Chapter Summaries

Jiang Jing offered Zhou Feng the position of Dao Protector, hiding his plan to trick him into becoming a willing sacrifice for a future artifact. He left Yu Ming to explain the role and demanded Zhou Feng’s answer by nightfall as the group continued toward its mission.

• Zhou Feng approached Jiang Jing while the others watched, and Jiang Jing recalled the fear and resentment of Inner Sect disciples like Yu Ming.
• Jiang Jing mocked Yu Ming for acting submissively and told Zhou Feng he would become just as obedient if he stayed in the Inner Sect long enough.
• Jiang Jing offered Zhou Feng the position of Dao Protector, though he secretly planned to deceive him into becoming a willing sacrifice for an artifact.
• Zhou Feng asked what a Dao Protector was, while Yu Ming grew jealous that Jiang Jing had chosen Zhou Feng for the offer.
• Jiang Jing ordered Yu Ming to explain the role and told Zhou Feng to give his answer that night before directing everyone to continue onward.

As Zhou Feng learned about Dao Protectors and the Southern Border wilderness, Yu Ming explained how the Three Gu Sect controlled disciples through their Gu insects and withheld higher cultivation methods. Zhou Feng realized he needed proper instruction, while Yu Ming wondered why Jiang Jing had chosen him.

• Yu Ming explained the benefits of becoming a Dao Protector, making Zhou Feng suspect Jiang Jing had ulterior motives.
• Jiang Jing used Concealment Array Flags to hide the group from demonic beasts as they prepared to spend the night in the wilderness.
• Yu Ming described the abilities granted by the Spirit Platform Realm, including controlling formation flags and refining a Natal Gu.
• Yu Ming explained that Zhou Feng's Demon Devouring Gu remained ownerless until he marked it with Soul Power, and that the sect used Gu insects and withheld cultivation methods to control disciples.
• Zhou Feng recognized that his instinctive cultivation would not suffice and considered seeking instruction from the Grand Elder or paying someone to teach him.
• Yu Ming secretly wondered what made Zhou Feng special enough for Jiang Jing to recruit him as a Dao Protector.

Zhou Feng agreed to become Jiang Jing's Dao Protector and traveled with the Three Gu Sect disciples toward the Myriad Insect Cave. When the White Bone Monastery and Five Ghosts Sect ambushed them and Jiang Jing disappeared, Zhou Feng killed Huang Hong in one blow and fled into the forest.

• Zhou Feng learned more about the sects from Yu Ming and agreed to become Jiang Jing's Dao Protector in exchange for being exempted from feeding the Blood Mosquito Gu.
• As the group neared the Myriad Insect Cave, Zhou Feng's Combat Instinct detected an ambush, and he discovered that Jiang Jing had vanished, leaving a paper effigy behind.
• The White Bone Monastery and Five Ghosts Sect attacked the Three Gu Sect disciples, and Huang Hong sent a bone skeleton to block Zhou Feng's escape.
• Zhou Feng used the Demon Devouring Combat Method to twist apart Huang Hong's skeleton and crushed Huang Hong with his overwhelming spiritual energy.
• Zhou Feng fled into the forest, where his Natural Affinity passive could help conceal him.

Zhou Feng escaped into the forest while Yu Ming was captured by the pursuers and humiliated by the Yun brothers. Hidden nearby, Zhou Feng prepared to ambush them and planned to learn what had happened to Jiang Jing and the Heart Connecting Gu’s mother Gu.

• Zhou Feng killed Huang Hong and broke through the encirclement, while Yu Ming followed him into the forest.
• The White Bone Monastery and Five Ghosts Sect split their forces, leaving most of their disciples to attack the Three Gu Sect members and sending a small team after Zhou Feng.
• A Long-Tongued Ghost caught Yu Ming, who cursed Zhou Feng before the Yun brothers arrived and mocked him.
• Yun Lao Da released Yu Ming, and Yun Lao Er forced him to grovel while Zhou Feng watched from nearby.
• Yun Lao Da ordered Yun Lao Er to track Zhou Feng, and Zhou Feng prepared to ambush the two brothers and question them about Jiang Jing.

Zhou Feng killed the Yun brothers and Yu Ming after they ambushed him, then sensed a signal from Jiang Jing’s Heart Connecting Gu and hurried away. The White Bone Monastery and Five Ghosts Sect mistook the killer for a Spirit Platform Realm cultivator and decided to move faster.

• Zhou Feng broke through Yun Lao Da’s Bone Armor, bound him with the Demonic Shadow, and crushed him while the Long-Tongued Ghost vanished in his blood energy.
• Zhou Feng killed Yun Lao Er and realized he had no safe way to leave the Three Gu Sect while the Heart Connecting Gu and Demon Devouring Gu remained threats.
• Yu Ming begged Zhou Feng to spare him, but Zhou Feng killed him and looted three Storage Bags from the corpses.
• The Heart Connecting Gu stirred, and Zhou Feng suspected Jiang Jing’s mother Gu was calling to him, so he left the scene.
• The White Bone Monastery and Five Ghosts Sect discovered the Yun brothers’ deaths, concluded a Spirit Platform Realm cultivator had intervened, and resolved to speed up their plans.

Zhou Feng followed the Heart Connecting Gu to a cliffside cave and found Jiang Jing gravely wounded. After Jiang Jing tried to control him, Zhou Feng survived the gu’s backlash and killed him, but the Heart Connecting Gu remained inside Zhou Feng.

• Zhou Feng followed the Heart Connecting Gu down the cliff to a cave, where he found Jiang Jing missing the lower half of his body and pierced by strange bones.
• Jiang Jing ordered Zhou Feng to cut off his right hand, then demanded he sever his heart meridians when Zhou Feng kept approaching.
• Zhou Feng forced the Demon Devouring Gu to unleash his strength as Jiang Jing crushed the Heart Connecting Gu’s mother gu.
• Zhou Feng’s Bone Plating blocked the first backlash, and his spiritual-power hammer smashed Jiang Jing to death.
• Zhou Feng swallowed the mother gu’s corpse to calm the Heart Connecting Gu, then realized he still needed to remove the gu from his body.

After killing Jiang Jing, Zhou Feng faced the Heart Connecting Gu’s backlash and tried to make the Demon Devouring Gu devour it. He fed himself a pile of random items to prove his sincerity, and Level 2 Gluttony converted them into nourishment as he rushed to strengthen himself.

• Zhou Feng killed Jiang Jing with a powerful strike after enduring the Heart Connecting Gu’s backlash.
• Zhou Feng swallowed the mother Gu’s corpse to temporarily suppress the backlash, then searched Jiang Jing’s Storage Bag but found no Spirit Nurturing Pill.
• Zhou Feng asked the Demon Devouring Gu to consume the Heart Connecting Gu and offered to let it eat its fill.
• Zhou Feng emptied his Storage Bags and swallowed poisons, pills, herbs, and other items to show the Demon Devouring Gu he meant it.
• Level 2 Gluttony digested the items into chaotic vital blood and turbid spiritual energy, and Zhou Feng circulated the Demon Devouring Art to strengthen himself quickly.

Zhou Feng expelled the Heart Connecting Gu with the Demon Devouring Gu’s help, then drew the Hunting Master Passive Skill and decided to stack its marks before returning to the Three Gu Sect. Meanwhile, the White Bone Monastery and Five Ghosts Sect searched for him as the divided Three Gu Sect hesitated to respond.

• The Demon Devouring Gu helped Zhou Feng expel the Heart Connecting Gu, freeing him from Jiang Jing’s restraint.
• Zhou Feng rejected the idea of fleeing the Three Gu Sect’s territory and decided he needed the sect’s resources to pursue immortality.
• Zhou Feng used his spirit stones to fill the Skill Panel’s progress bar and drew the Hunting Master Passive Skill.
• Zhou Feng killed an ant and gained his first Hunting Mark, then decided to gather more marks while quietly learning about the Three Gu Sect.
• Two Spirit Platform Realm cultivators from the White Bone Monastery and Five Ghosts Sect sealed off a hundred-li area and searched for Zhou Feng and Jiang Jing.
• The Three Gu Sect sensed that something was wrong but delayed its response amid internal divisions.

Zhou Feng stacked twelve layers of Hunting Mark while wandering lost in the wilderness, where he survived a Shadow Leopard’s ambush. A battle erupted between the Three Gu Sect and its enemies, and Old Demon Gu found Zhou Feng, examined his unusual condition, and declared him qualified to become a disciple.

• Zhou Feng gained twelve layers of Hunting Mark, improving his perception, but struggled to find his way back to the Three Gu Sect.
• A Shadow Leopard ambushed Zhou Feng, and he killed it with tentacles formed from spiritual power.
• A battle broke out between experts from the Three Gu Sect and those from the White Bone Monastery and Five Ghosts Sect, while enemies threatened to seek support from the Witch Worship Cult.
• Zhou Feng recognized the demonic shadows as resembling those formed by the Demon Devouring Combat Method and condensed one himself.
• Old Demon Gu appeared before Zhou Feng, identified him as a Bitter Bamboo Peak disciple, and listed the damage and unusual traits of his body.
• After Zhou Feng began explaining that he had accepted a sect mission, Old Demon Gu interrupted and declared him qualified to become a disciple.

Old Demon Gu brought Zhou Feng back to the Three Gu Sect, killed Old Man Niu, and gave Zhou Feng a Spirit Nurturing Pill. Zhou Feng swallowed it on Bitter Bamboo Peak and began an otherworldly breakthrough experience that left him floating toward the sky.

• Old Demon Gu fused a piece of flesh into Zhou Feng's palm, destroyed the mine tunnels, and flew him back to the Gu Mountain Range.
• Old Demon Gu's appearance changed into that of a mature woman before she led Zhou Feng into Myriad Gu Tower.
• Old Demon Gu killed Old Man Niu after Zhou Feng identified him, then gave Zhou Feng three days to break through with a Spirit Nurturing Pill.
• Zhou Feng returned to Bitter Bamboo Peak and swallowed the pill, causing spiritual energy to gather as Soul Power in his mind.
• Zhou Feng drifted upward as his vision widened and the buildings below grew smaller.

Zhou Feng broke through to the Spirit Platform Realm, endured his Heart Trial, and discovered that his Spirit Platform was ninth-grade. His breakthrough filled the Skill Panel’s progress bar, letting him draw the golden Passive Skill Soul Collection.

• Zhou Feng forged his Spirit Platform and overcame a Heart Trial by dismissing its philosophical questions.
• After breaking through, Zhou Feng inspected his body and found damaged meridians, hidden injuries, Demon Devouring Gu, and a chunk missing from his heart.
• Zhou Feng realized his Spirit Platform was ninth-grade and wondered why his strength seemed little changed.
• Zhou Feng noticed his Skill Panel’s progress bar had filled and turned gold after his breakthrough.
• Zhou Feng drew the golden Passive Skill Soul Collection, which let him gain a soul and one point of Soul Power each time he killed a cultivator.

After breaking through to the Spirit Platform Realm, Zhou Feng discovered that Old Demon Gu's mark was seeping into his body and decided to seek guidance despite his fear of his master. Old Demon Gu gave him a jade slip containing Bitter Bamboo Peak's inheritance, leaving Zhou Feng with little support compared with disciples from other peaks.

• Zhou Feng examined the Soul Collection passive and considered how easily it could be exploited, but forced himself to resist those dark impulses.
• Using Soul Power, Zhou Feng found a mass of black spiritual energy attached to his right hand and realized Old Demon Gu's mark was entering his body.
• Zhou Feng recognized that he lacked Spirit Platform Realm knowledge and had no one to ask for help except Old Demon Gu.
• Zhou Feng went to the rear mountain, where Old Demon Gu remarked on his breakthrough and his apparent resistance to the Demon Devouring Art's appetite.
• Old Demon Gu gave Zhou Feng a jade slip containing the Bitter Bamboo Peak inheritance and warned that he might otherwise become part of the Thousand Souls Banner.
• Zhou Feng was left with only the jade slip, while Spirit Platform Realm disciples from other peaks received servants, cultivation resources, and other support.

Zhou Feng read Bitter Bamboo Peak’s inheritance and learned the Spirit Platform cultivation method, the dangers of Demon Devouring, and the basics of the cultivation world. He found instructions for refining his Demon Devouring Gu into a Natal Gu and nurturing a magical artifact, giving him his next goals.

• Zhou Feng used Soul Power to read the jade slip and learned that the Demon Devouring Art gained its true power at the Spirit Platform Realm.
• Zhou Feng realized the mark Old Demon Gu had placed on him was a Demon Devour Seal and learned that each use of Demon Devouring absorbed the target’s will, risking a loss of identity.
• Zhou Feng learned about the Nine Transformations of the Spirit Platform, soul condensation, the Purple Mansion, and the awakening of Innate Divine Abilities.
• Zhou Feng searched the jade slip and found instructions for refining a Natal Gu and nurturing a magical artifact.
• Zhou Feng decided to refine the Demon Devouring Gu in his body and seek a magical artifact now that he had reached the Spirit Platform Realm.

Zhou Feng studied the Three Gu Sect’s Natal Gu Refinement Method and began refining the Demon Devouring Gu with Soul Power. After searching Jiang Jing’s Storage Bag and finding a crude artifact-forging method, he considered visiting the main peak to seek guidance and address his hidden injuries.

• Zhou Feng learned that the Natal Gu Refinement Method used Soul Power to bind a Gu insect to its cultivator and decided to refine the Demon Devouring Gu.
• Zhou Feng used Soul Power to imprint himself on the Demon Devouring Gu, but ran out before completing the refinement.
• Zhou Feng inspected the Yun brothers’ Storage Bags and found only miscellaneous items he considered worthless.
• Zhou Feng found the Melting Method and several unidentified ores in Jiang Jing’s Storage Bag.
• Zhou Feng considered visiting the main peak to learn about artifact forging, exchange knowledge with Spirit Platform Realm cultivators, and find a way to treat his hidden injuries.

Zhou Feng visited the Earth Fire Cave and forged a crude semi-artifact woodcutter’s knife to strengthen himself. He prepared to hunt cultivators to trigger his Soul Collection passive, unaware that other True Disciples were already seeking to recruit him amid the sect’s power struggle.

• Zhou Feng entered the Earth Fire Cave and paid Master Craftsman Bai ten spirit stones to use the earth fire.
• True Disciples learned that Zhou Feng had broken through to the Spirit Platform Realm and discussed recruiting him for their lineages.
• Zhou Feng melted his ores and forged a sturdy, sharp woodcutter’s knife that could be nurtured on his Spirit Platform.
• Zhou Feng decided his preparations were complete and planned to kill cultivators to trigger Soul Collection and increase his Soul Power.

Zhou Feng encountered Liu Yan at the Mountainside Market, where she tried to seduce him and infect him with Love Flower Poison. He realized the poison had affected him despite his Immunity to Poisons, leaving him struggling with an intensified desire.

• Zhou Feng considered how to build up Soul Collection without drawing attention through indiscriminate killing.
• Liu Yan approached Zhou Feng and asked about his whereabouts, his cultivation artifact, and becoming the Grand Elder's disciple.
• Liu Yan used her Love Gu and Love Flower Poison while trying to seduce Zhou Feng.
• Zhou Feng rejected Liu Yan's advances, then felt his desire intensify and realized her poison had bypassed Immunity to Poisons.
• Liu Yan changed her demeanor and pretended her invitation had been a joke, while Zhou Feng recognized he had been poisoned.

Zhou Feng killed Liu Yan after recognizing that she had poisoned him with Love Flower Poison, and Soul Collection permanently increased his Soul Power. He buried her, took her belongings, and headed toward Mountainside Market, where the Qian family shop was being harassed by people backed by Zhao Wu.

• Zhou Feng attacked Liu Yan with his firewood knife and killed her instantly, revealing that he had reached the Spirit Platform Realm.
• Soul Collection gave Zhou Feng a permanent increase to his Soul Power, and he realized that collecting more souls could help him advance.
• Zhou Feng buried Liu Yan, took her Storage Bag, and considered targeting his enemy Zhao Wu before heading toward Mountainside Market.
• Qian Shang worried as Zhao Wu's people blocked the Qian Family Shop, while Qian Qianqian remained calm with the Treasure Rat in her hands.

Zhou Feng returned to Qian Shang’s shop and killed the Flying Eagle Society members who were harassing it. After learning the society’s strength from Qian Shang’s daughter, he left to confront them, confident that they had no elder backing them.

• Zhou Feng arrived at Qian Shang’s shop and killed the guards who tried to drive him away.
• Zhou Feng slaughtered five or six Flying Eagle Society members, collecting one soul and raising Soul Collection to two layers.
• The onlookers fled, and Qian Shang emerged from the shop to find Zhou Feng standing among the corpses.
• Zhou Feng asked Qian Shang who had been causing trouble, and Qian Shang identified the Flying Eagle Society and urged him to lie low.
• Qian Shang’s daughter told Zhou Feng that the society had five Ninth Level of Qi Condensation disciples and a True Disciple backing it, but no elder.
• Zhou Feng left the shop after hearing the information, while Qian Shang wondered why his daughter had not urged them to flee.

Zhou Feng used the rumor that he possessed a spiritual artifact as bait to draw potential targets to him, then sensed someone following him on his way back to Bitter Bamboo Peak. He confronted Han Qi, a talented Spirit Platform Second Layer disciple from Five Poisons Peak who had come to recruit him.

• Zhou Feng suspected Zhao Wu's Flying Eagle Society had spread the rumor that he owned a spiritual artifact and decided to use the Blood Cicada Jade Pendant to make the story believable.
• Zhou Feng reasoned that Inner Sect disciples nearing their limits might pursue the supposed artifact, and planned to go out at night to kill and strengthen himself.
• Zhou Feng sensed someone following him and stopped to wait for the pursuer.
• Han Qi followed Zhou Feng with a Tracking Gu and privately dismissed him as a useless recruit from Bitter Bamboo Peak.
• Han Qi met Zhou Feng, reacted to his silence, and announced that he had come to recruit him.

Zhou Feng rejected Han Qi’s attempt to recruit him into the Five Poisons Gu faction, and Han Qi attacked him with a Hidden Poison Gu. Zhou Feng’s Armor-Piercing Spear pierced Han Qi’s Purple Jade Bell, and Zhou Feng unleashed the Demon Devouring Combat Method against the barrier.

• Han Qi explained the Three Gu Sect’s internal faction struggle and pressed Zhou Feng to choose between the Bloodthirsty Gu and Five Poisons Gu factions.
• Han Qi launched a silent Hidden Poison Gu attack, but Zhou Feng dodged it through his Combat Instinct.
• Zhou Feng attacked Han Qi with his woodcutter’s blade, and Han Qi blocked it with the Purple Jade Bell.
• Zhou Feng’s Armor-Piercing Spear passive let his blade aura pierce the Purple Jade Bell’s defense and strike Han Qi.
• Zhou Feng activated the Demon Devouring Combat Method, summoning Demonic Shadows that battered Han Qi’s protective barrier.