Chapter Summaries

Su Changsheng, a weak Green Snake Half-Demon, survived a shakedown by the black tiger demon but faced a shortage of food and the danger of next month's dues. At midnight, a survival game interface appeared, and he spent his survival points improving his Green Snake Breathing Method so he could cultivate more efficiently.

• Su Changsheng paid the black tiger demon his monthly dues and offered two reverse scales as extra tribute to avoid being killed.
• The black tiger demon accepted the tribute, warned Su Changsheng not to wander at night because uncanny beasts had entered the stockade, and left.
• Su Changsheng found that his supplies were too scarce to guarantee his survival or next month's dues, then tried to recover his depleted demonic power through cultivation.
• At midnight, Su Changsheng received a survival game interface and earned ten survival points for staying cautious and cultivating.
• Su Changsheng used all his survival points to advance the Green Snake Breathing Method and then practiced it with improved efficiency.

Su Changsheng assessed the slow pace of his cultivation and rationed his dwindling food before studying demonic art runes. After repeated failures, he crafted a Concealment Rune, which left him exhausted and hungry but could be traded for valuable meat.

• Su Changsheng calculated that reaching Level 2 Half-Demon would take about twenty-three days of cultivation and ate a small piece of beast meat before sleeping in his snowbound hut.
• After waking, Su Changsheng sorted through his predecessor’s memories and learned about humans, Half-Demons, and the world beyond the Black Mountain Demon Stockade.
• Su Changsheng chose to study two demonic art runes and prepared shed snakeskin as rune bases, using his own demon blood as the inscription medium.
• Su Changsheng repeatedly failed to make a rune, wasting materials and energy, before completing one Concealment Rune near midnight.
• Su Changsheng realized the Concealment Rune could be exchanged for ten pounds of fresh meat and stared at it hungrily.

Su Changsheng focused on crafting Concealment Runes and practicing the Green Snake Breathing Technique, surviving a Wraith Beast attack but running low on food. He decided to improve his Snake Saliva Ice talent to safely trade its surplus for supplies, and his advancement let him produce a walnut-sized lump of ice.

• Su Changsheng spent several days making Concealment Runes and practicing his breathing technique while remaining inside his stone house.
• A Wraith Beast attacked at night, but Su Changsheng used a Concealment Rune to survive without ever seeing the creature.
• After eight days, Su Changsheng had five Concealment Runes, 105 survival points, and only a few days of food remaining.
• Su Changsheng rejected trading his runes and decided to improve his Snake Saliva Ice talent so he could produce surplus materials to exchange for food.
• Su Changsheng invested survival points in his innate talent and expelled a walnut-sized lump of solid ice.

Su Changsheng improved his snake saliva ice talent, earned survival points, and carefully prepared to trade with Black Tiger despite the dangers of the stockade. Black Tiger nearly devoured him on arrival, but paused when Su Changsheng offered his tribute, leaving the demon curious about his progress.

• Su Changsheng stayed inside his stone house, practiced producing snake saliva ice, and found that improving his talent also slightly increased his physical abilities.
• After producing a piece of snake saliva ice, Su Changsheng gained survival points for adapting cautiously and persevering.
• Su Changsheng waited until the middle of the month, rehearsed his plan, and practiced the Breathing Technique to appear weak before setting out for Black Tiger's residence.
• Black Tiger's Wailing Ghost seized Su Changsheng and pulled him toward the demon, who announced that he would eat the food delivered to him.
• Su Changsheng offered Black Tiger the snake saliva ice as his tribute, and Black Tiger inspected it and remarked on how early he had produced it.

Su Changsheng negotiated with the Black Tiger Yao, using a small piece of snake saliva ice to secure food and protection instead of being sent to the Wilderness. The Black Tiger Yao ordered him to stay and make more talent materials, leaving Su Changsheng bound to a heavier monthly quota.

• Su Changsheng explained how he had made the snake saliva ice and said he lacked food to produce more.
• The Black Tiger Yao returned the ice and told Su Changsheng to trade it at the Yao Stronghold, but Su Changsheng insisted on offering it to him.
• Su Changsheng described the time it took to make the ice, convincing the Black Tiger Yao that his improved talent could bring in extra materials.
• The Black Tiger Yao offered Su Changsheng three jin of fresh flesh and blood and ordered him to stay rather than hunt in the Wilderness.
• The Black Tiger Yao told Su Changsheng to mark his home with black snow and produce two palm-sized pieces of snake saliva ice by the next month.
• Su Changsheng agreed and followed the Wailing Ghost to collect the flesh and blood.

Su Changsheng traded with the Black Tiger Yao for blood food and black snow, then used the Tiger Lord’s apparent favor to deter other half-demons from robbing him. After eating some of the food and cultivating, he gained realm experience but decided to keep his progress hidden for now.

• Su Changsheng left the Black Tiger Yao’s dwelling with three jin of blood food and a large chunk of black snow, pleased that the trade had succeeded.
• Su Changsheng paraded through the Half-Demon Grounds, telling other half-demons that the Tiger Lord had rewarded him and implying that he was under the Tiger Lord’s protection.
• The news spread among the half-demons, and winter raids on snake half-demons diminished for a time.
• A fox half-demon offered Su Changsheng a sexual encounter in exchange for half a jin of blood food, but he declined and returned home.
• Su Changsheng ate a small piece of blood food and practiced Green Snake Breathing, raising his first-level half-demon experience to 78/100.
• Su Changsheng decided to keep cultivating at his usual pace and hide how quickly the blood food could advance him, wary that the Black Tiger Yao might be watching.

Su Changsheng received 52 survival points and kept cultivating while pretending to make snake saliva ice at a slow pace. After the Black Tiger Yao’s Wailing Ghost secretly watched him for half a month, Su Changsheng decided he could not risk revealing a breakthrough and needed a permanent skill to conceal or alter his aura.

• Su Changsheng reviewed how he had manipulated the Black Tiger Yao into trading blood food for snake saliva ice and refined his profile of the yao.
• The midnight settlement rated Su Changsheng’s performance Good and awarded him 52 survival points, bringing his total to 110.
• Su Changsheng saved his points for improving the Green Snake Breathing Method and resumed cultivation.
• For the rest of the month, Su Changsheng pretended to work slowly on snake saliva ice and cultivated six hours each night.
• Su Changsheng sensed the Black Tiger Yao’s Wailing Ghost watching him again and continued his routine until it left.
• Su Changsheng resolved not to reveal a breakthrough until he neared the Black Tiger Yao’s strength and considered finding a permanent skill to conceal or alter his aura.

Su Changsheng waited for a chance to obtain a concealment technique, but a strange encounter with the male fox next door revealed a bloody, uncanny presence. The fox came pounding at Su Changsheng’s door that night, and Su Changsheng hid as the sinister presence seeped inside.

• Su Changsheng decided that his safest path to a concealment technique was to get the Black Tiger Yao to provide one, and he waited for a suitable opportunity.
• As the end-of-month dues approached, Su Changsheng watched for a manageable wild yao to attack but saw none.
• The male fox complained that a wild yao had refused to pay him, then invited Su Changsheng to have fun with him again.
• Su Changsheng saw strange spell patterns and bloody handprints appear on the sheets the male fox had thrown down, then warned him to avoid shady jobs.
• That night, an eerie presence seeped through Su Changsheng’s door as the male fox pounded on it and begged for help, so Su Changsheng activated a Concealment Rune and hid.

Su Changsheng survived the eerie attacks by hibernating behind his concealed stone house until the Black Tiger Yao came to collect the snake saliva ice. After learning that a Wild Yao was supposedly behind the attacks, Su Changsheng saw a chance to pursue his Concealment Yao Technique.

• Su Changsheng stayed motionless and used hibernation and Concealment Runes to hide from the Male Fox outside his home.
• After three days, the Black Tiger Yao smashed open Su Changsheng's door and tested him for contamination.
• Su Changsheng pretended he had slept through the crisis, handed over the snake saliva ice, and asked what had happened.
• The Black Tiger Yao said a Wild Yao had attacked the Half-Demon Grounds and claimed he and Old Wolf had wounded it.
• Su Changsheng recognized the Black Tiger Yao's account as a lie and realized the attacks likely began with the Male Fox next door.
• Su Changsheng saw the Wild Yao's rampage as an opportunity to obtain his Concealment Yao Technique.

Su Changsheng obtained the Turtle Breath Art after the Black Tiger Yao sent him to the Turtle Yao, hoping to conceal his aura from wild yao. He left with the cultivation manual and a stronger desire to grow powerful, while the Turtle Yao suspected the Black Tiger Yao was testing him.

• Su Changsheng asked the Black Tiger Yao for a way to conceal his aura, and the Black Tiger Yao directed him to obtain the Turtle Breath Art from the Turtle Yao while charging him ten jin of future blood food.
• On the way, Su Changsheng saw half-demon families devastated by wild yao, hunger, and the stronghold's dues, which intensified his resolve to become stronger.
• Su Changsheng visited the Turtle Yao and offered him more than a jin of blood food in exchange for the art.
• The Turtle Yao gave Su Changsheng the Turtle Breath Art and told him to visit after making progress, refusing his offer of more blood food next month.
• After Su Changsheng left, the Turtle Yao wondered whether the Black Tiger Yao was probing him because the tiger had been badly injured.

Su Changsheng mastered the Turtle Breath Art and used it to conceal and alter his aura as he prepared to advance. He broke through to become a Second-Level Half-Demon, leaving him better equipped to seek blood food and survive the dangers of the Yao Stronghold.

• Su Changsheng began cultivating the Turtle Breath Art while planning to use the Black Tiger Yao's distraction to grow stronger.
• Su Changsheng spent 100 survival points to advance the Turtle Breath Art to proficiency and learned to conceal and imitate aspects of another yao's aura and appearance.
• Su Changsheng ate his remaining blood food and practiced the Breathing Technique to trigger a breakthrough.
• Su Changsheng's body and demon power grew as the Turtle Breath Art concealed the surge, and he became a Second-Level Half-Demon.

After receiving an excellent rating and a large reward of survival points, Su Changsheng prepared to seek supplies and yao arts at the Yao Market. He reached the market in disguise, hoping to buy bloody food and gather more resources.

• Su Changsheng gained 165 survival points for his plans, cultivation, and advancement to a second-level half-demon.
• He spent six hours cultivating, then found Male Fox's home looted and empty after the Black Tiger Yao smashed its entrance.
• Su Changsheng buried materials that might reveal clues about him, prepared three Concealment Runes, and took a stone club.
• He disguised himself as a white snake half-demon and traveled cautiously around the stronghold's outer edge toward the Yao Market.
• Su Changsheng arrived at the noisy Yao Market, intent on finding bloody food.

Su Changsheng visited the Yao Market to seek Wraith Beast blood food and trade Concealment Runes. He found no Wraith Beast meat, learned of rising rune prices and recent contamination, then bargained with an eagle yao for two Concealment Runes in exchange for blood food.

• Su Changsheng surveyed the Yao Market and discovered that Concealment Runes were traded there, while Wraith Beast blood food was unavailable at the stalls he asked.
• Su Changsheng learned that Wraith Beasts had recently entered the Yao Stronghold, driving up demand and prices for purification and Concealment Runes.
• Su Changsheng heard rumors of rising numbers of aberrations in the Wilderness and a wild yao in the Black Mountain Range becoming a greater yao.
• Su Changsheng returned to the eagle yao's stall and offered to trade Concealment Runes for blood food.
• The eagle yao offered sixteen jin of rat yao meat per rune, prompting Su Changsheng to recoil at the proposed food.

Su Changsheng traded rat meat for several rune-crafting methods at the Yao Market and was offered a rare Shedding Talisman derived from a Pureblood Ironhead Snake. He refused the costly offer and continued browsing the market, leaving without buying anything else.

• Su Changsheng accepted two chunks of rat meat from the eagle demon and found it delicious when he and Tu Shu tried it.
• Su Changsheng traded eighteen jin of rat meat to a fox Half-Demon for crafting methods for Fur-Changing, Hard Skin, Ice, and Flame Talismans.
• The fox Half-Demon offered Su Changsheng a special Shedding Talisman method derived from an Ironhead Snake, but he rejected her demand for five hundred jin of Wraith Beast flesh and left.
• Su Changsheng watched the fox Half-Demon pitch other special rune methods to demons, then wandered around the Yao Market.
• Su Changsheng admired the Spirit Plant Shop's wares but could not afford to buy anything.

After returning from the Yao Market, Su Changsheng cultivated and studied runes while the Yao Stronghold grew more unstable and the Black Tiger Yao disappeared. As his cultivation advanced, his body began preparing for a dangerous second shedding, and he resolved to stock up on blood food and helpful runes.

• Su Changsheng returned home after changing his appearance several times, then began cultivating with his newly acquired blood food and yao-art runes.
• Over the following days, Su Changsheng stayed home to cultivate, disguising himself for two more trips to the Yao Market as prices rose amid growing unrest.
• Su Changsheng noticed the Black Tiger Yao had stopped appearing and heard rumors that it was gravely injured or dead, but he chose to keep cultivating.
• Su Changsheng advanced in six low-level rune-making methods, improved his Green Snake Breathing Method, and accumulated survival points and Concealment Runes.
• Su Changsheng recognized the itching beneath his scales as a sign that he was about to shed and planned to prepare blood food, Shedding Talismans, and Hair-Shedding Talismans for the dangerous transformation.

Su Changsheng planned for his approaching second shedding by preparing runes, blood food, and concealed refuges, while improving his crafting skills and gathering survival points. He spent all 520 survival points on the Green Snake Breathing Method, raising it to proficient level.

• Su Changsheng recalled how painful his first shedding had been and planned to stockpile Shedding Runes, Hair-Shedding Runes, blood food, and a safe place for his next one.
• Su Changsheng decided to dig hidden refuges into the mountainside and ground, conceal the rubble, and prepare while he still had more than a month before shedding.
• Over three days, Su Changsheng improved several rune-crafting methods, gathered more survival points, and checked his attributes.
• Su Changsheng spent all 520 survival points on the Green Snake Breathing Method and raised it from practiced to proficient level.

Su Changsheng mastered proficient-level Green Snake Breathing, greatly increasing his cultivation speed but consuming far more blood food. New avian half-demon neighbors arrived as rumors spread about the absent Black Tiger Yao, leaving Su Changsheng worried the yao might soon return and determined to advance quickly.

• Su Changsheng cultivated with proficient-level Green Snake Breathing for three double-hours, gaining six realm experience and discovering its strong restorative effects.
• Su Changsheng realized the improved breathing method consumed nearly ten jin of blood food in three double-hours, so he began making talismans to earn more.
• Three days before month’s end, Su Changsheng saw a married pair of avian half-demons moving in next door.
• Su Changsheng inferred that the newcomers had received approval from the Black Tiger Yao or another minor yao, and he suspected the Black Tiger Yao would return soon.
• Su Changsheng resolved to become a level-three half-demon as quickly as possible.

Su Changsheng planned to trade his Concealment Runes for blood food so he could advance before the Half-Demon Grounds grew more dangerous. At the Yao Market, he met the eagle demon again, who showed him a Wraith Eye as a valuable alternative to rat demon meat.

• Su Changsheng waited for the Black Tiger Yao to collect his dues, sensed a Wailing Ghost inspect his home, and decided to trade his Concealment Runes the next day.
• Heavy snow and extreme cold made Su Changsheng sluggish, but he disguised himself as the Fire-Element Half-Demon White Snake and went to the Yao Market.
• Su Changsheng found the eagle demon, who remembered how Concealment Runes from their previous trade had saved him during a dangerous hunt.
• The eagle demon took Su Changsheng to the Spirit Plant Shop to discuss a private trade and revealed that he had no rat demon meat left.
• The eagle demon opened a wooden box to show Su Changsheng a floating Wraith Eye, a piece of Wraith Beast blood food.

Su Changsheng traded Concealment Runes to the eagle yao for a Wraith Eye and other Wraith Beast flesh, hoping to use the blood food to advance to Level Three. When he asked about purification, the eagle yao offered him the Purification Talisman Rune Method, leaving Su Changsheng suspecting he had been tricked into overpaying.

• The eagle yao told Su Changsheng that Wraith Beasts and wild yao had fled the Black Stone Mountain Range amid rumors of a new greater yao or a forbidden-zone anomaly.
• Su Changsheng bargained with the eagle yao and exchanged four Concealment Runes for a Wraith Eye, then traded three more for seventy jin of flesh.
• The eagle yao said Purification Talismans were scarce and cost seventy jin of flesh each, but Su Changsheng insisted on finding a way to purify the Wraith Eye.
• The eagle yao guessed Su Changsheng was preparing to advance to Level Three and offered to obtain the Purification Talisman Rune Method for five Concealment Runes, with two Purification Talismans to be paid later.
• The eagle yao immediately produced the supposedly hard-to-obtain rune method, and Su Changsheng suspected he had been overcharged.

Su Changsheng bought the Stone Shatter demonic art and returned home as a worsening blizzard made him fear he would freeze before advancing. He tried to begin digging a tunnel, but realized he needed to learn Stone Shatter first and spent two days reaching the beginner level.

• Su Changsheng left the Eagle Yao, found the Stone Shatter demonic art at the Yao Market, and admired the Demoness Market’s Fox Woman before returning home.
• Su Changsheng shook off his pursuers, hid his purchases, and froze his blood food as the blizzard intensified.
• Su Changsheng decided to start digging toward the Black Mountain Range because the prolonged cold threatened his survival and cultivation.
• Su Changsheng tested ice and flame talismans but found them too slow for digging without Stone Shatter.
• Su Changsheng checked that he lacked enough survival points to improve Stone Shatter and practiced until he barely reached the beginner level after two days.