Chapter Summaries

Zhang Yuan rescued Gao Sheng after the Ghost Ship vanished and revived him with CPR. Gao Sheng gave Zhang Yuan a precious Vitality Pill, which restored his vitality, while warning him that enemies might be among the nearby boats.

• After a horn sounded upstream, the Ghost Ship sank beneath the river and disappeared, leaving a whirlpool behind.
• Zhang Yuan spotted Gao Sheng floating unconscious, dragged him ashore, and revived him with CPR.
• Gao Sheng learned that the other Battle Hall Warriors were gone and blamed himself for underestimating the Ghost Ship.
• Gao Sheng gave Zhang Yuan a Vitality Pill in thanks for saving his life, and Zhang Yuan recovered ten vitality points after swallowing it.
• Gao Sheng explained that Vitality Pills cost three Great Merits and warned Zhang Yuan that their enemies might be among the people on the nearby boats.

Zhang Yuan and Gao Sheng witnessed the Celestials arrive on the Celestial Steed River and saw their ship destroy merchant vessels without regard for the people aboard. The Celestials sailed on after a white-dressed woman spoke to the Brocade Robe Man, while Zhang Yuan sensed worse trouble might follow.

• Gao Sheng used two Vitality Pills to recover and stand beside Zhang Yuan, discouraging the watchers lurking nearby.
• A grand paddle-wheel tower ship bearing the character "Heaven" arrived with more than a dozen vessels behind it, and Gao Sheng identified its occupants as the Celestials.
• The tower ship rammed and split two merchant ships while the Brocade Robe Man laughed and demanded more collisions.
• A martial artist tried to board the tower ship but was killed by a volley of crossbow bolts.
• A woman in white spoke to the Brocade Robe Man, after which the ship stopped attacking and sailed away; Gao Sheng warned Zhang Yuan that the Celestials were men above men.

Gao Sheng and Zhang Yuan returned to the Linhe Branch after escaping the Ghost Ship and reported what had happened. The branch leaders discussed the Celestials’ arrival and the growing competition to host them, while Zhang Yuan remained unheard in the corner.

• A support boat from the Linhe Branch picked up Gao Sheng and Zhang Yuan after Gao Sheng learned Hall Master Zhao had been ordered to escort the Celestials.
• Gao Sheng and Zhang Yuan found Linhe Wharf transformed into a lavish reception for the Celestials, with the Fierce Tiger Gang and the Four Great Families prepared to welcome them.
• At the Council Hall, Gao Sheng recounted the Ghost Ship’s dangers and blamed himself for the deaths of more than a dozen brothers.
• Supreme Elder Liao Yong'an dismissed Gao Sheng’s request for punishment and directed the leaders to focus on the Celestials.
• Zhang Yuan heard that five Celestials had arrived and that local powers and officials were competing to host them.

After surviving the Ghost Ship, Zhang Yuan upgraded his Divine Nest to Level Three and tried to keep his family safe while avoiding the Heavenly Ones. His cautious days at home ended when a warning whistle led him to the murder of Incense Master Cai.

• Zhao Jinlan warned Zhang Yuan to avoid the Heavenly Ones and said she would ask about obtaining a Vitality Pill for him.
• Zhang Yuan returned to Wu Manor, told Xiang Xiu to keep his mother indoors, and spent two days training at home.
• Zhang Yuan opened the Divine Nest Panel and discovered that his Divine Nest had reached Level Three, greatly enhancing his senses.
• A Raging Whale Gang warning whistle sounded, and Zhang Yuan rushed out after telling Xiang Xiu to secure the gate and protect his mother.
• Zhang Yuan found a patrol guard sounding the alarm outside Incense Master Cai's home and saw Cai's blood-soaked corpse as gang disciples gathered in shock and anger.

Zhang Yuan and the Wrathful Whale Disciples found Cai Zhirui’s family slaughtered by a cruel celestial being and his Gray-robed Man attendant. Cai Zhirui killed the celestial being in a desperate attack, but the Gray-robed Man struck him down and prepared to attack the disciples as Zhang Yuan drew his blade to intervene.

• The Wrathful Whale Disciples entered Incense Master Cai’s home and found the household dead, while the man in brocade robes and the Gray-robed Man occupied the main hall.
• The Gray-robed Man demonstrated his Void Severing Palm, and the man in brocade robes taunted the disciples and insulted Cai Zhirui’s dead wife.
• Cai Zhirui arrived, learned the intruders’ status, and knelt to accept silver notes from the man in brocade robes.
• When the man in brocade robes stepped on Madam Cai’s corpse and patted Cai Zhirui’s head, Cai Zhirui cut off his head with a hidden blade.
• The Gray-robed Man struck Cai Zhirui with a palm and threatened the Wrathful Whale Disciples, prompting Zhang Yuan to activate Black Giant Ant Power and draw his blade.

After Guo Tai threatened to slaughter the Raging Whale Gang over the Brocade Robe Man’s death, Liao Yong'an arrived and forced the confrontation to a halt. The Celestial’s severed head spoke before falling silent, Cai Zhirui killed himself to answer for the death, and Zhang Yuan left shaken by his helplessness against the Celestials.

• Guo Tai prepared to massacre the Wrathful Whale Disciples, but Liao Yong'an arrived with branch leaders and challenged him.
• Zhang Yuan withdrew his three Parasitic Body Powers after Liao Yong'an’s arrival, having pushed himself until he bled.
• Guo Tai accused the Raging Whale Gang of killing a Celestial, and the Brocade Robe Man’s severed head opened its eyes and ordered him to kill everyone.
• The Divine Nest stirred and craved the Celestial’s head, but Zhang Yuan suppressed it until the head’s aura vanished.
• Cai Zhirui slit his throat, and Liao Yong'an let Guo Tai leave with the corpse while warning the gang to care for Cai’s family.
• Zhang Yuan left the Cai Family residence, troubled by his weakness and the thought that he might die without being able to prevail.

After learning that Celestials could possess ordinary people and return in new bodies, Zhang Yuan received two Vitality Pills from Zhao Jinlan and stayed home to cultivate. When the Battle Hall's true hall master emerged from secluded cultivation, he summoned Zhang Yuan to Whale Fortress.

• Zhao Jinlan told Zhang Yuan that Celestials could return by possessing ordinary people, warned him not to discuss them, and gave him two Vitality Pills.
• Zhao Jinlan advised Zhang Yuan to stay home and promised to send word if anything changed.
• Zhang Yuan returned home, wondered about the Celestial's unfamiliar way of speaking, and kept his suspicions to himself.
• Zhang Yuan cultivated at home for several days while the Cai Family's extermination went unmentioned.
• An Inner Hall disciple summoned Zhang Yuan to meet Yue Wuji, and Zhang Yuan hurried to Whale Fortress, where more than a hundred disciples had gathered.

Yue Wuji announced that the Battle Hall would join a dangerous expedition to Thousand Peak Mountain, then privately tasked Zhang Yuan with assassinating Lai Wu. Zhang Yuan accepted and learned Lai Wu had helped a Celestial enter Wu Manor before the Cai Family’s destruction.

• Yue Wuji told the Battle Hall that Linhe Branch would join the Fierce Tiger Gang and the Gu, Chen, Wang, and Sun families in escorting four Celestials to Thousand Peak Mountain.
• Yue Wuji assured the disciples that powerful fighters, Azure Cloud Temple ritual masters, and divine statues would support them, and promised each participant one hundred taels of silver.
• After dismissing the gathering, Yue Wuji called Zhang Yuan aside, praised his record, and offered him an important task.
• Yue Wuji gave Zhang Yuan a portrait and information about Lai Wu, a Fierce Tiger Gang incense master suspected of helping a Celestial enter Wu Manor.
• Zhang Yuan agreed that Lai Wu should be killed.

Zhang Yuan accepted Yue Wuji’s order to kill Lai Wu and exchanged his warrant for an Iron Womb Bow, then practiced before tracking Lai Wu to a pleasure boat on Mirror Lake. He killed Lai Wu with a shot from a thousand paces away, leaving the boat’s guests screaming in terror.

• Yue Wuji ordered Zhang Yuan to produce results within three days and gave him a warrant to exchange for equipment.
• Zhang Yuan exchanged the warrant for the Iron Womb Bow and practiced with it in the wilderness.
• Zhang Yuan disguised himself as a medicinal herb gatherer and entered Linhe County before the gates closed.
• Zhang Yuan watched Lai Wu enjoy a night on a pleasure boat from a private room at Qingyuan Pavilion.
• Zhang Yuan shot Lai Wu through the skull with the Iron Womb Bow, and the people aboard the boat screamed in terror.

Zhang Yuan assassinated Lai Wu with a long-range shot from the Iron Womb Bow, completing Yue Wuji’s mission and strengthening his mastery of the Cloud Piercing Arrow. Back at Whale Fortress, Yue Wuji praised him and agreed to reward him with martial arts guidance.

• Zhang Yuan used information from Yue Wuji to spot Lai Wu on a flower boat and prepared to assassinate him from Qingyuan Pavilion.
• Zhang Yuan drew the Iron Womb Bow with fourfold strength and killed Lai Wu with a Fine Iron Arrow, improving his understanding of the Cloud Piercing Arrow.
• Zhang Yuan concealed the bow, left the city the next morning, and returned to Whale Fortress to report to Yue Wuji.
• Yue Wuji praised Zhang Yuan’s skill and explained that Lai Wu’s death had frightened the Fierce Tiger Gang without provoking a wider conflict.
• Zhang Yuan asked Yue Wuji for martial arts guidance as his reward, and Yue Wuji agreed.

Zhang Yuan joined a massive expedition escorting four Celestials into Thousand Peak Mountain to search for treasure, enduring brutal winter weather while helping clear a path and build shelters. As the party resumed its advance through deep snow, wolves began howling from every direction and Zhang Yuan felt a burning pain on his left hand.

• Zhang Yuan traveled with more than a thousand people from the Raging Whale Gang's Linhe Branch, the Linhe Fierce Tiger Gang, and the Four Great Families as they escorted four Celestials into Thousand Peak Mountain.
• Zhang Yuan took his turn clearing a trail through the mountain as sleet and then snow fell, while the party encountered no strange disturbances.
• The four Celestials ordered the expedition to camp, and Zhang Yuan and the other disciples built wooden houses for them and for the City God Statue, the Dragon God Statue, and Master Mu.
• After the wind and snow eased, the Celestials ordered the party to continue through nearly three inches of snow.
• Wolves howled from all directions, and Zhang Yuan felt a burning pain on the back of his left hand.

Zhang Yuan and the Wrathful Whale Disciples fought off an overwhelming swarm of strange beasts in Thousand Peak Mountain. The divine light released by the City God Statue, the Dragon God Statue, and Master Mu drove the surviving beasts back into the forest.

• The Divine Nest warned Zhang Yuan of terrifying weirdness, and black mist shaped like beasts surrounded the group.
• Yue Wuji rallied the Wrathful Whale Disciples, who burned their blood and formed a defensive battle array.
• Zhang Yuan and hundreds of archers fired Essence Blood arrows, killing strange beasts and earning Zhang Yuan Source Essence.
• Zhang Yuan recognized that the warriors’ shared aura formed Battle Array Qi, strengthening their weapons and courage.
• Master Mu invoked divine power as the City God Statue and Dragon God Statue released light that destroyed many strange beasts and restored Zhang Yuan’s blood qi.
• The remaining beasts fled into the forest, ending the sudden battle.

After the strange beasts retreated, Yue Wuji’s party made camp for the night, where Celestial Ouyang Changchun rewarded the Wrathful Whale Disciples with silver and wine. Zhang Yuan privately questioned Ouyang’s humble act, while Ouyang’s fellow Celestials discussed their search for hidden treasure and how they would divide it if they found it.

• The Wrathful Whale Disciples built shelters and lit bonfires after Yue Wuji ordered them to camp for the night.
• Ouyang Changchun and Dongfang Mingyue arrived with Linhe Branch higher-ups and offered the disciples silver as a reward.
• Zhang Yuan avoided collecting the silver and observed that Ouyang Changchun’s humble manner seemed practiced, while Dongfang Mingyue appeared more natural.
• A fox-faced female Celestial mocked Ouyang Changchun and Dongfang Mingyue, and the refined male Celestial beside her said they should focus on finding the hidden treasure.
• Ouyang Changchun also gave the Wrathful Whale Disciples jars of fine wine, prompting a cheer from the camp.

Zhang Yuan traveled with the Wrathful Whale Disciples and the Celestials to Eagle Head Peak, where Ouyang Changchun postponed the treasure search until morning after a disciple was slapped for questioning the climb. Zhang Yuan then felt burning pain from the Treasure Map pressed against his chest.

• Zhang Yuan suspected the Celestials came from another world and quietly blended in with the Wrathful Whale Disciples.
• The group struggled through deep snow for three days, while the Wrathful Whale Disciples cleared the way for the Fierce Tiger Gang and the Four Great Families.
• Ouyang Changchun identified Eagle Head Peak from the Treasure Map and urged everyone to climb it immediately.
• A Wrathful Whale Disciple suggested waiting until morning, and Nangong Shangzun slapped him for speaking up.
• Yue Wuji apologized on the disciple's behalf, and Ouyang Changchun agreed to camp and search the peak the next day.
• Zhang Yuan felt a burning pain near his heart where he had hidden the Treasure Map he obtained from Hunter Gao.

Zhang Yuan discovered that his Treasure Map pointed to an inconspicuous mountain near Eagle Head Peak, not the peak the Celestials were searching. When the Wrathful Whale Disciples were left behind at camp, he seized the chance to reach the mountain, where the map changed into a more precise view.

• Yue Wuji revealed that the refined Celestial who had slapped a Wrathful Whale Disciple was at least Fifth Order and carried a mystic weapon, then warned the disciple against acting rashly.
• Zhang Yuan examined his Treasure Map and realized its marked treasure site lay on an ordinary nearby mountain rather than Eagle Head Peak.
• Zhang Yuan stayed in camp overnight because guards and the powerful Celestial made sneaking out too dangerous.
• The next morning, the Fierce Tiger Gang and the Four Great Families escorted the Celestials up Eagle Head Peak while the Wrathful Whale Disciples remained at camp as support.
• Zhang Yuan used the Golden Grasshopper and Rippling Steps to reach the nearby mountain, where his Treasure Map fell away and displayed a more detailed map.

Zhang Yuan uncovered a hidden cave and found a dagger that appeared to be a divine weapon. After it drained his blood and vitality, the weapon stopped and revealed its name, Crimson Blood, forming a connection with him.

• Zhang Yuan used his strength to shift a rock aside and uncover a hidden entrance on the mountain.
• Zhang Yuan entered a cave and found a dark-red dagger floating above an altar, whose sharp aura cut his brow.
• Zhang Yuan cautiously approached the dagger and gripped it with his left hand, but it began draining his blood and vitality.
• Zhang Yuan swallowed both Vitality Pills to withstand the dagger’s blood drain until it stopped.
• Zhang Yuan saw the engraved characters “Crimson Blood” and felt a bond of flesh and blood form with the weapon.

Zhang Yuan secretly claimed the Crimson Blood Divine Weapon, memorized and destroyed the cave murals, and returned to camp without being discovered. Ouyang Changchun’s treasure hunt failed, and the expedition returned to Linhe County with Zhang Yuan as its only winner.

• Zhang Yuan gained the Crimson Blood Divine Weapon’s approval, and it merged into his left hand, hiding its aura.
• Zhang Yuan memorized the cave murals, smashed them with Surging Wave Palm, and sealed the cave before returning to camp.
• Zhang Yuan rested at camp while Ouyang Changchun and the other Celestials returned from Eagle Head Peak empty-handed after finding only a hibernating black bear.
• Ouyang Changchun led another search of Eagle Head Peak, found no treasure, and tore up the Treasure Map in anger.
• Ouyang Changchun abandoned the search and led the treasure-hunting party back to Linhe County, while Zhang Yuan kept his discovery secret.

After the Celestials left Linhe County, Zhang Yuan trained hard, learned more about the Crimson Blood Blade, and celebrated the New Year with his family. The chapter ended with him releasing Praying Sky Lanterns and wishing that the one he sent could reach his family in his former life.

• The Celestials departed, and the Linhe Branch escorted their ships as the turmoil around Thousand Peak Mountain subsided.
• Zhang Yuan studied the Crimson Blood Blade and sought martial guidance from Yue Wuji while continuing to build his strength.
• Zhang's Mother and Xiang Xiu prepared a lavish New Year's Eve Dinner, and Zhang's Mother urged Zhang Yuan to get betrothed.
• Zhang Yuan delayed his mother's matchmaking plans until the year after next and learned that his father's final wish concerned the Zhang Family's only son.
• Zhang Yuan released three Praying Sky Lanterns and wished one could reach his family in his former life.

Zhang Yuan hunted a giant black carp underwater, gained Source Essence and valuable Essence Jade, then received an urgent mission from Yue Wuji. He left Whale Fortress on horseback, ordered to act quickly and keep his identity hidden.

• Zhang Yuan used his water proficiency and boosted agility to chase down and knock unconscious a giant black carp with Surging Wave Palm.
• Zhang Yuan sacrificed the carp, gained 3.6 Source Essence, and found a large piece of Essence Jade beneath its occipital bone.
• A sparrowhawk delivered a message to Zhang Yuan, who read it and went to Whale Fortress to meet Yue Wuji.
• Yue Wuji ordered Zhang Yuan to retrieve his Iron Womb Bow and assigned him an important mission, warning him not to reveal his identity.
• Zhang Yuan accepted the mission and rode out of Whale Fortress, looking back at the fortress as he departed.

Zhang Yuan stopped for the night at a Land God Temple, where he cooked a meal after hunting nearby. He was joined by Lin Zhenbei and the Fuyuan Escort Agency, whose hungry escort hands declined his offer of food.

• Zhang Yuan found a roadside Land God Temple before nightfall, settled his horse, and offered incense to Land Grandfather.
• Zhang Yuan built a fire in the temple hall, then hunted two rabbits and a pheasant to make dinner.
• Lin Zhenbei arrived with his Fuyuan Escort Agency and politely asked Zhang Yuan if they could rest at the temple.
• The escort hands' stomachs rumbled at the smell of Zhang Yuan's cooking, and he offered them a rabbit.
• Lin Zhenbei declined the food on behalf of his group, and Zhang Yuan continued preparing his meal.