Chapter Summaries

After Chu Ming outmaneuvered Medicine Madman and helped defeat Blood Vine Fortress, he discovered that the battle’s blood had fed a new Evil Spirit beneath No. 2 Mine. Jin Yu rushed into the mine to investigate, leaving Chu Ming and Meng Zhen outside as Meng questioned whether he could destroy it.

• Chu Ming accepted Medicine Madman’s poisoned notebook without touching it, let him escape, and gave Meng Zhen the antidote for Soul-Absorbing Bewitching Powder.
• Meng Zhen inferred that Chu Ming possessed extraordinary strength and pledged to keep his identity and abilities secret; Chu Ming collected spoils and resolved to destroy Blood Vine Fortress.
• Chu Ming sensed that blood was flowing beneath No. 2 Mine toward a cold, sinister presence and identified a reappearing Evil Spirit.
• Chu Ming and Meng Zhen found Jin Yu hiding with miners and told him that Blood Vine Fortress had been defeated and an Evil Spirit had appeared.
• Jin Yu explained through his excitement that Evil Spirits could revive and be harvested for Origin Artifacts and materials, then entered No. 2 Mine while Chu Ming and Meng Zhen waited outside.

Chu Ming followed Jin Yu into the mine to investigate the Evil Ticket, which fed on blood and advanced to the third rank, unleashing Evil Aura across the mining site. As the Evil Entity overwhelmed Jin Yu and began devouring people aboveground, Chu Ming revealed himself and attacked it with Ten Primordial Nature Rings.

• Chu Ming disguised himself as a Blood Vine Fortress bandit and entered the tunnel while Meng Zhen learned that the fortress had been wiped out.
• Jin Yu broke through the tunnel wall, found the Evil Ticket, and attacked it with Primordial Techniques while blood from the corpses strengthened it.
• Jin Yu realized the Evil Entity was feeding on blood and tried to cut off the flow, but it advanced to the third rank and attacked him with devouring Evil Aura.
• Black mist spread through the mine and engulfed miners, Qiu Li, and Lv Dong, while Meng Zhen escaped its reach.
• After exhausting his energy, Jin Yu faced death until Chu Ming struck the Evil Entity with ten Primordial Void Rings, driving back its Evil Aura.

Chu Ming destroyed the Evil Spirit at the mine, acquired materials for an Origin Artifact, and helped contain the aftermath of the attack. After surveying the devastation and arranging relief, he faced Meng Zhen’s discovery that Shen Yu knew about his strength.

• Jin Yu used a Primordial Nature ring to destroy the Evil Spirit, and he gave Chu Ming the Primordial Substance and Origin Artifact material in exchange for a promise that Chu Ming would forge him a weapon.
• Jin Yu left for the Divine Mystery Bureau while Chu Ming returned to his own appearance and inspected the badly damaged mine, identifying the attack as an assassination by the Blood Fiend Cult.
• Chu Ming and Meng Zhen rescued people and restored order, and Chu Ming ordered relief and compensation after officials counted hundreds of miners, runners, and Jing Salt Guards killed or wounded.
• Chu Ming gave Shen Yu a prescription for the antidote to the Soul-Absorbing Bewitching Powder, and Meng Zhen confronted Shen Yu for knowing about Chu Ming’s strength.

After the mine’s losses raised fears of repercussions, Chu Ming discovered he could control the mysterious black stone with his Primordial Sense. Medicine Madman secretly returned to No. 1 Mine, retrieved the Seven-Star Divine Flower, and was struck by a sudden attack as he tried to leave.

• Ye Hong reported that three of the dead bandits were near-perfect Organ Refining experts and suspected the mysterious fighter had surpassed that level.
• Chu Ming burned Medicine Madman’s notebook, examined his other items, and used his Primordial Sense to lift and control the black stone.
• Medicine Madman slipped into No. 1 Mine, knocked out the miners, and melted a deep passage through the rock with a powder.
• Medicine Madman found the Seven-Star Divine Flower, plucked it for his Seven-Star Life-Extending Pill, and killed the Jing Salt Rat on his way out.
• A crushing pressure struck Medicine Madman near the passage exit, and a blow collapsed the mountain where he had just stood.

Chu Ming defeated Medicine Madman’s poison attack and obtained the Seven-Star Flower and the formula for Vein Severing Life-Taking Liquid. After revealing a vast underground Jing Salt deposit, he left Shen Yu with news that could secure him a promotion and counter the Fifth Prince’s scheme.

• Chu Ming demanded Medicine Madman’s exotic beast and the Seven-Star Flower, then dodged his poison and short sword with ease.
• Chu Ming traded the Seven-Star Divine Flower for Medicine Madman’s Vein Severing Life-Taking Liquid formula and let him escape.
• Chu Ming took the Great Grey Rat’s corpse back and told Shen Yu and Meng Zhen that the exotic beast’s parts and meat would benefit them.
• Chu Ming revealed an underground Jing Salt deposit equal to about five years of output from the three major tunnels, including top-quality Jing Salt.
• Shen Yu sent an urgent report to Prefecture Governor Xiao He so the discovery and Chu Ming’s credit could reach Qi Capital.

Medicine Madman gathered the ingredients for a Life-Prolonging Pill in Green Moon Ridge, where Teng Zong ambushed him over a mistaken belief that he had attacked the Blood Vine Fortress's mine. After escaping and poisoning most of the fortress's strongholds, Medicine Madman faced a new trap as An Hengying ordered Teng Zong to spread word that the fortress was hunting him.

• Medicine Madman collected the Purple Ling Leaf and the Millennium Green Moon Fruit, completing his search for the Life-Prolonging Pill ingredients.
• Teng Zong and the Blood Vine Fortress ambushed Medicine Madman outside Green Moon Ridge, mistakenly blaming him for the attack on their mine.
• Medicine Madman used Vein Severing Life-Taking Liquid to kill more than twenty attackers, including Teng Yi, then escaped.
• Medicine Madman poisoned seven of the Blood Vine Fortress's ten strongholds overnight, killing more than a thousand people.
• An Hengying told Teng Zong that the Blood Fiend Cult wanted Medicine Madman's poison formula and ordered him to spread news that the fortress was mobilizing to capture Medicine Madman.

Medicine Madman was captured while attempting to poison Blood Vine Fortress, while Chu Ming set out to destroy the fortress after the princes announced rewards for suppressing its bandits. The chapter ended with Chu Ming, disguised as Brother Fang, resting in Fengteng County and being asked by Black Bear why he did not seek work at the County Government Office.

• Medicine Madman was captured by An Hengying and Teng Zong, and An Hengying offered to spare him in exchange for his poison recipes.
• Chu Ming told Shen Yu he would go after Blood Vine Fortress to avenge the miners, and promised to return to the prefectural city within two days.
• At the Prefecture Government Office, the Fifth Prince ordered An Hengying to lead the effort against Blood Vine Fortress, while the Seventh Prince proposed rewards for bandits killed and official posts for Fortress Masters slain.
• Two men in a Fengteng County tavern planned to frame beggar children for bandit-killing rewards, while other patrons discussed joining Teng Family Manor as servants.
• Chu Ming, disguised as Brother Fang, drank with Black Bear in a tavern, where Black Bear asked why he did not seek work at the County Government Office.

Chu Ming followed members of the Blood Fiend Cult to the Fengteng County Government Office and discovered the County Magistrate and other officials abusing and killing girls as blood offerings. He rescued the survivors, crippled the Young Master of Blood Vine Fortress, and left him to the girl he had terrorized.

• Chu Ming sensed Blood Fiend Cult members at Green Smoke Pavilion and followed their Young Master after buying a chopping blade.
• The Young Master and his guards entered the County Government Office, where Magistrate Wang prepared three girls as blood offerings.
• Chu Ming burst into the dungeon carrying the head of the Bone Strengthening Realm guard and killed Magistrate Wang and several officials with Black Stone.
• The Young Master of Blood Vine Fortress begged for his life and threatened Chu Ming with his father's power, but Chu Ming crippled him instead of killing him.
• Chu Ming handed the girl a blade and left the helpless Young Master for her to take revenge.

Chu Ming rescued Chen Wanshu and her sisters from the Blood Vine Fortress and uncovered a letter showing that Fengteng County officials and merchants, including Teng Family Manor, were helping recruit bandits. Meanwhile, Black Bear followed the recruitment to Teng Family Manor, where the applicants were trapped and ordered to join the bandits or die.

• Chen Wanshu avenged her parents by stabbing the Blood Vine Fortress Young Master to death, and Chu Ming found a bloodstained letter listing the fortress’s connections in Fengteng County.
• Chu Ming rescued Chen Wanshu and her sisters, led them out of the county, and gave them silver and a martial arts manual before leaving them in a town.
• Black Bear traveled toward Teng Family Manor, defended an old man from robbers, and joined the martial artists chosen from the crowd of applicants.
• Teng Family Manor’s guards led Black Bear and the other selected recruits into a bloodstained plaza and blocked the exits.
• Teng Hua revealed that the recruits had to join the bandits or die, and Black Bear angrily faced the threat.

Chu Ming attacked Teng Family Manor, a Blood Vine Fortress stronghold, while Black Bear poisoned Teng Hua to avenge his murdered brother. Chu Ming reached the dungeon and struck Teng Hua as he tortured Black Bear.

• Teng Hua revealed that Teng Family Manor served the Blood Vine Fortress and killed a man who refused to become a bandit.
• Black Bear confronted Teng Hua over his brother’s death, then poisoned him by trading his own life for revenge.
• Teng Hua ordered the crowd to search Black Bear for an antidote and took him to the dungeon when none was found.
• Chu Ming reached Teng Family Manor and used Black Stones to kill its guards, lord, and other members.
• Teng Hua tortured Black Bear in the dungeon, but Chu Ming broke through the door and blasted Teng Hua away.

Chu Ming buried Black Bear, gathered treasure, and set out to destroy Blood Vine Fortress. Meanwhile, Jiang Jing and Jiang Yan infiltrated the fortress and captured Teng Qian as part of their plan to kill Teng Zong and avenge their mother.

• Black Bear died after Teng Hua was killed, and Chu Ming buried him and promised to avenge his elder brother.
• Chu Ming hid valuable treasure, destroyed Blood Vine Fortress's hidden outposts, and headed for the fortress.
• Jiang Jing and Jiang Yan entered Blood Vine Fortress disguised as men and avoided harming the captive women there.
• The sisters shed their disguises, lured Teng Qian into his room, and bound and drugged him.
• Jiang Yan demanded that Teng Qian summon his father, Teng Zong, and Teng Qian realized they had poisoned him.

Jiang Jing and Jiang Yan tried to kill their father, Blood Vine Fortress Master Teng Zong, but he resisted their poison and overpowered them. Outside the fortress, Chu Ming rescued Medicine Madman from torture and prepared to enlist him in destroying Blood Vine Fortress.

• Jiang Yan poisoned Teng Qian and helped Jiang Jing confront Teng Zong, who revealed he had sensed them and spat out their poisoned wine.
• Teng Zong knocked out Jiang Jing and Jiang Yan, then ordered Teng Qian to take an antidote and kill the guards who had seen his daughters.
• After waking, Jiang Jing and Jiang Yan resolved to seek a way to kill Teng Zong, who was in the Meridian Opening Realm.
• Chu Ming searched Blood Vine Fortress with his Sword Gourd Spiritual Sense, found Medicine Madman in the dungeon, and broke his chains after severing the Third Chief's hand.
• Medicine Madman poisoned the Third Chief in revenge, then thanked Chu Ming and recognized that his poison had been improved.
• Chu Ming told Medicine Madman he had a favor to ask, while Medicine Madman insisted Chu Ming call him by his name.

Chu Ming freed Yao Qi and helped him prepare poison to destroy Blood Vine Fortress, while releasing the fortress’s prisoners to sow chaos. As Chu Ming confronted Teng Zong and learned that An Hengying was approaching with more than six hundred Censorate constables, Yao Qi encountered Teng Qian in the Iron Tower.

• Yao Qi told Chu Ming about his feud with Blood Vine Fortress and warned him that Teng Zong and An Hengying were powerful; Chu Ming ordered Yao Qi to poison the other bandits.
• Chu Ming guided Yao Qi through the fortress undetected, killed a group of guards, and helped him make Soul-Absorbing Blood-Devouring Powder from the fortress’s medicinal supplies.
• Chu Ming freed the prisoners, who rushed into the fortress and caused chaos, then detected An Hengying approaching with more than six hundred constables from the West Rong Prefecture Censorate.
• Teng Zong learned that Yao Qi had escaped and the prisoners were free, but Chu Ming entered the main stronghold and confronted him after the Second Chief was thrown into the hall.
• Teng Qian went to the Iron Tower, where Yao Qi poisoned the Third Chief; the guards fled when they realized the Medicine Madman was inside, and Teng Qian turned to face Yao Qi.

Chu Ming attacked Blood Vine Fortress and pursued its master, Teng Zong, while Jiang Jing offered him her family's Golden Fragment in exchange for killing Teng Zong. Chu Ming accepted and chased Teng Zong into the night, where his spiritual sense detected a powerful, familiar presence beside the fleeing fortress master.

• Medicine Madman revealed that he had dealt with Blood Vine Fortress's Third Chief, then asked Teng Qian for help as a scream came from the Iron Tower.
• Jiang Jing and Jiang Yan found their guards gone and discovered that a battle had reduced the fortress's main hall to ruins.
• Chu Ming overwhelmed Teng Zong, who seized his daughters and tried to use them to bargain, but Chu Ming continued his attack.
• Jiang Jing offered Chu Ming the Golden Fragment and herself in return for Teng Zong's death, and Chu Ming agreed before giving the sisters antidote pills.
• Teng Zong fled and sent bandits to delay Chu Ming, but Chu Ming defeated them and continued pursuing him.
• Chu Ming's spiritual sense detected a powerful, familiar person beside Teng Zong after the fortress master stopped moving.

Chu Ming fought An Hengying and Teng Zong at Blood Vine Fortress while Medicine Madman spread poison through the fortress. As An Hengying and Teng Zong began to falter, Teng Zong rang a blood-colored bell to summon the Bloodthirsty Guards, and Chu Ming tried to stop him.

• Chu Ming recognized An Hengying beside Teng Zong and fought both Meridian Opening Realm experts, driving them through Blood Vine Fortress and into its bandits.
• Chu Ming deliberately led the battle into Teng Zong's elite fighters, while An Hengying began searching for a chance to escape.
• Medicine Madman spread Soul-Absorbing Blood-Devouring Powder around the fortress, killed Teng Qian, and hurried toward the battle.
• Jiang Jing and Jiang Yan watched Chu Ming suppress An Hengying and Teng Zong, and Medicine Madman arrived and recognized An Hengying.
• Teng Zong revealed that two Bloodthirsty Guards were hidden at the fortress and took out a blood-colored bell to summon them.
• Chu Ming struck at Teng Zong to stop him, but An Hengying blocked the attacks as Teng Zong rang the bell.

Chu Ming fought off the Bloodthirsty Guards and drove An Hengying and Teng Zong to flee, then pursued them after destroying the guards. Jiang Jing and Jiang Yan confronted their defeated father, Teng Zong, but could not bring themselves to kill him.

• Two Bloodthirsty Guards arrived and joined Teng Zong and An Hengying in attacking Chu Ming, while Medicine Madman stepped in to help.
• Chu Ming burned more Qi and Blood Power and struck back, but the guards combined their Killing Intent into the Blood Fiend Formation and blasted him into the ruins.
• Chu Ming rose unharmed enough to fight, and An Hengying fled after the shock wave injured him; Teng Zong also ran as Chu Ming overwhelmed the Bloodthirsty Guards.
• Chu Ming destroyed the two guards, caught up to Medicine Madman and Teng Zong, and incapacitated Teng Zong before continuing after An Hengying.
• Jiang Jing and Jiang Yan found Teng Zong and raised their blades to kill him, but stopped just short when they could not strike their father.

Teng Zong confessed his past to Jiang Jing and Jiang Yan before killing himself, while Chu Ming hunted down and killed An Hengying. After returning to Blood Vine Fortress, Chu Ming accepted treasures from Medicine Madman and asked Jiang Jing for the short blades.

• Teng Zong revealed that he had destroyed the Jiang family and killed the women’s mother, then took his own life on the broken blade so Jiang Jing and Jiang Yan could let go of their hatred.
• Chu Ming tracked An Hengying through the forest, and An Hengying tried to bribe him with a poisoned Beast Scroll before attacking him.
• Chu Ming caught An Hengying’s sword between two fingers, shattered it, and killed him after exposing his poison trick.
• Chu Ming took An Hengying’s belongings and used the incomplete Tiger Python Body-Forging Technique to advance his Mountain-Sea Origin Body Technique.
• Chu Ming returned to Blood Vine Fortress with An Hengying’s corpse, accepted the Blood-Colored Bell and silver bracers from Medicine Madman, and asked Jiang Jing for the short blades.

Chu Ming subdued Yao Qi with the Vein Severing Qi Locking Pill and returned with him to the Blood Vine Fortress, where the poison spread and the constables and escaped prisoners clashed. In Teng Zong’s residence, Chu Ming found another Golden Fragment and notes suggesting it could reveal Primordial Void, leaving him with a new lead about the fragments.

• Chu Ming tested the Silver Moon Bracers, then made Yao Qi swallow the Vein Severing Qi Locking Pill and ordered him to take a replenishment pill every ten days.
• Chu Ming told Yao Qi to help clear the remaining threats in the fortress, while he let Jiang Jing and the other woman leave unharmed.
• Zhou Xi led constables into the fortress, where the Medicine Madman’s poison afflicted bandits and constables, and more than fifty escaped prisoners attacked them.
• Chu Ming and Yao Qi entered the fortress treasury; Chu Ming took a box of valuables and told Yao Qi where to find the Seven-Star Divine Flower and medicines.
• Chu Ming found a hidden compartment in Teng Zong’s residence containing a Golden Fragment, the Blood Fiend Art, and a notebook recording Teng Zong’s decades of research into the fragment.

Chu Ming discovered that blood allowed him to control Teng Zong's Golden Fragment and use its Mustard Seed Space, then uncovered and destroyed the Blood Vine in Blood Vine Fortress's dungeon. He left Yao Qi to train Jiang Jing and Jiang Yan, secretly tested his obedience, and set out for West Rong Prefecture after moving the fortress's treasures.

• Chu Ming fed Teng Zong's Golden Fragment his blood, gained control of it, and discovered it contained a storage space that could hold objects.
• Chu Ming found a Wind Vine nourished by a Blood Pool full of corpses, removed its withered branch, and burned the dungeon and vine.
• Chu Ming gave antidote to surviving Constables, took the fortress's treasure chests, and agreed to let Jiang Jing and Jiang Yan follow him.
• Chu Ming ordered Yao Qi to take Jiang Jing and Jiang Yan as disciples and bring gold, silver, and herbs to West Rong Prefecture.
• Chu Ming secretly followed Yao Qi and the women, confirmed Yao Qi was teaching them as ordered, then transported most of the fortress's treasures and headed for West Rong Prefecture.

Chu Ming infiltrated An Estate, found evidence linking An Hengying to private-salt smuggling and the Yan Han Order, and discovered a third Golden Fragment that fused with his own to expand the Palm Universe. After learning about the Blood Fiend Cult’s corpse-refining methods and gaining basic Artifact Refining knowledge, he headed toward the girl who might be An Ying, while a forbidden encounter unfolded elsewhere in the estate.

• Chu Ming returned to West Rong Prefecture with Shen Yu and his party after reporting that the Blood Vine Fortress had been dealt with.
• Chu Ming entered An Estate, sensed a girl resembling the supposedly dead An Ying in a Blood Pool, and opened An Hengying’s secret chamber.
• Chu Ming fused the third Golden Fragment with his own, doubling the Palm Universe’s dimensions to two zhang across.
• Chu Ming found records tying An Hengying to private-salt smuggling and learned that the Yan Han Order was the key to the Great Yan Dynasty’s treasury beneath the Yan Imperial Mausoleum.
• Chu Ming read a manual on creating Blood Guards, gained beginner Artifact Refining, collected the chamber’s treasures, and burned the manual.
• Chu Ming left to investigate the girl who might be An Ying as a woman and a young master secretly embraced in a quiet room.