Chapter Summaries

Shi Hao absorbed the delayed effects of a Five-Colored Peacock egg and Primordial Zhu Yan true blood while Shi Hou and the beasts shared the gathered spiritual energy. Kang evolved into a spined, winged beast, then attacked Shi Hou and was quickly subdued as Shi Hao remained in cultivation.

• Shi Hao belched out five-colored mist and dark-gold essence, then used the bone fragment as spiritual energy poured into the cavern.
• Furball, Kang, and Little White absorbed the surrounding essence while Shi Hou stayed at the edge of the vortex.
• Kang trembled as white light traced a formation across its body, then formed a luminous cocoon that exploded after an hour.
• Kang emerged with black bone spines, Demon Flesh Wings, and a long scaled tail tipped with a bone blade.
• Kang lunged at Shi Hou, who caught it by the ear and slammed it into the ground before calming it with a warning about roast suckling pig.
• The spiritual-energy vortex collapsed as the golden thunder pulp covering Shi Hao sank into his flesh.

After completing their evolution, Shi Hao, Kang, and Furball joked and fought inside the cavern until Kang sensed the pursuing Primordial Remnant approaching. Shi Hou prepared a plan to settle the score, and the terrifying bird arrived, crushing the mountain peak above them.

• Shi Hao emerged from his cultivation with greater control over his strength, while Little White and Furball showed signs of growth.
• Shi Hao and Shi Hou threatened to cook Kang's tail and wings, prompting Kang and Furball to fight until Kang pinned the monkey down.
• Kang sensed the pursuing Primordial Remnant from far away and told Shi Hou it was approaching.
• Shi Hou asked Kang to hold off the Primordial Remnant and quietly gave Shi Hao instructions as Kang prepared to fight.
• The pursuing bird's cry shattered the silence, and its enormous claw crushed the mountain peak above the cavern.

Shi Hao and Shi Hou baited the Five-Colored Peacock into a dive and used Kang’s beam to disable its protective runes before attacking it. After Shi Hou cut through its neck, the peacock regenerated and rose again, leaving the two boys facing an even brighter threat.

• Shi Hao and Furball taunted the Five-Colored Peacock by boasting about eating its egg and mocking it with the broken shell.
• Shi Hao prepared his lightning and Vermilion Bird True Fire as Shi Hou aimed Kang at the diving peacock.
• Kang blasted the Five-Colored Peacock in the face, suppressing its runes, and Shi Hao broke its right wing while Shi Hou slashed through its neck with the Stone Knife.
• Shi Hao and Shi Hou approached the fallen peacock, planning to harvest its meat.
• The Five-Colored Peacock healed its neck and bones, stood up, and reignited its runes as Shi Hao and Shi Hou watched.

Shi Hao used Source Insight to uncover the Five-Colored Peacock’s weakened state and lead Shi Hou and Furball in defeating it. Shi Hou caught the falling bird in the Black Pot, and the two wondered how to season it.

• Shi Hou tried to flee with Shi Hao, but Shi Hao stopped him and explained that the Five-Colored Peacock was still healing and its core of light was its weak point.
• Shi Hao asked Furball to make copies of himself, and Furball created a horde of giant golden apes to distract the peacock.
• Shi Hao and Shi Hou attacked from opposite sides, with Shi Hao weakening the peacock’s shield and Shi Hou cutting the meridians at its wing roots.
• Shi Hao destroyed the peacock’s core of light with a combined attack of lightning and Vermilion Bird True Fire.
• Shi Hou caught the falling Five-Colored Peacock in the Black Pot while Furball collapsed from exhaustion.
• Shi Hao asked whether the peacock would feed them for ages, and Shi Hou wondered what seasonings would go well with it.

Shi Hou, Shi Hao, Kang, and Furball traveled west through the Great Wilderness, where Shi Hao learned a Mountain-Attacking Tiger’s force-release technique and improved his fighting skills. After more than twenty days of encounters and steady progress, they crossed a ridge and spotted several dozen houses below.

• Shi Hou tried to replenish Kang and Furball’s blood qi with leeks, but they recoiled, so he put them in the Black Pot for a nourishing soak instead.
• Shi Hou and Shi Hao continued west on Little White, and Kang and Furball emerged from the pot restored to full health at the cost of 500,000 Blood Qi Value.
• Shi Hao studied a Mountain-Attacking Tiger’s three-stage force storage, copied the technique in a fistfight, and drove the tiger away.
• Over the next twenty days, Shi Hao fought ferocious beasts, mastered three-stage force storage, and adapted Cross-Force Exchange from a Four-Armed Rock Ape while Shi Hou collected their carcasses.
• Kang warned the group away from a black centipede and an enormous shadow, and on the twenty-third day they crossed a ridge and saw several dozen houses below.

Shi Hao and Shi Hou reached a ruined village, where Shi Hou revived its dying Sacrificial Spirit with chive juice and healed its survivors by cooking a ferocious beast in the Black Pot. After learning that a scarlet, smoke-wreathed creature had led a beast tide against the village, Shi Hao and Shi Hou continued west toward the Shi Clan’s ancestral land.

• Shi Hao and Shi Hou entered the ruined village and met Yu Fengjun, who warned them to leave and gave directions to Cloudpiercing Town.
• Shi Hou approached the village’s withered Sacrificial Spirit, and Shi Hao held Yu Fengjun back while Shi Hou treated the tree with chive juice.
• The tree revived, and Yu Fengjun thanked Shi Hao and explained that a scarlet creature and its beast tide had nearly destroyed the village half a month earlier.
• Shi Hou cooked a Rank Two Ferocious Beast in the Black Pot, and Yu Fengjun recognized the Primordial Sacrificial Dance as a Divine Art.
• Yu Fengjun and the surviving villagers recovered from their injuries after eating the soup, then knelt to see Shi Hao and Shi Hou off as they continued west.

Shi Hou traded a rank two wild ox for seasonings on the road to Cloudpiercing City, while Shi Hao studied the city’s flower-born flying sword. As a beast tide attacked, Shi Hou and Kang killed the hidden beast king, and the group prepared to test the chili powder that night.

• Shi Hou traded a rank two wild ox carcass for all the seasonings on a merchant’s cart and stored them in the Black Pot Space.
• Shi Hao and Shi Hou reached Cloudpiercing City and saw a plant whose flowers could produce powerful flying swords.
• A beast tide charged the city, and Shi Hao watched the scarlet flower send a flying sword into the horde.
• Shi Hou and Kang slipped into the forest, where Kang froze the Red-Maned Beast King and Shi Hou knocked it dead with the Black Pot.
• Shi Hou returned to Shi Hao as the beast tide dispersed, and Shi Hao formed a thin line of golden light at his fingertip.

Shi Hou stayed in the eastern woods while Shi Hao investigated the Shi Clan’s Second Ancestral Land, where a child had taken Shi Hao’s place and was in danger. After six days and smoke rising from the estate, Shi Hao returned with the injured boy and two men.

• Shi Hou sent Shi Hao to the Second Ancestral Land alone and made camp in the eastern woods, promising to cook for him each evening.
• Shi Hao spent several days scouting the estate and told Shi Hou that a child had taken his place and that the boy’s great-grandfather had little time left.
• After Shi Hao asked what he should do about someone trying to kill a child, Shi Hou told him he already knew the answer.
• On the sixth day, smoke rose from the direction of the Shi Clan’s ancestral land, and Shi Hao returned with a limping boy, an old man, and an injured burly man.

Shi Hou healed Shi Qingfeng and hurried with Shi Hao toward Jade Village, where Shi Hou discovered he had inherited the Mountain-Attacking Tiger's Three-Stage Charge. As they ran, Shi Hou resolved to leave Shi Hao after raising his blood qi, but a black speck approached from Jade Village.

• Shi Hou used leek juice to cure Shi Qingfeng's snakebite, and Shi Hao and Shi Hou helped Hai Lao, Hai Da, and Shi Qingfeng onto Little White.
• Shi Hao ran beside the group and used the Mountain-Attacking Tiger's Three-Stage Charge in his legs to keep pace with Little White.
• Shi Hou copied Shi Hao's leg technique and realized that Hundredfold Return had granted him the Mountain-Attacking Tiger's combat technique along with its blood qi.
• Shi Hou decided to raise his blood qi, try the Eight Delicacies, and leave Shi Hao, while agreeing to take Kang with him.
• As Shi Hou and Shi Hao ran toward Jade Village, Kang's bone spines stood erect when a black speck approached from ahead.

Shi Hou and Shi Hao raced east to confront the Red-Maned Flame Rhinoceros, while Yu Fengjun escorted the survivors of Jade Village back. By dawn, the beast lay dead beneath the Sacrificial Spirit’s tree, and Shi Hou prepared to cook it as a song from his system began.

• Yu Fengjun warned Shi Hou that the Red-Maned Flame Rhinoceros was approaching after killing more than five hundred villagers, including Yu Fengjun’s father.
• Shi Hou and Shi Hao rushed east toward the beast, leaving Yu Fengjun to escort Little White and the others back to Jade Village.
• Yu Fengjun returned at dawn and found Shi Hou, Shi Hao, Kang, and Furball beside the dead Red-Maned Flame Rhinoceros.
• Shi Hou opened the beast’s armor, recognized its marbled meat as snowflake meat, and began preparing it in the Black Pot.
• As Shi Hou raised his stone knife to cook, his system displayed “Fire” by Jimi Hendrix as the current track.

Shi Hou prepared and served medium-rare steaks from the Red-Maned Flame Rhinoceros, astonishing his companions with the meal. The survivors ate in silence, remembering their dead, while Shi Hou received a million blood qi and reached 22,000,000.

• Shi Hou butchered the Red-Maned Flame Rhinoceros in a bizarre dance, and the survivors mistook his performance for a ritual honoring their dead clansmen.
• Shi Hou cooked marbled steaks with jade salt and garlic, then served portions to Shi Hao, Kang, and Furball.
• Shi Hao savored the steak and asked Shi Hou whether his earlier cooking had been a trick, while Kang and Furball enjoyed their portions in their own ways.
• Shi Hou shared the remaining steak with Yu Fengjun and the other survivors, who ate while remembering their fallen family members.
• Yu Fengjun finished eating and approached Shi Hou as Shi Hou received 1,000,000 blood qi, bringing his total to 22,000,000.

Shi Hou tried to make Kang carry him, but the pig’s blue blast paralyzed him and pierced Myriad Arts Cannot Harm. After realizing Kang’s power might come from the Great Dao, Shi Hou joined the others on Little White as they headed back into the mountains.

• Shi Hou gave Yu Fengjun the remaining meat, hide armor, and horns, then told him to call him Brother Monkey.
• Shi Hao invited Shi Qingfeng to travel with them, and Hai Lao and Hai Da left for Wu Town.
• Shi Hou tried to make Kang carry him, but Kang blasted him with blue lightning and knocked him flat.
• Shi Hou concluded that Kang’s power might be an inborn force of the Great Dao rather than a rune-based technique.
• Shi Hou climbed onto Little White with Shi Hao, Shi Qingfeng, Furball, and Kang, and the group returned along the mountain path.

Shi Hao, Shi Hou, Furball, Kang, and Shi Qingfeng returned to Stone Village after a dangerous twenty-three-day journey. Shi Yunfeng welcomed Qingfeng into the village as family, and the group prepared to eat.

• Ermeng and the other children spotted Shi Hao, Shi Hou, and Qingfeng emerging from the woods and ran to announce their return.
• Qingfeng recalled how Furball's honey hunt brought Thunder Tiger Bees and an Ironback Centipede, and how Shi Hou used his black skin, pot, and Kang's blue blast to protect the group.
• Shi Qingfeng remembered Shi Hao leading the way through savage-beast attacks and the group defeating a black bird that later became a nourishing meal.
• The villagers crowded around the returning children, and Shi Shoushan scolded Shi Hou for staying away longer than promised while Lin Yun checked that he was unharmed.
• Shi Hou introduced Shi Qingfeng to Shi Yunfeng as a child from the Shi Clan Ancestral Land who would stay with them, and the clan chief welcomed him into Stone Village as family.

Shi Hao returned to Stone Village with Shi Qingfeng, whom the villagers welcomed as one of their own, and Shi Hou brought back a Cave Heaven Realm inheritance. The Willow Deity prepared to enter a year of seclusion without being able to protect the village, while Shi Hou began cooking the Five-Colored Peacock for a farewell meal.

• Shi Hao told Shi Yunfeng that Shi Qingfeng had lived as his stand-in at the Second Ancestral Land, and Shi Yunfeng welcomed Qingfeng into Stone Village as family.
• Shi Hao visited the Willow Deity, who praised his foundation and said he could break through, then announced a year of seclusion without being able to protect the village.
• Shi Hou brought out the Five-Colored Peacock he and Shi Hao had killed, and the Willow Deity accepted it as a meal before entering seclusion.
• Shi Hou revealed that he had traded the Black Pot's stored goods for a complete Cave Heaven Realm technique inheritance, astonishing Shi Hao and the villagers.
• Shi Yunfeng and the Hunting Team examined the inheritance with tears of relief, while Hu Niu watched Shi Hou in silence.
• Shi Hou kicked the Black Pot and kindled a scarlet fire beneath it to cook the peacock.

After feeding the village with the Five-Colored Peacock's essence, Shi Hou watched Stone Village grow stronger while Shi Hao hunted in the Great Wilderness. Shi Hao returned with news of a village massacre, and Shi Yunfeng warned that the killers might come for Stone Village next.

• Shi Hou offered the Willow Tree broth made from the Five-Colored Peacock, and the Willow Tree began its seclusion.
• Shi Hou fed the village the remaining broth, raising his Blood Qi Value by three million.
• Shi Feijiao and other adults studied the cave heaven cultivation method, while Qingfeng taught runes to Ermeng and Hu Niu.
• Shi Hao hunted with Little White and Furball, brought back prey and an egg, and Shi Hou secretly stored one of Furball's golden hairs in the Black Pot Space.
• Shi Hao returned with news that a gang had slaughtered Stone Mill Village and cut down its sacrificial spirit.
• Shi Yunfeng warned Shi Hou and Shi Hao that the gang might reach Stone Village while searching villages for black gold.

Shi Hou watched as the remaining adults in Stone Village broke through to the Cave Heaven Realm, then witnessed Shi Hao form four golden heavenly caves in the distant mountains. The spectacle stirred Shi Hou’s own blood qi, and a pitch-black shape began forming above his head.

• Shi Feijiao broke through first, followed over the next several days by Shi Linhu and three other villagers.
• After twenty-three days, Shi Shoushan broke through despite holding his bone fragment upside down.
• Shi Hou sensed a massive upheaval in the direction Shi Hao had left, as golden runes filled the sky above the distant mountains.
• Shi Hao formed four heavenly caves, stunning the villagers and eclipsing their recent breakthroughs.
• After the phenomenon faded, Shi Hou felt his blood qi gather and saw a pitch-black shape beginning to form above his head.

Shi Hou opened a pitch-black Heavenly Cave that made him invisible and erased his aura, though most villagers could neither see nor sense him while it was active. Shi Hao helped him realize he could use the ability to ambush enemies, leaving Shi Hou excited to put it to use.

• Shi Hou opened a silent, pitch-black Heavenly Cave and proudly showed it to Kang, who barely reacted.
• Shi Hou tried to get Shi Shoushan and Shi Linhu to notice his new Heavenly Cave, but they could not see or sense him.
• Shi Hao arrived with four Heavenly Caves and recognized Shi Hou even while he was invisible; Furball and the villagers could not.
• Shi Hou repeatedly activated and withdrew his Heavenly Cave, and Shi Yunfeng concluded they would need to ask the Willow Deity about its nature.
• Shi Hao suggested Shi Hou could use his invisibility to sneak up on enemies and strike them with his pot, and Shi Hou eagerly embraced the idea.

Stone Village faced a hundred-strong bandit force led by a bearded man demanding tribute, backed by a massive Pangolin sacrificial spirit. Shi Hao and the villagers crushed the attackers, and the chapter ended with Shi Hao killing the last bandit after confronting him over the people of Stone Mill Village.

• Shi Hou and Shi Hao noticed approaching riders, while Shi Yunfeng and the villagers calmly gathered at the village entrance.
• The bearded leader demanded five hundred catties of black gold and attacked Shi Yunfeng, but Shi Hao caught his whip and Furball beat him with it.
• An unseen attacker battered the Pangolin sacrificial spirit, and a bolt of blue lightning left it helpless as the bandits prepared to charge.
• Shi Feijiao, Shi Linhu, Shi Shoushan, and other villagers revealed their heavenly caves while Stone Village's children fought and routed the bandits.
• Shi Hao defeated the bearded leader with a punch, and Shi Hou emerged from the void after the villagers crushed the remaining attackers.
• Shi Hao rejected the last bandit's plea for mercy and obliterated the runes inside his body.

After Stone Village defeated Pangolin and his attackers, Shi Yunfeng learned that Little Western Heaven had ordered villages to supply black gold for the Supreme Divine Treasury. Shi Hou gave Pangolin’s Golden Bone Shears to Shi Hao, then returned to the village to cook a feast for the hungry survivors.

• Shi Hou repeatedly smashed Pangolin’s corpse until the Golden Bone Shears fell from his mouth, then stored the body in the Black Pot.
• Shi Yunfeng interrogated Bearded Man, who revealed that Little Western Heaven demanded black gold from villages to remove the restrictions around the Supreme Divine Treasury.
• Shi Hou decided Stone Village would avoid provoking Little Western Heaven and threw Bearded Man into the forest, where wolves were waiting.
• Shi Hou gave the Golden Bone Shears to Shi Hao, who used them to cut a distant hill in half before storing them in his heavenly cave.
• Shi Hou and Shi Hao agreed to make red-braised pangolin, and Shi Hou promised the Stone Village survivors an all-you-can-eat feast.

After mutated leek made Stone Village’s adults lose control, Shi Hou and the children sheltered beneath the Willow Tree. They discussed leaving the Great Wilderness, then fell asleep together as the village’s uproar continued.

• Shi Hou fled the chaos caused by mutated leek and found the children gathered beneath the Willow Tree.
• Shi Qingfeng asked how the leek worked, while the children agreed to wait until dawn for its effects to pass.
• Dazhuang, Ermeng, and Snot Boy said they wanted to travel with Shi Hao someday; Hu Niu chose to stay and guard the village, and Shi Qingfeng said he would go with Shi Hao.
• Shi Hao and the children joked about food and the wider world before settling down to sleep beneath the willow.