Chapter Summaries

The Scarlet Tide erupted from Scarlet Cloud Mountain, filling the sky with crimson clouds and drawing martial artists across the region toward its valuable substances. As the Martial Temple’s experts prepared to suppress the Demon Wraiths, Qin Yueshan weighed a chance to advance against his duty to protect Bend River City.

• Lu Chen sensed the Scarlet Tide’s substances stirring the phantom Golden Crow within him and realized they could advance his Golden Crow Breathing Technique.
• Luo Yun and Gu Chenfeng, two Organ-Nourishing Realm Golden Scale Guards, joined Qin Yueshan and surveyed the eruption.
• Luo Yun urged Qin Yueshan to seek crimson tide essence, saying it could greatly improve his chance of breaking through to the Organ-Nourishing Realm.
• Qin Yueshan acknowledged the opportunity but worried that fighting for the essence would leave Bend River City’s residents unprotected from the Demon Wraiths.

Lu Chen joined Luo Yun and Gu Chenfeng on their journey to the Martial Temple outpost at Scarlet Cloud Mountain as the Crimson Tide drew martial artists from nearby prefectures. There he reunited with Meng Tingxue and other young talents, whose progress only made clear how far he had advanced beyond them.

• Gu Chenfeng told Luo Yun that aristocratic families and powerful martial artists from Green Prefecture had come to Scarlet Cloud Mountain for the Crimson Tide.
• Qin Yueshan introduced Lu Chen to Luo Yun and Gu Chenfeng, and Luo Yun tested Lu Chen’s powerful masculine blood qi before warning him about Demon Wraiths and dangerous adventurers.
• Qin Yueshan stayed in Bend River City to oversee it while Luo Yun, Gu Chenfeng, and Lu Chen led Martial Temple cavalry toward Scarlet Cloud Mountain.
• At the Martial Temple outpost, Gu Chenfeng learned that the Tang Family and He Family had killed several Demon Wraiths and that no high-level ones had appeared.
• Lu Chen reunited with Meng Tingxue, Xue Ping, and He Jinnian, and Meng Tingxue realized he had advanced far beyond her despite her reaching the Bone-Forging Realm.

Demon Wraiths poured out of Scarlet Cloud Mountain and attacked the scouts and martial artists on the northern slopes. Luo Yun led the Martial Temple force to confront the horde, and the chapter ended as the wraiths crashed into the soldiers’ shield formation.

• Demon Wraiths emerged from a fissure, devoured an elk, and killed the scouts who sent a signal arrow.
• Luo Yun left Gu Chenfeng to guard the camp and led Martial Guards, Lu Chen, and local martial artists toward the northern pass.
• Fleeing Qu River martial artists ran into the approaching Martial Temple force as Demon Wraiths pursued and killed one of them.
• Luo Yun formed a shield-and-spear line, explained that the wraiths could only be killed by destroying their ghost cores or burning them with yang fire, and ordered the archers to fire Sunfire Arrows.
• The arrows set many Demon Wraiths ablaze, but the horde pressed onward and struck the shield formation; the Martial Guards’ cinnabar-coated spears shattered the ghost cores of the wraiths at the front.

The Martial Temple contingent fought off a massive Demon Wraith tide as Lu Chen used his forces to protect the shield wall and strengthen his martial power. After Luo Yun killed the Organ-Nourishing Realm Crimson Corpse Ghost General, a red light rose from the battlefield, revealing the appearance of crimson tide essence.

• Lu Chen rescued a wounded martial artist and quickly killed five Demon Wraiths, gaining purified energy that advanced his Fourfold Demon-Subduing True Force.
• Demon Wraiths overwhelmed the archers and broke through the shield wall, so Lu Chen stepped in to hold the gap.
• A Crimson Corpse Ghost General emerged, and Luo Yun charged it while Lu Chen reinforced the defenses against the remaining wraiths.
• After an hour of fighting, Luo Yun split the Ghost General in two and crushed its wraith core, allowing the Martial Temple contingent to kill the last Demon Wraiths.
• A dazzling red light rose from where the wraith tide had emerged, and the exhausted martial artists recognized that crimson tide essence had appeared.

Luo Yun reached the Crimson Tide Essence first but had to fight an adult Crimson-Gold Thunderwind Eagle guarding it. As Lu Chen and the others arrived, riders from the Ning family and Qi Mountain Meng family of Green Prefecture entered the rift, setting up a contest over the essence.

• Luo Yun raced ahead through the rift toward the pillar of crimson radiance, with Lu Chen and the others following.
• Luo Yun found more than a dozen pieces of Crimson Tide Essence in a stone basin, including a superior-grade piece, but an adult Crimson-Gold Thunderwind Eagle attacked him.
• Luo Yun fought the eagle in a fierce exchange of saber strikes, wind blades, and lightning as Lu Chen arrived nearby.
• Lu Chen heard hooves and saw more than a dozen Cloud-Treading Beasts carrying riders from the Ning family and Qi Mountain Meng family of Green Prefecture into the rift.
• Ning Shaofeng and Meng Changgeng led the newcomers toward the stone basin and its Crimson Tide Essence.

Ning Shaofeng and Meng Changgeng found a trove of Crimson Tide Essence while Luo Yun fought the Crimson-Gold Thunderwind Eagle overhead. They attacked the weakened Qu River warriors to seize the essence, and the battle left Xue Ping and Meng Tingxue among the few still resisting.

• Ning Shaofeng recognized Luo Yun as a Golden Scale Guard and spotted the Crimson Tide Essence in the stone pit.
• Meng Changgeng warned Ning Shaofeng that neither family had an Organ-Nourishing Realm expert present, then proposed killing the Qu River warriors and taking the essence quickly.
• Ning Shaofeng ordered the attack, and more than a dozen Cloud-Treading Beasts charged into the narrow rift.
• The Ning and Meng riders trampled and wounded the exhausted Qu River warriors, killing Old Chen in the first charge.
• Meng Tingxue blocked a Ning warrior while Ning Shaofeng drove through the crowd and prepared to strike Xue Ping and Meng Tingxue.

Lu Chen intervened when Ning Shaofeng attacked Meng Tingxue and fought the Ning family prodigy with his saber, then his bare hands. He overwhelmed Ning Shaofeng with varied forces and left him driven backward, realizing he had underestimated Lu Chen.

• Lu Chen intercepted Ning Shaofeng’s spear strike to protect Meng Tingxue and challenged him.
• Ning Shaofeng charged Lu Chen on the Cloud-Treading Beast, but Lu Chen studied their movements while blocking the spear barrage.
• Lu Chen used the Flying Dragon Art to evade Ning Shaofeng, severed the Cloud-Treading Beast’s foreleg, and broke his saber while blocking Ning Shaofeng’s counterattack.
• Lu Chen slipped past Ning Shaofeng’s spear with Coldwater Force and struck his arm with Azure Dragon Force, nearly breaking it.
• Lu Chen continued attacking the spear shaft with several kinds of force, splitting Ning Shaofeng’s hands and driving him backward.

Lu Chen killed Ning Shaofeng and routed the Ning and Meng family warriors in the rift. He caught and killed Meng Changgeng when the fleeing warrior tried to escape and then attack him.

• Ning Shaofeng unleashed his strongest spear technique, but Lu Chen shattered the spear with a punch, fatally wounded him, and stamped him to death.
• Meng Changgeng ordered the Ning and Meng warriors to retreat as the encirclement collapsed.
• Lu Chen hurled Ning Shaofeng's broken spear at Meng Changgeng, injuring his Cloud-Treading Beast and forcing him to flee on foot.
• Meng Changgeng turned to fight with Mountain-Stacking Saber, but Lu Chen caught and broke his blade before smashing him into a cliff.
• Meng Changgeng offered Lu Chen the Meng family's techniques, then attacked with poisoned sleeve darts; Lu Chen dodged them, seized him, and broke his neck.

Luo Yun defeated the Crimson-Gold Thunderwind Eagle and claimed the finest crimson tide essence, then shared the remaining pieces among the Qu River martial artists. After Luo Yun returned to camp, Meng Tingxue asked Lu Chen to join her group in venturing deeper into Scarlet Cloud Mountain.

• Luo Yun wounded the Crimson-Gold Thunderwind Eagle, forcing it to flee, and took the largest piece of crimson tide essence from the stone pit.
• Luo Yun let the Qu River martial artists divide the remaining essence, and Lu Chen chose a fist-sized piece that resonated with his Golden Crow blood and qi.
• Meng Tingxue, Xue Ping, He Jinnian, and the others each received a piece of essence before Luo Yun led the Martial Guards back to camp.
• Luo Yun warned Lu Chen that Green Prefecture would seek revenge for the deaths of Ning Shaofeng and Meng Changgeng.
• Meng Tingxue decided to explore deeper into Scarlet Cloud Mountain and invited Lu Chen to accompany her.

Lu Chen refused to travel deeper into Scarlet Cloud Mountain with Meng Tingxue and the others, then used the Golden Crow Breathing Technique to absorb crimson tide essence. After transforming nearly one-third of his blood into Golden Crow Blood, he headed toward a new shaft of crimson radiance.

• Lu Chen declined Meng Tingxue’s offer to travel together because he planned to enter the dangerous depths of Scarlet Cloud Mountain.
• Lu Chen left the group, found a secluded spot in the forest, and began refining the crimson tide essence with the Golden Crow Breathing Technique.
• Lu Chen’s Golden Crow Blood absorbed the essence and transformed his ordinary blood, strengthening his body and combat power.
• Lu Chen discovered that nearly one-third of his blood had become Golden Crow Blood and resolved to find more crimson tide essence.
• Lu Chen spotted crimson radiance breaking through the trees, gripped his saber, and raced toward it.

Lu Chen reached a valley where a Mighty Demon Ape and a Red-armored Fire Lizard fought over three pieces of crimson tide essence. The lizard escaped after their battle, and the injured ape took the essence.

• Lu Chen followed the crimson light and found three pieces of crimson tide essence in a valley where two Organ-Nourishing Realm beasts were fighting.
• The Mighty Demon Ape charged through the Red-armored Fire Lizard’s poisonous fire and battered it with a series of powerful blows.
• The Red-armored Fire Lizard bit the ape’s injured shoulder, but the ape forced its jaws open and smashed its head against a boulder.
• The Mighty Demon Ape seized the fire lizard by its tail and slammed it against the cliffs until the lizard spat poisonous fire and escaped into a crevice.
• The Mighty Demon Ape collected all three pieces of crimson tide essence while Lu Chen watched from the slope.

Lu Chen pursued the wounded Mighty Demon Ape through the forest after it stole three pieces of crimson tide essence. The ape escaped down a hidden route beneath a cliff, and Lu Chen realized he had found its lair.

• The Mighty Demon Ape fled with the three pieces of crimson tide essence, and Lu Chen chased it through the forest.
• Lu Chen used the Flying Dragon Art to dodge the ape’s uprooted tree and thrown boulders while steadily closing in.
• The Mighty Demon Ape’s wounds and fire poison weakened it, but it kept fleeing as Lu Chen drew his saber and revealed its crimson-gold glow.
• The Mighty Demon Ape leaped from a cliff and descended toward a hidden route, and Lu Chen recognized that its lair lay below.

Lu Chen pursued the wounded Mighty Demon Ape into its cave and fought it despite being outmatched in raw strength. After the ape smashed him into a pillar, Lu Chen escaped its follow-up attack, leaving both fighters still in the cave.

• Lu Chen descended to the hidden cave platform, where the Mighty Demon Ape ambushed him by dropping a massive boulder.
• Lu Chen shattered the boulder with a punch, then clashed with the Mighty Demon Ape and was driven backward by its strength.
• The Mighty Demon Ape retreated into its cave with three pieces of crimson tide essence, and Lu Chen followed it inside.
• Lu Chen and the Mighty Demon Ape exchanged powerful blows in the grotto, with Lu Chen wounding the ape's left shoulder but taking a heavy hit in return.
• Lu Chen escaped the ape's final strike as its fists broke a stone pillar, then stood wounded and recognized that he could not match its raw strength.

Lu Chen weakened the injured Mighty Demon Ape with repeated attacks, but it swallowed a piece of crimson tide essence and restored its strength. With the demon ape roaring before him and multiple forces awakening in his body, Lu Chen prepared to face it again.

• Lu Chen exploited the Mighty Demon Ape’s injuries and used the cave’s pillars to evade its attacks while burning its wounds with Vermilion Bird Baleful-Burning Force.
• The Mighty Demon Ape caught Lu Chen’s saber, snapped it, and struck him with a stone pillar, sending him crashing into a rock wall.
• The Mighty Demon Ape swallowed a piece of crimson tide essence, causing its blood energy and strength to surge despite its injuries.
• Lu Chen realized the essence’s power was only suppressing the poison and baleful force ravaging the demon ape, and awakened the forces within his body for the coming fight.

Lu Chen battled the berserk Mighty Demon Ape, using his varied forces and the ape’s unstable crimson tide essence to wear it down. As the ape tried to escape, Lu Chen fused three forces into Fourfold Demon-Subduing True Force—Three Saints Unite—and prepared to strike.

• The Mighty Demon Ape attacked Lu Chen with renewed strength, but Lu Chen dodged and used Coldwater Force to withstand its blows.
• Lu Chen struck the ape with Thunderclap Force, Azure Dragon Force, and Demon-Subduing Force, disrupting its vital energy.
• The Mighty Demon Ape knocked Lu Chen into a pillar, but Lu Chen used the rebound to tear open its injured shoulder and resume his assault.
• As the ape’s strength faltered and internal fire poisons worsened, it fled toward the cave entrance, and Lu Chen caught up to attack.
• Lu Chen used Azure Dragon Demon-Suppressing Force to halt the ape briefly, then fused Azure Dragon, White Tiger, and Vermilion Bird forces into Three Saints Unite.

Lu Chen killed the Mighty Demon Ape with the combined Azure Dragon, White Tiger, and Vermilion Bird forces, then refined two pieces of crimson tide essence in its lair. His Golden Crow blood grew to about two-thirds of his blood energy, and he remained in the cave to search its depths.

• Lu Chen struck the Mighty Demon Ape with three linked demon-subduing forces, setting its heart ablaze, but the dying beast hit him into the cave wall.
• Lu Chen climbed out from the rubble and confirmed that the Mighty Demon Ape had died beneath his punch.
• Lu Chen found two pieces of crimson tide essence in the beast's lair and used the Golden Crow Breathing Technique to refine them.
• The essence healed most of Lu Chen's injuries and transformed his Golden Crow blood until it made up about two-thirds of his blood energy.
• Lu Chen tested the explosive power of his Golden Crow blood, then turned toward the deepest part of the cave to search for more hidden items.

Lu Chen discovered a hidden stone chamber behind the Mighty Demon Ape’s cave and found a dead martial artist’s remains. In a box beside the skeleton, he uncovered the Five Saints Life-Exchange Scripture, a method that could remake a practitioner’s organs and transform their innate foundation.

• Lu Chen searched the Mighty Demon Ape’s lair and noticed cold air coming through a chiseled gap in the rubble.
• Lu Chen broke through the concealed wall and followed a narrow passage into a man-made stone chamber.
• Lu Chen inspected the chamber and found a martial artist’s skeleton seated in meditation beside a black iron box.
• Lu Chen opened the box and found the Five Saints Life-Exchange Scripture.
• Lu Chen read that the scripture used the bloodline essence of Five Saints to remake the organs and replace the practitioner’s blood.

Lu Chen learned that the Five Saints Life-Exchange Scripture could use organs from mutant beasts carrying sacred-beast bloodlines, then strengthen them over time. After leaving the Mighty Demon Ape’s cave, he headed deeper into Scarlet Cloud Mountain to seek more crimson tide essence and suitable beasts.

• Lu Chen discovered that descendants of the five sacred beasts could substitute for the true beasts’ organs, and that their bloodlines could be refined gradually.
• Lu Chen learned how to identify the five bloodlines and realized he could cultivate each of the five organs separately.
• Lu Chen left the Mighty Demon Ape’s cave with two-thirds of his blood transformed and the Five Saints Life-Exchange Scripture in hand.
• Lu Chen climbed back to the cliff top and saw that the Scarlet Tide was transforming plants and creatures throughout the mountain range.
• Lu Chen reviewed the signs of each sacred-beast bloodline and raced deeper into Scarlet Cloud Mountain.

Lu Chen searched Scarlet Cloud Mountain for Crimson Tide Essence and sensed a powerful source that led him to a battle between the Ning and Meng families and a Crimson Flame Earth Dragon. He discovered three essences, including a superior-grade one that resonated with his Golden Crow Blood, and considered how to seize it.

• Lu Chen used the Golden Crow Breathing Technique to sense a pure, blazing aura and followed it deeper into the mountain.
• Lu Chen found signs that a group had passed through and cautiously followed them toward the sounds of battle.
• Lu Chen climbed a cliff and watched the Ning family and Qi Mountain Meng family fight a wounded Crimson Flame Earth Dragon.
• Lu Chen spotted three pieces of Crimson Tide Essence behind the beast, including a superior-grade essence that resonated with his Golden Crow Blood.
• Lu Chen assessed the families' fighters and the beast, then focused on the chance to take the superior-grade essence.

The Ning and Meng families killed the Crimson Flame Earth Dragon, then turned on each other over the three pieces of crimson tide essence. As Ning Duanjiang lunged for the essence, Lu Chen snatched the largest piece first.

• Meng Qianyue, Meng Zhenshan, and the two Ning elders worked together to kill the Crimson Flame Earth Dragon, though seven Bone-Forging Realm warriors died and all four experts were wounded.
• Ning Duanjiang demanded the largest piece of crimson tide essence for the Ning family, while Meng Qianyue and Meng Zhenshan claimed it for the Meng family.
• Lu Chen slipped away from his hiding place and circled toward the essence while the families focused on their dispute.
• Ning Duanjiang and Meng Qianyue struck at each other, starting a deadly melee between the two families.
• Ning Duanjiang used the force of Meng Qianyue's punch to rush toward the essence, but Lu Chen appeared and seized the largest piece ahead of him.