Chapter Summaries

Shen Xiu chose the Blood Sea Cult’s Sun Changya as his bounty target and visited the Shen Family to learn where he was hiding. After Shen Xiu revealed his seventh-realm cultivation, Shen Ruohai gave him a map marking Sun Changya’s activity around Jinyang Ridge.

• Shen Xiu asked a shopkeeper where to find dangerous criminals and learned about the bounty notices by the city gate.
• Shen Xiu found Sun Changya’s bounty poster, selected the seventh-realm Blood Sea Cult protector as his target, and took down the notice.
• Shen Xiu returned to Great Qu City and went to the Shen Family to ask about Sun Changya.
• Shen Ruohai tested Shen Xiu’s strength, then relaxed when Shen Xiu revealed his seventh-realm cultivation.
• Shen Ruohai gave Shen Xiu a map showing Sun Changya’s activity around Jinyang Ridge.

Shen Xiu searched Jinyang Ridge for the Blood Sea Cult protector Sun Changya and tracked him to a cliffside cave. Sun Changya fled into the forest after Shen Xiu arrived, and Shen Xiu pursued him.

• Shen Xiu sent his Wraiths through Jinyang Ridge to search for Sun Changya.
• A Fifth Realm Wraith vanished after encountering Sun Changya, leading Shen Xiu to race toward its last location.
• Sun Changya, injured from his fight with Shen Ruohai, crushed the Wraith that had found his cave.
• Sun Changya spotted Shen Xiu approaching and threw a Black Pearl at him before fleeing into the forest.
• Shen Xiu blasted apart the Black Pearl's black smoke and chased Sun Changya through the woods.

Shen Xiu defeated Sun Changya’s two Blood Sea Cult reinforcements and turned them into Wraiths, then sent them after the badly wounded Protector. Sun Changya fled until the two men he had seen die reappeared in his path.

• Shen Xiu struck Sun Changya with a powerful punch, and Sun Changya offered rewards while secretly preparing to summon help.
• Sun Changya fired a signal flare, and two Blood Sea Cult members arrived to aid him.
• Shen Xiu killed the two reinforcements with a brief flurry of punches and turned them into Seventh Realm Wraiths.
• Shen Xiu sent the Wraiths after the fleeing Sun Changya, who saw them reappear before him unharmed.

Shen Xiu killed Sun Changya, learned the location and strength of a nearby Blood Sea Cult stronghold, and claimed the Shen Family's bounty. He rejected Shen Ruohai's offer to become a guest elder and left Great Qu City with his plans for the stronghold still ahead.

• Shen Xiu captured Sun Changya with help from Lao Huang and Lao Wang, then killed him and summoned his Wraith.
• Shen Xiu had Sun Changya's Wraith record the nearby Blood Sea Cult branch's location and forces, including its Eight Realms Yuan Transformation master and two Seventh Realm cultivators.
• Shen Xiu brought Sun Changya's head to the Shen Family in Great Qu City, and Shen Ruohai paid him the promised reward.
• Shen Ruohai offered Shen Xiu the position of guest elder, but Shen Xiu declined and asked for information about the Blood Sea Cult stronghold before leaving.

Shen Xiu followed Sun Changya's wraith through the snowfields to the hidden entrance of a Blood Sea Cult outpost. After killing two cult guards and their Fierce Dog, he entered the dark tunnel leading inside.

• Shen Xiu followed Sun Changya's wraith through the snow-pine forest toward the outpost's concealed entrance.
• Two Blood Sea Cult guards and their Fierce Dog encountered the wraith, and Shen Xiu killed them and raised the dog as a wraith.
• Shen Xiu followed the guards' tracks and Sun Changya's wraith to a hidden tunnel entrance behind rocks and a snow pine.
• Shen Xiu entered the tunnel behind Sun Changya's wraith, heading toward the Blood Sea Cult's outpost.

Shen Xiu led the Wraiths into a Blood Sea Cult stronghold guarded by hundreds of mutated Fierce Dogs. As Sun Changya fought through the pack toward its Lead Dog, the battle continued on the mountain slope.

• Shen Xiu and the Wraiths killed two Blood Sea Cult sentries and their Fierce Dogs before heading deeper into the tunnel.
• Shen Xiu found hundreds of Fierce Dogs packed along the steep tunnel slope and sent Wraith Sun Changya and two other seventh-realm Wraiths to fight them.
• The three Wraiths tore through the charging pack, while Shen Xiu cut down Fierce Dogs that tried to attack him.
• Shen Xiu spotted the cow-sized Lead Dog directing the pack and signaled Sun Changya to pursue it.
• The Lead Dog retreated and summoned Fierce Dogs to block Sun Changya, who continued battering them aside with his punches.

Shen Xiu fought through the Fierce Dogs and Blood Sea Cult members before discovering the cult’s hidden stronghold deep inside a Sky Pit. He watched the cult worship a blood-fed wooden stake that grew strange ears, then descended into the stronghold undetected.

• Shen Xiu killed the Lead Dog, and the remaining Fierce Dogs lost their coordination and were easily defeated.
• Blood Sea Cult members attacked Shen Xiu with crossbows, but he caught and returned their bolts, killing several; Wraith Sun Changya finished off a wounded cultist.
• Shen Xiu used the Twin Pupils Heavenly Eye to survey the Sky Pit and see the cult’s buildings, hot springs, and crimson lamps.
• Shen Xiu watched Blood Sea Cult members pour red liquid over a strange wooden stake, which grew new mushroom-like ears that two worshippers ate.
• Shen Xiu suspected the red liquid was blood and drifted down from the cliff, landing in the shadows behind a building.

Shen Xiu infiltrated the Blood Sea Cult’s stronghold beneath the Sky Pit disguised as a disciple and attacked after Elder Yu exposed the impostor Sun Changya. Shen Xiu and Sun Changya fought through the cult’s forces while Elder Yu engaged the Wraith, realizing it resembled Protector Sun but was no longer truly him.

• Shen Xiu estimated the stronghold held two or three hundred people and killed a disciple who entered the alley alone.
• Shen Xiu changed into the disciple’s clothes and sent Sun Changya’s Wraith ahead, posing as Protector Sun with Shen Xiu as his lackey.
• Elder Yu recognized that the approaching Sun Changya was not the real Protector Sun and ordered the cult to seize him.
• Shen Xiu and Sun Changya’s Wraith fought through the cult disciples, with Shen Xiu deflecting crossbow bolts and hurling them back at the attackers.
• Elder Yu attacked Sun Changya’s Wraith and became convinced that it matched Protector Sun’s appearance and movements but had become something like a Demonic Entity.

Shen Xiu fought his way through the Blood Sea Cult stronghold and entered its inner courtyard, where he discovered the cult's higher-ups worshipping a strange wooden stake. The branch master ordered the gathered members to kill him, and the courtyard erupted into battle.

• Shen Xiu killed a blood-covered fighter and a gaunt man with poisoned iron claws as he fought through the stronghold.
• A fleeing Blood Sea Cult member led Shen Xiu to the sealed building, and Shen Xiu killed him and broke into the courtyard behind it.
• Shen Xiu found the cult's higher-ups performing a ritual around a larger wooden stake bearing vivid red ear-like growths.
• Shen Xiu summoned a wraith, which killed several deacons, while Shen Xiu split a short attacker and his enormous broadsword in two.
• The Majestic Man ordered the higher-ups to attack, and they surrounded Shen Xiu and the wraith.

Shen Xiu fought the Blood Sea Cult’s seventh-realm martial cultivators inside their stronghold and overwhelmed a black-clad swordsman despite his ability to keep moving after being stabbed through the heart. The swordsman died after Shen Xiu pierced his neck and crushed his head.

• Shen Xiu evaded attacks from the Blood Sea Cult Branch Master’s hidden fighters and battled a black-clad man who burst through the roof.
• Shen Xiu shattered the black-clad man’s broadsword and suppressed him, despite the man surviving a piercing wound to the heart.
• The black-clad man fled at great speed, but Shen Xiu intercepted him and shattered his replacement sword into fragments.
• Shen Xiu used the fragments to wound the black-clad man, then pierced his neck with one fragment.
• Shen Xiu crushed the fallen man’s head with several punches to ensure he could not survive.

Shen Xiu fought the Blood Sea Cult Branch Master while using his wraiths to overwhelm the cult’s stronghold. The branch master eventually abandoned his plan to wear Shen Xiu down and moved to stop him from destroying the stronghold and seizing his subordinates.

• Shen Xiu killed the man in black and turned him into another wraith before heading toward the inner courtyard.
• Shen Xiu summoned Sun Changya and gathered four Seventh Realm wraiths after the Blood Sea Cult Branch Master blasted Sun Changya’s wraith away.
• The Blood Sea Cult Branch Master attacked Shen Xiu, who used Golden Cicada Sheds Its Shell and struck back with a powerful blow.
• Shen Xiu and the branch master exchanged more than a dozen attacks, and the branch master recognized Shen Xiu’s formidable defensive technique.
• The branch master tried to avoid direct combat, so Shen Xiu and his wraiths slaughtered nearby cultists and captured two Seventh Realm leaders.
• The Blood Sea Cult Branch Master could no longer watch Shen Xiu destroy the stronghold and seize his subordinates, and prepared to intervene.

Shen Xiu fought the Blood Sea Cult Branch Master in the Sky Pit, countering his Blood Hand Demon Claw and driving him back with the Demon Slaying Saber. Shen Xiu’s powerful slash destroyed the Branch Master’s weapon and left him badly injured, though he survived.

• The Blood Sea Cult Branch Master attacked Shen Xiu with a corrosive Blood Hand Demon Claw, but Shen Xiu blocked it with black flames and true qi.
• The Blood Sea Cult Branch Master charged Shen Xiu with a sinister demon claw weapon, and Shen Xiu met him with the Demon Slaying Saber.
• Shen Xiu’s first slash forced the Blood Sea Cult Branch Master back several steps.
• A Wraith clung to the Blood Sea Cult Branch Master’s leg and delayed his escape from Shen Xiu’s immense Saber Aura.
• Shen Xiu’s full-force slash sent the Blood Sea Cult Branch Master flying, shattered his demon claw, and left him wretched but alive.

Shen Xiu fought the Blood Sea Cult Branch Master after his hidden Wraiths disrupted the cult leader’s escape. He defeated him in a final clash and killed him, leaving the Blood Sea Cult members to witness their leader’s death.

• Shen Xiu’s hidden Wraiths slowed the Blood Sea Cult Branch Master, allowing Shen Xiu to land a devastating slash.
• The Blood Sea Cult Branch Master survived and attacked Shen Xiu with a blood-red palm, but Shen Xiu met it with Prison Suppressing Dragon Elephant Strength.
• The Blood Sea Cult Branch Master trapped Shen Xiu in an illusion, but Shen Xiu used the Twin Pupils Heavenly Eye to break free.
• Shen Xiu struck the Blood Sea Cult Branch Master with a black-flamed punch and sent him crashing into a building.
• Shen Xiu found the Blood Sea Cult Branch Master barely alive and killed him by gripping his throat.

Shen Xiu wiped out the Blood Sea Cult outpost, looted its wealth, and fed two Flesh Wood Stakes to the Nine Transformations Golden Cicada before continuing his journey. In a tavern, a Vajra Temple monk asked him to deal with a Black Armored Nether Soldier on Tiandu Mountain in exchange for claiming the monk had taught him the Indestructible Vajra Divine Skill, and Shen Xiu agreed.

• Shen Xiu ordered the Blood Sea Cult Branch Master's Wraith to kill the remaining cultists and searched the outpost for valuables.
• The Nine Transformations Golden Cicada devoured both Flesh Wood Stakes, raising its satiety to 33.3%.
• Shen Xiu looted the outpost's leaders, returned the fading Wraith to the Nether Prison, and left at dawn.
• Shen Xiu traveled by carriage for several days, then met an old monk from Vajra Temple in a tavern.
• The old monk offered to claim he had taught Shen Xiu the Indestructible Vajra Divine Skill if Shen Xiu helped deal with a Black Armored Nether Soldier on Tiandu Mountain.
• Shen Xiu accepted the old monk's proposal.

Shen Xiu traveled with Old Monk Lishan toward Tiandu Mountain to confront a Black Armored Nether Soldier and learned that the Nether Ancient Divine Hall planted Netherworld Pearls in human lands. Near their destination, they found a town slaughtered and apparently being transformed into a netherland.

• Shen Xiu agreed to help Old Monk Lishan deal with the Black Armored Nether Soldier, and they set out for Tiandu Mountain.
• Old Monk Lishan told Shen Xiu that Netherworld Pearls could grow into Black Armored Nether Soldiers and that members of the Nether Ancient Divine Hall brought them into human territory.
• Shen Xiu and Old Monk Lishan reached a deserted town near Tiandu Mountain and sensed that something was wrong.
• Old Monk Lishan rushed into the town, where he and Shen Xiu found streets covered with hundreds of corpses.
• Shen Xiu saw black qi rising from the bodies and concluded that the Black Armored Nether Soldier was turning the town into a netherland.

Shen Xiu advanced through a town corrupted by Netherworld Qi, cutting down the demons drawn to his abundant Qi and blood. After sensing Old Monk Lishan fighting deeper in the mist, he pressed on and attacked a larger gathering of demons, including several stronger ones.

• Shen Xiu took a saber and entered the ruined town, where Netherworld Qi had turned dead residents into demons.
• Shen Xiu cut apart the demons that swarmed him and destroyed their heads, while the Qi Gathering Bead absorbed their remaining essence of Qi and blood.
• Shen Xiu sensed pale golden Buddha's Light and bizarre howls ahead, recognizing that Old Monk Lishan had begun fighting.
• Shen Xiu reached an intersection where dozens of demons gathered, including two or three with fourth- or fifth-level auras.
• Shen Xiu charged into the demons and repeatedly slashed through them with his saber.

Shen Xiu fought a horde of mutated fiends in a silent town, using powerful saber strikes to kill them despite his weapons repeatedly breaking. After slaughtering the last Rank Six fiend, he found that his Netherworld Yama skill could not summon wraiths from the corpses.

• Shen Xiu split a Rank Six fiend in two with a saber strike, but the heavy blade shattered under his true force.
• The remaining Rank Six fiend shrieked to summon the other fiends, and Shen Xiu killed more than half of them with successive saber strikes.
• A Rank Six fiend ambushed Shen Xiu, but he wounded it with a slash and then repelled another fiend with a punch.
• Two Rank Six fiends attacked together, and Shen Xiu split the wounded one in two while his protective energy sent the other crashing through houses.
• Shen Xiu killed the remaining fiends and pursued the last Rank Six fiend into the ruins, where he finished it with a saber strike.
• Shen Xiu activated the Netherworld Yama skill, but no wraiths emerged from the fiend corpses.

Lin Jiaye’s village fended off waves of fiends with the help of Old Li Tou and the powerful Old Monk Lishan, who promised to investigate the disaster. After telling Lin Jiaye to leave through a path opened at the north gate, Lishan headed south and struck down a fleeing fiend with a devastating golden punch.

• Lin Jiaye watched crossbow volleys slow the fiends attacking Lin Family Village, while Old Li Tou used a Demon Slaying Saber to kill several and drive the rest away.
• Another wave attacked, and Old Monk Lishan arrived, using Buddha’s Light to immobilize the fiends and disperse the black qi within them.
• Lin Jiaye introduced himself to Lishan and explained that most townsfolk had transformed overnight; Lishan said he would investigate.
• Lishan warned Lin Jiaye that the village was unsafe and told him to escape through a path opened at the north gate.
• Lishan walked south and destroyed a fleeing fiend with a golden punch before continuing onward.

Shen Xiu and Old Monk Lishan confronted a powerful Black Armored Nether Soldier that attacked them with chains and overwhelming killing intent. The soldier broke through their attacks and manifested a sinister black suit of armor as the fight continued.

• Shen Xiu sensed an aura and chased after Old Monk Lishan, who had raced south ahead of him.
• A Black Armored Nether Soldier burst from a mound and attacked Shen Xiu with a spear, forcing him to dodge and block its strike.
• Old Monk Lishan arrived and used a golden Buddhist palm to suppress and repel the soldier, but it shattered the palm with black mist.
• The soldier transformed its weapons into chains and attacked both men; Old Monk Lishan blasted one chain apart while Shen Xiu snapped the other and charged.
• Old Monk Lishan summoned a giant golden swastika, but the soldier pierced through it with its chains.
• The soldier roared and formed black armor covered in ghostly patterns and chains, sending a deadly black tide across the surrounding land.

Old Monk Lishan and Shen Xiu fought a second, stronger Black Armored Nether Soldier after Lishan killed the first with a golden Pagoda technique. As Lishan battered the second soldier close to death, Shen Xiu asked him to leave the final blow so he could test his innate skill, Netherworld Yama.

• Old Monk Lishan summoned a Golden Pagoda Phantom that severely wounded the first Black Armored Nether Soldier, whose black flames consumed it before it died.
• Old Monk Lishan and Shen Xiu sensed another Black Armored Nether Soldier approaching from the southern forest, and it attacked them with iron forks.
• Shen Xiu blocked its strike but was thrown back, while Old Monk Lishan hit it with golden attacks and discovered that it could rapidly heal its wounds.
• The second Black Armored Nether Soldier grew larger and attacked fiercely, but Old Monk Lishan trapped it with a golden net and overwhelmed it with powerful punches.
• As Old Monk Lishan prepared to finish the weakened soldier, Shen Xiu asked him to leave the final blow so he could test Netherworld Yama.