Chapter Summaries

Deng Qing considered withdrawing after Huang Changhe and the Donghuang Cult targeted him, but Jian Ruyu revealed that he could still reach the Wasteland Veins while Furnace Realm experts could not. She publicly confronted Huang Changhe, defeated Feng Xiuquan, and left Huang Changhe gravely injured, establishing herself as Deng Qing’s powerful protector.

• Deng Qing told Jian Ruyu he suspected Huang Changhe wanted his blood for a sinister purpose and considered abandoning the mission, but Jian Ruyu explained that the dense Wasteland Qi barred Furnace Realm experts from the depths.
• Jian Ruyu assured Deng Qing that Huang Changhe would not be able to enter the dangerous area and led him toward the command gathering.
• Jian Ruyu warned Huang Changhe that targeting Deng Qing meant targeting her, but Huang Changhe denied the accusation and invoked military discipline.
• Jian Ruyu immobilized Feng Xiuquan’s thirteen personal guards with finger flicks, then struck Feng Xiuquan back with a single palm.
• Huang Changhe tried to flee, but Jian Ruyu intercepted him, shattered his chest with a palm strike, and warned the assembled crowd against making trouble.
• After Jian Ruyu left, Long Xiu, Lin Li, Su Yun, and the others praised her strength and called Deng Qing fortunate to have gained such a powerful backer, while Chen Hong resolved to improve Deng Qing’s Black Token.

Jian Ruyu publicly protected Deng Qing, then guided him toward the newly opened Nameless Underground Palace, where the Wasteland Qi remained dangerous. Deng Qing joined Xiao Jinglin and the others in entering the ruins, leaving the group behind as they pressed farther underground.

• Jian Ruyu explained that she had injured Huang Changhe to put confidence into Deng Qing and warned him to weigh caution against boldness himself.
• Jian Ruyu told Deng Qing that Li Dashan and Zhang Yan had disappeared, then the mist parted to reveal stone steps leading into the Nameless Underground Palace.
• Three Furnace Realm cultivators entered the palace and emerged badly injured, and Feng Xiuquan barred Furnace Realm Martial Artists while allowing Bone-Forging Realm Martial Artists to enter at their own risk.
• Deng Qing deposited his spoils, learned that Xiao Jinglin’s party would enter the palace, and joined them after the dense Wasteland Qi forced several companions to turn back.
• Pei Zhao asked Deng Qing to protect Xiao Jinglin, and Su Yun pulled Deng Qing and the others farther into the underground passage.

Deng Qing and the gathered martial artists entered the Underground Palace, where Cao Chun attempted to impose authority and direct them. After the crowd killed two Wasteland Beasts, their bodies vanished and activated ancient patterns across the plaza, and two cloaked figures emerged from behind an exploding stone stele.

• Deng Qing and the others entered the vast Underground Palace, where Cao Chun ordered them to gather and follow his command, assigning Huang Bingyao to oversee discipline.
• Cao Chun distributed numbered armbands and claimed the martial artists would earn merits, while Su Yun suspected they were being used as bait against the Donghuang Cult.
• After smoke and thrown knives destroyed the Flamebirds’ Divine Shadow Stones, the martial artists ignored Cao Chun’s orders and charged the two weakened Wasteland Beasts.
• The crowd killed both Wasteland Beasts, but their bodies and Qi Petals dissolved, revealing red patterns that spread across the plaza and began to rumble.
• The stone stele exploded, and two cloaked figures rushed into the plaza; one figure’s hood fell back, revealing a bluish-white face with bulging veins and dark red movement beneath the skin.

Deng Qing recognized Zhang Yan among the Donghuang Cult’s mutants and realized Wasteland Blood had caused Zhang Yan’s transformation, deepening his anger toward Li Dashan. As the plaza descended into disorder, Huang Bingyao accused Deng Qing of being a mutant spy and Cao Chun ordered him inspected, while Xiao Jinglin challenged the accusation.

• Donghuang Cult members and blood corpses emerged from the broken stone stele, then headed toward the northern corridor as the martial artists refused Cao Chun’s orders to pursue them.
• Deng Qing recognized the mutated Zhang Yan and recalled his strange behavior, concluding that Wasteland Blood had caused his transformation and that Li Dashan’s Pure Jade Method had failed him.
• Cao Chun and Huang Bingyao discussed making an example of someone, and Huang Bingyao accused Deng Qing of being a spy, citing Zhang Yan’s mutation and Deng Qing’s bundle.
• Huang Bingyao demanded that Deng Qing be inspected, and Cao Chun ordered the guards to enforce it despite Xiao Jinglin questioning the evidence and warning against false accusations.

Deng Qing turned Cao Chun and Huang Bingyao’s accusations back on them, passed an inspection, and exposed Huang’s refusal to submit to the same scrutiny. After smoke threw the gathering into chaos, Deng Qing admitted releasing it and attacked Cao Chun’s guards, leaving Cao Chun isolated as Huang Bingyao fled toward the north corridor.

• Cao Chun ordered Deng Qing to submit to an inspection and placed him under guard, but Deng Qing agreed and accused Huang Bingyao of secretly meeting cloaked figures.
• Deng Qing revealed his back for inspection, then demanded that Huang submit to the same examination; Xiao Jinglin and Su Yun rallied the crowd against Huang and Cao Chun.
• Cao Chun shut down the dispute and ordered his guards to seize Deng Qing, but smoke filled the hall and many Martial Artists used the confusion to escape.
• Cao Chun accused Xiao Jinglin of releasing the Dust-Evolving Pearl, but Deng Qing took responsibility and attacked the guards who moved to arrest him.
• Deng Qing defeated Cao Chun’s guards and advanced on Cao Chun, who called on Xiao Jinglin, Su Yun, and the remaining Martial Artists for help.
• Huang Bingyao charged away from Deng Qing toward the north corridor, leaving Cao Chun without the support he had expected.

Deng Qing killed Cao Chun’s guards and struck Cao Chun down after Huang Bingyao escaped by severing his own arm. Xiao Jinglin and Su Yun helped cover up Cao Chun’s death, but their discovery of Huang Bingyao’s unnatural arm raised new questions about him.

• Deng Qing intercepted Huang Bingyao, who cut off his own arm to escape, then knocked Cao Chun unconscious.
• Xiao Jinglin used a Divine Shadow Stone to record witnesses blaming Huang Bingyao for Cao Chun’s death, then killed Cao Chun; Su Yun and the other Martial Artists joined in attacking the corpse.
• Deng Qing collected the loot and accepted the Divine Shadow Stone from Xiao Jinglin, recognizing that Xiao Jinglin had secured the group’s cooperation.
• Su Yun examined Huang Bingyao’s severed arm and revealed strange, dark-red tendons twisted around and grown into its bone.

Deng Qing gathered a group to continue exploring the Nameless Divine Temple and search for his kidnapped Senior Brother, Zhang Yan. After finding three separated martial artists, the group reached a shifting stone forest, where Su Yun activated a carved deity and began investigating it.

• Deng Qing confirmed Huang Bingyao had mutated, then invited Xiao Jinglin to continue with him while warning that he planned to pursue the Donghuang Cult and rescue Zhang Yan.
• Su Yun and the others agreed to travel under Deng Qing's leadership, and Xiao Jinglin warned them not to spread a false account of Cao Chun's death.
• Deng Qing led the group north across a battle-scarred plaza and into a stone forest, following Xiao Jinglin's suggestion that danger lay ahead.
• Chen Jun and his two companions met the group, learned that Huang Bingyao had killed Cao Chun, and agreed to follow Deng Qing.
• Chen Jun led everyone to a stone pillar that had appeared and blocked a path; Su Yun smeared blood into a carved groove, lighting up the deity, then wrapped his arms around it.

Deng Qing opened a passage by turning a stone pillar, then practiced Collapse Step in a corridor decorated with sword murals. Su Yun activated a hidden formation in the wall, and Deng Qing began trying to strike its moving green light to uncover what it concealed.

• Su Yun explained how the stone pillar controlled the Six-Turn Palace-Shift Formation, but neither he nor a guard could turn it.
• Deng Qing turned the pillar three times left and three times right, opening a stairway beneath the pagoda-holding statue.
• The group explored a mural-lined corridor, where Su Yun recognized paintings that appeared to depict a sequence of sword movements.
• Deng Qing stayed behind to practice Collapse Step while the others searched nearby, and Su Yun examined the murals.
• Su Yun activated a formation in the wall, revealing a moving green light that he said had to be struck to uncover the hidden contents.
• Deng Qing used Collapse Step to hit the green light once, but nothing changed, so Su Yun suggested he try hitting it three, six, or nine times.

Deng Qing reached grand mastery in Collapse Step by learning to center its circle on a moving target, then helped Su Yun record the mural’s ancient sword dance. After the group investigated a new plaza, Su Yun discovered signs of an ancient formation influencing Wasteland Beasts, and the chapter ended with him recognizing something alarming in the Stone Forest.

• Deng Qing adapted Collapse Step to the shifting green light, achieved grand mastery, and struck it repeatedly until the mural awakened.
• Deng Qing used the Divine Shadow Stone to record the painted woman’s sword dance, and Su Yun asked for a copy to study.
• Deng Qing’s Great Fortune Pills failed to raise Devour Heaven Scripture beyond 59%, so he agreed with Su Yun to investigate the formation affecting the Divine Hall.
• Xiao Jinglin returned with the investigators, and the group followed Su Yun’s proposal to locate the formation eye and stop the disappearance of Wasteland Beast remains.
• The group found three Wasteland Beasts ramming a wall, and Su Yun concluded that an ancient formation had trapped them in a Nightmare Art rather than helping the Donghuang Cult breach the building.
• Su Yun inspected the Stone Forest and abruptly stopped, his expression changing drastically.

Deng Qing helped activate the Taiyin Blood-Transforming Formation, defeated the Wasteland Beasts, and discovered a new Blood Control Art as his cultivation advanced. After feasting and training, he told Xiao Jinglin about the sword demonstration recorded on his Divine Shadow Stone and offered to make him a copy.

• Su Yun identified the Taiyin Blood-Transforming Formation, and Deng Qing stepped on the moving light until the formation exposed the Donghuang Cult emblem and stopped the Wasteland Beasts from dissolving.
• Xiao Jinglin led the group in killing the exhausted Wasteland Beasts, and Deng Qing accepted their three three-lobed Qi Petals.
• Deng Qing absorbed blood baleful intent from the buried offal, advanced the Devour Heaven Scripture, and gained the Blood Control Art.
• Deng Qing used blood threads to extract Wasteland Blood and practiced the Elephant-Throwing Method, advancing to Bone Tempering Third Layer (58%).
• Deng Qing ate and trained while the others packed meat, then told Xiao Jinglin about the mural's sword demonstration and offered to let him copy its recording.

Deng Qing used the Blood Control Art to trace Zhang Yan through blood preserved in his farewell letter, then parted ways with Xiao Jinglin, Su Yun, Chen Jun, and the others. He set off alone toward Zhang Yan’s location disguised as Xie Xuan to avoid enemies searching for him.

• Deng Qing discovered that his refined wasteland blood could not locate Zhang Yan, but extracted a trace of wasteland blood from Zhang Yan’s farewell letter and used the Blood Control Art to sense nine blood-red points, identifying one isolated point as Zhang Yan’s likely location.
• Chen Jun and the others decided to return with their gains, while Xiao Jinglin offered to accompany Deng Qing; Deng Qing convinced Xiao Jinglin to leave rather than risk going farther.
• Deng Qing recorded the sword manual onto Xiao Jinglin’s Divine Shadow Stone, asked him to make a copy for Su Yun, and requested that the Xiao Family share any insights it gained from studying the manual.
• Xiao Jinglin left with his guards, and Su Yun gave Deng Qing a booklet of notes on the desolate soil before returning with Chen Jun and the others.
• Deng Qing followed the direction revealed by the Blood Control Art, changed his clothes and appearance, and set out disguised as Xie Xuan because Huang Changhe and Huang Bingyao were colluding with the Donghuang Cult and Huang Changhe was searching for him.

Deng Qing defeated Donghuang Cult corpse handlers, used their red armband to pass himself off as a cult member, and learned that Zhang Yan was being kept as a medicinal primer. He joined the handlers returning to a gathering of cultists, where he saw the guarded, apparently mindless Zhang Yan.

• Deng Qing killed five men tending a blood pool, took their supplies, and discovered that blood baleful intent let him restore the fading red armband.
• Deng Qing examined the pool, found its liquid dangerously impure, and tried to obstruct it by throwing fallen stone pillars into it.
• At another pool, Deng Qing pretended to belong to Blood Butcher Xiong Zhen's group and learned that the cult was gathering power to claim the Wasteland Veins.
• Deng Qing learned that Huang Changhe had entered the Underground Palace and that the mutant was being kept as a medicinal primer.
• Deng Qing helped three cultists dispose of corpses, then followed them to a gathering of Donghuang Cult members and recognized the guarded Zhang Yan.

Deng Qing rescued Zhang Yan from the Donghuang Cult and extracted some of the corrupt blood baleful intent that had driven him berserk. After Zhang Yan recovered, he defended Li Dashan and refused to leave, insisting he had to return and finish his task.

• Deng Qing killed Xiong Zhen and fought through the crowd to seize Zhang Yan, then escaped with him while the survivors discovered Xiong Zhen was dead.
• Deng Qing bound Zhang Yan in a secluded forest and used Mystic Wasteland Baleful Blood and the Devour Heaven Scripture to suppress and extract the corrupt blood baleful intent.
• Zhang Yan regained awareness and told Deng Qing that he had been guarding Li Dashan while his master prepared for a breakthrough, but he could not remember how the Donghuang Cult captured him.
• Deng Qing challenged Zhang Yan's trust in Li Dashan, but Zhang Yan defended his master out of gratitude and rebuked Deng Qing for criticizing him.
• Deng Qing knocked Zhang Yan unconscious and removed some of the poison, then offered to treat him; Zhang Yan refused to leave and said he had to return to complete his task for Li Dashan.

Deng Qing escaped the moving passage into a flooded stone chamber, where Donghuang Cult members attacked him after Zhao Laosan exposed him as an Imperial Court spy. Zhang Yan and seven other Personal Disciples rescued him, and Deng Qing learned that they were all his senior brothers.

• Zhang Yan told Deng Qing that Master had ordered him not to disturb Deng Qing after he refined the Wasteland Blood, then left him with a letter for his sister-in-law.
• The sword mural activated and shattered, causing the passage to move and collapse; Deng Qing escaped through the ceiling into a chamber flooding with deadly bloody water.
• Deng Qing climbed onto a raised platform, where Zhao Laosan identified him as an Imperial Court spy and accused him of killing Xiong Zhen.
• Deng Qing fought the Donghuang Cult members surrounding him, but their coordinated attacks and reinforcements left him increasingly battered.
• Zhang Yan and seven cloaked fighters arrived, drove off the Donghuang Cult members, and helped Deng Qing survive.
• Zhang Yan introduced Fang Bingshan, Zhou Heng, Zheng Ping, Xu Zhaonian, Lu Kuan, Du Changgeng, and Meng Qiusheng as Master's Personal Disciples and Deng Qing's senior brothers.

Deng Qing exposed Huang Bingyao’s alleged role in Cao Chun’s death and warned Tang Xingyao that Huang Changhe might be allied with the Donghuang Cult, but Huang Changhe arrived and ordered Deng Qing to help him. As Zhang Yan and two senior brothers poured Wasteland Blood into the pool, the Vein Dragon stirred, beginning the attempt to pin down the Wasteland Veins.

• Fang Bingshan and six other Celebration Hall disciples rescued Deng Qing, then left to carry out their task; Zhang Yan told Deng Qing that Li Dashan was in the blood pool and that their lineage had come to settle accounts with Huang Changhe.
• The Command Center’s soldiers arrived with Tang Xingyao and Huang Bingyao, who identified Deng Qing; Deng Qing revealed his true face and accused Huang Bingyao of colluding with the Donghuang Cult and killing Cao Chun.
• Deng Qing used the Divine Shadow Stone to show Xiao Jinglin and others identifying Huang Bingyao as Cao Chun’s killer, then warned Tang Xingyao that Huang Changhe might also be working with the enemy.
• Huang Changhe arrived and demanded that Deng Qing come help him; Deng Qing refused, while Zhang Yan called to him from a nearby pass and offered a chain.
• Zhang Yan and two cloaked senior brothers poured Wasteland Blood into the pool, stirring azure lights and raising the Vein Dragon’s back above the surface.

Deng Qing exposed Huang Changhe’s alliance with the Donghuang Cult and fought to claim the Vein Dragon for the Imperial Court. After defeating Huang Changhe’s attempt to control it, Deng Qing pinned the seventh dragon vein of Liangshan’s Desolate Soil for the Imperial Court.

• Huang Changhe attacked Deng Qing, who escaped by diving into the blood pool and emerged unharmed under the protection of Mystic Wasteland Baleful Blood.
• Deng Qing exposed the Donghuang Cult’s Wasteland Spikes, prompting Tang Xingyao to condemn Huang Changhe as a traitor and kill Huang Bingyao as he tried to flee.
• The Donghuang Cult attacked Tang Xingyao’s soldiers while Deng Qing tried to pin the Vein Dragon with a Wasteland Spike, which shattered after Huang Changhe had tampered with it.
• Huang Changhe struck Deng Qing into the blood pool, where Deng Qing’s blood drew the Vein Dragon and revealed Huang Changhe had already pinned its head for the Donghuang Cult.
• Deng Qing used the Devour Heaven Scripture to consume Huang Changhe’s Blood Baleful Intent, drew the Vein Dragon toward himself, and drove Tang Xingyao’s spare Wasteland Spike into it.
• The blood pool drained as the Vein Dragon disappeared underground, and the sun-and-moon emblem showed that the Imperial Court had claimed Liangshan’s seventh dragon vein.

Deng Qing saved Li Dashan from the baleful intent consuming him, and Li Dashan awakened to confront Huang Changhe, whose Blood Corpses attacked the Celebration Hall disciples. Li Dashan and Huang Changhe began their long-delayed fight, with Huang Changhe revealing his Mystic Wasteland Baleful Blood and Li Dashan drawing a blood vine containing the Wasteland Bone.

• Huang Changhe killed Donghuang Cult members who blamed him for losing the Wasteland Vein, then charged toward the Wasteland Spike as fighting resumed.
• Deng Qing discovered Li Dashan had lost control after refining too much Sha Qi and began extracting the tangled baleful intent while Zhang Yan and the others held him down.
• Huang Changhe attacked Deng Qing, but Li Dashan awakened and revealed that Huang Changhe had lured him with the Pure Jade Method to make him into a Blood Corpse.
• Huang Changhe summoned eight Blood Corpses to attack the injured disciples, while Li Dashan blocked his palm strike and Deng Qing fought the corpses to protect them.
• Li Dashan and Huang Changhe exchanged blows; Huang Changhe used Mystic Wasteland Baleful Blood to hinder Li Dashan, who tore away the affected flesh and faced his senior brother again.
• Huang Changhe formed a blood sword, and Li Dashan pulled a blood vine containing two severed fingers and the Wasteland Bone from his throat.

Li Dashan battled Huang Changhe while Deng Qing and the disciples defeated the blood corpses, but Huang Changhe revealed his superior blood power and drove Li Dashan to reclaim the baleful intent stored in his disciples. The disciples regained their human forms as Li Dashan transformed further, and Huang Changhe began telling him secrets while trying to provoke him.

• Deng Qing and the senior brothers destroyed all eight blood corpses after Deng Qing learned to draw the Sha Qi out of them.
• Li Dashan and Huang Changhe fought, and Huang Changhe transformed into a massive blood-armored form that overwhelmed Li Dashan.
• Huang Changhe killed Elder Xia and the Donghuang Cult core members, while Tang Xingyao escaped in thick fog.
• Li Dashan knelt to apologize to his disciples, then used blood threads to extract the baleful intent stored in them, leaving them weak but restored to human form.
• Li Dashan absorbed the extracted intent and transformed further as Huang Changhe mocked his restraint and began revealing secrets.

Huang Changhe drove Li Dashan into a monstrous transformation by revealing that Li Dashan was Huang Yunfan’s real father, then tried to refine Li Dashan and seize Deng Qing’s mystic wasteland baleful blood. Deng Qing used the Devour Heaven Scripture to drain Huang Changhe and free Li Dashan, but the ensuing fight left Deng Qing transformed and swept away by an underground river.

• Deng Qing interrupted Huang Changhe’s taunts to keep Li Dashan from succumbing to the blood baleful intent, while Zhang Yan and the others withdrew.
• Huang Changhe revealed that Li Dashan was Huang Yunfan’s father and that Deng Qing had killed Yunfan, causing Li Dashan to transform into a monster.
• Huang Changhe threaded his blood baleful intent through Li Dashan and tried to trap Deng Qing, but Deng Qing used the Devour Heaven Scripture to absorb Huang Changhe’s Qi-Blood and Sha Qi.
• Huang Changhe abandoned his mystic wasteland baleful blood and attacked Deng Qing, but Li Dashan intervened and tore Huang Changhe in half.
• Li Dashan went berserk as Deng Qing extracted the remaining baleful blood, and the fight broke through the rock wall into an underground river.
• The flood swept the mutated Deng Qing into the darkness as his consciousness faded.

After drifting in the river for thirteen months, Deng Qing recovered enough to travel back to Yanshan Prefecture and return to Celebration Hall. He reunited with Fan Sheng and found the hall in decline, while his return revived the boys’ admiration for the supposedly dead disciple.

• Old Man Sun and his grandson pulled Deng Qing from the river, and Deng Qing woke the next morning with no cultivation and a severely emaciated body.
• Deng Qing learned that thirteen months had passed, stayed with Old Man Sun for more than ten days, and regained some strength as the Devour Heaven Scripture began working again.
• Old Man Sun arranged for Deng Qing to travel with the New Moon Society’s opera troupe, and Deng Qing reached Fertile Water County after more than thirty days on the road.
• Deng Qing entered Everjoy County through its northern gate, where Chen Pockface recognized him as the man presumed dead and told him a grave had been built in his honor.
• Deng Qing returned to Celebration Hall and reunited with Fan Sheng, who introduced him to the trainees as a famed Personal Disciple and expert.