Chapter Summaries

Shen Xiu overheard a deadly conspiracy involving the Yuanyang Gang, then avoided the conspirators and a murdered herb gatherer. He forced a Black Bear Demon to lead him to Phoenix Ghost Vine and harvested the plants.

• Shen Xiu overheard two men discussing a mole in the Yuanyang Gang and tried to retreat unnoticed.
• An elder detected someone nearby, and a burly herb gatherer charged out to denounce the conspirators before the elder killed him with a single strike.
• Shen Xiu stayed hidden until the men left, then crawled away without approaching the body.
• A Black Bear Demon attacked Shen Xiu, but his Protective Internal Energy withstood its paw, and he subdued it with punches.
• Shen Xiu showed the Black Bear Demon an illustration of Phoenix Ghost Vine and made it guide him deeper into the forest.
• Shen Xiu found and picked several Phoenix Ghost Vines from a muddy hollow, then let the Black Bear Demon flee.

After reporting his findings and selling the Phoenix Ghost Vine, Shen Xiu learned of the Ghost Market and its auction of the Prison Suppressing Dragon Elephant Strength. He followed Wu Jun to the market’s hidden entrance, arriving at its checkpoint in the wilderness.

• Shen Xiu reported what he had seen in the Red Cedar Forest to the Yuanyang Gang’s elders and sold his Phoenix Ghost Vine to Shopkeeper Ning for eight hundred taels.
• Shen Xiu added the money to his savings, learned the Hundred Peaks Merchant Guild’s auction would begin on the seventeenth of next month, and encountered Wu Jun, who invited him to the Ghost Market.
• Shen Xiu asked whether the Ghost Market had the Prison Suppressing Dragon Elephant Strength, and Wu Jun confirmed that an abbreviated version would be auctioned.
• Shen Xiu agreed to meet Wu Jun beneath the old locust tree, where Wu Jun gave him a mask and led him toward the Ghost Market.
• Shen Xiu and Wu Jun reached a hidden valley entrance guarded by masked men in watchtowers.

Shen Xiu visited the Ghost Market and confirmed that its auction would offer the Prison Suppressing Dragon Elephant Strength. At the auction, he outbid the remaining competitor and won the Profound-grade cultivation method for nineteen thousand taels.

• Shen Xiu entered the Ghost Market and confirmed with a masked receptionist that the Prison Suppressing Dragon Elephant Strength would be auctioned on the fifteenth.
• Shen Xiu collected an invitation, browsed the market, bought medicinal soups, and later returned for the auction.
• The auction opened with a Demon Seeking Plate and featured numerous valuable treasures before the Prison Suppressing Dragon Elephant Strength went up for sale.
• Shen Xiu bid eleven thousand taels for the copied cultivation method, then competed with a middle-aged man in splendid robes.
• Shen Xiu won the Prison Suppressing Dragon Elephant Strength for nineteen thousand taels after the other bidder withdrew.

After winning the Prison Suppressing Dragon Elephant Strength at the Ghost Market auction, Shen Xiu sold a copy to the Wolf-faced Masked Man for seven thousand taels. He then explored the market and discovered that a Horse-faced Masked Man was repeatedly selling the same genuine sixth-rank tiger demon core.

• Shen Xiu met the Wolf-faced Masked Man after the auction and agreed to copy the cultivation technique for seven thousand taels.
• Shen Xiu copied the technique, received the payment, and learned that the Wolf-faced Masked Man would have confronted him outside the Ghost Market if he had refused.
• Shen Xiu visited a medicinal-pills stall and questioned the Horse-faced Masked Man about a suspiciously cheap sixth-rank tiger demon core.
• The Ox-headed Masked Man persuaded Shen Xiu to buy a fifth-rank demon core and quietly revealed that the Horse-faced Masked Man had sold the tiger demon core many times.
• Shen Xiu recognized that the tiger demon core was genuine but suspected the Horse-faced Masked Man was repeatedly selling the same one.

Shen Xiu bought a tiger demon core from Ma Sanhang, who then followed him with Yang Lao Jiu to rob him. Shen Xiu easily defeated Ma Sanhang and pursued Yang Lao Jiu, striking him down just before he reached the Ghost Market checkpoint.

• Ma Sanhang sold Shen Xiu a sixth-rank tiger demon core, then arranged for Yang Lao Jiu to follow him as he left the Ghost Market.
• Ma Sanhang and Yang Lao Jiu attacked Shen Xiu outside the market, but Shen Xiu shattered Ma Sanhang’s saber and knocked him unconscious with one punch.
• Yang Lao Jiu fled toward the Ghost Market, throwing poison, lime, and concealed weapons behind him to slow Shen Xiu.
• Shen Xiu punched through Yang Lao Jiu’s obstacles and caught up with him near the checkpoint.
• Just as Yang Lao Jiu reached the checkpoint, a wound opened over his heart and blood soaked through his clothes.

After killing Yang Lao Jiu and the Horse-faced Masked Man at the Ghost Market checkpoint, Shen Xiu returned to Shanglin City and began cultivating the Prison Suppressing Dragon Elephant Strength. The technique helped him condense true qi and strengthen his lungs, and he began refining a Fifth Order Demonic Beast's demon core.

• Shen Xiu killed Yang Lao Jiu with his Demon Slaying Saber and looted more than a thousand taels of silver from his corpse.
• Shen Xiu finished off the wounded Horse-faced Masked Man and found over two thousand taels of silver and two bottles of Blood Qi Pills on him.
• Shen Xiu returned safely to Shanglin City, studied the Prison Suppressing Dragon Elephant Strength, and practiced until his light panel fused it with the Dragon Subduing Tiger Taming Art.
• Shen Xiu's force qi condensed into true qi that gathered in his dantian and strengthened his lungs, bringing him closer to the Fifth Realm Marrow Washing.
• Shen Xiu swallowed the demon core of a Fifth Order Demonic Beast and began refining its intense heat with the Prison Suppressing Dragon Elephant Strength.

Shen Xiu continued cultivating in Shanglin City and reached the peak of Fourth Realm Return to Hiding, while Xi Zhengyang departed after giving him a map fragment pointing to Qingyang Mountain. The chapter ended with the restriction of Lesser Demon Mountain shattering in a massive explosion.

• Shen Xiu stayed in the city to cultivate and draw runes while remaining wary of the hidden spy and the secrets around Lesser Demon Mountain.
• Xi Zhengyang visited Shen Xiu to say farewell, explaining that he was returning to Pingchang City to teach.
• Xi Zhengyang gave Shen Xiu silver and a map fragment that appeared to mark the remains of an Immortal Cave-Heaven near Qingyang Mountain.
• Shen Xiu completed the strengthening of his final kidney and reached the peak of Fourth Realm Return to Hiding.
• A violent blast shook Shanglin City, and Shen Xiu learned that the restriction of Lesser Demon Mountain had shattered.

The restrictions around Lesser Demon Mountain suddenly collapsed, unleashing its mutated demons and leaving the Yuanyang Gang encampment in ruins. Ruan Ruiming discovered that the Blood Sea Cult had used Lu Tianhai to damage the array, but a more ominous force stirred in the mountain’s depths.

• Zhai Qiu wondered why the restrictions had collapsed despite the Yuanyang Gang finding and removing the Blood Sea Cult's planted devices.
• Ruan Ruiming told Zhai Qiu that Lu Mingshan had found the devices were fakes and that resonance array patterns inscribed in Lu Tianhai had damaged the Teleportation Array linked to the restrictions.
• Demons surged toward the outskirts as the Yuanyang Gang's people fled the destroyed encampment.
• Zhai Qiu condemned the Blood Sea Cult, and Ruan Ruiming killed a charging Fourth Order Demon with one punch.
• Ruan Ruiming focused on the strange aura in Lesser Demon Mountain's depths as the black-and-red Blood Mist expanded and a terrifying Netherworld aura surged.

A surge of Netherworld Qi at Lesser Demon Mountain produced a Black Armored Nether Soldier, signaling that the boundary between the Netherworld and the region had been breached. As Shanglin City prepared for an assault, a vast black-red Blood Mist and a tide of demons approached its southern walls.

• Blood Mist erupted at Lesser Demon Mountain, spreading Netherworld Qi that devastated the surrounding area and drove a freezing aura toward Ruan Ruiming.
• A Black Armored Nether Soldier emerged from the mist, and Ruan Ruiming recognized it as an eighth-tier Nether Soldier that should not have appeared inside the Ruins Great Wall.
• News spread that Lesser Demon Mountain's restriction had shattered and demons had overrun nearby settlements, prompting Shanglin City to lock down and ready its defenses.
• Shen Xiu chose to remain inside Shanglin City, judging that leaving amid roaming demons was too dangerous.
• Two days later, the sky darkened beneath a vast curtain of Blood Mist as a black tide advanced toward Shanglin City's southern walls.

As demons poured out of the Lesser Demon Mountain Forbidden Grounds, Han Li fought and killed a Sixth-grade Azure Ox Demon before returning toward the city wall with its head. Shen Xiu watched and learned that the famed Han the Fierce had become a powerful son-in-law of the Li Clan in Shanglin.

• Demons breached the restrictions and surged toward the city, where cultivators and archers fought them from the walls and battlefield.
• Han Li leaped from the wall and fought the Azure Ox Demon barehanded, drawing attention from the defenders.
• Shen Xiu recognized Han Li from the stories labor disciples had shared and heard that he had risen to prominence in Shanglin as the Li Clan's favored son-in-law.
• Han Li broke the Azure Ox Demon's horn and used it to stab the demon before killing it with a crushing punch and severing its head.
• Han Li walked back through the demonic horde carrying the ox head, and the nearby demons retreated in fear.

After several quiet days of demon attacks, Shen Xiu leaped down from the city wall and fought a fifth-grade Green Ox Demon, first knocking it back with a punch and then wounding it with Saber Aura. The demon charged again, but its Netherworld Qi began melting as it neared Shen Xiu.

• Ruan Ruiming worried that the missing Black Armored Nether Soldier and the lack of powerful demons signaled something abnormal, and hoped a Divine Talisman Master would receive word.
• The first day’s demon attack ended after Han Li killed a sixth-grade Green Ox Demon, and Shanglin City’s defenders suffered few casualties.
• Over the next two days, the demon attacks remained mostly low-level before third- and fourth-grade demons began appearing more often.
• A fifth-grade Green Ox Demon struck down several martial cultivators, and Shen Xiu leaped from the city wall to confront it.
• Shen Xiu blasted the Green Ox Demon away with a punch, then cut through its Netherworld Qi with Saber Aura and wounded it.
• The Green Ox Demon attacked again, but the Yin Qi surrounding Shen Xiu melted before it could harm him.

Shen Xiu killed the Green Ox Demon with his fists after it knocked away his saber, then found a Netherworld Pearl inside its remains. As he dragged the valuable corpse toward the city wall, several Fourth Order Demons attacked, and Shen Xiu charged into their ranks.

• Shen Xiu used the Blood Battle Saber Technique to wound the Green Ox Demon, which fled and threw other demons in his path.
• The Green Ox Demon devoured several of its kind to heal, then knocked Shen Xiu's Demon Slaying Saber from his hand.
• Shen Xiu struck the Green Ox Demon's face with Prison Suppressing Force and beat it to death with a barrage of punches.
• Shen Xiu found a Netherworld Pearl in the Green Ox Demon's remains and dragged its corpse toward the city wall.
• Five or six Fourth Order Demons attacked Shen Xiu for the corpse, and he rushed into their ranks, cutting them down.

Shen Xiu continued fighting demons and cultivating in Shanglin City as the siege intensified and a powerful Netherworld creature appeared. He broke through to the Fifth Realm Marrow Cleansing stage, where his purified body gained immense strength.

• Shen Xiu returned to Shanglin City after killing a Fifth Order Demon, drawing attention from the watchtower, including Jin Liqi.
• The demon assault continued for several days, and Seventh Realm martial cultivators killed the Seventh Order Demons that appeared.
• Shen Xiu cultivated with the blood essence he had gathered and sensed that he was close to the Fifth Realm.
• A powerful Netherworld creature appeared beyond the city, prompting Grand Talisman Master Lu Mingshan to unleash Talisman Papers before the threat receded.
• Shen Xiu gathered his true qi and blood essence into a fierce assault on the barrier to the Fifth Realm, breaking through to Marrow Cleansing.
• Shen Xiu tested his newly strengthened body in the courtyard and crushed a hard stone slab into powder with his bare hands.

After reaching the Fifth Realm, Shen Xiu sensed his increased strength and hurried to Shanglin City's walls when the Black Armored Nether Soldier reappeared. He watched the city’s strongest fighters struggle to defeat it and was left wondering what greater horrors might exist beyond the Ruins Great Wall.

• Shen Xiu completed his advance to the Fifth Realm and discovered that his true qi circulated and responded far faster than before.
• The Black Armored Nether Soldier appeared beyond Shanglin City, and powerful fighters rushed out to battle it.
• Shen Xiu took his Nether-Slaying Saber and Blood Qi Pills and ran to the city walls, where crowds watched the distant fight.
• Shen Xiu saw Ruan Ruiming, a Yuanyang Gang elder, and Grand Talisman Master Lu Mingshan surround the Black Armored Nether Soldier, but they could not gain the upper hand.
• Shen Xiu considered the strength of Netherworld creatures and admired the Ruins Great Wall for holding back the horrors beyond it.

Ruan Ruiming, Lu Mingshan, and their allies fought to contain the Black Armored Nether Soldier but could barely harm its powerful armor. Elder Qiu arrived and shattered the armor with a single palm, leaving the battle’s outcome unresolved.

• The Black Armored Nether Soldier spoke and attacked Ruan Ruiming, who met its halberd with his saber.
• Lu Mingshan used talismans and a silver-white brush to weaken the soldier’s defenses, allowing the fighters to land repeated blows.
• The soldier severed Ruan Ruiming’s saber and withstood his full-force punch, so the group focused on trapping it and delaying it.
• Elder Qiu appeared on the battlefield and struck the soldier’s chest, cracking and shattering its armor and making it spit black blood.

Elder Qiu defeated and killed the Black Armored Nether Soldier, ending the demon horde’s strongest source of command. With the remaining demons weakened and divided, Shanglin City’s fighters pushed out to hunt them.

• Elder Qiu caught the Black Armored Nether Soldier’s halberd, shattered it, and repeatedly beat the creature into the ground.
• Lu Mingshan used his spiritual power to locate the Black Armored Nether Soldier after it burrowed underground, and Elder Qiu crushed it with a giant green palm.
• Elder Qiu seized a speck of ghostly soulfire as the Black Armored Nether Soldier’s body shattered, and the other fighters thanked him.
• Elder Qiu and the others returned to Shanglin City to recover while Shen Xiu descended from the walls and hunted high-grade demons with his Demon Slaying Saber.
• The remaining demons weakened and scattered after the Black Armored Nether Soldier’s death, and Shanglin City’s fighters pursued them while the city yamen and several factions hunted high-grade demons.

After the demon siege ended, Shen Xiu collected a large reward and learned of developments around Lesser Demon Mountain and a suspected Blood Sea Cult cultivator. He secluded himself to escape the attention his achievements attracted, but a few days later Yun Chengzhi came to visit.

• Shen Xiu returned to Shanglin City after the demons near the city had nearly vanished.
• Shen Xiu exchanged his record iron plate at the city yamen for more than four thousand taels of silver, while the elderly clerk questioned his achievements and tried to match him with his granddaughter.
• Shen Xiu continued training, advanced his movement technique to the Third Layer, and raised Golden Cicada's satiation to 69.6%.
• Experts discovered that the Netherworld fissure at Lesser Demon Mountain had healed, while a blood energy surge east of Shanglin City suggested a Blood Sea Cult cultivator had entered the Eighth Realm.
• Shen Xiu posted a notice asking visitors not to disturb his secluded cultivation, but Yun Chengzhi arrived at his courtyard a few days later.

Shen Xiu accepted Yun Chengzhi’s request to investigate a missing apothecary in Feng'an Town and set out along the road to Pingchang. On the way, he encountered bandits robbing travelers and discovered they were taking handsome young men to their stronghold.

• Yun Chengzhi raised Shen Xiu’s stipend and asked him to investigate the Yun Family’s inactive apothecary in Feng'an Town, where two Second Realm men had disappeared.
• Shen Xiu agreed to help and set out westward the next day with details about the apothecary and its missing contact.
• Shen Xiu encountered a bandit checkpoint where armed men robbed a merchant caravan and selected several handsome young men from the travelers.
• A scar-faced bandit ordered Shen Xiu to join the captives, and Shen Xiu asked where the chosen travelers were being taken.
• The scar-faced bandit said the young men were going to the bandits’ stronghold to enjoy themselves, prompting the bandits to laugh.

Shen Xiu and Lin Xiaofan were captured by highway bandits and taken with other young men to a mountain village. Lin Xiaofan tried to rescue them, but the purple-robed man effortlessly defeated him, leaving the captives trapped and blaming him for failing.

• Shen Xiu joined the young captives while Lin Xiaofan claimed he would save them and showed his strength by crushing a stone.
• The bandits gathered ten young people and escorted them to a greenwood village, where they locked them in a room.
• Lin Xiaofan waited for the bandit leader, then attacked when a purple-robed man entered.
• The purple-robed man caught Lin Xiaofan's punch and sent him flying with a palm strike before warning the captives not to run.
• The other captives mocked Lin Xiaofan for being too weak to save them.

Shen Xiu healed Lin Xiaofang after the young man was badly beaten, then learned that Tang Simin had taken over Tiger Wolf Fortress and was forcing the bandits to bring her attractive captives. Shen Xiu was selected and led to her private courtyard, where a crowd of bandits watched with ill intent.

• Lin Xiaofang blamed himself for the group's capture, and Shen Xiu treated his injuries with true qi.
• Wen Hong reported to Tang Simin that a new group of captives had arrived, including a handsome man.
• Wen Hong recalled how Tang Simin had defeated him, seized control of Tiger Wolf Fortress, and forced the bandits to bring her attractive captives.
• Tang Simin ordered Wen Hong to bring the handsome captive to her private courtyard.
• Two burly bandits chose Shen Xiu from the captive room and led him to the courtyard as the other bandits watched.