Recaps

Song Wen fought Shi Shou with corpse puppets, a defensive bell, and the Cold Moon Blade, then used a death-substitution puppet to survive a fatal strike and wound Shi Shou. As Shi Shou tried to heal, Song Wen hinted that something was already inside his head.

• Shi Shou transformed and charged Song Wen, who summoned a pseudo-second-order corpse puppet and defended himself with a bronze Great Lu.
• Song Wen and Shi Shou traded attacks: Song Wen tore away flesh from Shi Shou’s face, while Shi Shou shattered the bronze Great Lu and aimed for Song Wen’s throat.
• Shi Shou tore apart a corpse puppet mistaken for Song Wen, then discovered that Song Wen had grazed his left eye with his hand.
• Song Wen appeared behind Shi Shou and pierced his left waist with the Cold Moon Blade, while Shi Shou destroyed another corpse puppet with a palm strike.
• Song Wen reappeared at a distance unharmed, and Shi Shou took healing pills while asking how Song Wen had refined two death-substitution puppets.
• Song Wen revealed that he had refined more than a dozen death-substitution puppets and warned Shi Shou that something was inside his head.

Song Wen killed Shi Shou and sealed his soul after thwarting his attempt to seize Song Wen’s body. He then harvested the dead captives and searched Wanrou’s memories, leaving her fate unresolved.

• Song Wen used Gu Worms and the Cold Moon Blade to kill Shi Shou, then tried to bind his soul.
• Shi Shou’s soul entered Song Wen’s Sea of Consciousness to seize his body, but a Black Hole restrained it and Song Wen sealed it.
• Song Wen discovered that devouring Shi Shou’s vital blood also strengthened his body with the cultivator’s spiritual power.
• Song Wen devoured the vital blood and souls of the seven dead captives, then approached the badly injured Wanrou.
• Song Wen used the Soul Search Technique on Wanrou and found that she had lived gently and had pleaded with Shi Shou when he used her to practice his cultivation.

Song Wen killed Wanrou, destroyed the evidence of Shi Shou’s death, and returned to his cave with Shi Shou’s belongings. He verified that the Corpse King Blood Refinement Art was genuine and learned it had originated with the long-vanished Divine Blood Sect.

• Song Wen searched Wanrou’s memories and learned Shi Shou was solitary, giving him a chance to impersonate Shi Shou at the Foundation Establishment Transmission Hall.
• Song Wen killed Wanrou, then reminded himself to remain vigilant and devoured her soul.
• Song Wen burned the nine corpses, erased the formation traces, and found that Shi Shou’s corpse puppet was undamaged.
• Song Wen returned to his cave at dawn and hid Ying Ni’s storage ring and Shi Shou’s ring in a niche beside the Corpse Baleful Well.
• Song Wen examined Shi Shou’s belongings and found the complete Corpse King Blood Refinement Art on a blood-red token, along with the Turtle-Snake Shield.
• Song Wen read the cultivation art and confirmed it had not been altered; its opening outline named the vanished Divine Blood Sect as its origin.

Song Wen disguised himself as Shi Shou and entered the Foundation Establishment Transmission Hall, where he selected four techniques. He discovered that the techniques required sect contribution points he lacked and tried to persuade the steward with a bribe, leaving her response uncertain.

• Song Wen finished his work at the Corpse Dissection Cave, disguised himself as Shi Shou, and flew to the Foundation Establishment Transmission Hall.
• Song Wen entered the hall and chose advanced versions of Blood Sacrifice Technique and Netherworld Claw, a Sword-Flying Technique, and the Corpse Puppet True Canon.
• Song Wen paid ten thousand spirit stones for the four techniques, but the steward checked his elder token and found he was fifty contribution points short.
• Song Wen offered the steward five thousand spirit stones to make an exception, and she regarded him with an ambiguous smile.

Song Wen obtained techniques from the Transmission Hall, escaped the female cultivator’s scrutiny, and spent six months cultivating while keeping his activities concealed. After Chen Feihe warned him that a great upheaval might soon strike the Corpse Demon Sect, Song Wen hurried to the External Affairs Hall to investigate.

• Song Wen took four techniques from the female cultivator, who later discovered he had erased her divine sense mark and learned that Shi Shou’s soul aura had vanished from the sect.
• Song Wen changed his aura, devoured the marks and Shi Shou’s soul, then returned to his cave abode and began practicing the Sword-Flying Technique with a newly purchased spiritual flying sword.
• Over the next six months, Song Wen resumed dissecting corpses, cultivating, and stealing blood essence, while occasionally meeting Chen Yi and Chen Feihe.
• Chen Feihe warned Song Wen that a great upheaval might occur soon and urged him to leave the Corpse Demon Sect while he still could.
• Song Wen questioned Chen Feihe about the crisis, then hurried to the External Affairs Hall to learn more.

After the Corpse Demon Sect canceled outside assignments and forbade disciples from leaving, Song Wen abandoned his escape attempt and stocked up on supplies. He returned to his cave abode with nearly one hundred thousand spirit stones after selling off surplus treasures.

• Song Wen learned from the External Affairs Hall steward that all outside assignments had been canceled, confirming that trouble was brewing within the Corpse Demon Sect.
• Song Wen went to the market to test whether he could leave among Rogue Cultivators, but a sect transmission forbade all disciples from leaving and ordered those outside to return.
• Song Wen bought cultivation supplies from the market, spending nearly all the spirit stones he had brought with him.
• Song Wen retrieved two storage rings from the Corpse Baleful Well, sorted their contents, and decided not to sell more essence blood for now.
• Song Wen sold surplus treasures in more than a hundred shops while repeatedly changing his aura, earning nearly one hundred thousand spirit stones before returning to his cave abode.

Song Wen prepared for a looming crisis by cultivating, tending to his corpse puppets and Black Armor Gu, and enduring poison to strengthen his body. After learning that rogue cultivators had been taken into custody, he discovered that several righteous sects were joining forces to attack the Corpse Demon Sect.

• Song Wen warned Chen Yi that something major might happen and urged her to be careful.
• Song Wen absorbed blood energy while dissecting corpses, then nurtured his corpse puppets and Black Armor Gu and took a poisonous gelsemium pill to cultivate the Myriad Poisons Primordial Body.
• Song Wen visited a nearly deserted market and realized he had little access to news about the Corpse Demon Sect.
• Song Wen asked Chen Feihe what was happening, and Chen Feihe revealed that rogue cultivators had been secretly taken into custody.
• Song Wen pressed Chen Feihe for details, and Chen Feihe said several righteous sects in the northeastern region of the Heavenly Origin Continent were joining forces to attack the Corpse Demon Sect.

Song Wen learned that the righteous sects were preparing to attack the Corpse Demon Sect and was ordered to help build defenses. Doubting the sect’s chances, he packed his belongings so he could flee if the opportunity arose, then reunited with Chen Yi, Wang Dang, and Li Yuan at the fortification site.

• Song Wen received Chen Feihe’s report that the righteous sects had spent years preparing to destroy the Corpse Demon Sect, and he questioned why its leaders seemed confident despite the threat.
• Song Wen found the sect increasingly mobilized, then received orders to reach a mountain two hundred li north and construct defensive fortifications.
• Song Wen packed his storage rings and belongings, intending to escape if the Corpse Demon Sect faced defeat.
• Elder Dan Ying assigned the gathered disciples to build defenses and appointed ten outer disciples as captains.
• Song Wen reunited with Chen Yi, Wang Dang, and Li Yuan, and Chen Yi invited him to join their group.

Song Wen learned that Zhang Xiaofan had married Patriarch Lu Cang’s daughter and abandoned Chen Yi, then helped build a Corpse Demon Sect fortress. On the eighth night, a powerful enemy approached before the fortress defenses were complete, and Wu Ren ordered the outer sect disciples to withdraw while the menial disciples were left behind.

• Song Wen heard that Zhang Xiaofan had become Dao companions with Patriarch Lu Cang’s daughter and had taken back his spirit field, leaving Chen Yi depressed.
• Dan Ying and the conscripted disciples completed most of the fortress construction, but the defensive array remained unfinished.
• A skeleton-shaped emergency signal appeared in the sky, warning that a powerful enemy was attacking from thirty li away.
• Dan Ying killed fleeing menial disciples with fireballs and ordered the remaining disciples to defend the fortress.
• Wu Ren arrived, told Dan Ying to withdraw with the outer sect disciples, and left the menial disciples to fend for themselves.

Song Wen discovered that the Corpse Demon Sect's inner disciples were killing menial disciples to preserve their bodies and souls, and resolved to escape. During an ambush by the Mysterious Heaven Sword Sect, he helped Chen Yi flee, drew a hooked-nosed attacker away, and the chapter ended with a Golden Core cultivator killing that attacker.

• Song Wen saw the Corpse Demon Sect's inner disciples capture the souls and bodies of slain menial disciples, confirming he needed to leave the sect.
• Dan Ying fought off an attack by the Mysterious Heaven Sword Sect, then fled toward the fortress while two enemy cultivators pursued her.
• The remaining hooked-nosed Mysterious Heaven Sword Sect cultivator attacked the outer sect disciples, and Song Wen hurled Chen Yi westward and told her not to return to the sect.
• Song Wen flew east to draw the hooked-nosed cultivator away, while Chen Yi escaped into the forest.
• The hooked-nosed cultivator stopped chasing Song Wen and headed toward the fortress, but a Golden Core cultivator struck him and blew him apart.

Song Wen fled from the injured Golden Core cultivator Wu Ren, who recognized him and attacked him. After surviving with a substitute death puppet, Song Wen shouted for help and used another puppet to draw Wu Ren’s attention, then appeared behind him with a sword.

• Yan Yuyan and Lei Jun failed to capture Wu Ren after he escaped their attacks using the Blood Escape Technique.
• Song Wen saw Wu Ren emerge from a blood mist and tried to flee, but Wu Ren recognized him from the Withered Blood Secret Realm and suspected him of killing Wu Sui.
• Wu Ren struck Song Wen, but Song Wen escaped by using a substitute death puppet and relocating with the Black Armor Gu’s extended spiritual sense.
• Song Wen shouted Wu Ren’s location repeatedly, drawing Wu Ren’s attack and sacrificing a second substitute death puppet.
• Song Wen appeared behind Wu Ren and stabbed toward his back with a low-grade spirit weapon flying sword.

Song Wen survived Yan Yuyan's attack and watched her and Wu Ren grievously wound each other. He sent two corpse puppets toward the battlefield while hiding in a sealed cave beneath the river, preparing to eliminate Wu Ren.

• Song Wen used a corpse puppet to fool Yan Yuyan and escaped into a river while she pursued Wu Ren.
• Wu Ren sent a third-rank silver corpse after Yan Yuyan, then detonated it when she bound it with her red sash, blasting her away and badly injuring her.
• Yan Yuyan trapped her Smoke-Congealing Sword in Wu Ren's funeral banner and attacked him with sword energy from her fingertips, severely wounding him, but Wu Ren severed her left arm with a palm strike.
• Song Wen learned through the Black Armor Gu that both fighters were gravely injured and decided Wu Ren had to die.
• Song Wen sent two second-rank corpse puppets toward the battlefield, then hid in a riverbed cave and set up the Qi-Sealing Spirit-Isolating Formation.

Wu Ren died from his injuries and was killed by the corpse puppets, while Yan Yuyan survived their attack and escaped with her severed arm. Song Wen harvested Wu Ren’s blood and soul, then fled downstream and emerged after confirming the area was safe.

• Wu Ren’s rampant Sword Qi destroyed his internal organs as two bronze corpse puppets attacked him, and he died before he could fight them off.
• Yan Yuyan struggled to her feet, but one corpse puppet was cut in two by the Smoke-Congealing Sword while the other fled with Wu Ren’s body.
• Song Wen took Wu Ren’s corpse, absorbed his vital blood, and swallowed his soul with the black hole in his sea of consciousness.
• Song Wen removed the Qi-Sealing Spirit-Isolating Formation, recalled the Black Armor Gu, and let the river carry him downstream as Yan Yuyan departed with her severed arm.
• After drifting for three days and three nights, Song Wen used the Black Armor Gu to check for danger, climbed out of the river, and dried his clothes with spiritual power.

Song Wen disguised himself as an injured righteous Rogue Cultivator and persuaded a Mysterious Heaven Sword Sect party to rescue him and carry him away from the Corpse Demon Sect. Elder Wu grew less suspicious after Song Wen claimed Yan Yuyan had saved him before, and Song Wen remained aboard the flying vessel.

• Song Wen concealed his demonic aura, adopted the Longevity Art, and pretended to be an injured Rogue Cultivator on the riverbank.
• A flying vessel carrying Elder Wu and Mysterious Heaven Sword Sect cultivators spotted Song Wen, and Elder Wu ordered his disciples to bring him aboard and give him a healing pill.
• Song Wen woke, introduced himself as Chen Feihe, and thanked the sect for rescuing him.
• Song Wen claimed Yan Yuyan had rescued him from the Corpse Demon Sect several days earlier and described her swordsmanship in extravagant terms.
• Song Wen said demonic Rogue Cultivators had scattered his companions, and Elder Wu's suspicions eased as the other cultivators accepted his story.

Song Wen traveled with Mysterious Heaven Sword Sect cultivators toward Gan Kingdom while hiding his injuries, then discovered that Chen Yi had been captured and brutally tortured by Lu Chan and her companions. The chapter ended with Chen Yi pleading with Zhang Xiaofan to kill her as Lu Chan continued abusing her.

• Elder Wu invited Song Wen to travel with the Mysterious Heaven Sword Sect toward Gan Kingdom, and Song Wen pretended to meditate and recover aboard their flying ship.
• Song Wen learned that the ship followed a route through demonic territory and grew pessimistic about the Corpse Demon Sect's situation.
• The Black Armor Gu alerted Song Wen that Chen Yi was in a nearby cave, where Zhang Xiaofan, Lu Chan, and two Foundation Establishment cultivators had surrounded her.
• Lu Chan tortured Chen Yi, disfigured her face, gouged out her eyes, and forced pills into her to keep her alive.
• Chen Yi begged Zhang Xiaofan for a quick death, and Lu Chan punished her again for appealing to her Dao companion.

Zhang Xiaofan killed Chen Yi after Lu Chan tortured her, and Song Wen watched without being able to intervene. The flying ship later came upon a battle between demonic and righteous cultivators, and its passengers joined the fight.

• Zhang Xiaofan killed the tortured Chen Yi with a strike that split her heart, and Lu Chan accused him of still having feelings for her.
• Lu Chan asked her senior brothers to extract Chen Yi’s soul and turn it into a soul lamp, but they urged her to leave before righteous cultivators discovered them.
• Lu Chan smashed Chen Yi’s corpse, while Zhang Xiaofan silently seethed at the cave entrance.
• Song Wen watched Chen Yi die through the Black Armor Gu and decided he could not safely rescue her.
• Elder Wu spotted a battle ahead, and the flying ship stopped as more than twenty passengers joined the righteous cultivators against the demonic cultivators.

Song Wen left the flying ship, recovered Chen Yi’s remains, and learned from her journal about her past with Zhang Xiaofan and her hometown in Zhao Kingdom. He buried her near Wang Family Village, visited Senior Brother Xu’s family, and then headed for East Birch Market to seek ways to advance his Black Armor Gu.

• Song Wen secretly left the flying ship and returned to the Cave where Chen Yi had died, gathering her remains and taking her storage pouch.
• Song Wen read Chen Yi’s journal and learned that Zhang Xiaofan had forced her to miscarry after becoming involved with Lu Chan, and that her hometown was Wang Family Village in Zhao Kingdom.
• Song Wen buried Chen Yi near Wang Family Village, where her elderly parents still searched for their missing daughter.
• Song Wen visited Senior Brother Xu’s wealthy father and told him that Xu Liang had become an immortal, then used righteous qi to improve the old man’s health.
• Song Wen left for East Birch Market, hoping to learn how to evolve his Black Armor Gu and planning to visit Senior Brother Xu’s home along the way.

Song Wen learned that the righteous sects had stalled in their assault on the Corpse Demon Sect, leaving him worried that the sect might eventually pursue him. He stayed in East Birch Market and tested a formation meant to hide his presence while studying the true Blood Escape Technique.

• Song Wen declined Ai Kun’s invitation to visit the pleasure houses, then listened as Ai Kun described the righteous sects’ failed siege of the Corpse Demon Sect.
• Song Wen worried that the Corpse Demon Sect might recover and hunt him because his soul aura remained within the sect.
• Song Wen reflected on the Beast Taming Sect’s exploitation of Rogue Cultivators and the inflated prices in East Birch Market.
• Song Wen checked the courtyard opposite his rented home, where he had concealed an underground chamber and a corpse beast to test the Qi-Sealing Spirit-Isolating Formation against Golden Core detection.
• Song Wen studied Wu Ren’s advanced Blood Escape Technique, which burned blood essence to evade attacks and flee great distances.

Song Wen continued cultivating in Eastern Splendor Market, postponing his plan to refine Wu Ren into a pseudo-third-tier corpse puppet because he lacked a Profound Yin Stone. Finding the Longevity Art painfully slow, he bought Blood Qi Pills to speed up his cultivation.

• Song Wen reviewed the arts and treasures from Wu Ren, but set aside refining Wu Ren’s corpse until he could obtain a Profound Yin Stone.
• Song Wen cultivated the Longevity Art for two months and found that his righteous and demonic spiritual energies remained separate, though his progress was slow.
• Song Wen sold nine Fireball Talismans and one Flying Talisman for nine spirit stones.
• Song Wen inspected the shop’s Blood Qi Pills, found them weaker than Extreme Yin’s pills, and bought two for twenty spirit stones.
• Song Wen left the pill shop reflecting on the high prices and the profit made by those selling pills to Rogue Cultivators.

Song Wen encountered Lei Tianyu and Kou Chang, learned about lightning arts and the Azure Bull, and sensed a demonic blood-path aura from Lei Tianyu. After testing a Blood Qi Pill and disliking its weak effect, Song Wen bought herbs and a pill furnace to make his own pills, then saw Lei Tianyu give Kou Chang a jade bottle in a spirit beast shop.

• Song Wen met Ai Kun after Ai Kun left the Peony Pavilion, and Ai Kun told him about Lei Tianyu, Kou Chang, and her Azure Bull.
• Song Wen sensed that Lei Tianyu carried the aura of someone who had recently devoured a large amount of blood essence.
• Ai Kun explained that lightning arts were difficult to cultivate and that successful practitioners were believed to have mutated fire spiritual roots.
• Song Wen took a Blood Qi Pill at home and found that it consumed very little blood essence and gave him little spiritual power.
• Song Wen disguised himself, bought herbs for ten batches of Blood Qi Pills, and purchased a mid-grade magical-artifact pill furnace.
• Song Wen saw Lei Tianyu hand a bag of spirit stones to a shopkeeper, who gave Kou Chang a jade bottle; Kou Chang smiled at Lei Tianyu, who stared at her.

Song Wen bought Palm Thunder from the Lei Clan's shop and discovered the jade slip had been marked by a Foundation Establishment cultivator. After returning home, he refused his neighbor Sun Daxiong's offer of spirit fox meat, while Sun Daxiong planned to buy Palm Thunder for his daughter, Sun Ru.

• Kou Chang left Lei Tianyu after suggesting she would agree to anything if he won her a Foundation Establishment Pill.
• Song Wen disguised himself and bought a copy of Palm Thunder from the Thunder Family Precious Techniques Pavilion for fifty spirit stones.
• Song Wen found a Foundation Establishment cultivator's divine sense mark on the jade slip and erased it after ensuring nobody followed him.
• Sun Daxiong offered Song Wen spirit fox meat, but Song Wen refused and went into his courtyard.
• Sun Daxiong sought other buyers for the meat to raise money for Palm Thunder, and Sun Ru watched him from their courtyard gate.

Song Wen studied Palm Thunder and attempted alchemy before Ai Kun interrupted him to attend a talisman-making gathering led by Fang Ning. The gathering ended with Fang Ning pressuring the rogue talisman masters to sell supplies to the Beast Taming Sect at a discount, while secretly profiting from the price difference.

• Song Wen studied Palm Thunder, failed repeatedly to cast it, and confirmed he could condense a trace of lightning power.
• Song Wen studied Extreme Yin's notes, bought materials and a Spirit-Locking Formation, then failed his first attempt at refining pills.
• Ai Kun summoned Song Wen to meet Fang Ning, a Beast Taming Sect disciple hosting a talisman-making exchange.
• Song Wen listened as Fang Ning and the rogue cultivators shared talisman-making advice, while more cultivators joined the gathering.
• Fang Ning asked the talisman masters to supply five types of talismans to the Beast Taming Sect at seventy percent of market price, and they reluctantly agreed.
• Fang Ning privately anticipated profiting from the difference between the offered price and the eighty percent rate arranged by his elder.

Fang Ning imposed a talisman quota on the Rogue Cultivator talisman masters and surrendered his Dragon-Pattern Grass to Kou Chang. Song Wen later found Sun Ru watching a steward threaten to evict a widow and her child, despite the Beast Taming Sect’s promise that they could stay.

• Fang Ning ordered each talisman master to submit one hundred talismans every ten days, while Song Wen received no token.
• Kou Chang demanded Fang Ning’s two Dragon-Pattern Grasses, and he handed them over despite his resentment.
• Song Wen left with Ai Kun, who hurried to the pleasure quarter, then returned toward his courtyard.
• Sun Ru told Song Wen that Zhao Dapeng was threatening to evict Zhu Mei and her son over unpaid rent.
• Zhao Dapeng gave Zhu Mei until noon the next day to pay or leave, dismissing her claim that Xu Feng had promised her family six more years in the courtyard.

Zhu Mei grieved over her son’s poor spiritual roots and the threat of losing her home, while Song Wen struggled with pill refinement and cultivation. The next day, Zhao Dapeng revealed that his rent demands were a scheme to force Zhu Mei to marry his mentally impaired brother, but Zhu Mei confronted him with a newly hardened temperament.

• Zhu Mei wept after learning her son had only first-grade spiritual roots, and Zhao Dapeng threatened to drive her family out unless they left by noon the next day.
• Song Wen wasted his remaining spiritual ingredients trying to refine pills, then sensed Sun Ru successfully cultivate Palm Thunder.
• Ai Kun visited Song Wen and asked him to draw two Flying Talismans for him, but Song Wen refused to sacrifice cultivation time.
• Zhao Dapeng returned to Zhu Mei’s home with his younger brother and demanded rent or her departure.
• Zhao Dapeng offered to forgive Zhu Mei’s rent if she married his younger brother, revealing that his eviction threats had been a scheme to find his brother a wife.
• Zhu Mei came out to confront Zhao Dapeng with a cold expression and a drastically changed temperament.

Zhu Mei paid Zhao Dapeng to leave her and her son alone, while Song Wen continued making talismans and learning to refine Blood Qi Pills. After receiving news that rogue cultivators were disappearing, Song Wen successfully refined two pills and swallowed both to strengthen his cultivation.

• Zhu Mei gave Zhao Dapeng ten spirit stones and refused to marry his foolish brother, so Zhao Dapeng left to seek a mortal woman for him instead.
• Song Wen agreed to draw two Flying Talismans a day for Ai Kun, then delivered twenty and received eighty spirit stones, including ten extra as compensation.
• Ai Kun told Song Wen that Zhu Mei had gone to a pleasure house to earn rent and warned him that rogue cultivators were disappearing around the market district.
• Song Wen made his first batch of two Blood Qi Pills after further attempts and swallowed the first, absorbing its spiritual power with the Longevity Art.
• Song Wen swallowed the second Blood Qi Pill.