Recaps

Gu Jingang discovered that Gu Sheng had reached the peak of the Blood Refining Realm and began paying him for Iron Stone Fist instruction, helping Gu Jingang advance to the same realm. Meanwhile, the prominent families of Canghe County prepared to fight Liu Yuanhu, while Gu Sheng approached a breakthrough to the Bone Refining Realm.

• Gu Jingang watched Gu Wan practice the Flying Thunder Leg stance, learned that Gu Sheng was connected to his training, and discovered Gu Sheng displaying peak Blood Refining Realm strength in his courtyard.
• Gu Sheng agreed to remain in Gu Family Village, and Gu Jingang secretly paid him one thousand taels of silver per month for Iron Stone Fist guidance.
• After a month of cultivation under Gu Sheng's guidance, Gu Jingang advanced to the peak of the Blood Refining Realm, then challenged Gu Sheng and left with a bruised face.
• Gu Sheng's bone-tempering progress passed eighty percent after he took his fourth Bone Protecting Pill, bringing him close to the Bone Refining Realm.
• Zhao Honglie and the prominent family heads confirmed their preparations to evacuate and agreed to begin attacking Liu Yuanhu's forces in three days.

Gu Sheng watched Gu Family Village prepare for the growing unrest while waiting for a chance to strike at the Black Sand Gang. That night, the Lu Family and Black Sand Gang launched a surprise raid on the village, but Gu Jingang quickly rallied its defenders, and the two forces faced each other in battle.

• Gu Sheng noted that his Blood Revitalizing Technique had reached major mastery and expected to enter the Bone Refining Realm within half a month as tensions in Canghe County rose.
• Zhao Honglie secured the great families’ agreement to attack Liu Yuanhu’s forces and nearby villages, assigning Gu Family Village to the Lu Family and ordering the assault to begin that night.
• Lu Ming led forty martial artists from the Lu Family and Black Sand Gang toward Gu Family Village, planning to hold off Gu Jingang while his subordinates dealt with the other defenders.
• Gu Changming heard a warning signal, sounded the alarm, and spotted the approaching attackers before rushing to inform Gu Jingang.
• Gu Jingang quickly assembled sixteen heavily armored warriors and led the village’s defenders out to meet the raiders.
• Lu Ming’s force reached the village after encountering traps and found Gu Jingang’s defenders, including the armored warriors, ready for battle.

Gu Sheng secretly supported Gu Family Village with deadly archery while Gu Jingang revealed his Blood Refining Realm major completion strength and turned back the Lu Family and Black Sand Gang's attack. The attackers retreated after Third Brother sacrificed himself, and Gu Family Village celebrated its victory with no deaths.

• Lu Ming led the attackers against Gu Family Village, but Gu Sheng's hidden arrows killed and wounded them while protecting the villagers.
• Gu Jingang revealed his Blood Refining Realm major completion strength and overwhelmed Third Brother and Lu Ming when Third Brother tried to hunt down Gu Sheng.
• Lu Ming ordered a retreat, and Third Brother stayed behind to hold Gu Jingang back before Gu Jingang killed him.
• Gu Changming halted the pursuit, and Gu Family Village counted its wounded and celebrated having suffered no deaths.
• Gu Sheng emerged from hiding and received the villagers' gratitude for his archery, while Gu Jingang privately knew Gu Sheng was stronger than him.

Gu Sheng helped Gu Family Village repel an attack by the Lu Family and Black Sand Gang, then intercepted and killed the fleeing attackers to learn that they were part of a wider purge of Liu Yuanhu’s forces. As Canghe County came under attack, Liu Yuanhu ordered Gu Jingang’s people to join the defense of Blackwater Town.

• Gu Family Village identified Lu Family and Black Sand Gang fighters among the attackers, and Gu Jingang sent Gu Dajiang to seek help from Liu Yuanhu.
• Gu Sheng followed Lu Ming and the surviving attackers, then killed Lu Ming with one axe strike while wearing his Hundred Refinements Heavy Armor.
• Gu Sheng slaughtered the remaining fighters, questioned two survivors, and learned that the Black Sand Gang and allied families were attacking Liu Yuanhu’s forces across the county.
• Gu Sheng concluded the Lu Family was a suitable target, gathered the attackers’ weapons, buried the bodies, and left the mountain forest.
• Gu Dajiang reached Canghe County and learned that several settlements had been attacked; news then arrived that Blackwater Town was under assault.
• Liu Yuanhu ordered his forces to reinforce Blackwater Town and told Gu Dajiang to have Gu Jingang bring men there.

Gu Sheng attacked and destroyed a Lu Family stronghold while Liu Yuanhu and the Black Sand Gang traded blows over Canghe County. The chapter ended with Lu Kong learning that Lu Dazhi’s outpost had been wiped out.

• Liu Yuanhu rushed to Blackwater Town after Zhao Honglie’s raid and vowed to retaliate against the Black Sand Gang and the great families.
• Gu Sheng killed the guards at the Lu Family’s hidden outpost, set its wooden houses ablaze, and fought his way toward Lu Dazhi’s pavilion.
• Gu Jingang arrived at burning Blackwater Town and helped extinguish the flames, while Liu Yuanhu promised support for his allies and ordered reprisals against the families opposing him.
• Zhao Honglie celebrated the raid with the great families, but Lu Kong grew anxious when Lu Ming and the other Lu Family fighters failed to return.
• A bloodied martial artist reported to Lu Kong that everyone at Lu Dazhi’s stronghold had been killed.

After Gu Sheng destroyed a Lu Family stronghold and helped repel the attack on Gu Family Village, Canghe County descended into escalating conflict between Liu Yuanhu and the Black Sand Gang. As Gu Sheng continued cultivating and waited to reach the Bone Refining Realm, Gu Xiaojiang broke through to the Blood Refining Realm.

• A Lu Family survivor reported that the Lu Family stronghold had been massacred, and Zhao Honglie later learned that half the forces sent to Gu Family Village were lost and Lu Ming's group had disappeared; Lu Kong collapsed under the news.
• Gu Sheng counted the wealth, medicines, and manuals he had looted from the Lu Family stronghold and resolved to cultivate quickly before the conflict spread further.
• Liu Yuanhu executed captured family members and Black Sand Gang associates at Canghe County's city gates, while the rival family heads watched from outside and vowed revenge.
• Liu Yuanhu stationed forces near Gu Family Village, and the Black Sand Gang and Liu Yuanhu's forces began trading attacks as the county's conflict grew more violent.
• Gu Xiaojiang broke through to the Blood Refining Realm and hurried to Gu Sheng's courtyard with the news.

Gu Xiaojiang broke through to the Blood Refining Realm, while Gu Sheng secretly advanced to the Copper Bone Realm and chose to wait for Liu Yuanhu and Zhao Honglie to fight. At the Black Sand Gang headquarters, Zhao Qingcheng warned Zhao Honglie that Mo Chen had disappeared from Chiyun Prefecture City and might have come to Canghe County.

• Gu Xiaojiang visited Gu Sheng and Gu Jingang to announce his breakthrough to the Blood Refining Realm, cheering them with the news.
• Gu Jingang asked whether Gu Sheng would reveal his strength to Gu Xiaojiang, and Gu Sheng said he would wait until the time was right.
• As violence spread across Canghe County and Gu Family Village endured another probing attack, Gu Sheng broke through to the Bone Refining Realm and reached the Copper Bone Realm.
• Gu Sheng decided to remain hidden and wait for Liu Yuanhu and Zhao Honglie to commit their forces to a decisive battle.
• Zhao Qingcheng told Zhao Honglie that Mo Chen had vanished from public view and might have secretly entered Canghe County, alarming the Black Sand Gang leaders.

Zhao Honglie revealed that he held Zhang Guangqun’s hidden son and planned to use him to force Zhang Guangqun to poison Liu Yuanhu’s side and open the city gates. Meanwhile, Liu Yuanhu held a banquet and praised Zhang Guangqun, then kept him behind and asked how long he had served him.

• Zhao Honglie told the allied patriarchs that Mo Chen’s arrival was still uncertain, then disclosed that he had Zhang Guangqun’s son in his hands.
• Zhao Honglie announced a plan to make Zhang Guangqun poison Liu Yuanhu’s forces and open the gates in three days, prompting the patriarchs to rally behind him.
• Liu Yuanhu hosted a banquet for his experts, whose confidence was bolstered by Mo Chen’s arrival and the county city’s defenses.
• Zhang Guangqun praised Liu Yuanhu and received public recognition for his years of service.
• After the banquet, Liu Yuanhu kept Zhang Guangqun behind and asked how many years he had followed him.

Liu Yuanhu exposed Zhang Guangqun’s coerced betrayal and enlisted him in a plan to lure Zhao Honglie’s alliance into Cangyun County City. The Zhao and Lu families entered the apparently abandoned city to loot it, and the chapter ended as they charged toward noises in the county lieutenant’s rear courtyard.

• Liu Yuanhu confronted Zhang Guangqun over the Blood-Locking Powder, learned Zhao Honglie had threatened Zhang’s son, and stopped Zhang from killing himself by promising to rescue the boy.
• Liu Yuanhu told Zhang to proceed with the betrayal as planned, while he and Mo Chen prepared to use the city as bait and trap Zhao Honglie’s forces.
• Zhang killed the death-row prisoners posing as guards and fired a signal arrow, prompting Zhao Honglie to march on Cangyun County City with the Zhao and Lu families.
• Zhang recovered his son from Zhao Honglie’s men and refused an offer to join the Black Sand Gang, while the Zhao and Lu families entered the city and looted its empty homes.
• Zhao Qingcheng grew suspicious and withdrew toward the gates, but Zhao Dezhi mocked the hesitant Lu family and led both groups into the county lieutenant’s residence.
• The Zhao and Lu families heard noises from the rear courtyard, and Zhao Dezhi led the charge as Lu Kong ordered his men to attack.

Liu Yuanhu’s trap devastated the Lu and Zhao families’ forces inside Canghe City, while Zhao Qingcheng and Zhao Honglie withdrew after discovering the ambush. Liu Yuanhu and Mo Chen pursued the fleeing enemies, leaving the battle continuing outside the city.

• Lu Kong led the Lu Family into the county lieutenant’s residence, where he discovered Liu Yuanhu and Mo Chen waiting and realized Zhang Guangqun had lured them into a trap.
• Liu Yuanhu revealed his ambush, and archers slaughtered most of the Lu and Zhao Family fighters as they tried to flee.
• Zhao Qingcheng withdrew his family from the city, while Zhao Honglie sent Niu Zidong to investigate and then ordered the Black Sand Gang to retreat.
• Niu Zidong escaped the courtyard and warned Zhao Honglie that Liu Yuanhu and Mo Chen were there, while Liu Yuanhu’s men killed Lu Kong and the remaining fighters.
• Liu Yuanhu and Mo Chen pursued Zhao Honglie’s retreating forces, and Mo Chen challenged Liu Yuanhu to an archery contest for a bottle of Hundred Flowers Brew.

Mo Chen and Liu Yuanhu drove the Black Sand Gang and its allies from Canghe County, while Zhao Honglie prepared a counterattack using heavy armor and Boiling Blood Pills. As Zhao Honglie left the Secret Chamber with the black seed, a hidden Fire Worship Cult representative appeared and identified himself.

• Mo Chen and Liu Yuanhu shot down numerous fighters as the Black Sand Gang and aristocratic families retreated from Canghe County.
• Liu Yuanhu celebrated the victory with his allies, while Zhao Honglie berated his subordinates for failing to capture Zhang Guangqun.
• Zhao Honglie proposed attacking the county’s towns and revealed that the Black Sand Gang had 220 sets of heavy armor and more than 800 Boiling Blood Pills.
• Zhao Honglie agreed to give the aristocratic families 80 sets of heavy armor, then took the wooden box containing the black seed from the Secret Chamber.
• A concealed fat man entered the Black Sand Gang headquarters, and Zhao Honglie recognized him as a representative of the Fire Worship Cult.

Qian Jin recruited Zhao Honglie and agreed to help the Black Sand Gang hold off Mo Chen in exchange for a pledge of loyalty, while Gu Sheng suspected that Gu Family Village would be attacked. As night fell, the Black Sand Gang prepared to move against the village.

• Qian Jin accused Zhao Honglie of killing Fire Worship Cult members and stealing their pills, but Zhao Honglie denied responsibility and pledged the Black Sand Gang's loyalty.
• Qian Jin demanded that Zhao Honglie take Canghe County and accepted more than twenty thousand taels to help hold off Mo Chen.
• Liu Yuanhu sent Zhang Guangqun with reinforcements and heavy armor to defend Qianhe Town against a possible Black Sand Gang attack.
• Gu Sheng warned Gu Xiaojiang that the Black Sand Gang would retaliate, then told Gu Erniu to keep his family inside that night.
• After night fell, a Black Sand Gang subordinate told the Hall Master that it was time to make their move.

The Black Sand Gang attacked Gu Family Village under Wang Tiansheng, but Gu Sheng revealed his Bone Refining Realm strength and turned the battle with his archery and kicks. The fight remained unresolved when a powerful beast roared from deep within Cang Mountain, stopping both sides.

• Wang Tiansheng led fifty Black Sand Gang fighters in an armored assault on Gu Family Village, but a village trap triggered the alarm and brought Gu Jingang and the others to defend it.
• Gu Sheng shot down several armored Skin Refining stage attackers, forcing Wang Tiansheng to send two lesser Blood Refining Realm fighters after him.
• Gu Sheng lured the two pursuers into his courtyard, then revealed his Bone Refining Realm strength and killed both with kicks that crushed their helmets.
• Gu Sheng used an armor-piercing arrow to save Gu Dajiang from a fatal blow, then rejoined the battle as the fighters struggled to gain the advantage.
• A tremendous beast roar from deep within Cang Mountain made both sides stop fighting.

Gu Sheng helped Gu Family Village repel the Black Sand Gang as a Bone Refining Realm demonic tiger drove wild beasts out of Cang Mountain. Liu Honglie planned to hunt the tiger and block the village’s appeal for help, while Qian Jin arrived at the gang headquarters.

• Gu Sheng recognized the tiger’s roar and considered capturing the demonic tiger for its valuable materials and pills.
• Wang Tiansheng ordered the Black Sand Gang to retreat as the demonic tiger’s roar and the panicked beasts disrupted the battle at Gu Family Village.
• Gu Jingang and the villagers fought the beasts until dawn, then worried that the tiger and Liu Honglie posed a greater threat.
• Liu Honglie ordered Niu Zidong to prepare an armored force to hunt the demonic tiger, promising that a Bone Refining Realm ally would join them.
• Liu Honglie used Qian Jin’s communication device, and Qian Jin appeared at the Black Sand Gang headquarters through a shadow technique.

Zhao Honglie recruited Qian Jin to help the Black Sand Gang hunt a tiger demon in Cang Mountain, while Gu Sheng entered the mountain separately to prepare for danger. Qian Jin and Niu Zidong found a Fanged Blood Tiger and forced the gang members to fight it, but the tiger leaped over them and pounced toward Niu Zidong.

• Zhao Honglie offered Qian Jin sixty percent of the gains to lead a squad against the tiger demon, and Qian Jin agreed.
• Niu Zidong led the Black Sand Gang into Cang Mountain through Li Family Fort after Zhao Honglie slipped him a black stone.
• After returning wounded to Gu Family Village, Gu Changming found the village cut off, while Gu Jingang organized defenses and Gu Sheng entered Cang Mountain in his armor.
• After three days of searching, Qian Jin and Niu Zidong discovered a Fanged Blood Tiger eating a wild boar in a forest clearing.
• Qian Jin shoved Niu Zidong toward the tiger, and the Fanged Blood Tiger battered him before the Black Sand Gang attacked under Niu Zidong's orders.
• The Fanged Blood Tiger fought off the gang members, then leaped over them and pounced toward Niu Zidong.

Qian Jin and the Black Sand Gang killed the Fanged Blood Tiger, but Gu Sheng ambushed the survivors and fought Qian Jin. Qian Jin escaped after Gu Sheng broke his weapons, leaving Gu Sheng to search the battlefield.

• Niu Zidong used a Boiling Blood Pill to survive the Fanged Blood Tiger's attack, and Qian Jin emerged from hiding to wound the beast with his steel forks.
• The Fanged Blood Tiger went berserk and killed several Black Sand Gang members before Qian Jin and the remaining fighters brought it down.
• As Qian Jin and the survivors prepared to leave with the tiger, Gu Sheng shot them with armor-piercing arrows, killing Niu Zidong and the others.
• Gu Sheng attacked Qian Jin, whose Shadow Concealment Art initially let him evade the great axe, but Gu Sheng detected him with the Snake Breathing Technique and shattered his steel forks.
• Qian Jin threatened Gu Sheng and fled using his concealment art, while Gu Sheng abandoned the pursuit and began cleaning up the battlefield.

After defeating the Black Sand Gang, Gu Sheng processed the Fanged Blood Tiger and brought its valuable blood, bones, and heart to Alchemist Ge Qing. Ge Qing revealed the beast’s rare lineage, offered to refine powerful pills, and introduced Gu Sheng to the world’s formal grades for pills, techniques, and martial arts.

• Gu Sheng collected banknotes, Boiling Blood Pills, and a mysterious black stone from the dead Black Sand Gang members, then returned to Gu Family Village after nightfall.
• Gu Sheng butchered the Fanged Blood Tiger and gave two pieces of its meat to Gu Erniu for his family, warning him to hide it and feed it carefully to Xiao Wan.
• Gu Sheng carried the tiger’s bones and blood to Canghe County and asked Alchemist Ge Qing to refine pills from them.
• Ge Qing recognized the beast as a Fanged Blood Tiger with the bloodline of the rare Firewing Blood Tiger and said its materials could yield Bone Protecting Pills and Bone Forging Pills.
• Ge Qing explained that pills, artifacts, techniques, and martial arts had Heaven, Earth, Black, and Yellow grades, revealing to Gu Sheng how limited the local classifications were.

Gu Sheng revealed his identity to Ge Qing and secured a Bone Forging Pill on credit, then took Ge Qing’s remark as a sign that Liu Yuanhu would win the struggle for Canghe County. At Black Sand Gang headquarters, Qian Jin reported the failed hunt for the demon tiger and offered Zhao Honglie a way to break the stalemate by recruiting another Copper Bone Realm expert.

• Gu Sheng revealed his true appearance to Ge Qing, who agreed to let him pay the remaining cost of the Bone Forging Pill later and asked him to collect it in three days.
• Ge Qing identified Gu Sheng’s black stone as a Yellow Grade Low Rank Explosive Strange Stone capable of threatening a Copper Bone Realm expert.
• Gu Sheng interpreted Ge Qing’s comment about Canghe Town needing to become quieter as a hint that Liu Yuanhu would prevail, and decided to speed up his harvesting.
• Qian Jin returned to Black Sand Gang headquarters without Niu Zidong or the demon tiger and blamed Zhao Honglie for failing to warn him about the Great Axe Butcher, a Copper Bone Realm expert.
• Zhao Honglie gave Qian Jin one hundred thousand taels to compensate him, and Qian Jin proposed recruiting another Copper Bone Realm expert from Chiyun Prefecture if Zhao Honglie paid for the help.

Qian Jin joined Zhao Honglie’s forces to help seize Canghe County, and the Black Sand Gang launched its attack with two Copper Bone Realm experts. The battle began at the city walls, where Mo Chen and Liu Yuanhu faced their opponents while Qian Jin slipped into the city to open the gates.

• Qian Jin agreed to help Zhao Honglie take Canghe County and left to make preparations.
• Gu Sheng continued training Gu Wan in Iron Stone Fist and checked his own cultivation progress after three days.
• Qian Jin returned with Bai Yunqi, and Zhao Honglie led the Black Sand Gang and allied families toward Canghe County.
• Zhao Qingcheng ordered his clansmen to conserve their strength, wary that Zhao Honglie might turn against them.
• Liu Yuanhu and Mo Chen confronted the attackers as Zhao Honglie, Bai Yunqi, and Qian Jin began fighting at the walls.
• Qian Jin used Shadow Concealment Art to bypass the defenders and reached the city gate bars, intending to open them.

During the Black Sand Gang’s assault on Canghe County, Liu Yuanhu fought Zhao Honglie after Qian Jin opened the gates, but Qian Jin’s ambush left him gravely wounded. Ge Qing intervened to save Liu Yuanhu and confronted the attackers, then calmly stopped Bai Yuqi’s fan attack as Bai Yuqi drew a flexible sword.

• Liu Yuanhu used a Burning Blood Pill to fight Zhao Honglie, but Zhao Honglie kept retreating until Qian Jin opened Canghe County’s gates and the Black Sand Gang stormed inside.
• Liu Yuanhu battled Zhao Honglie amid the invasion, severed part of Zhao Honglie’s hand, and was then stabbed from behind by Qian Jin, who escaped using the Shadow Concealment Art.
• Mo Chen became enraged at Liu Yuanhu’s injuries and overwhelmed Bai Yuqi, who called Qian Jin to help him fight Mo Chen.
• As Liu Yuanhu weakened, Zhao Honglie prepared to kill him, but Ge Qing arrived, healed Liu Yuanhu with a pill, and ordered the attackers to withdraw.
• Bai Yuqi attacked Ge Qing with his jade fan, but Ge Qing caught a steel needle between two fingers and stopped him; Bai Yuqi abandoned the fan and drew a flexible sword.

Ge Qing defeated Bai Yuqi, Qian Jin, and Zhao Honglie, forcing the Black Sand Gang to flee Canghe County. Afterward, Qian Jin and Bai Yuqi went to claim Zhao Honglie’s hidden money, and Qian Jin attacked him when their confrontation turned hostile.

• Ge Qing pierced Bai Yuqi’s wrist, stopped his iron-feather attack with a word, and frightened the three attackers into fleeing Canghe County.
• Ge Qing left after telling Liu Yuanhu to carry on as usual, and Liu asked Mo Chen to deal with the remaining aristocratic families and help suppress the bandits.
• Bai Yuqi demanded his promised payment from Qian Jin, and Qian Jin persuaded him to seek the money from Zhao Honglie instead.
• Zhao Honglie fled to the Black Sand Gang headquarters, retrieved his hidden banknotes, and encountered Qian Jin and Bai Yuqi demanding payment.
• Zhao Honglie claimed he had already paid Qian Jin, but Qian Jin denied it and attacked him.

Zhao Honglie swallowed a strange black bead and mutated into a giant, four-armed monster with overwhelming strength. He killed Bai Yuqi and began devouring his corpse while Qian Jin escaped under the cover of his Shadow Concealment Art.

• Zhao Honglie swallowed a Boiling Blood Pill and struck back at Qian Jin, breaking his steel fork and injuring him.
• Bai Yuqi attacked Zhao Honglie with Thousand Feather Cherry Blossom Illusion Kill, piercing him with refined-iron feathers and leaving him badly wounded.
• Zhao Honglie swallowed a black bead and transformed into a towering, four-armed creature surrounded by black qi.
• Zhao Honglie struck Qian Jin and chased him and Bai Yuqi as both men fled.
• Bai Yuqi tried to use Qian Jin as a decoy, but Qian Jin resisted and vanished with the Shadow Concealment Art.
• Zhao Honglie killed Bai Yuqi, failed to find the hidden Qian Jin, and began eating Bai Yuqi's corpse.

After Zhao Honglie devoured Bai Yuqi and left, Qian Jin looted the body, only to be ambushed by Gu Sheng. Recognizing Gu Sheng as the Great Axe Butcher, Qian Jin tried to recruit him into the Fire Worship Cult, and Gu Sheng learned that martial arts realms existed beyond Marrow Refining.

• Zhao Honglie returned to normal after eating Bai Yuqi and left, while Qian Jin stayed hidden until dawn.
• Qian Jin searched Bai Yuqi's belongings and took banknotes, Bone Strengthening Pills, two red pills, and the Thousand Feather Cherry Blossom Illusion Kill manual.
• Gu Sheng shot a powder-filled pouch at Qian Jin, then blocked Qian Jin's throwing darts with his Thirstblood Battle Axe.
• Gu Sheng used Tier 1 Body Strengthening, and Qian Jin recognized him as the Great Axe Butcher and begged him to join the Fire Worship Cult.
• Gu Sheng asked about realms beyond Marrow Refining, and Qian Jin described higher realms and promised the cult could nurture Gu Sheng into a future Holy Son.

Gu Sheng rejected Qian Jin’s offer to join the Fire Worship Cult after learning about the major forces in Chiyun Prefecture, then pursued him to obtain his Shadow Concealment Art. After swearing to spare Qian Jin if he provided a genuine manual, Gu Sheng began cultivating the technique and felt its power emerge.

• Qian Jin described Chiyun Prefecture’s Governor’s Mansion, two sects, three schools, and the Fire Worship Cult branch, then urged Gu Sheng to meet the sect’s steward.
• Gu Sheng refused to join the Fire Worship Cult and attacked Qian Jin, who fled using the Shadow Concealment Art.
• Gu Sheng tracked Qian Jin with herbal scent powder and caught up to him using First-Stage Speed.
• Gu Sheng defeated Qian Jin with the Wrathblood Three Forms, leaving him injured and begging for his life.
• Qian Jin demanded an oath upon Gu Sheng’s martial heart before writing down the Shadow Concealment Art, and Gu Sheng swore to spare him for a genuine manual.
• Qian Jin wrote the technique and shared his cultivation insights, and Gu Sheng practiced until a peculiar force made his body seem illusory.

Gu Sheng acquired the Shadow Concealment Art, crippled Qian Jin’s ability to think, and received a token from Ge Qing that could help him enter the wider world. After Liu Yuanhu took control of Canghe County and the Chiyun Guard cleared out its criminals, Gu Xiaojiang was accepted into the Guard and hurried to tell Gu Sheng.

• Gu Sheng learned the Shadow Concealment Art, burned its manual, and turned Qian Jin into an idiot before sending him away with healing pills.
• Gu Sheng discovered Qian Jin’s money and pills, then hid when Ge Qing arrived to investigate the demonic aura at the scene.
• Ge Qing tested Gu Sheng, gave him a token for seeking entry to the Saint Pill Sect, and left.
• Liu Yuanhu received his appointment as ruler of Canghe County, and Mo Chen’s Chiyun Guard cleared the county of bandits and criminals.
• Liu Yuanhu and Mo Chen visited Gu Family Village, where Mo Chen accepted Gu Xiaojiang into the Chiyun Guard.
• Gu Xiaojiang ran to Gu Sheng’s courtyard and excitedly told him he had been accepted.