Chapter Summaries

Jiang Chen killed Yang Qin after she threatened him, then entered the classroom to teach the ghost students. When they challenged him for breaking the Class Rules by coming without a lesson plan, he intimidated them into sitting down.

• Jiang Chen convinced Yang Qin that he was the new PE teacher, but refused her request to skip class and be sick again.
• Yang Qin threatened to tell the students Jiang Chen was dead and drew a bloodied knife, so Jiang Chen called out Yang Chan and the others.
• Jiang Chen and the group overwhelmed Yang Qin and killed her, earning him over four hundred Ghost Qi.
• Jiang Chen told the others to wait for his signal, then entered the classroom and announced that he would teach PE.
• A student accused Jiang Chen of violating the Class Rules by arriving without a lesson plan, and the class stood up to punish him.
• Jiang Chen shouted that PE teachers did not need lesson plans and rebuked the students until they sat down.

Jiang Chen enforced Sunward Middle School’s class rules with brutal violence, killing several students who challenged or angered him. The class fell into terrified silence as he threatened to kill the upside-down ghost’s deskmate next.

• A girl in the front row reminded Jiang Chen that Zhang Yang had broken class rules, so Jiang Chen sentenced Zhang Yang to three stabs with his Switchblade.
• Jiang Chen pinned Zhang Yang and stabbed through his skull, killing him with one strike.
• Jiang Chen accused the camera ghost of insulting him and bringing an electronic device to class, then ripped out and crushed its heart.
• Jiang Chen condemned the upside-down ghost for sitting improperly and talking back, then tore its body in half when it attacked him.
• Jiang Chen declared that the upside-down ghost’s deskmate would die next, leaving the deskmate stunned.

Jiang Chen and the others ambushed and defeated the vicious ghosts in the classroom, while Qin Ze’s group nearly killed the last ghost on the school roof. Before she died, the ghost revealed the taboo name Bai Ling, warning that saying it would summon the girl.

• The classroom ghosts tried to organize an attack on Jiang Chen, but he distracted them and brought Yang Chan, Liu Kai, and the others in through the windows.
• Jiang Chen and his companions defeated the seven vicious ghosts, and Jiang Chen’s Ghost Qi rose to 6,320.
• Qin Ze’s group fought the last school-uniform ghost on the roof while Qin Ze conserved his strength.
• Qin Hai and Feiyang struck the ghost, and Qin Ze used a Green-Skinned Little Drum and Cannon Fist to fatally wound her.
• Qin Ze demanded the name of the girl the ghost had pushed off the building, and the ghost finally said Bai Ling.

Qin Ze, Qin Hai, and Qin Feiyang fought Bai Ling, whose strength rose as she devoured other ghosts. When she became a Vengeful Ghost, Qin Ze used Qin Feiyang as a distraction and fled, leaving Qin Hai to face the danger.

• Bai Ling appeared below the rooftop, devouring a severed arm while attacking the uniformed girl, and Qin Ze’s group realized she was stronger than expected.
• Qin Hai swallowed a Blood Yang Pill and attacked Bai Ling alongside Qin Ze and Qin Feiyang, but she dodged their strikes and recovered by consuming flesh.
• Bai Ling’s aura surged as she recalled being bullied by her classmates, and she broke through into a Vengeful Ghost.
• Qin Ze, Qin Hai, and Qin Feiyang tried to escape, but Bai Ling caught Qin Feiyang; Qin Ze immobilized them both with the Demon-Sound Drum.
• Qin Ze let Bai Ling pierce Qin Feiyang’s heart, then thanked Qin Hai for teaching him that a sheep only had to outrun its companions and fled.

Qin Ze killed Qin Hai and fled from Bai Ling, then tried to use Jiang Chen and the others as bait while escaping the school. Jiang Chen remained transfixed by Bai Ling as his ghost qi rapidly increased, leaving the confrontation unresolved.

• Qin Ze dismissed Qin Hai's pleas, revealed his cruel nature, and used the Demon-Sound Drum to kill him before fleeing Bai Ling.
• Jiang Chen and the others heard a scream and hurried toward the school gates, where Qin Ze arrived and claimed they could defeat a half-step vengeful ghost together.
• Bai Ling appeared, and the group recognized her as a vengeful ghost and tried to run.
• Qin Ze froze the group with the Demon-Sound Drum and ran past them, intending to use them to delay Bai Ling.
• Jiang Chen stared at Bai Ling as ghost qi notifications appeared, and his ravenous gaze made her pause.

Jiang Chen transformed into Deer Power Immortal and overwhelmed Bai Ling, the Vengeful Ghost, with his immense strength and divine abilities. He then hurled her toward Qin Ze, who had fled the school, leaving Qin Ze face-to-face with the battered but bloodthirsty ghost.

• Jiang Chen caught up to Qin Ze, but turned back toward Bai Ling when Qin Ze pointed out that the Vengeful Ghost was nearing their companions.
• Jiang Chen transformed into Deer Power Immortal and gained the Demon-Dominating Body and Little Palm Thunder divine abilities.
• Jiang Chen slammed Bai Ling into the ground, scorching her with his blood and vitality and neutralizing her venomous attack.
• Jiang Chen picked up Bai Ling and threw her toward Qin Ze, saying she could use him to vent her suffering.
• Qin Ze reached the school gates and celebrated his escape before Bai Ling crashed into the ground in front of him and fixed him with a bloodthirsty stare.

Jiang Chen cornered Bai Ling while Qin Ze, exhausted and trapped between the ghost and his hostile companions, tried to bargain for his life. Bai Ling seized Qin Ze as a hostage, but Jiang Chen kept striking her and demanded that she release him.

• Qin Ze used the Green-Skinned Little Drum to repel Bai Ling briefly, but exhausted his true qi as she fled toward the woods.
• Jiang Chen blocked Bai Ling's escape and pretended to rescue Qin Ze while slowly forcing her back toward him.
• Bai Ling used her laughter to appear behind Qin Ze and grabbed his neck, threatening to choose between her life and his companion's.
• Jiang Chen slapped Bai Ling and demanded that she release Qin Ze, while Bai Ling cut Qin Ze's neck and threatened his arm.
• Jiang Chen struck Bai Ling twice more, damaging her face, and warned that she would die horribly if she did not let Qin Ze go.

Jiang Chen killed Qin Ze and repeatedly overpowered Bai Ling, then discovered he could only gain Ghost Qi from her until her emotions went numb. He continued tormenting the weakened ghost while the others waited outside, increasingly worried by his brutality.

• Bai Ling crushed Qin Ze's neck after Jiang Chen kept slapping her, and Jiang Chen pinned her down and smashed her head.
• Bai Ling regenerated a head and grew stronger, but Jiang Chen knocked her silent and carried her into the teaching building.
• Jiang Chen stabbed Bai Ling to the wall and tested how much Ghost Qi he could gain from her, eventually reaching her emotional limit.
• Jiang Chen tore off Bai Ling's arm and tormented her, while the others outside wondered whether he had lost himself.

Xu Lei arrived at Ghost School and learned that Jiang Chen had killed the Vengeful Ghost, then watched him break the Back-Clinging Ghost that had latched onto him. She began routine questioning of the survivors about the deaths of their teammates.

• Xu Lei landed at Ghost School and asked Liu Kai where the Vengeful Ghost was, while Netherworld Messengers descended from the helicopter to treat the wounded.
• Jiang Chen emerged with Bai Ling's remains and told Xu Lei that the Vengeful Ghost was dead; she recognized him and ordered her team to examine the scene and retrieve the bodies.
• A Netherworld Messenger's Back-Clinging Ghost latched onto Jiang Chen, who snapped its fingers and slammed it into the ground, badly injuring it.
• Jiang Chen joked that he had broken the Netherworld Messenger's wife, and Xu Lei ordered her subordinates to stop fooling around and carry out their orders.
• Xu Lei took out a pale finger bone threaded with red string and began routine questioning of the group about the three Unusual Persons who had died.

Xu Lei questioned the survivors about Qin Ze’s death and cleared them after confirming their answers were truthful. Once the Netherworld departed, Jiang Chen asked the others for their materials as repayment and asked Chen Xue to give him a ride home.

• Liu Kai explained that Qin Ze had likely used his teammates as bait, and Xu Lei confirmed his account with a finger bone that detected lies.
• Xu Lei questioned the group, learned Jiang Chen had tried to save Qin Ze, and warned him not to let his kindness harm him.
• After reviewing the evidence, Xu Lei cleared the survivors and left with the Netherworld Messengers, while Liu Kai declined medical treatment.
• Liu Kai, Yang Chan, and Chen Xue offered to repay Jiang Chen for saving them, so he asked them to hand over their materials.
• Jiang Chen asked Chen Xue to stay behind, then clarified that he needed a ride home, leaving her and the others stunned.

Jiang Chen used the materials he collected to inscribe the eighteen-layer combined talisman formation for Palm Thunder, draining most of his demonic power. Chen Xue witnessed the feat and begged to see it again, but Jiang Chen teased her for no longer being defiant.

• Liu Kai and the others gave Jiang Chen their ghost-repelling materials before leaving with Yang Chan, while Chen Xue stayed behind.
• Jiang Chen began inscribing talisman formations on his palm, and Chen Xue dismissed his work as meaningless scribbling.
• Jiang Chen completed eighteen interconnected formations, using nearly all the demonic power in his body.
• Jiang Chen joined the formations with gold powder, drawing spiritual essence from the surrounding area and completing Palm Thunder.
• Chen Xue tried to memorize the formations but recalled less than five percent, then pleaded with Jiang Chen to show her again.
• Jiang Chen told Chen Xue he preferred her when she had been defiant.

Jiang Chen let Chen Xue study the formation on his palm in exchange for her jade sword, but his Demon Transformation ended before she could examine it for long. As Chen Xue drove him home, a mysterious pianist killed a barbecue vendor and followed their car.

• Jiang Chen showed Chen Xue the eighteen formation layers on his palm after she gave him her jade sword.
• Chen Xue studied the formation for several minutes, gaining insight into formations and cultivation before Jiang Chen's Demon Transformation ended.
• Jiang Chen restored his demonic power with Spirit-Gathering Pills and promised Chen Xue she could study the formation again in a few days.
• Chen Xue drove Jiang Chen toward the Jade Garden Residential Complex and passed a barbecue stall where a trench-coated man mimed playing piano.
• After the car passed, the trench-coated man stopped playing, and the barbecue vendor collapsed dead; the man then followed the direction of Jiang Chen's car.

Jiang Chen reviewed the gains from his mission and resolved to become stronger after learning that a C-Class squad had been slaughtered by a Blood-Clad Ghost. Meanwhile, a Puppeteer entered Jade Garden Residential Complex after controlling a security guard, and the Netherworld branch bureau mobilized to hunt him.

• Jiang Chen counted his Ghost Qi, equipment, and Underworld Points, then worried that his current strength would not protect him from a Blood-Clad Ghost.
• A Puppeteer manipulated security guard Old Li into opening the gate to Jade Garden Residential Complex, after which Old Li collapsed and bled on the ground.
• Qiu Hong learned that the Puppeteer had killed thirty-seven people, including seven patrol members, and ordered the Think Tank and Yi Squad to help locate him.
• The Third Group prepared to pursue the Puppeteer, whom its staff feared as a violent Dark Alliance killer.

Liang Si, a powerful Puppeteer from the Dark Alliance, broke into Jiang Chen’s apartment to kill him but fled after Jiang Chen’s talismans and Demon-Sound Drum exposed the trap. Jiang Chen reported the attack to the Netherworld and hoped they would catch Liang Si before he could target him again.

• Liang Si followed the scent of Jiang Chen’s Blood Talisman to the Jade Garden Residential Complex and silently picked the lock on apartment 1201.
• Liang Si entered Jiang Chen’s bedroom and tried to stab him, but the Thunder Talisman burned against his chest and the Demon-Sound Drum briefly affected him.
• Liang Si crashed through the window and escaped from the twelfth floor after Jiang Chen revealed that he had been awake and waiting.
• Jiang Chen called the Netherworld, identified Liang Si as a powerful Dark Alliance member who could control corpses, and urged the operator to send help quickly.
• After the Netherworld dispatched a team to hunt Liang Si, Jiang Chen regretted not claiming the man might be a B-Rank expert and considered joining the search later.

Qiu Hong and Third Yi rushed toward the scene of the Puppeteer's killings, while Jiang Chen slept through their response. The next morning, Jiang Chen tested the system's new enhancement function, turning a Spirit-Gathering Pill into a Spirit-Nurturing Pill and enhancing his remaining pills for battle.

• Qiu Hong changed course and drove Third Yi toward the deaths of patrol members killed by the Puppeteer.
• Jiang Chen woke to the system's new enhancement function, which used Ghost Qi to strengthen items and could transform them.
• Jiang Chen enhanced and swallowed a Spirit-Gathering Pill +1, discovering that it restored at least three times as much Demonic Power as a normal pill.
• Jiang Chen repeatedly enhanced another pill until it transformed into a Spirit-Nurturing Pill, which greatly increased his Demonic Power recovery even by its fragrance.
• Jiang Chen considered how the Spirit-Nurturing Pill could support powerful abilities, then enhanced his two remaining Spirit-Gathering Pills to +3.

Jiang Chen tested the system’s new enhancement function, turning his switchblade into a powerful, hard-to-notice Murder Dagger and discovering that better items cost more ghost qi to enhance. He searched for another paranormal incident and settled on a haunted doll factory, where a doll had appeared in a phone’s facial-recognition photo.

• Jiang Chen enhanced his switchblade into the Murder Dagger, whose sharpness, toughness, and ability to escape notice had greatly increased.
• Jiang Chen declined to enhance the Jade Little Sword and learned that enhancing the Green-Skinned Little Drum would cost 500 ghost qi to begin.
• Jiang Chen decided to earn more ghost qi, ordered books about psychology, and searched the Underworld App for a paranormal incident.
• Jiang Chen reviewed reports of worsening incidents as experts were occupied by the impending yin-energy eruption in Fengdu.
• Jiang Chen selected the Huaxian County Doll Factory incident after reading that a Joyful Child doll had appeared in an employee’s phone-unlock photo.

After learning that the Fengdu upheaval was coming two years early, Jiang Chen grew more determined to strengthen himself. When Gu Hongya learned that a cleaner’s corpse had appeared in her family home, she asked Jiang Chen to leave with her that night, hoping he could deal with the danger.

• Jiang Chen read that the Dao Alliance’s Six Giants had sent their successors and experts to help the Nine Provinces prepare for the early Fengdu upheaval.
• Jiang Chen remembered the terrifying storm during the upheaval eight years earlier and worried that the early timing would bring further dangers.
• At dinner, Gu Hongya received a call from her mother, who said a missing cleaner’s corpse had been found crammed into a small cabinet at the Gu home.
• Gu Hongya asked Jiang Chen to leave with her that night, and he agreed while finishing his meal.
• Gu Hongya hurried to get the car, convinced that Jiang Chen could solve the crisis at her family home.

Sister Hong told Jiang Chen how the Gu family’s troubles began after her father returned to Gu Family Village and moved her grandfather’s coffin, then described a strange incident at their Fu Mountain villa. Jiang Chen reached the mountain knowing the Underworld Think Tank estimated the entity was around C-Class, while Sister Hong’s account ended with her cousin imitating something with stiff joints.

• Sister Hong told Jiang Chen that her father had restored their branch to the Gu family genealogy and arranged to move her grandfather’s coffin into the ancestral burial grounds.
• After the coffin was moved, people in the Gu household disappeared, went mad, or died, so Sister Hong’s family relocated to Fu Mountain.
• Sister Hong said the strange incidents continued at the villa, where her cousin was compelled to open the door after hearing a knock.
• The cousin’s wife found him dancing stiffly in the open doorway and realized he was imitating something with stiff joints.

Gu Hongya told Jiang Chen about the bizarre incidents at Gu Mountain Villa, where people could enter but those who left never returned. When a car blocked their path near a pileup, Jiang Chen rammed it into the guardrail and got out to handle the driver.

• Gu Hongya recounted how relatives at Gu Mountain Villa had been killed, driven mad, or begun acting strangely, and said people who fled had never reached home.
• Gu Hongya spotted several wrecked cars near a sharp mountain bend and prepared to slow down.
• A car suddenly appeared beside Gu Hongya’s 7 Series and honked, startling her into accelerating toward the wrecks.
• Jiang Chen took control of the wheel, rammed the blocking car, and shoved it against the cliffside guardrail until it stopped just short of falling.
• Jiang Chen got out to deal with the other driver after telling Gu Hongya he would handle it.

Jiang Chen provoked a driver who was actually a top-tier vicious ghost, then killed him with the Darksteel Short-Hilted Knife and gained ghost qi. After returning to the car, he revealed a wounded female ghost in the back seat, terrifying Sister Hong.

• Jiang Chen blamed the driver for failing to anticipate the collision and claimed the crash had been his own slow reaction.
• Jiang Chen demanded the driver hand over his cash, and the driver revealed a knife and attacked him.
• Jiang Chen killed the driver with the Darksteel Short-Hilted Knife, bringing his ghost qi to 9,430.
• Jiang Chen returned to Sister Hong's car and asked the unseen passenger if she was settled in.
• Sister Hong spotted the wounded female ghost in the rearview mirror and screamed in terror.