Chapter Summaries

Zhou An transformed his Medical Gu Seed into the Medical Poison Saint Body and cured Cloud Arising Emperor’s illness, earning Great Yue’s backing and five Inner Cores. Meanwhile, Qing Shuangzi sought Green Robe’s lost Taoist inheritance for Ye Shuang, but their search unexpectedly led to an image of Zhou An that shocked Old Yang.

• Zhou An assured Cloud Arising Emperor that he could cure him, while Sun Ming admitted he had acted like a fool and vowed not to offend Zhou An again.
• Zhou An used his stored proficiency to transform his Medical Gu Seed into the Medical Poison Saint Body, gaining a powerful devouring attribute.
• At the palace training grounds, Zhou An used his transformed ability to purge the illnesses from Cloud Arising Emperor, who rewarded him with five Inner Cores and Great Yue’s support.
• Qing Shuangzi entered the Spirit Connection Space with Ye Shuang, met Old Yang, and learned about the events that had followed her death.
• Qing Shuangzi sought Green Robe’s copied Taoist inheritance for Ye Shuang, and Old Yang used her relief carving to help locate it.
• The search revealed an image of Zhou An, leaving Ye Shuang confused and causing Old Yang to exclaim that Zhou An knew nothing about Dao arts.

Old Yang met Qing Shuangzi and Ye Shuang in the Black Palace, then tore the Bizarre half from himself and sent it through a crack to leave something behind for the world. Meanwhile, Zhou An learned that the Imperial Mausoleum would open in three days, chose to guard its interior, and confronted someone who looked like Ye Shuang after suspecting she was an impostor.

• Old Yang praised Zhou An's character as Ye Shuang recounted his deeds, and he prolonged Qing Shuangzi's fading presence long enough for them to speak.
• Qing Shuangzi said Black Jade might help recover the lost Taoist arts, then left after Ye Shuang declared that future generations would eventually eradicate the Bizarre.
• Old Yang forcibly separated the Bizarre half of himself and cast it into a crack, saying he had to leave something behind for the world.
• A eunuch summoned Zhou An to the Imperial Study, where Cloud Arising Emperor and King Yuanxi told him the Imperial Mausoleum would open in three days and offered him a choice of assignments.
• Zhou An used Eight Trigrams Arithmetic, chose to guard inside the Imperial Mausoleum with King Yuanxi, and learned that Ye Shuang had returned after dealing with the Wild Taoist Sect.
• Zhou An went to meet Ye Shuang, sensed something was wrong, drew his blade, and demanded to know who she was.

Qing Shuangzi passed her talent to Ye Shuang and asked Zhou An to recover her Daoist Texts from the Bizarre Assembly. Zhou An entered the Imperial Mausoleum to help eliminate its Resentful Energy, where a distortion resembling the Spirit Connection Space appeared as the ritual neared completion.

• Zhou An learned that Green Robe had hidden Qing Shuangzi’s Daoist Texts in the Bizarre Assembly, and he promised to retrieve them for Ye Shuang.
• Qing Shuangzi gave Zhou An four Inner Cores, warned him not to enter the rift, and asked Ye Shuang to set off fireworks for her if all bizarre beings were ever slain before Qing Shuangzi dissipated.
• Ye Shuang regained control of her body and inherited Qing Shuangzi’s talent, then returned to Great Chu after spending a day with Zhou An.
• Zhou An accompanied the middle-aged eunuch into the Imperial Mausoleum, where King Yuanxi explained the three-day ritual to dissolve the Resentful Energy and asked Zhou An to help if trouble arose.
• As the chanting continued on the third day, the luminous pearls flickered and distorted spaces formed; Zhou An recognized them as the Spirit Connection Space.

Zhou An was pulled into the rift and found himself at the inverted mountain, where he and Black Jade slaughtered the bizarre entities covering it. After clearing the mountain, Zhou An noticed the ground trembling and realized the mountain seemed to be alive.

• Wild Taoist Sect and Wild Buddhist Sect experts emerged from the Spirit Connection Space and threatened to destroy the Imperial Mausoleum, so Zhou An killed them with a single sword strike.
• As Resentful Energy overwhelmed the chanting Taoists and monks, Zhou An ordered the injured carried out while King Yuanxi and the others prepared to fight the arriving bizarre entities.
• Zhou An and the others broke through the collapsing Imperial Mausoleum, revealing the rift; King Yuanxi and the Evil Extermination Bureau were expelled, leaving Zhou An alone there.
• Zhou An entered the inverted mountain and fought through its swarms of bizarre entities, with Black Jade joining him in the slaughter.
• After Zhou An and Black Jade cleared the mountain, Zhou An noticed the soil trembling and concluded that the inverted mountain seemed to be alive.

Zhou An defeated the Inverted Mountain, fled the pursuing Fleshball Anomaly, and reunited with the Bizarre Assembly, who explained that he was trapped in another world. After learning she could force open a rift at great risk, Zhou An chose that option and revealed a handful of round objects, asking if they were enough.

• Zhou An destroyed the awakened Inverted Mountain with his saber and iron pot, then continued exploring with Black Jade.
• Zhou An discovered the Flame River and fled when the Fleshball Anomaly emerged and pursued him through the rift.
• Black Jade summoned the Bizarre Assembly, who destroyed the Fleshball Anomaly and explained that the rift was not Zhou An’s world.
• Zhou An reasoned that the rifts contained anomalies from destroyed worlds and learned that the Spirit Connection Space helped relieve pressure on them.
• The Bizarre Assembly warned that she could force open a rift only by rapidly consuming her lucidity, but Zhou An chose the dangerous method.
• Zhou An pulled a large handful of round objects from the pink money pouch and asked the Bizarre Assembly whether they were enough.

Zhou An escaped the rift with Black Jade, returned to the Imperial Mausoleum, and learned about the upcoming Hunting of the Weird before setting out for Great Chu. After his Thousand Mile Eye reached level eight on the journey, he arrived at the Border Pass and found the anxious First Prince waiting for him.

• Zhou An gave the Bizarre Assembly five Inner Cores, and she sent him and Black Jade out of the rift after explaining that Black Jade had mastered Hundred Techniques of the Miscellaneous Sect.
• Zhou An emerged from a rift at the Imperial Mausoleum, surprising Cloud Arising Emperor and the others, who had been discussing how to rescue him.
• Cloud Arising Emperor gave Zhou An a letter for Xingwu Emperor and told him that the three nations would hold the Hunting of the Weird in three months.
• Zhou An left Great Yue for Great Chu and continued grinding Thousand Mile Eye until it reached level eight.
• At Great Chu's Border Pass, the First Prince hurried to Zhou An's carriage looking anxious, and Zhou An asked what had happened.

Zhou An investigated the deaths at the Border Pass and traced them to a former-dynasty beast tamer who had become a Weird, only to discover that the surrounding desert itself was a massive Weird. After the desert swallowed Zhou An and advanced toward Yellow Sand Prefecture, the First Prince and his soldiers prepared to face it, but Zhou An’s voice revealed he was still alive.

• Zhou An used the golden bagua to determine that an unidentified aberration was causing civilians to die after their blood was drained.
• Zhou An caught a raven draining Chang Da Niu’s blood and used the new clue to locate its source in the desert.
• Zhou An uncovered a yellow-sand coffin containing a former-dynasty beast tamer, then destroyed the corpse and the beasts it summoned.
• Zhou An realized the desert itself was a Weird as countless former-dynasty dead emerged from the sand, and he ordered the First Prince and his soldiers to retreat.
• A hundred-meter yellow-sand Weird swallowed Zhou An and advanced toward Yellow Sand Prefecture, so the First Prince ordered the civilians evacuated and led his soldiers to confront it.
• The First Prince and his soldiers thought Zhou An had died, but cracks of dark cyan light appeared in the Weird as Zhou An declared that it could be killed.

After destroying the Yellow Sand Weird, Zhou An reported the growing danger in the Spirit Connection Space and delivered Cloud Arising Emperor’s secret letter to Xingwu Emperor. Just as Zhou An learned that Yu Hang had admitted to killing a member of the Qin Family in Li Huang Jing and set out to help him, the Prime Minister blocked his way.

• Zhou An destroyed the Yellow Sand Weird from within, warned the First Prince that the Spirit Connection Space was under increasing pressure, and hurried to the capital.
• Zhou An briefed Xingwu Emperor on his journey through Great Yue, delivered Cloud Arising Emperor’s secret letter, and warned that the Hunting of the Weird might need to begin early.
• Zhou An spoke with the dispirited Second Prince about his ambitions, then visited Eunuch Wei and learned that Yu Hang had admitted to killing the Qin Family’s Second Young Master in Li Huang Jing.
• Zhou An decided to leave immediately for Li Huang Jing, and the Prime Minister stopped him at the palace gates.

Zhou An visited Yu Hang in Li Huang Jing, learned why Yu Hang had killed the Qin Family’s Second Young Master, and helped him overcome the despair that had become his Heart Demon. Zhou An and Yu Hang headed for the Qin Family to settle the matter, while the Qin Family Head gathered allied families and prepared to face Zhou An.

• The Prime Minister gave Zhou An a token that could block one attack from the Absolute Comprehension Realm and urged him to consider the Qin Family as he went to Li Huang Jing.
• Zhou An reached the yamen, where Magistrate Li Jingling allowed him to visit Yu Hang in prison.
• Yu Hang explained that the Qin Family had obstructed his reforms and that he killed the Second Young Master after seeing him exploit a young girl to provoke him.
• Zhou An helped Yu Hang reconsider his ideals and overcome his Heart Demon, then took him out of prison despite the constables’ objections.
• As Zhou An and Yu Hang headed toward the Qin Family, they suspected that the commoners’ numbness did not fit Li Huang Jing’s scholarly atmosphere.
• The Qin Family Head gathered allied family heads and declared that Zhou An would not dare act recklessly, just before a thunderous boom sounded.

Zhou An attacked the Qin Family over its crimes and discovered that Qin Sheng had used the Obliteration Chapter to steal the citizens’ rationality and Yu Hang’s talent. After Bizarre Assembly subdued Qin Sheng and exposed his secret, she called on someone to reveal themselves, leaving their identity unknown.

• Zhou An smashed through the Qin Family gates and challenged the Qin Family Head, who used the Family of Loyal Martyrs plaque to try to stop him.
• Zhou An attacked the Qin Family Head, but Qin Sheng emerged from hiding and revealed that he was alive and had reached Absolute Comprehension.
• Qin Sheng attacked Zhou An and Yu Hang, so Zhou An summoned Bizarre Assembly, who overwhelmed Qin Sheng and erased his Kill Characters.
• Bizarre Assembly revealed that Qin Sheng had used the Obliteration Chapter to steal the citizens’ rationality and had planned to seize Yu Hang’s talent.
• Qin Sheng absorbed the rationality of the gathered family heads to increase his strength, but Bizarre Assembly called on Yu Hang to come out and speak with her.

Bai Yuan revealed how his talent had been tied to the Guild Master and passed all his talents on to Yu Hang before disappearing. After the Bizarre Assembly learned the Guild Master was truly dead, Zhou An helped her stay lucid long enough to collect Daoist Texts, and she declared that Black Jade would be Zhou An’s wife while Ye Shuang would be his concubine.

• Bizarre Assembly attacked Qin Sheng, but Bai Yuan emerged from Yu Hang and killed him after taking control of his characters.
• Bai Yuan revealed that the Guild Master had inherited his talent but died before choosing it, leaving Bai Yuan trapped within him until the Guild Master’s death.
• Bai Yuan confirmed that the Guild Master had truly died, then Yu Hang agreed to inherit all of Bai Yuan’s talents.
• Bai Yuan transferred his talents to Yu Hang and disappeared, leaving Yu Hang with deeper scholarly understanding and the troubles tied to the talent.
• Zhou An gave Bizarre Assembly Qin Sheng’s Qi Text to prolong her clarity and explained that he wanted to collect Daoist Texts for Ye Shuang.
• Bizarre Assembly agreed to let Zhou An memorize the Daoist Texts and declared that Ye Shuang would be his concubine while Black Jade would be his wife.

Zhou An retrieved the Daoist Texts from Bizarre Assembly and left Li Huang Jing after clearing Yu Hang’s name. On his way to the capital, he killed a messenger from the former dynasty who threatened him, then arrived at the Surveillance Division, where Yuan Qingyi recognized Bamboo Swordsman’s aura on him.

• Bizarre Assembly gave Zhou An access to her collection of Daoist Texts, and Black Jade memorized them so she could write them out later.
• Bizarre Assembly warned Zhou An that a hundred-meter bizarre creature would hunt him if he entered the rift again, then sent him and his companions back to the Qin Family courtyard.
• Zhou An exposed the Qin Family ancestor’s use of the Obliteration Chapter, ordered the Qin Family members taken in for investigation, and helped clear Yu Hang of the accusations against him.
• As Zhou An traveled toward Huaixi Capital, an old man in a conical hat threatened him on behalf of the former dynasty, and Zhou An killed him with his blade.
• Zhou An stopped at the capital to deliver the Daoist Texts and report the former dynasty’s threat, where he found Yuan Qingyi hanging upside down at the Surveillance Division.
• Yuan Qingyi sensed Bamboo Swordsman’s aura on Zhou An and asked whether he had encountered him.

Zhou An learned that the Former Dynasty Remnants planned to steal National Luck, prompting Great Chu to begin a great purge, then returned to Huaixi Capital and advanced Eye of Chaos. After grinding Sacred Spirit Demonic Body on Black Jade, he discovered something had gone wrong with her; meanwhile, Old Yang brought back a token from a world beyond the crack that could guide him to its living survivors.

• Zhou An told the National Teacher that he had killed the Bamboo Swordsman, and Black Jade copied Qing Shuangzi's Daoist Texts for Ye Shuang.
• The National Teacher revealed that the former dynasty's emperor had hidden National Luck in an imperial jade seal, and he announced a great purge to prevent the Former Dynasty Remnants from exploiting the coming wars.
• After leaving the capital, Zhou An returned to Huaixi Capital, raised Thousand Mile Eye to level nine, and chose Eye of Chaos.
• Zhou An began grinding Sacred Spirit Demonic Body on Black Jade, while Old Yang returned from beyond the crack with a token that pointed toward a gathering of survivors.
• After a day of grinding, Zhou An noticed that something had gone wrong with Black Jade.

Zhou An investigated the Sacrifice Sect’s refusal to help with the Ancestor Worship Festival and discovered that Princess Fuling of the former dynasty had engineered the dispute to make him responsible for the deaths of commoners. The sect leader betrayed her plans and Zhou An dispelled the curse binding him, leaving Zhou An facing Princess Fuling.

• Black Jade told Zhou An that a familiar aura in the Spirit Connection Space had made her sad, but Zhou An could not calculate its cause and promised to investigate if clues appeared.
• He Sheng reported that the Sacrifice Sect had refused to help gather the ancestral remains needed to prevent strange beings during the Ancestor Worship Festival, and Zhou An set out to confront them.
• Princess Fuling revealed that she had coerced Sect Leader Lu into provoking Zhou An, hoping Zhou An would destroy the Sacrifice Sect and cause widespread deaths among Huaixi Capital’s residents.
• Sect Leader Lu knelt before Zhou An and exposed Princess Fuling, explaining that she had cursed and forced him to refuse the festival duties.
• Zhou An used the Sacred Spirit Demonic Body to dispel Sect Leader Lu’s curse, then pointed his sword toward Princess Fuling and challenged her.

Zhou An fought and killed Princess Fuling of the former dynasty, proving he could defeat an Absolute Enlightenment Realm opponent without the Bizarre Assembly. After returning to Huaixi Capital, he warned He Sheng that the Former Dynasty Remnants might disrupt the Ancestor Worship Festival, and He Sheng feared Princess Fuling’s death would bring further trouble.

• Sect Leader Lu led the Sacrifice Sect away from the main hall and left Princess Fuling to face Zhou An.
• Princess Fuling revealed that she had sensed Zhou An did not personally kill Qin Sheng and offered him a place as her husband if he killed everyone present and submitted to her.
• Zhou An fought Princess Fuling with his blade, wok, Sacred Spirit Demonic Body, and Medical Poison Saint Body, then used Eye of Chaos to stun her and killed her with a follow-up attack.
• Zhou An praised Sect Leader Lu for choosing wisely, secured the Sacrifice Sect’s loyalty, and told him to work with He Sheng on the Ancestor Worship Festival.
• Zhou An returned to Huaixi Capital and warned He Sheng that Princess Fuling’s death could prompt the Former Dynasty Remnants to cause trouble during the festival.

Zhou An guarded the Ancestor Worship Festival in Huaixi Capital, expecting Daoist Han Yuan to seek revenge for Princess Fuling. After the festival passed without incident, Han Yuan appeared wounded and claimed to be a Great Chu undercover agent, but Zhou An’s Eight Trigrams Arithmetic exposed his deception, and Zhou An attacked him.

• He Sheng warned Zhou An that Princess Fuling’s devoted admirer, the Absolute Comprehension Realm expert Daoist Han Yuan, might come after him during the Ancestor Worship Festival.
• Zhou An stayed in the Demon Suppression Division, strengthened the Sacred Spirit Demonic Body, and used Eight Trigrams Arithmetic to investigate Han Yuan without finding any clues.
• Zhou An led He Sheng and the others to the mountain where the Sacrifice Sect gathered Resentful Energy, and the first two days of the festival passed without major trouble.
• On the festival’s final night, the ceremony ended peacefully, but a gravely wounded Daoist Han Yuan suddenly descended and handed Zhou An a wooden box, claiming it held an Imperial Seal fragment for the emperor.
• Zhou An used Eight Trigrams Arithmetic to detect that Han Yuan had obscured his calculations and was staging a scheme, then stabbed him with his black saber.

Zhou An killed Daoist Han Yuan after drawing him into the Bizarre Assembly, where the eerie beings destroyed his final revival. As Zhou An tried to restore the Bizarre Assembly with Inner Cores, Black Jade grew sorrowful around the white-clad bizarre, and the two eerie beings began splitting the cores between them.

• Zhou An used the Eye of Chaos and his second blade to defeat Daoist Han Yuan, who revived through the Daoist Undying Nine Imprints.
• Daoist Han Yuan unleashed an Annihilation Talisman, so Zhou An and Black Jade escaped into the Bizarre Assembly, where the eerie beings destroyed the talisman and killed Daoist Han Yuan for good.
• Zhou An had Black Jade draw the attention of the Bizarre Assembly and the white-clad bizarre, then throw it an Inner Core to restore its awareness.
• Black Jade showed sorrow when she saw the white-clad bizarre, leading Zhou An to suspect that the bizarre was connected to her grief.
• The white-clad bizarre seized half of the first Inner Core, and both eerie beings then grabbed and split a second Inner Core between them.

Zhou An learned that the white-robed aberration was the Guild Master, who had deliberately become an aberration to organize human resistance in fallen worlds, before the Guild Master left through a rift. After Zhou An returned to Huaixi Capital and resumed grinding proficiency, his Sacred Spirit Demonic Body reached level nine.

• The Bizarre Assembly and the white-robed aberration absorbed Inner Cores, regained their clarity, and the aberration revealed himself as the Guild Master.
• The Bizarre Assembly chose not to kill the Guild Master for Black Jade's sake, and he explained his resistance network in fallen worlds and warned Zhou An about whoever had taken one of his tokens.
• Zhou An deduced that Old Yang had taken the token, then watched the Guild Master leave through a rift after briefly meeting Black Jade.
• Zhou An returned to Nameless Mountain, confirmed that Daoist Han Yuan was dead, and led his people back to Huaixi Capital.
• Zhou An continued grinding proficiency while the Demon Suppression Division pursued the Great Purge, and his Sacred Spirit Demonic Body reached level nine.

Zhou An chose Sacred Spirit Demonic Body, gained an ability that transferred damage to a regenerating substitute, and raised Butcher Dismembering Human Knife Technique to level eight by carving flames and qi. As the three nations prepared the Hunting of the Weird, Great Chu named Zhou An its leader candidate, while Great Qi’s Emperor Fengteng appointed the Demonic Swordsman and secretly sent a letter to the Man Kingdom Emperor.

• Zhou An chose Sacred Spirit Demonic Body and gained Substitute Death, which let the skill absorb damage and reform without a cooldown.
• Zhou An carved flames and then blade-light qi to grind Butcher Dismembering Human Knife Technique to level eight, exhausting his stored proficiency.
• Great Chu, Great Yue, and Great Qi moved up the Hunting of the Weird and planned to send twenty All-Sage Realm experts from each nation to search for bizarre creatures.
• Xingwu Emperor named Zhou An as Great Chu’s candidate to lead the hunt, hoping he would deter Great Qi, while Eunuch Wei and the Prime Minister discussed an alliance with Great Yue.
• Emperor Fengteng chose the unstable Demonic Swordsman to lead Great Qi’s team and considered Zhou An’s possible death an acceptable price.
• Emperor Fengteng gave a secret letter to a man in black and ordered him to deliver it to the Man Kingdom Emperor.

Emperor Fengteng secretly colluded with the Barbarian Kingdom and plotted to use Zhou An’s fame to provoke Great Chu. In the capital, Eunuch Wei tested Zhou An’s strength, and Zhou An then discovered that a poisoned Daoist had been attacked with a toxin requiring a close relative’s bloodline.

• Emperor Fengteng sent a secret letter to the Barbarian Kingdom and planned to use the Demonic Swordsman to kill Zhou An, hoping to gain leverage against Great Chu.
• Zhou An received orders to compete in the capital for leadership of Great Chu’s Hunting of the Weird team, then left Huaixi Capital with Black Jade and arrived safely.
• Eunuch Wei told Zhou An that he had concealed Zhou An’s killings of Princess Fuling and Daoist Han Yuan, then fought him using ten percent of his strength; Zhou An’s attack injured Eunuch Wei’s finger.
• The National Teacher summoned Zhou An to the Surveillance Division, where Zhou An found Yuan Qingyi, Ye Shuang, and Shi Xiyuan tending a badly wounded Daoist.
• Zhou An identified the poison as Divine Melting Powder, which required blood from a close relative to take effect, prompting the National Teacher to condemn his disciple.