Chapter Summaries

Gu Cheng rushed past the ice insects on the sixth floor and was badly injured by six Half-Human Snake Demons on the seventh. He escaped their immediate attack with a Spirit-Sealing Formation Diagram, then discovered an Immortal Artifact called the Phoenix Gallbladder on the eighth floor.

• Gu Cheng ignited gasoline to block the awakened ice insects and hurried up to the seventh floor.
• Six coffins opened, and a Half-Human Snake Demon struck Gu Cheng with a sealed Ziquan Shield, leaving him gravely injured.
• Gu Cheng tore the Spirit-Sealing Formation Diagram to trap the Snake Demons and escaped toward the eighth floor.
• Gu Cheng found a black box and opened it, discovering a bloody eyeball identified as the Snake God's left eye, the Immortal Artifact Phoenix Gallbladder.

Gu Cheng escaped the Nine-Story Demon Tower after seeing a bizarre coffin bound by nine dragon chains, then destroyed the Jade Eye to close the portal and sever a pursuing monster’s arm. After recovering, he and his companions found the Divine Temple Gate shut and began looking for another way out of Jingjue Ancient City.

• Gu Cheng ran to the ninth floor while Ice Worms and six pursuers followed, then saw nine dragon heads and chains restraining a bronze coffin beneath a floating sword.
• Gu Cheng escaped the tower by grappling down its exterior and raced through the portal, calling on Lao Hu to smash the Jade Eye.
• Gu Cheng shattered the Jade Eye with Ghost Soul, closing the portal and cutting off the scaled arm of a monster reaching through it, then collapsed unconscious.
• After waking about a day later, Gu Cheng learned that the others had found no trouble while he was unconscious and received the sealed Demon-Hunting Blade, which he gave to Fatty.
• Gu Cheng recovered his True Qi, but found the Divine Temple Gate shut and decided the group would have to find another exit.

Gu Cheng and his companions found a hidden passage out of the buried temple and crossed an abyss on floating stone slabs. They entered a narrow corridor where strange, pus-filled bulges covered the walls, and the chapter left them fearing that creatures were moving inside.

• Lao Hu identified a mechanism in the temple and, with Fatty, turned a stone pillar to reveal a passage.
• Gu Cheng led the group down the passage and found a corridor of intact murals ending at a deep abyss.
• Gu Cheng crossed the abyss on floating stone slabs and secured a rope so the others could follow safely.
• A Ning and Sh...ev Yang spotted bulges along the next corridor's walls, and Lao Hu punctured one, releasing foul-smelling blue pus.
• Gu Cheng warned the group that bugs might be moving inside the bulges.

Gu Cheng's group escaped a passage filled with corrosive, regenerating Gold-Eating Insects and reached a mud pool beyond. As they approached a half-open stone door, A Ning sensed something moving in the mud.

• Gu Cheng and the others saw the insects regenerate after Fatty crushed one, then fled as the Gold-Eating Insects poured into the passage.
• Zhang Qiling identified the creatures as Gold-Eating Insects, explained their ability to regenerate and their vulnerability to sunlight, and said ancient people bred them as tomb guardians.
• The group escaped the insects by jumping into a mud pool, where Gu Cheng used true qi to help Sh...ev Yang and A Ning recover from the poisonous fumes.
• The group noticed a half-open stone door, and Zhang Qiling explained that earlier tomb robbers likely followed an underground river rather than the route they had taken.
• A Ning cried out and grabbed Gu Cheng, warning that something was in the mud.

Gu Cheng used Ghost Soul to fight the monsters beneath the mud pool and began rescuing the people they had dragged under. He and Zhang Qiling went on the attack, while Fatty was pulled out badly injured and furious.

• A Ning warned Gu Cheng that something was moving in the mud, and a monster dragged Zhang Qiling, his teammates, Lao Hu, Fatty, Sh...ev Yang, and A Ning under one after another.
• Gu Cheng stamped on one monster, kicked another onto the bank, then used Ghost Soul’s Demon Lord’s Might to split the mud and kill two more.
• Gu Cheng threw A Ning and Sh...ev Yang to safety on the bank, giving Sh...ev Yang the Torture Whip to defend herself.
• Gu Cheng pulled Zhang Qiling from the mud, and Zhang Qiling killed a monster with the Coiling Dragon Staff.
• Gu Cheng and Zhang Qiling hunted the monsters in the mud pool, and Gu Cheng rescued Fatty, who emerged covered in wounds and mud.

Gu Cheng and the others reunited with Lao Hu in the mire, where he had found the Supreme-grade saber Stillwater, while Zhang Qiling mourned a mutilated team member. After Gu Cheng rescued Sh...ev Yang and A Ning from three monsters, Zhang Qiling found his two remaining team members.

• Fatty complained that monsters had brutalized him, while Gu Cheng found one of Zhang Qiling's men dead in the mire.
• Lao Hu emerged from the mud carrying Stillwater, and Gu Cheng identified the saber's powers before returning it to him.
• Gu Cheng sent Lao Hu and Fatty to help Zhang Qiling search for his missing men after three monsters attacked Sh...ev Yang and A Ning.
• Sh...ev Yang struck a monster with the Torture Whip, and Gu Cheng killed all three monsters with the Ghost Soul Blade.
• Gu Cheng offered Sh...ev Yang the Torture Whip and promised A Ning a suitable weapon, while Zhang Qiling found his two remaining team members.

After finding their way into a vast underground forest, Gu Cheng’s group discovered a skeleton wearing a Gold-Seeking Talisman. Zhang Qiling identified the artifact and explained its connection to the Gold-Seeking school.

• Zhang Qiling mourned his fallen teammates and said the bureau would compensate their families.
• Gu Cheng explained that the dead river creature resembled a Water Monkey, and Zhang Qiling agreed it might be a mutated variety.
• With no one left who could dig a tunnel, Gu Cheng led the group through the stone door, where they found a lush forest underground.
• Gu Cheng gave Zhang Qiling Blue Spirit Accessories to repel venomous creatures, and the group cautiously entered the forest.
• Lao Hu heard what sounded like people crying for help, then found a skeleton beneath a tree with a bundle and a black hooked object around its neck.
• Gu Cheng recognized the object as a Gold-Seeking Talisman, and Zhang Qiling confirmed its identity and explained how Gold-Seeking Captains used it.

Gu Cheng and his companions discovered a Gold-Seeking Commandant’s remains and then entered a silent flower-filled clearing, where a giant man-eating flower released a disorienting fragrance and attacked them with thousands of thorny vines. The chapter ended with Lao Hu cutting a vine in two at incredible speed as Gu Cheng struggled to protect Sh...ev Yang and A Ning.

• Gu Cheng explained that only three Gold-Seeking Talismans had survived, and Sh...ev Yang confirmed that her grandfather had owned two that were stored in the United States.
• Fatty opened the dead man’s bundle with his demon-hunting saber, revealing tomb-raiding equipment that led Zhang Qiling to identify the skeleton as a Gold-Seeking Commandant.
• The group left the skeleton and walked into a quiet clearing filled with strange flowers, where they spotted an enormous bud that opened into a tooth-lined, flesh-red flower.
• The flower’s fragrance made Sh...ev Yang and A Ning dizzy, so Gu Cheng gathered them and tried to retreat while warning the others to hold their breath.
• Thousands of thorn-covered vines erupted from the soil, and one slashed Gu Cheng’s calf through his Iron Shirt.
• When a vine attacked Gu Cheng as he carried the two women, Lao Hu appeared and sliced it in two with astonishing speed.

Gu Cheng and his companions fought through a deadly Flower Garden after Lao Hu cut down a flower that turned out to be bait, and Lao Hu was badly wounded by the vines. They escaped to Queen Jingjue's treasure hall, where Lao Hu recovered enough to wake and recognize their surroundings.

• Lao Hu drew Stillwater at full speed and helped the group fight off the attacking vines.
• Lao Hu, Fatty, and Zhang Qiling advanced toward the flower, and Lao Hu cut through its stem, but the vines grew more frenzied and hurled him to the ground with severe back wounds.
• A Ning realized the flower was bait and that the vines' true body was buried underground, while Zhang Qiling used grenades to help Fatty carry the unconscious Lao Hu back to the others.
• Gu Cheng took Stillwater and cleared a path as the group fled the Flower Garden and reached a palace hall filled with Queen Jingjue's treasures.
• Zhang Qiling treated Lao Hu's wounds and Gu Cheng gave him an Essence-Nourishing Pill, after which Lao Hu woke and Gu Cheng identified the hall as Queen Jingjue's treasure hall.

Gu Cheng and the others explored Queen Jingjue’s palace, where he found seven divine artifacts and the group discovered an underground lake filled with glowing insects and giant rats. As they crossed a black stone bridge toward another cave, rabbit-sized rats appeared behind them and eyed them hungrily.

• Gu Cheng found seven divine artifacts hidden around the palace, including a treasure basin that could turn objects into cash.
• Fatty sat on Queen Jingjue’s jade throne, and Lao Hu teased him about becoming the queen’s husband.
• Gu Cheng heard running water, and the group discovered an underground lake where giant rats ate newly molted glowing insects.
• The group explored a passage lined with locked torture chambers that had become rat nests, then reached a dried-up underground river and a Wuyin stone bridge.
• As the group crossed the bridge toward another cave, Lao Hu spotted a swarm of rabbit-sized, red-eyed rats gathering behind them.

Gu Cheng and his companions encountered a swarm of deadly Corpse Rats on a stone bridge, and Zhang Qiling explained that the creatures carried accumulated lethal viruses. Gu Cheng held them back with Demon Lord's Might while the others soaked the bridge in gasoline, then they escaped through a cave and reached a mysterious scene.

• Zhang Qiling identified the giant rats as extinct Corpse Rats that ate rotting flesh and carried deadly viruses.
• Gu Cheng handed Sh...ev Yang the Immortal-Brew Gourd so she could pour gasoline across the bridge, then used Demon Lord's Might to pin down the approaching rats.
• After Sh...ev Yang finished soaking the bridge, Gu Cheng retreated while Fatty ignited the gasoline, setting many pursuing Corpse Rats on fire.
• Gu Cheng warned that the flames would not hold the rats for long, and the group hurried into a winding cave.
• The group finally reached the cave's end and stared in surprise at the seemingly ordinary scene before them.

At the end of the passage, Gu Cheng and the others found a huge piece of Kunlun Divine Wood secured over an abyss, with a strange flower growing on it. Zhang Qiling explained its legendary connection to the Phoenix and revealed that a coffin made from the wood had once revived its occupant; Gu Cheng identified the flower as a dangerous Corpse-Scented Demonic Taro.

• Gu Cheng and the others reached a stone beam above the abyss and discovered a chained log with an enormous green flower growing on it.
• Zhang Qiling identified the log as Kunlun Divine Wood and said the legend of the Phoenix perching on a wutong had confused the wutong with the divine tree.
• Zhang Qiling said the Divine Administration Bureau believed a Phoenix had appeared in ancient times and connected the Kunlun Divine Tree with its power of Nirvana Rebirth.
• Zhang Qiling recalled that Foye and the Nine Gates had opened a coffin made from Kunlun Divine Wood, whose occupant came back to life.
• Zhang Qiling explained that Kunlun Divine Wood could preserve a corpse for ten thousand years, prompting Sh...ev Yang to wonder whether Queen Jingjue lay inside it.
• Fatty tried to approach the log, but Gu Cheng stopped him and identified the flower as the dangerous, extremely rare Corpse-Scented Demonic Taro.

Gu Cheng and the others discovered that the Kunlun Divine Wood was bound by a Demon-Subduing Chain and hundreds of Corpse-Suppressing Locks, suggesting a terrifying corpse was sealed inside. When the Corpse-Scented Demonic Taro bloomed and released its fragrance, the others breathed it in, while Gu Cheng recognized the danger of its hallucinations.

• Gu Cheng identified the flower as a Corpse-Scented Demonic Taro and explained that its fragrance could cause hallucinations.
• Zhang Qiling recognized the silver shackles as Corpse-Suppressing Locks, and Gu Cheng identified the chain as a powerful Demon-Subduing Chain.
• Lao Hu described how Corpse-Suppressing Locks restrained dangerous corpses and recounted a tomb-robbing disaster involving eighty-one locks.
• Zhang Qiling recalled that Hàn Bá had killed nearly everyone during an expedition to a decoy mausoleum before the army burned it.
• A Ning warned that the Kunlun Divine Wood might hold a revived corpse, then the Corpse-Scented Demonic Taro opened and released a fragrance that the others eagerly breathed in.