Chapter Summaries

Zhang Yuan fought off Yan Qingshan and the Black-Robed Old Man in the mountain forest, then used himself as bait to kill the Black-Robed Old Man with the Crimson Blood Blade. He turned to face Yan Qingshan’s next spear thrust.

• Zhang Yuan evaded Yan Qingshan’s spear attacks and the Black-Robed Old Man’s hidden weapons as they pursued him through the forest.
• Yan Qingshan’s roar slowed Zhang Yuan, and the Black-Robed Old Man fired poison needles at him.
• The Black-Robed Old Man believed the needles had poisoned Zhang Yuan and rushed in to kill him with a dagger.
• Zhang Yuan revealed that the Soul-Devouring Mask had blocked the needles and killed the Black-Robed Old Man with the Crimson Blood Blade.
• Zhang Yuan turned to face Yan Qingshan’s spear as it struck toward him again.

Zhang Yuan battled Yan Qingshan after killing the Black-Robed Old Man, and their fierce clash pushed both fighters to their limits. Yan Qingshan tried to retreat, but Zhang Yuan pursued him for the chance to sharpen his martial skills, narrowly evading a sudden spear thrust.

• Yan Qingshan launched a full-strength spear attack at Zhang Yuan, who blocked it with his saber and staggered back.
• Yan Qingshan and Zhang Yuan traded fierce blows through the forest, with their weapons and martial techniques repeatedly colliding.
• Yan Qingshan realized the fight was dangerous and turned to leave after his hands were injured by the clashes.
• Zhang Yuan pursued Yan Qingshan, seeking to use the powerful fighter as a whetstone for his martial skills.
• Yan Qingshan abruptly turned and thrust his spear at Zhang Yuan, who swept aside in midair and narrowly avoided the lethal strike.

Zhang Yuan defeated Yan Qingshan after the poison released by the Black-Robed Old Man weakened him, then recovered two weapons from the battlefield. The Crimson Blood Blade showed that it wanted to devour Yan Qingshan’s Bintie Long Spear.

• Zhang Yuan struck Yan Qingshan’s Bintie Long Spear aside, splitting Yan Qingshan’s hand and driving him to reach for an escape talisman.
• Poison from the Black-Robed Old Man’s corpse took effect in Yan Qingshan, while Zhang Yuan remained unharmed because he was immune to a hundred poisons.
• Zhang Yuan attacked the poisoned Yan Qingshan and cut off his head after knocking his spear into the air.
• Zhang Yuan cleaned up the battlefield and recovered Yan Qingshan’s Bintie Long Spear and the Black-Robed Old Man’s emerald-green dagger.
• The Crimson Blood Blade conveyed its desire to devour the Bintie Long Spear.

After defeating Yan Qingshan, Zhang Yuan discovered that the Crimson Blood Blade could devour mystic weapons and grow stronger. He left with the blade back in his Qi Sea Dantian, eager to assess his gains.

• Zhang Yuan fed Yan Qingshan's Bintie Long Spear to the Crimson Blood Blade, which absorbed its spirituality and grew larger.
• Zhang Yuan realized the Crimson Blood Blade's control had strengthened and its True Yuan consumption had decreased after devouring the spear.
• Zhang Yuan offered the Black-Robed Old Man's Jade Dagger to the blade, and it devoured the weapon completely.
• The Crimson Blood Blade showed interest in Zhang Yuan's Taotie Saber, so Zhang Yuan recalled it into his body and promised to feed it another mystic weapon later.
• Zhang Yuan noticed that Liao Chen had dissolved into pus, then set off to return home and review his gains.

Zhang Yuan refined the Wind Cloud Nine Blades after reflecting on his duel with Yan Qingshan, while Yan Qingshan’s clan patriarch came to Ruins City seeking revenge. Hui Zhi revealed himself as a Celestial Master and repelled the patriarch’s attack, leaving the confrontation with Zhang Yuan unresolved.

• Zhang Yuan reviewed his duel with Yan Qingshan and improved his Wind Cloud Nine Blades, reaching the threshold of major mastery.
• Zhang Yuan shut himself away for three days to cultivate and practice.
• The Yan Clan patriarch arrived in an alley seeking justice for Yan Qingshan and confronted Hui Zhi.
• Hui Zhi suppressed the patriarch with the power of a Celestial Master, and the patriarch recognized his breakthrough.
• The Yan Clan patriarch attacked Hui Zhi, but his own astral force rebounded and sent him flying while he sprayed blood.

Hui Zhi defeated Yan Anlong when the Yan Clan patriarch came to avenge Yan Qingshan, leaving him gravely injured and unable to advance for years. The next morning, Hui Zhi told Zhang Yuan that Yan Anlong would not threaten him for at least ten years.

• Yan Anlong unleashed his Bronze Armguards and strongest attack against Hui Zhi, but Hui Zhi’s Sword Finger summoned the Primal Heavenly King Statue, which struck Yan Anlong down.
• Yan Anlong submitted after the blow shattered his arms, severely injured him, and damaged his martial foundation; Hui Zhi then left the alley.
• Zhang Yuan witnessed the divine statue appear above Ruins City, while the city’s clans and sects grew uneasy and the Yan Clan kept a low profile.
• After receiving a Talisman Letter the next morning, Zhang Yuan met Hui Zhi, confirmed that he had killed Yan Qingshan, and learned Yan Anlong had come looking for him.
• Hui Zhi told Zhang Yuan he had stopped Yan Anlong and that the patriarch would be no threat for at least ten years.

Zhang Yuan learned that White Wolf had murdered Hui Zhi’s disciple Xuan Yu, and Hui Zhi sent him to the Great Dream Marsh with a Tracking Talisman. After warning that the Duanmu Clan’s Celestials would arrive in two days and advising Zhang Yuan to avoid the Xia Ruins, Hui Zhi left Zhang Yuan to prepare for the journey.

• Zhang Yuan realized Hui Zhi’s intervention had settled the Yan Clan threat for the time being.
• Hui Zhi showed Zhang Yuan the corpse of his disciple Xuan Yu, who had been killed with two Guardian Deity Generals during a hunt in the Outer Ruins.
• Hui Zhi used Xuan Yu’s spiritual remnant to reveal the murderer’s image, and Zhang Yuan recognized him as White Wolf.
• Hui Zhi gave Zhang Yuan a Tracking Talisman and said White Wolf was likely in the Great Dream Marsh.
• Hui Zhi warned Zhang Yuan that the Duanmu Clan’s Celestials would arrive in two days and advised him to stay away from the Xia Ruins.
• Zhang Yuan accepted Hui Zhi’s warning and resolved to leave for the Great Dream Marsh, hoping to track down White Wolf.

Zhang Yuan returned to Great Dream Marsh disguised as Chen Zi'an with the Soul-Devouring Mask, intending to hunt down White Wolf. On Great Chen Island, he killed a group of violent outsiders who provoked him, plunging the street into chaos.

• Zhang Yuan traveled down the Long Sky River aboard a merchant ship, using the Soul-Devouring Mask to impersonate Chen Zi'an.
• Zhang Yuan arrived at Great Chen Island and drove off the hawkers crowding around him.
• Zhang Yuan considered Hui Zhi's reasons for sending him to Great Dream Marsh and decided to hunt White Wolf first.
• Zhang Yuan saw a group of brutish outsiders bullying a passerby on a busy street.
• When one outsider threatened him, Zhang Yuan cut off the man's finger and killed six or seven attackers who charged him.

Zhang Yuan was ambushed by a horde of barbarians on Great Chen Island and slaughtered more than thirty of them, including a powerful warrior. After the survivors fled, a wary stranger led Zhang Yuan into a dilapidated house.

• Barbarians swarmed Zhang Yuan on Great Chen Island’s main street, and he cut down their attackers with the Taotie Saber.
• The barbarians retreated and hurled coordinated short-spear volleys at Zhang Yuan, but he evaded them and wounded a powerful barbarian expert.
• Zhang Yuan killed the expert with a single follow-up strike, causing the remaining barbarians to flee.
• Zhang Yuan sheathed his saber and considered leaving the island, sensing that his sudden clash had brought more trouble.
• A cautious stranger beckoned Zhang Yuan into a narrow alley and led him to a dilapidated house.

Zhang Yuan learned that the Wuqi Tribe had seized much of Great Dream Marsh and agreed to help Wang Wu escape Great Chen Island. After Wuqi warriors searched Wang Wu’s room, Zhang Yuan emerged from hiding and promised to get him out safely.

• Wang Wu told Zhang Yuan that the Wuqi Tribe had taken over Great Chen Island, defeated the Flying Fish Alliance with the Hongmin, and allied with the Great River Gang.
• Wang Wu asked Zhang Yuan to take him to Gold Sand Island, and Zhang Yuan agreed while worrying that the turmoil would make finding White Wolf harder.
• Wang Wu opened a secret passage and hid Zhang Yuan when Wuqi warriors came to search the room.
• The Wuqi warriors slapped Wang Wu and ransacked his room before leaving after he offered them tribute.
• Zhang Yuan emerged from the passage, thanked Wang Wu for suffering on his behalf, and promised to get him out safely.

Zhang Yuan and Wang Wu escaped Great Chen Island by boat, fighting off two Wuqi patrol boats along the way. They reached Gold Sand Island, where Gold Sand Gang warriors stopped them and asked Zhang Yuan to register.

• Wang Wu rowed Zhang Yuan out of the Reed Marshes, but two Wuqi patrol boats intercepted them.
• Zhang Yuan destroyed both patrol boats with his palm and blade, then returned to Wang Wu's boat.
• Wang Wu guided the boat through Great Dream Marsh until they reached Gold Sand Island at dawn.
• Zhang Yuan and Wang Wu found the crowded docks and landed among vessels filling every berth.
• Gold Sand Gang warriors stopped the pair, and Zhang Yuan claimed he was visiting relatives and friends while revealing a trace of fourth-tier aura.
• A Gold Sand Gang warrior asked Zhang Yuan to register under the island's rules.

Zhang Yuan registered on Gold Sand Island under the name Chen Zi'an, rented a stilt boat house, and enlisted Wang Wu to search for clues about White Wolf. After giving Wang Wu money and supplies, Zhang Yuan entered the orderly city on Land Island to learn about the island’s situation.

• Xu Jie explained the Gold Sand Gang’s registration rules, and Zhang Yuan registered as Chen Zi'an while Wang Wu registered as his servant.
• Zhang Yuan rented an upper-middle-tier stilt boat house near Land Island, and Xu Jie showed them to it.
• Zhang Yuan asked Wang Wu to help find White Wolf, showed him the bounty notice, and gave him Gold Leaves and pills to support the search.
• Zhang Yuan crossed the water on a bamboo pole, showed his Identity Token to the guards, and entered the Gold Sand Gang’s base on Land Island.
• Zhang Yuan ate at a restaurant and listened to the diners, gathering basic information about Gold Sand Island.

Zhang Yuan returned to Lake in the Woods and received an affectionate welcome from the White Dragon Loaches, whose bubbles drew him into a dream of becoming a flood dragon. He awoke with a strong resonance with the lake but sensed danger, so he left the Water Forest and reached open waters, where the danger passed.

• Zhang Yuan summoned the White Dragon Loaches at Lake in the Woods and fed them Ganoderma Ginseng Pills.
• Zhang Yuan dived into the lake as the White Dragon Loaches surrounded him and sent glowing bubbles into his body.
• Zhang Yuan dreamed of a loach surviving, growing, fighting powerful enemies, and becoming a flood dragon.
• Zhang Yuan awoke with a powerful connection to the lake and sensed that fighting there would strengthen him, but the White Dragon Loaches urged him to leave.
• Zhang Yuan and the Red-Eyed Crow hurried out of the Water Forest, and his sense of danger vanished when he reached open waters.

Zhang Yuan funded Wang Wu’s search for White Wolf with silver salvaged from a sunken ship while Great Dream Marsh’s crisis worsened under the Wuqi Tribe’s attacks. Fan Tai invited Zhang Yuan to discuss resisting the tribe, leaving him to consider whether the meeting would hinder his search.

• Zhang Yuan brought Wang Wu a chest of silver ingots he had salvaged underwater and told him to spend it on the search for White Wolf.
• Wang Wu described worsening shortages, unrest, and Wuqi Tribe attacks near Gold Sand Island.
• Zhang Yuan reassured Wang Wu that he could take him away if the Wuqi Tribe attacked Gold Sand Island.
• A Gold Sand Gang warrior delivered Fan Tai’s invitation for Zhang Yuan to attend a meeting at the Hall of Gathering Righteousness the morning after next.
• Zhang Yuan considered whether the invitation would affect his search for White Wolf.

Zhang Yuan attended the Gold Sand Gang’s gathering to plan resistance against the Wuqi Tribe and discovered that Gang Leader Fan Tai had advanced to Sixth Order True Astral. Fan Tai rallied the gathered martial artists by offering Battle Merit for barbarian ears, leaving the Gold Sand Gang prepared to launch a counterattack.

• Zhang Yuan entered the Gold Sand Gang’s Main Hall and observed that the gathered martial artists were worried about the Wuqi Tribe but reluctant to fight.
• Fan Tai arrived and revealed his Sixth Order True Astral cultivation, silencing and intimidating the gathering.
• Fan Tai summoned martial artists to unite against Hongmin and the Wuqi Tribe and drive the barbarians from Great Dream Marsh.
• Fan Tai announced that the Gold Sand Gang would reward anyone who brought in barbarian ears with Battle Merit redeemable for gold and essential supplies.

Zhang Yuan answered the Gold Sand Gang’s summons and hunted a Wuqi Tribe warship, using the Red-Eyed Crow to find it and swiftly killing the warriors aboard. After striking at enemies hiding underwater, he spotted another foe lurking beneath the surface.

• Fan Tai announced the Gold Sand Gang’s Battle Merit rewards, and the gang’s Outer Hall head distributed food gifts to the martial artists.
• Zhang Yuan returned to his boat-house with cured meat and rice, then ate with Wang Wu.
• Zhang Yuan decided to hunt the Wuqi Tribe barbarians to protect Gold Sand Island and replenish the Taotie Saber’s Killing Intent.
• The Red-Eyed Crow spotted a Wuqi warship, and Zhang Yuan guided his boat toward it despite the warriors’ arrows.
• Zhang Yuan leapt onto the warship and killed the Wuqi warriors with his Taotie Saber, then stabbed an underwater attacker through the hull.
• Zhang Yuan sensed and locked onto another enemy lurking beneath the water.

Zhang Yuan fought off a group of Wuqi attackers on the river, defeating their leader and pursuing him underwater. He trapped the bald barbarian beneath the surface, leaving the warrior helpless before him.

• Zhang Yuan killed a Wuqi warrior hiding underwater with a single saber strike.
• Zhang Yuan deflected volleys of arrows from two approaching barbarian warships.
• The bald Wuqi warrior hurled a mystic steel fork at Zhang Yuan, but Zhang Yuan knocked it aside and severed its soul connection, injuring its owner.
• The bald warrior fled underwater, and Zhang Yuan pursued him using his Intermediate Water Profound Understanding.
• Zhang Yuan trapped the bald warrior in powerful undercurrents, while the warrior struggled and swung his fork in terror.

Zhang Yuan slaughtered the Wuqi warriors who attacked him, collected their ears, and exchanged them for Battle Merit at the Gold Sand Gang. The chapter ended with the appraiser announcing that he had earned 695 points, astonishing everyone at the exchange point.

• Zhang Yuan absolved the Bald Strongman's corpse and collected his left ear and steel fork.
• Zhang Yuan used Water Control to kill the Wuqi warriors who dived in to support their leader, then killed the barbarians remaining on their warships.
• Zhang Yuan collected the warriors' ears, destroyed two warships, and sailed the surviving vessel back to Gold Sand Island.
• Zhang Yuan brought the ears to the Gold Sand Gang's Battle Merit exchange point and asked to exchange them.
• The Gold Sand Gang appraiser identified nineteen second-order, twelve third-order, and one fourth-order barbarian ear, awarding Zhang Yuan 695 Battle Merit points.

Zhang Yuan exchanged his Battle Merit for a two-courtyard residence on Gold Sand Island and chose one near the water. He continued hunting Wuqi Tribe barbarians, earning the nickname Blood Saber Human Butcher.

• Zhang Yuan rejected gold and other catalog items and exchanged five hundred Battle Merit for a two-courtyard residence.
• Zhang Yuan chose a residence at the island’s edge beside the water, despite the steward’s advice to pick one closer to the center.
• Zhang Yuan moved into the house with Wang Wu and gained a courtyard for practicing saber Martial Skills.
• Zhang Yuan resumed hunting Wuqi Tribe barbarians and brought back fresh ears day after day.
• The people of the Gold Sand Island region gave Zhang Yuan the nickname Blood Saber Human Butcher.

Zhang Yuan discovered a Wuqi Tribe ambush in the Reed Marshes and slipped underwater to attack the hidden warships. He split open one ship’s hull, flooding it as the warriors realized the enemy was beneath them.

• Wuqi warriors fled when they recognized Zhang Yuan as the Blood Saber Human Butcher, and he pursued them toward the Reed Marshes.
• Zhang Yuan used the Red-Eyed Crow to spot more than a dozen concealed warships and realized the Wuqi Tribe had laid a trap for him.
• Zhang Yuan hid his boat in the reeds, activated the Dragon Carp Armor, and entered the water with the Taotie Saber.
• The Wuqi experts waited for Zhang Yuan, unaware he was underwater until one of their ships jolted and its leader warned of an attack below.
• Zhang Yuan pierced and sliced open the warship’s hull, sending river water rushing inside.