that survival may depend on understanding and performing the domain’s customs.
• Human bodies as commodities: The city’s use of organs, skin, hair, and bones for clothing, lanterns, and currency reflects the complete dehumanization of its inhabitants.
• Ritualized horror beneath ordinary culture: The temple fair, birthday celebration, clothing shops, and religious chanting resemble familiar social institutions, but each has been twisted into something predatory.

Character Interactions

• Chen dismisses the old woman’s repeated warning and enters Murray House despite her attempts to stop him.
• He confronts and destroys the water ghost, causing the other spirits upstairs to hide their auras and retreat in terror.
• Chen’s presence frightens even the powerful basement ghosts, which remain silent and concealed until he absorbs them.
• He Ruijiu coordinates with the young officer and allows Jian Yin’s group to pass through the police cordon, revealing cooperation between law enforcement and occult practitioners.
• In Everjoy City, Chen observes the citizens’ disturbing conversations and questions a child about the Rat Hag.
• The clothing-shop owner attempts to negotiate with Chen, offering clothing in exchange for his organs and warning him about the City Lord’s upcoming birthday banquet.

Chapter Summary: “Flower Liberation”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Chen Mo confronts the tailor-shop owner, who offers to accept Chen Mo’s heart or liver as payment, even suggesting installment payments.
• Chen Mo attacks first, ripping out the shopkeeper’s still-beating heart. He discovers that the man’s body has been hollowed out and filled with roots connected to the red flower attached to his chest.
• The “shopkeeper” is revealed to be controlled by the parasitic red flower rather than being a true human. The flower uses the man’s organs as fertilizer and sustains his body through the heart.
• The flower attacks Chen Mo with countless red threads, but he destroys them using his supremely cold and corrosive Killing Intent. He also crushes the heart, severing the flower’s connection to the body.
• Chen Mo captures the weakened flower and seals it inside an ebony box, intending to preserve it for possible future use. The shopkeeper’s remaining body rapidly decays into a corpse.
• Elsewhere, in a hidden cavern beneath the City Lord’s Manor, Gu Yunzhou senses that one of the Sacred Flower’s offshoots has disappeared.
• Gu Yunzhou reveals that the red flowers are connected to his own Sacred Flower and that he has been cultivating a unique technique called the Flower Liberation Method.
• He explains that he has sacrificed more than a thousand people over ten years to nourish the Sacred Flower and advance his transformation. He now needs the blood essence of powerful cultivators—especially those from the Spirit Realm—to complete the eighth transformation.
• Gu Yunzhou plans to use the upcoming Ghost Tide to trap the visiting cultivators inside the City Lord’s Manor, where they will be vulnerable to him.
• The chapter also introduces the Rat Hag, an ancient and immensely powerful monster that has recently become increasingly aggressive. Gu Yunzhou suspects it senses his impending transformation and is testing his weakness.

Character Developments

• Chen Mo demonstrates decisiveness and ruthlessness. Rather than entertain the shopkeeper’s bargaining, he immediately identifies the danger and attacks the true source of the threat.
• Chen Mo’s Killing Intent is shown to be highly destructive, capable of annihilating both the flower’s roots and its long-range attacks. His decision to preserve the flower suggests growing strategic awareness and an interest in exploiting unusual supernatural resources.
• Gu Yunzhou is revealed as an increasingly inhuman figure, physically fused with a giant Sacred Flower and dependent on its roots after most of his internal organs have dissolved.
• Gu Yunzhou’s ambition becomes clear: he does not want to abandon his body through traditional Corpse Liberation. Instead, he intends to merge completely with the Sacred Flower and emerge as a new kind of immortal.
• Cen Du is shown to be fearful but practical. He raises concerns about the sect’s excessive sacrifices and the danger of attracting outside forces, but quickly submits when Gu Yunzhou threatens him implicitly.

Significant Themes

• Corruption and parasitism: The red flowers consume human bodies from within, turning people into living vessels and using their organs as nourishment.
• The pursuit of immortality through dehumanization: Gu Yunzhou’s transformation requires sacrificing his organs, body, and morality. His desired immortality blurs the line between human, plant, corpse, and monster.
• Power versus humanity: Gu Yunzhou rejects traditional spiritual ideals, believing that preserving and transforming the physical body is superior to abandoning it. His philosophy contrasts spiritual transcendence with grotesque physical fusion.
• Predation and exploitation: Both the Sacred Flower and Gu Yunzhou treat humans and cultivators as sources of nutrients. The chapter repeatedly frames outsiders as “fish” caught in a larger predator’s scheme.
• Hidden threats and unstable alliances: Chen Mo’s discovery exposes one layer of the flower network, while Gu Yunzhou’s conflict with the Rat Hag suggests that the Ghost Domain contains multiple powerful entities whose interests may soon collide.

Character Interactions

• Chen Mo and the shopkeeper engage in deceptive bargaining, but Chen Mo quickly turns the conversation into an attack once he recognizes the shopkeeper’s true nature.
• Chen Mo’s confrontation with the parasitic flower is direct and one-sided: he destroys its roots, overwhelms its attack, and captures it before it can escape.
• Gu Yunzhou and Cen Du have a tense master-servant relationship. Cen Du reports the sect’s difficulties and questions the abnormal blood sacrifices, but Gu Yunzhou responds with intimidation and asserts total authority.
• Gu Yunzhou explains his philosophy of Flower Liberation to Cen Du and the other disciples, forcing them to confront the grotesque nature of his transformation.
• Gu Yunzhou and the Rat Hag have an uneasy territorial rivalry. Though neither has defeated the other, Gu Yunzhou now believes the creature is deliberately testing him before his transformation is complete.

Chapter Summary: “Unexpected Gain”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Chen Mo finishes cleaning the clothing shop after a previous confrontation when three disguised cultivators enter. They are covered in gray-white lime to resemble residents of the Ghost Domain.
• The group consists of a burly late-Qi-Refining man, a woman and a baby-faced young man at early Qi Refining. Chen Mo recognizes the leader from an earlier encounter.
• Pretending to be the shop’s original ghost proprietor, Chen Mo tells them that clothing can only be exchanged for hearts or livers. The three realize something is unusual about him and begin considering whether to attack.
• The group launches a coordinated assault: the fat man attacks Chen Mo directly, the woman uses a flexible sword, and the young man deploys talismans to block escape.
• Chen Mo effortlessly stops all three attacks with his overwhelming Sha-Condensing Realm aura. The attackers realize they are completely outmatched and kneel, begging for mercy.
• Chen interrogates them and learns that they are disciples of the Yin Mountain Sect. They entered the Ghost Domain seeking the complete version of the Corpse Liberation Method, which their sect needs to advance its Profound Yin Art.
• Chen notices that the fat man’s seemingly ordinary pouch blocks divine sense. He takes it and discovers three high-quality Spirit Stones inside, which he keeps. After inspecting the pouch’s ancient, damaged runes, he returns it.
• Chen places a sinister restriction on each of the three cultivators, warning that only he can remove it and that attempting to break it could be fatal.
• Rather than killing them, Chen orders them to investigate the City Lord’s Manor, whose gray mist and strange aura suggest the presence of powerful, possibly nonhuman entities and perhaps the master of the Ghost Domain.
• When the fat man warns that the manor may contain a high-level cultivator, Chen dismisses his concern and makes clear that his orders are not open to debate.

Character Developments

• Chen Mo demonstrates increasing confidence and control. He convincingly imitates the ghost proprietor’s cold demeanor, calmly intimidates the intruders, and defeats their coordinated attack without effort.
• He also shows strategic thinking: instead of killing the three cultivators, he binds them with restrictions and turns them into scouts who can investigate dangerous locations for him.
• The fat man is revealed to be cautious, perceptive, and pragmatic. He is the first to recognize Chen Mo’s overwhelming strength and immediately submits. Although frightened, he answers honestly and understands that cooperation is the best way to survive.
• The woman appears more aggressive and calculating, initially suggesting that Chen Mo is bluffing and that the three should attack. Once confronted with his true strength, she becomes submissive.
• The baby-faced young man is the least composed of the group. He notices suspicious details in the shop but panics once Chen Mo reveals his cultivation.
• The three cultivators’ relationship shifts from confident cooperation during the ambush to fearful obedience under Chen Mo’s control.

Significant Themes

• Strength and hierarchy: The vast gap between Qi Refining and Sha-Condensing emphasizes the brutal power structure of the cultivation world.
• Deception and disguise: Both sides rely on concealment—lime makeup hides the intruders’ identities, while Chen Mo pretends to be a Ghost Domain resident and conceals his true intentions.
• Pragmatism and survival: The cultivators abandon pride and submit once they realize resistance is hopeless. Chen Mo likewise chooses to exploit their usefulness rather than waste them.
• Mystery of the Ghost Domain: The strange City Lord’s Manor, gray mist, and unclear distinction between living and dead beings deepen the chapter’s supernatural mystery.
• Unexpected gains: Chen Mo obtains three valuable Spirit Stones and gains unwilling agents to explore a dangerous area, turning an attempted robbery into an advantage.

Character Interactions

• Chen Mo maintains psychological dominance over the group through his calm speech, threatening shop rules, and controlled expressions.
• The three repeatedly exchange glances before deciding whether to attack, showing their coordinated but cautious teamwork.
• After their defeat, they kowtow collectively and beg Chen Mo for mercy, while Chen singles out the fat man’s quick submission as evidence of intelligence.
• Chen’s questioning of the fat man establishes a temporary master-servant dynamic: the cultivators provide information, surrender their resources, accept his restrictions, and obey his orders.
• The chapter ends with Chen shutting down the fat man’s warning about the City Lord’s Manor, reinforcing that he expects obedience rather than advice.

Chapter Summary: “Sneak Attack”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Everjoy City is packed with eerie residents whose faces are painted white and whose red chest flowers appear increasingly vivid. Chen Mo leads Shi Hu and two companions through the city toward the City Lord’s Manor.
• Shi Hu suggests waiting three days for the City Lord’s birthday, when the manor will supposedly open its gates to visitors. Chen Mo rejects the idea, recognizing it as a likely trap designed to lure people inside during the coming Ghost Tide.
• The group investigates the manor’s enormous, heavily fortified perimeter. Every gate is sealed and radiates a sinister aura. Chen Mo eventually chooses a secluded alley beside the outer wall and announces that they will enter there.
• Elsewhere, Jian Yin and three companions hide from human-faced, rat-bodied monsters. Zhou Zihuan has been badly injured by a claw carrying corpse poison. Jian Yin treats the wound, temporarily suppressing the poison.
• A massive explosion erupts above the City Lord’s Manor. Jian Yin realizes that the manor’s formation is not merely being attacked: its core has been destroyed from within. The explosion causes the streets to empty, part of the manor wall to collapse, and the surrounding plaza to split open.
• Jian Yin’s group approaches the ruined manor and discovers an intense battle in the rear courtyard. A gigantic Shadow Puppet wielding a huge blade is fighting countless dark-purple roots emerging from the earth.
• Gu Yunzhou is suspended in a floating blood pool, fused with the Sacred Flower and using the roots as part of his power. He intended to use the Ghost Tide and the victims drawn into the manor as nourishment for his breakthrough to the eighth turn.
• Gu Yunzhou tries to negotiate with the hidden attacker, offering gifts and safe passage while secretly gathering strength for a counterattack. Chen Mo sees through the deception.
• Chen Mo commands the Shadow Puppet to attack. The puppet redirects its enormous blade toward Gu Yunzhou’s blood pool, ending the chapter on a sudden assault.

Character Developments

• Chen Mo is established as cautious, decisive, and highly perceptive. He rejects Shi Hu’s seemingly practical plan because he recognizes the birthday invitation as an ambush. He also immediately detects Gu Yunzhou’s false offer of peace and chooses to strike before the enemy can prepare.
• Shi Hu shows initiative by proposing a way into the manor, but his plan reveals his inexperience. Chen Mo’s criticism teaches him to question the apparent logic of events in the Ghost Domain.
• Jian Yin demonstrates leadership and medical knowledge by treating Zhou Zihuan’s poisoned injury. Although composed, he is deeply unsettled by the transformed Ghost Domain and the power hidden within the City Lord’s Manor.
• Zhou Zihuan is injured but resilient, enduring painful treatment without crying out. His survival depends on Jian Yin’s quick response.
• Gu Yunzhou is revealed as a powerful but anxious antagonist. Despite his immense strength and grand plans, he becomes alarmed when his formation is destroyed and resorts to humble-sounding negotiation to buy time.
• Cen Du and the gray-robed disciples are shaken by the destruction around them and realize that their sect master may not be invincible.

Significant Themes

• Suspicion and deception: Apparent hospitality—the City Lord’s birthday celebration and Gu Yunzhou’s offer of safe passage—conceals deadly traps.
• Predation and exploitation: Gu Yunzhou views the coming visitors as “fish” and plans to use their blood essence to fuel his cultivation, treating people as resources.
• Hidden power and shifting balance: The Ghost Domain has transformed dramatically in twenty years, and both Chen Mo and Gu Yunzhou conceal abilities capable of altering the entire battlefield.
• Preparedness versus complacency: Chen Mo survives by refusing to follow the enemy’s timetable, while Gu Yunzhou’s carefully arranged plan is disrupted by an unexpected infiltrator.
• Horror and corruption: The white-faced residents, corpse poison, blood pool, Sacred Flower, and living roots create an atmosphere of spiritual contamination and unnatural transformation.

Character Interactions

• Chen Mo firmly corrects Shi Hu, replacing the latter’s hopeful assumptions with a more dangerous and realistic interpretation of the manor’s birthday invitation.
• Jian Yin acts as mentor and protector to Zhou Zihuan, treating his wound while ordering him to endure the pain.
• Jian Yin’s group discusses the explosion and reaches the conclusion that an infiltrator has destroyed the formation from inside.
• Gu Yunzhou attempts to reason with the unseen attacker, but Chen Mo silently observes the roots gathering for a sneak attack and refuses to be manipulated.
• The chapter culminates in Chen Mo and Gu Yunzhou’s indirect confrontation: Chen Mo issues a command, and the Shadow Puppet launches a blade directly at Gu Yunzhou’s blood pool.

Chapter Summary: “Joining Forces”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Gu Yunzhou uses the Sacred Flower’s roots beneath the blood pool to trap and restrain Chen Mo’s Shadow Puppet. Although the puppet’s Killing Intent suppresses the flower’s blood aura, the sheer number of roots accumulated over ten years overwhelms it.
• Gu Yunzhou taunts Chen Mo, believing the puppet cannot escape the entire City Lord’s Manor’s network of roots.
• Shi Hu, Li Changye, and Chu Shuling attempt to flee the ruined rear courtyard, but they are intercepted by Yin Sutang and her junior sister from White Bone Cave.
• Yin Sutang recognizes that the three are connected to the Shadow Puppet’s master and forces them to lead her to Chen Mo. Her intimidating reputation and the White Bone Heart-Locking Hammer leave Shi Hu terrified, while Chu Shuling remains comparatively composed.
• Chen Mo considers retreating because the Shadow Puppet cannot quickly seize Gu Yunzhou’s Grudge Soul Guide. However, he senses five concealed figures approaching through the ruins: the three minor cultivators and the two White Bone Cave disciples.
• Yin Sutang introduces herself and explains that she seeks Gu Yunzhou’s death. Her junior sister was killed three years earlier, and Yin Sutang later discovered that Gu Yunzhou had used the woman’s bones to nourish the Sacred Flower.
• Yin Sutang proposes an alliance with Chen Mo. She has also arranged for eight Southeast Asian curse masters to attack Gu Yunzhou.
• Chen Mo agrees, claiming the Grudge Soul Guide as his reward while allowing White Bone Cave and the curse masters to divide Gu Yunzhou’s Corpse Liberation Method and other possessions. Yin Sutang accepts but warns him not to use her forces as expendable pawns.
• Yin Sutang signals the curse masters with a black flare that forms a ghostly white flower in the sky.
• Bassong, a Nanyang curse master, unleashes his Head-Flying Curse, while Jian Yin and the other feng shui masters begin attacking the blood pool with curses, talismans, bells, weapons, and spiritual techniques.
• Seeing the combined assault, Gu Yunzhou prepares to reveal the Sacred Flower’s full power.

Character Developments

• Chen Mo: Remains cautious and calculating. He recognizes that brute force may not secure the Grudge Soul Guide and chooses cooperation when it offers a better strategic advantage. He firmly establishes his conditions and insists on contributing equally.
• Gu Yunzhou: Becomes increasingly confident and arrogant, relying on the accumulated power of the Sacred Flower. His personal cruelty is revealed through the use of a slain cultivator’s bones to nourish it.
• Yin Sutang: Is introduced as a powerful, cold, and decisive senior disciple of White Bone Cave. Beneath her composure is a strong desire for vengeance over her murdered junior sister. She is also politically astute, negotiating directly with Chen Mo while maintaining control of the alliance.
• Shi Hu: Shows intense fear and helplessness when confronted by Yin Sutang, yet ultimately cooperates to survive. His cowardice contrasts with the more rational composure of Chu Shuling.
• Chu Shuling: Demonstrates steadiness and practical judgment, explaining the restrictions placed on them and helping Shi Hu accept Yin Sutang’s demands.
• Li Changye: Remains timid and shaken, contributing little beyond confirming that the group cannot escape.
• Bassong and the curse masters: Their motivations are clarified: they seek the Corpse Liberation Method to improve their own Head-Flying Curse and transform their practice.

Significant Themes

• Strength versus strategy: Chen Mo’s inability to immediately overpower Gu Yunzhou shows that victory depends not only on individual power but also on timing, information, and alliances.
• Temporary alliances and mistrust: Chen Mo and Yin Sutang cooperate for mutual benefit, but both remain wary of betrayal and unequal effort.
• Revenge and moral transgression: Yin Sutang’s hatred is rooted in Gu Yunzhou’s desecration of her junior sister, emphasizing the consequences of treating human remains as tools.
• Power accumulated over time: The Sacred Flower’s immense root network represents the danger of long-term accumulation, allowing Gu Yunzhou to withstand attacks that would overwhelm ordinary opponents.
• Fear and coercion: Shi Hu’s interactions with Yin Sutang show how reputation and implied violence can force cooperation without direct combat.
• Life, death, and bodily transformation: The Sacred Flower, Corpse Liberation Method, Head-Flying Curse, and bone-based techniques all blur the boundary between living bodies, corpses, and supernatural existence.

Character Interactions

• Gu Yunzhou and Chen Mo: Their confrontation remains indirect and psychological. Gu Yunzhou mocks Chen Mo while relying on the Sacred Flower to restrain his puppet; Chen Mo studies Gu Yunzhou’s defenses and searches for a more efficient way to obtain the Grudge Soul Guide.
• Yin Sutang and Shi Hu’s group: Yin Sutang intimidates and interrogates the three cultivators, while her smiling junior sister reinforces the threat with the White Bone Heart-Locking Hammer. Chu Shuling provides the honest explanation that they are bound by Chen Mo’s restrictions.
• Yin Sutang and Chen Mo: They establish a guarded but practical partnership. Yin Sutang offers manpower and a plan; Chen Mo demands the Grudge Soul Guide and promises to fight seriously.
• Yin Sutang and Gu Yunzhou: Their conflict is personal, driven by her junior sister’s death and Gu Yunzhou’s use of the woman’s bones.
• The curse masters and Gu Yunzhou: They begin a coordinated assault from concealment, setting the stage for a larger battle against the Sacred Flower.

Chapter Summary: “White Bone Heart-Locking Hammer’s Killing Move”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Gu Yunzhou initiates a powerful ritual by forming hand seals and drawing the life force of Everjoy City’s inhabitants into the Sacred Flower’s blood pool. The citizens’ red flowers wither as their blood essence is gathered to fuel him.
• His aura rapidly rises from Late Qi Refining to Initial Sha-Condensing as he attempts to break through the eighth transformation of the Corpse Liberation Method.
• Yin Sutang explains that the eighth transformation is a major turning point: Gu Yunzhou would fully transform from a living being into an existence between a zombie and a human, breaking the physical body’s restraints and advancing directly to Middle Sha-Condensing.
• Chen Mo and Yin Sutang realize that interrupting the blood pool is their best chance to stop the breakthrough. Chen will drain the pool and distract Gu Yunzhou, while Yin Sutang will charge the White Bone Heart-Locking Hammer and deliver a killing blow once an opening appears.
• Chen Mo reveals that he has been concealing additional strength. He fuses eight shadow puppets into a second, much stronger Shadow Puppet Giant Spirit God, giving him two colossal puppets to attack Gu Yunzhou.
• The two puppets coordinate their assault, attacking Gu Yunzhou’s body and the flower bud supporting his transformation. Gu Yunzhou’s breakthrough slows under the pressure.
• Gu Yunzhou releases eighteen enormous, venomous roots covered in barbs. These roots absorb the puppets’ Killing Intent, weakening and gradually draining them.
• Chen Mo begins extracting the blood essence from the pool using his Water Control talent. Half the pool is drained within moments, forcing Gu Yunzhou to abandon his breakthrough and focus on stopping Chen.
• Gu Yunzhou redirects all the roots toward Chen Mo. Chen forms a blood-essence shield, repeatedly repairing it as the roots batter it. Although the shield holds, the defense consumes the blood essence rapidly.
• Yin Sutang finally completes her preparation. The White Bone Heart-Locking Hammer awakens, releasing the power and deathly pressure of the complete remains of a former peak Foundation Establishment elder.
• The hammer’s shockwave devastates the courtyard and suppresses everyone below Foundation Establishment. Several observers collapse or suffer internal injuries, while Chen Mo realizes the weapon’s true killing move has been unleashed.

Character Developments

• Chen Mo: Demonstrates strategic discipline and hidden power. Rather than confronting Gu Yunzhou directly, he identifies the blood pool as the key weakness and uses his Water Control talent to drain it. He also reveals a second, significantly stronger Giant Spirit God, surprising both allies and enemies.
• Yin Sutang: Shows strong knowledge of the Corpse Liberation Method and accurately identifies the danger of Gu Yunzhou’s breakthrough. She becomes an active tactical partner rather than a passive observer, charging her forbidden weapon for a decisive strike.
• Gu Yunzhou: Initially appears confident that his breakthrough will allow him to crush everyone present. As Chen Mo’s strategy disrupts the blood pool, his composure breaks down, revealing fear and desperation over losing the foundation of his ten years of preparation.
• The round-faced woman and the other observers: Their reactions emphasize the overwhelming scale of Chen Mo’s puppets and Yin Sutang’s hammer. They recognize that both Chen and Yin have been hiding extraordinary abilities.

Significant Themes

• Hidden strength and deception: Chen Mo and Yin Sutang both conceal important abilities, creating uncertainty even among allies. Gu Yunzhou’s overconfidence is partly based on underestimating them.
• Disruption of power at its source: The battle shows that defeating a powerful enemy does not always require overpowering them directly. Chen targets the blood pool—the foundation of Gu Yunzhou’s advancement—to undermine his transformation.
• Life, death, and transformation: Gu Yunzhou’s eighth transformation blurs the boundary between life and death, while the White Bone Heart-Locking Hammer derives its power from the preserved remains and will of a dead cultivator.
• Sacrifice and exploitation: Gu Yunzhou drains the people of Everjoy City to empower himself, turning their lives into fuel for his cultivation.
• Tactical cooperation: Chen Mo and Yin Sutang combine different abilities—water manipulation, puppet combat, and a charged spiritual weapon—to create an opening that neither could easily achieve alone.

Character Interactions

• Chen Mo repeatedly consults Yin Sutang about Gu Yunzhou’s transformation and whether it can be interrupted.
• Yin Sutang explains the Corpse Liberation Method and agrees to attack once Chen creates a sufficient distraction.
• Chen’s hidden second puppet causes Yin Sutang and the round-faced woman to reevaluate his strength and suspect that he has been concealing even more abilities.
• Gu Yunzhou taunts Chen and the puppets while attempting to maintain his breakthrough, but his confidence turns to rage when the blood pool begins disappearing.
• Chen challenges Yin Sutang to act, prompting her to release the fully charged White Bone Heart-Locking Hammer.
• The hammer’s pressure affects every nearby character, dramatically shifting the battle’s momentum and setting up the decisive confrontation with Gu Yunzhou.

Chapter Summary: “Grudge Soul Guide in Hand”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Yin Sutang uses the White Bone Heart-Locking Hammer, which contains the remnant of a Foundation Establishment cultivator, against Gu Yunzhou.
• Gu Yunzhou desperately protects himself by withdrawing his roots and encasing his body within the Sacred Flower’s scales and a massive root cocoon.
• The hammer’s single strike overwhelms every defense, destroys the flower, and kills Gu Yunzhou within two breaths. The attack also devastates the surrounding ruins.
• Chen Mo recognizes the terrifying power of the high-grade artifact and realizes that the hammer’s Foundation Establishment remnant has nearly exhausted itself after the strike.
• Yin Sutang, weakened but suspicious of Chen Mo, turns the hammer on him. She believes Chen Mo deliberately concealed his true strength during the earlier battle.
• Chen Mo responds by unleashing his Merit Banner, releasing all 999 resentful spirits. Their overwhelming yin energy darkens the sky and crushes everyone nearby.
• Jian Yin and the feng shui masters flee, abandoning Gu Yunzhou’s possessions rather than risk being caught in the conflict.
• Chen Mo and his two Shadow Puppet Giant Spirit Gods surround Yin Sutang and her junior sister. Although Yin Sutang still holds the hammer, she recognizes that its power is nearly depleted and that she cannot defeat Chen Mo.
• Chen Mo retrieves the Grudge Soul Guide from Gu Yunzhou’s corpse and stores it away.
• He allows Yin Sutang to take the Corpse Liberation Method, since he considers the technique sinister and potentially dangerous, especially in the post–Red Moon world.
• Chen Mo then withdraws his Giant Spirit Gods and recalls the resentful spirits, ending the confrontation without a fight.
• He confronts Shi Hu, Chu Shuling, and the unconscious Li Changye. After they swear not to reveal what happened, Chen Mo removes the spiritual restriction he had placed on them and lets them live.
• Chen Mo leaves, while the survivors reflect on the terrifying encounter and wonder what he meant by possibly cooperating in the future.

Character Developments

• Chen Mo demonstrates extreme caution, strategic concealment, and overwhelming hidden strength. He allows others to underestimate him, then reveals the full power of the Merit Banner at the decisive moment.
• His interest shifts toward the Grudge Soul Guide and the possibility of using cultivators’ yin spirits rather than ordinary resentful spirits, suggesting a future enhancement to his artifact.
• Chen Mo also shows restraint and pragmatism: he refuses the dangerous Corpse Liberation Method and spares the weaker witnesses after securing their oaths.
• Yin Sutang shifts from confidence and aggression to caution and reluctant acceptance. After witnessing Chen Mo’s hidden abilities, she realizes that fighting him would likely mean death.
• She becomes resentful that Chen Mo concealed his strength, believing his deception forced her to expend most of her power and use the hammer prematurely.
• Gu Yunzhou is completely destroyed, along with the Sacred Flower he spent ten years cultivating, ending his role as the chapter’s principal threat.
• Jian Yin abandons his interest in Gu Yunzhou’s possessions and prioritizes survival, recognizing the danger of cooperating with a powerful “Old Devil.”
• Shi Hu and Chu Shuling are reduced from minor observers to terrified survivors. Their fear of Chen Mo gives way to relief after he spares them.

Significant Themes

• Hidden strength and strategic deception: Chen Mo’s refusal to reveal all his abilities gives him control over the battle and allows him to dominate once his opponents have exhausted themselves.
• The gap between cultivation realms: The Foundation Establishment remnant’s power shows how difficult it is for Sha-Condensing cultivators to overcome a higher realm, even with powerful artifacts or numbers.
• Power versus endurance: The White Bone Heart-Locking Hammer specializes in a devastating single strike, while the Merit Banner is better suited for prolonged suppression and group combat.
• Fear as a weapon: The 999 resentful spirits defeat not only through direct force but also through psychological intimidation, forcing enemies to recognize that resistance is futile.
• Pragmatism and restraint: Chen Mo does not seize every available technique or kill every witness. He takes only what he considers valuable and avoids the dangerous Corpse Liberation Method.
• Temporary alliances and shifting trust: The battle rapidly transforms allies into potential enemies. Yin Sutang and Chen Mo cooperate against Gu Yunzhou, then immediately prepare to fight one another once he dies.

Important Character Interactions

• Chen Mo and Yin Sutang: Their alliance collapses after Gu Yunzhou’s death. Yin Sutang attempts to eliminate Chen Mo before he can act, but Chen Mo counters by revealing the full Merit Banner. Their confrontation ends in an uneasy truce based on mutual recognition of each other’s strength.
• Chen Mo and Gu Yunzhou: Chen Mo helps restrain Gu Yunzhou long enough for Yin Sutang’s hammer to kill him, then claims the Grudge Soul Guide from his remains.
• Yin Sutang and her junior sister: The round-faced woman supports Yin Sutang but becomes visibly frightened once Chen Mo releases the resentful spirits. Her earlier arrogance disappears.
• Chen Mo and the fleeing Jian Yin group: The group recognizes that remaining near the battlefield is suicidal and flees before Chen Mo turns his attention toward them.
• Chen Mo and the three minor survivors: Shi Hu and Chu Shuling beg for mercy and swear secrecy. Chen Mo accepts their oath, removes his restriction, and leaves them alive, hinting that he may cooperate with them again later.

Chapter Summary: “Rice Ball”

Key Plot Points and Events

• After Chen Mo’s battle, the City Lord’s Manor and surrounding buildings lie completely destroyed, and the remaining disciples of Profound Yin Studio have fled.
• As Chen Mo leaves Everjoy City, the Rat Hag and her group of rat-faced monsters block his path. Rather than attack, she leads him to a hidden cave outside the city.
• Inside, Chen Mo discovers the Rat Hag’s young black-and-white rat offspring. She repeatedly tries to persuade him to take the creature with him, even writing “Take it” in the dirt.
• Chen Mo initially refuses, unwilling to take responsibility for raising a pet or burden himself with another obligation.
• The Rat Hag then reveals a second chamber containing a rare Sacred Flower Mother Seed. The other seed, formerly associated with Gu Yunzhou’s Sacred Flower, has withered, leaving this one as the only possible surviving seed.
• She explains that the Sacred Flower can produce Spirit Liquid, which extends lifespan and aids cultivation breakthroughs. The seed must first be nourished with Chen Mo’s blood for a month and will wither if he dies.
• Chen Mo asks why she chose him. The Rat Hag explains that his spiritual power is unusually pure, unlike the contaminated and baleful energy carried by the other outsiders. She believes he is both strong enough to protect the young rat and suitable to nourish it.
• Recognizing the value of the seed and accepting the Rat Hag’s reasoning, Chen Mo agrees to the arrangement. He binds the seed to himself with a drop of blood and takes the young rat with him.
• The Rat Hag names the creature “Tuan Tuan,” but Chen Mo renames it “Rice Ball” because of its round black-and-white appearance.
• Chen Mo leaves with Rice Ball, promising to return someday. After he departs, the Rat Hag writes a final, unseen “Thank you.”

Character Developments

• Chen Mo: Remains cautious, practical, and initially emotionally detached. He refuses the young rat until the Rat Hag offers something genuinely valuable, but he gradually recognizes both the creature’s vulnerability and the strategic importance of the Sacred Flower. His acceptance suggests a growing willingness to form bonds and assume responsibility.
• The Rat Hag: Her intimidating, cunning image gives way to that of a desperate and loving mother. She shows remarkable tenderness toward the young rat and is willing to surrender her greatest treasure to secure its future. Her gratitude and sadness at parting reveal genuine affection and trust.
• Rice Ball: Introduced as timid, curious, and affectionate, the young rat quickly forms the beginning of a bond with Chen Mo. Though unaware of the implications of the agreement, it willingly follows him.
• Gu Yunzhou: Does not appear directly, but his former Sacred Flower and cultivation method remain important to the chapter’s plot and the seed’s significance.

Significant Themes

• Parental sacrifice and love: The Rat Hag gives up her most valuable possession to ensure her child’s survival and growth.
• Trust between unlikely allies: Chen Mo and the Rat Hag overcome their opposing identities through mutual recognition—she trusts him with her offspring, while he accepts the responsibility.
• Pragmatism versus compassion: Chen Mo’s decision begins as a calculated exchange, but his interactions with Rice Ball reveal a subtle movement beyond pure self-interest.
• Purity and corruption: Chen Mo’s pure spiritual power contrasts with the contaminated energy of the other outsiders, making him uniquely suited to nurture both the seed and the young rat.
• Parting and hope: The farewell emphasizes the sadness of separation while presenting Chen Mo’s departure as the beginning of a larger future for Rice Ball.

Character Interactions

• The Rat Hag repeatedly gestures, writes, and pleads with Chen Mo to take Rice Ball, while Chen Mo responds with skepticism and blunt refusal.
• The young rat comforts the dejected Rat Hag, highlighting their close maternal bond.
• Chen Mo and the Rat Hag negotiate over the Sacred Flower Seed’s value, cultivation requirements, and risks.
• The naming exchange between Chen Mo and the Rat Hag marks the emotional transition from a practical arrangement to a more personal relationship.
• Their final farewell is restrained but heartfelt: Chen Mo promises to return, while the Rat Hag silently expresses her gratitude.

Key plot points and events

• Beneath Everjoy City, a long-imprisoned being awakens when the shock of the White Bone Heart-Locking Hammer’s strike reaches his coffin. Calling himself the Blood Demon, he seeks fresh blood to heal his injuries and blasts through the earth toward the Ghost Domain’s exit.
• Cen Du and four surviving Profound Yin Studio disciples flee the ruined Ghost Domain. Cen Du plans to escape to the Southern Seas and insists they abandon the names of the Studio and its dead leader, Gu Yunzhou.
• The Blood Demon lands in their path. Cen Du attacks with a golden, blood-powered Copper Coin Sword, but the weapon melts against an unseen barrier. The Blood Demon drains Cen Du and the other four, then complains that their blood is weak and foul, wishing instead for the blood essence of a sha-condensing cultivator.
• Elsewhere, Chen Mo walks toward the exit carrying the exhausted Rice Ball on his shoulder. His shadow silently spreads as he passes Yin Sutang and the round-faced woman. They exchange no threats or blows; the round-faced woman watches Rice Ball and asks whether it is Chen Mo’s pet.

Character developments and interactions

• The Blood Demon is revealed as an ancient, powerful predator, newly awakened and still injured. His hunger and disdain for ordinary blood establish him as a looming threat.
• Cen Du abandons loyalty to the fallen Profound Yin Studio in favor of survival, but his attempted resistance ends in his death.
• Chen Mo remains composed and keeps moving despite the danger and recent upheaval; his spreading shadow hints that he is quietly preparing or maintaining power.
• Rice Ball is drained from crying and clings to Chen Mo for comfort. Yin Sutang watches Chen Mo pass but does not intervene; the round-faced woman breaks the silence with a curious question.

Significant themes

• Survival over allegiance: Cen Du urges the survivors to forget their defeated leader and organization.
• Predation and the value of life: The Blood Demon treats people as food, judging them by the quality of their blood.
• Uneasy restraint and concealed danger: The calm encounter between Chen Mo and the women contrasts with the Blood Demon’s sudden violence, while Chen Mo’s spreading shadow suggests danger may remain just out of sight.

Plot and events

• Yin Sutang and her round-faced junior sister admire the mysterious black-and-white spirit pet, Rice Ball, perched on Chen Mo. The junior sister hopes to find one herself, but Yin tells her such pets cannot simply be hunted down.
• Chen Mo rushes back toward them with a massive, corrosive blood tide pursuing him. Yin accuses him of deliberately bringing danger their way; he insists he was testing the threat ahead of them.
• The tide contains countless anguished faces, including Cen Du’s, and its aura is powerful enough to erode Yin’s protective energy. Chen estimates that the evil spirit behind it is at Late Sha-Condensing, though likely injured.
• With escape impossible, the three combine their strength. Chen deploys two Giant Spirit Gods and the 999 ghosts of his Merit Banner. Yin uses a recovery pill and strikes with her White Bone Heart-Piercing Hammer, while her junior sister spends a rare White Bone Earthfire Bomb. Their attacks badly shrink the blood tide, which then retreats.
• Chen suspects the retreat is a trick. His awareness detects blood gathering beneath them, and he warns the others just in time. They flee as a huge blood wave erupts from underground and rains down on them. Yin shields herself and her junior sister; Chen’s Shadow Puppet takes the brunt of the corrosive rain. A figure rises from beneath the blood as the chapter ends.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Mo is resourceful and powerful, but remains irreverent and self-serving in manner. He teases Yin about getting help from a supposed martial uncle, then coordinates the counterattack and detects the underground ambush.
• Yin Sutang shifts from anger and suspicion toward relying on Chen’s judgment, especially when he assesses the threat and calls for retreat. She proves decisive and protective, using her hammer and shielding her junior sister.
• The junior sister is openly curious and impulsive, first yearning for Rice Ball and later sacrificing an expensive consumable artifact to help fight.
• Chen and Yin’s alliance is practical but strained: she distrusts his motives, while he casually asks her for more pills after the battle. Despite their bickering, they cooperate effectively under pressure.

Significant themes

• Cooperation amid distrust: The group survives by combining their very different abilities, despite constant friction.
• Danger and deception: The blood tide’s retreat is a trap, reinforcing that apparent victory in the Ghost Domain may conceal greater threats.
• Resourcefulness and sacrifice: Each fighter spends valuable power or equipment to survive, from Yin’s pill and hammer strike to her junior sister’s rare bomb and Chen’s ghosts.

Plot points and events

• A towering, red-eyed Blood Demon confronts Chen Mo, Yin Sutang, and her junior sister inside the Ghost Domain. Though he seems to have Foundation Establishment-level pressure, Chen Mo and Yin Sutang sense that his power is unstable and poorly controlled.
• Chen Mo uses a Heavenly Thunder Talisman. Its Purple Sun Divine Thunder badly burns the Blood Demon and destroys his blood shield, but does not kill him.
• Chen Mo immediately flees through the Ghost Domain’s exit, taking most of his summoned ghosts with him and leaving the two women behind to face the pursuing demon. Yin Sutang reaches for a token as the Blood Demon closes in.
• Outside Murray House, Jian Yin and three companions emerge injured; four of the eight who entered are dead, including Bassong. Jian warns that a terrifying evil spirit may escape and urges the others to summon church experts.
• Shi Hu and his companions also escape, crediting their sect’s third senior brother’s good fortune and swearing off dangerous ventures in the mortal world.
• Chen Mo then emerges surrounded by hundreds of resentful ghosts. He recalls them into his Merit Banner and departs, leaving the gathered feng shui masters terrified.
• At Green Gang headquarters, Liu Qikui reports heavy losses from the Li Family and warns that their new ally—Chen Mo, an Inspection Bureau expert—cannot easily be attacked openly. Gu Ruzhang decides Chen must be killed to clear the way for the gang’s Council Election plans. He gives Zhou Three Blades fifty thousand silver dollars and one month to deliver results.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Mo proves quick-thinking and self-preserving: he uses the thunder talisman effectively, then abandons his allies to escape. Yin Sutang and her junior sister are left in mortal danger and resent his betrayal.
• Yin Sutang remains composed under pressure, assessing the Blood Demon’s weakness before planning an escape; her junior sister is overwhelmed by fear.
• Jian Yin is traumatized by what he witnessed, while the survivors’ battered condition confirms how deadly the Ghost Domain was.
• Gu Ruzhang is calculating and ruthless, focused on political power. Liu Qikui argues for caution, Zhou Three Blades favors brute force, and Gu ultimately orders an assassination despite Liu’s reservations.

Significant themes

• Survival versus loyalty: Chen Mo prioritizes escape over cooperation, casting doubt on the value of alliances.
• Power and vulnerability: The Blood Demon is immensely dangerous, yet his unstable control creates an opening; even a powerful attack can wound without defeating him.
• Fear and the unknown: Survivors’ terror and the local masters’ helplessness emphasize the Ghost Domain’s threat.
• Political ambition and violence: The Green Gang treats Chen as an obstacle to power and responds to setbacks with assassination.

Plot points and events

• After leaving Kowloon, Chen Mo abandons his exhausting high-speed killing-intent flight and uses his Paper Kite to conserve magical power on the trip back to Jin City.
• During the flight, he tends to Rice Ball, the small spirit creature he acquired on the way. He discovers it can absorb his lunar-yin power: the energy briefly surrounds it in a silvery glow, after which Rice Ball looks brighter and fluffier and eagerly asks for more.
• Chen Mo lands on the outskirts of Jin City, takes a tram into town, and returns to Willow Leaf Alley and his home.
• He shows Ghost Banner Daoist the Grudge Soul Guide, a container holding intertwined vengeful-soul silk. Ghost Banner identifies it, explains that he can use the Silk Extraction Art to separate the strands without damaging them, and estimates the work will take seven days to half a month.
• Chen Mo entrusts the Guide to him. With the remaining materials now secured, they can soon begin refining the Ten Thousand Souls Banner.

Character development and interactions

• Chen Mo shows a softer, more attentive side while caring for Rice Ball, worrying about its safety and food and discovering how to nourish it. He also teases it gently when it becomes dizzy and when it begs for more power.
• Rice Ball moves from fear and caution to curiosity and contentment. The open sky and sea amaze it, and its wary response to Ghost Banner Daoist eases once Chen Mo soothes it.
• Ghost Banner Daoist is deferential toward Chen Mo but grows visibly excited and knowledgeable when he recognizes the Grudge Soul Guide. Chen Mo relies on his expertise and gives him responsibility for preparing the silk.

Significant themes

• Care and trust: Chen Mo’s bond with Rice Ball develops through patient attention, while his working relationship with Ghost Banner rests on delegated trust.
• Wonder and contrast: Rice Ball’s delight in the bright, open world contrasts with the gray, joyless sky of the Ghost Domain.
• Cultivation and material scarcity: The chapter explains the hierarchy of magical artifacts, emphasizing how rare powerful treasures are—especially after the red moon—and how much careful craftsmanship the Ten Thousand Souls Banner requires.

Chen Mo learned that the Green Gang planned to attack him within a month and began preparing to weaken the gang while keeping its conflict from drawing the Anomaly Suppression Bureau’s attention. After visiting Aunt Hong for more intelligence, he heard a horrifying account of Gu Ruzhang’s power, leaving the threat around the Green Gang leader more immediate.

• Chen Mo warned Fatty Li that the Green Gang might be planning a major move despite its recent setbacks.
• Chen Mo read Aunt Hong’s letter, which reported that the Green Gang planned to attack him within a month and that Gu Ruzhang had an onmyoji bodyguard.
• The Ghost Banner Daoist explained how onmyoji worked and recalled a rumor that Gu Ruzhang had mysteriously killed a wealthy merchant’s household.
• Chen Mo decided to disrupt the Green Gang’s businesses and ordered the Ghost Banner Daoist to move his artifact-refining work to a safer house.
• Chen Mo secretly visited Aunt Hong and asked about Gu Ruzhang and his female onmyoji.
• Aunt Hong recounted how Gu Ruzhang had emerged from a sealed courtyard holding the complete skin of an intruder who had entered his home.

Chen Mo tested Gu Ruzhang by dropping a concealed gunpowder bomb on his residence, but Gu survived and revealed his grotesque regenerative abilities. Chen Mo escaped into the sky, while Gu prepared a mysterious wooden case in anticipation of another attack.

• Chen Mo questioned Aunt Hong about the man Gu Ruzhang had killed and concluded that he had practiced Blood-Qi Martial Arts.
• Chen Mo prepared his last gunpowder ball, carried it beneath the Paper Kite, and dropped it into Gu Ruzhang's courtyard.
• Gu Ruzhang sent his severed, eye-bearing hand to track Chen Mo, forcing Chen Mo to abandon his hiding place and flee into the sky.
• The explosion devastated Gu Ruzhang's residence, but Gu Ruzhang and Miura survived, and Gu Ruzhang's wounds rapidly regenerated.
• Gu Ruzhang and Miura realized their attacker had flown away, and Gu Ruzhang recovered a talisman-sealed wooden case to prepare for the attacker's return.