Chapter Summaries

Lin Ke treated Zong Ya's injuries while trying to keep the Gu Insect from taking control of her, and coordinated with Hua Wujiang through Feng Jinyan. When Feng Jinyan was attacked on his way back, the Gu Insect's power suddenly frightened one of his attackers.

• Lin Ke discovered that Zong Ya's Gu Insect had kept her alive by absorbing her scattered spiritual energy, but removing it before she recovered could kill her.
• Lin Ke treated Zong Ya's wounds with medical methods, food, and Spirit Herbs, then began repairing her meridians as she recovered.
• Lin Ke sent Feng Jinyan to buy supplies and secretly contact people from the Shu Frontier, while Amethyst Longhorn Beetles carried messages between Lin Ke and Hua Wujiang.
• Hua Wujiang told Lin Ke to infiltrate the Illusionless Gu Sect and sent a thousand Mid-Grade Spirit Stones to help treat Zong Ya.
• Lin Ke sensed Feng Jinyan being robbed by a burly man and an old Rogue Cultivator on the path to Green Mulberry Garden.
• The witch Gu power inside Feng Jinyan poured into the burly man's eyes, and the old man shakily dropped to his knees.

Lin Ke discovered that Feng Jinyan’s Gu General could control weaker Gu Insects and used it to bring a Nascent Soul old man under his control. Feng Jinyan returned to Green Mulberry Garden while the old man reached an inn to await the Illusionless Gu Sect’s arrangements.

• Lin Ke let Feng Jinyan’s Gu General attack the burly man, whose Gu Soldier exploded and killed him.
• The old man revealed that he and the burly man were Shu River spies headed to an inn to await the Sacred Sect’s arrangements.
• Lin Ke ordered the old man to continue with the plan, gave him five Mid-Grade Spirit Stones, and warned him to keep their meeting secret.
• The old man asked Feng Jinyan to become his Sacred Master, and Lin Ke used Feng Jinyan’s Gu Insect to bring him under control.
• Feng Jinyan took a roundabout route back to Green Mulberry Garden while the old man arrived at the inn.

Lin Ke searched the Storage Bags of the burly man and True Person Yuan Yong, uncovering the Illusionless Gu Sect's brutal practices and a Gu-Driving Method that explained the danger to Zong Ya. He learned that gu-afflicted cultivators sacrificed their lives to gain power for themselves and the sect's Dao Ancestor, while Zong Ya remained unconscious but was expected to recover soon.

• Lin Ke continued treating Zong Ya's external wounds and inflammation after repairing her internal injuries, and expected her to wake within a few days.
• Lin Ke examined the burly man's belongings and found an Illusionless Gu Sect handbook detailing rewards and punishments for raising gu insects and consuming cultivators.
• Lin Ke searched True Person Yuan Yong's Storage Bag and found over ten thousand Mid-Grade Spirit Stones, many spirit artifacts, and more than two hundred spell-art scrolls.
• Lin Ke refined a bone fragment containing the Illusionless Gu Sect Gu-Driving Method to seek a way to help Zong Ya.
• Lin Ke learned that gu insects and their hosts shared their fates, that cultivators could sacrifice their own spiritual energy to summon the Gu Ancestor's power, and that dead hosts' gu insects returned to the sect's Dao Ancestor.

Lin Ke studied the Illusionless Gu Sect and learned that his Gu insect posed little danger unless he activated it with essence blood. He adapted True Person Yuan Yong’s Ten Thousand Insects Shattering the Ruins Formation for his own vast collection of spirit insects, leaving himself with a powerful means to fight or escape stronger cultivators.

• Lin Ke read that the Illusionless Gu Sect recruited the oppressed and discarded, exploiting their resentment and lives for its Dao Ancestor’s power.
• Lin Ke concluded that his Gu insect would have little effect unless he activated it with essence blood, which would make it require a long-term supply.
• Lin Ke studied True Person Yuan Yong’s Ten Thousand Insects Shattering the Ruins Formation and identified its slow deployment and reliance on poisonous substances to compensate for too few spirit insects.
• Lin Ke erased Yuan Yong’s instructions and rewrote the formation so intelligent spirit insects could carry smaller insects to their positions and deploy their webs quickly.
• Lin Ke planned to use real spirit insects throughout the formation, with illusions and toxins released in a designated area to trap and poison opponents.
• Lin Ke concluded that the improved formation could kill Nascent Soul middle stage cultivators, restrain Nascent Soul late stage cultivators, or help him escape, though it would sacrifice many spirit insects.

Lin Ke practiced an improved formation, then used Feng Jinyan as bait to investigate a rendezvous at Liuyun Inn. After a Gu Insect destroyed the inn and a Nascent Soul cultivator died, Lin Ke pursued a suspected Shu Frontier Spy and prepared to trap her.

• Lin Ke rapidly mastered a spherical formation with shifting false and true formation eyes, reaching the level of a half-divine ability.
• After checking that Zong Ya was recovering, Lin Ke disguised Feng Jinyan as the burly man and sent him toward Liuyun Inn as bait.
• At the inn, Feng Jinyan found a dead old man whose fading Nascent Soul warned that there was a mole and the transaction should be aborted.
• The old man's body exploded, and his Gu Insect unleashed witch gu qi before detonating and tearing apart half the stilt house.
• Lin Ke spotted a fleeing Nascent Soul Realm woman, recognized her as a likely Shu Frontier Spy when his mental attack failed, and laid the improved Myriad Insects Void-Shattering Formation in her path.

Lin Ke chased a masked woman through the forest, believing she was his contact, but learned she was only an outer sect disciple of the Illusionless Gu Sect. With two Spirit Leopards attacking her, he offered to help if she took him to the sect’s gathering, leaving her trapped and still fighting.

• The masked woman dodged Lin Ke’s attacks and fled through the forest, where she disturbed two sleeping Spirit Leopards.
• The Spirit Leopards attacked the woman, and Lin Ke watched as she fought them with Iron Fans and silver needles.
• Lin Ke blocked the woman’s escape by bringing down the surrounding trees, and she demanded to know why he was pursuing her.
• The woman denied being Lin Ke’s contact and said she was an outer sect disciple of the Illusionless Gu Sect on her way to a gathering.
• Lin Ke offered to drive off the Spirit Leopards if the woman took him to the gathering, while one leopard bit her Iron Fan in half.

Lin Ke trapped two spirit leopards in his Myriad Insects Void-Shattering Formation and let his Spirit Insects devour them. He left the woman alive and revealed that the insects had grown stronger, while she remained with him near the gathering place.

• The woman ran out of silver needles and tried to attack the spirit leopards with her Sun Gathering Crystal, but they damaged her tree and forced her to hang from its branches.
• Lin Ke told the woman about his escape from the Golden Wing Sect and asked her to take him to the Sacred Sect gathering; she agreed after deciding she could use him and his companions for her Gu Insect assessment.
• Lin Ke released Spirit Insects to trap one spirit leopard, then used heavenly lightning to split the tree and drop the other into the formation.
• Lin Ke caught the falling woman and told her to wait while his formation devoured the spirit leopards.
• The formation consumed the spirit leopards until only bones remained, and the woman noticed that Lin Ke’s Spirit Insects had grown stronger.

Lin Ke met Nan Shang, who did not remember their past encounters, and joined him and Feng Jinyan on the way to a gathering of the Illusionless Gu Sect. They reached a hidden rogue cultivator market, where a hooded speaker began addressing the uneasy visitors.

• Lin Ke gave Nan Shang the two spirit leopard nascent souls and learned that Nan Shang claimed to have grown up in the Illusionless Gu Sect without remembering what happened after mastering his cultivation art.
• Nan Shang attacked a sound in the woods, but Lin Ke stopped him and introduced Feng Jinyan as a fellow Sacred Sect disciple.
• Nan Shang gave Lin Ke a spare mask, and the three traveled through the Poison Tempering Mountains to a concealed rogue cultivator market.
• Lin Ke and his companions entered a cavern where masked visitors had gathered, and a black-robed speaker said the Illusionless Gu Sect did not welcome them either.

The Illusionless Gu Sect exposed spies at its gathering and recruited cultivators to spread its Gu Insects. After one attendee gained power from a Gu Insect, the black-robed figure urged him to drain the senior brother who had refused to help him.

• A Giant Clan cultivator blocked the Cloud Ink Sect spy from escaping, and the black-robed figure revealed that the gathering’s spies were controlled by Gu Insects.
• The controlled spies burst apart, producing Gu Soldier-level Gu Insects, as the black-robed figure invited attendees to join the Illusionless Gu Sect’s undertaking.
• A man wearing a mottled cat-face mask asked about the benefits of using a Gu Insect, and the black-robed figure sent one into his body.
• The cat-masked man survived, advanced to the mid Golden Core stage, and discovered that his Golden Core had become a black Gu Insect.
• The black-robed figure summoned black snakes and instructed the cat-masked man to use Witch Gu power to drain the senior brother who had refused to save him.

The Cat-Faced Man drained his senior brother with a Gu Insect, advancing from mid Golden Core to late Golden Core while revealing his resentment over years of mistreatment. Lin Ke worried that others might be seduced by the insects’ power, and Nan Shang warned him that the Gu Insects demanded constant feeding and could consume their hosts’ essence blood.

• The Black-Robed Man let the Cat-Faced Man decide whether to drain his senior brother and said the process could be controlled.
• The Cat-Faced Man used his Gu Insect to absorb his senior brother’s spiritual energy while the black snake restrained and weakened him.
• The Cat-Faced Man advanced from mid Golden Core to late Golden Core and confronted his senior brother about years of humiliation and favoritism.
• Lin Ke noticed the Gu Insect’s effect on the Cat-Faced Man’s mind and worried that others, including Zong Ya, might be tempted by the insects.
• Nan Shang warned Lin Ke that the Gu Insect required constant feeding and draining and could consume its host’s essence blood.

Lin Ke learned that cultivators could transfer Gu Insect abilities through the Moisture-and-Egg Transformation Method, while the Illusionless Gu Sect recruited followers by promising power and rewards for breeding Gu Insects. The chapter ended as the black-robed elder revealed that the cultivators in the cavern would become food for more Gu Insects, and thunder drowned out the ensuing screams.

• Nan Shang explained that he fed on spirit beasts and spirit insects, and told Lin Ke about the Moisture-and-Egg Transformation Method.
• The Cat-Faced Cultivator fed on his senior brother, whose dying cultivation surged toward Nascent Soul as heavenly thunder gathered outside.
• The black-robed elder offered Gu Insects and sect membership to those who met the Illusionless Gu Sect's requirements, and the Cat-Faced Cultivator went out to face his tribulation.
• Several Foundation Establishment cultivators accepted Gu Insects and reached Foundation Establishment great perfection, prompting others to crowd forward and trample the Cat-Faced Cultivator's senior brother to death.
• The elder told the waiting cultivators that living bodies and divine senses could nourish Gu Insects, and the terrified crowd turned toward those who had not joined the line as thunder drowned out their screams.

Lin Ke watched the Illusionless Gu Sect force cultivators to join, then asked the black-robed elder for a meditation cushion of gu insects so he could enter the Inner Sect. When the elder doubted he could cultivate a Gu General, Lin Ke wagered his senior brother’s life that he could.

• Cultivators who refused to join the Illusionless Gu Sect fought their way toward the cavern exit, but all except one wounded Nascent Soul Cultivator were captured or killed.
• The black-robed elder told the remaining cultivators to return in a few days with living creatures, then used witch gu qi to turn the captured cultivators’ spoils into gu insects for the others to swallow.
• Nan Shang registered for the Inner Sect by presenting a thousand Gu Soldier-level gu insects, and the elder gave him five hundred Spirit-Congealing Pills before consuming some of Nan Shang’s insects.
• Lin Ke declared that he also wanted to join the Inner Sect and asked the elder for a meditation cushion full of gu insects.
• The elder questioned whether Lin Ke could cultivate a Gu General, and Lin Ke wagered his senior brother’s life on it.

Lin Ke exchanged Feng Jinyan’s life for twenty Gu Insects and promised the Illusionless Gu Sect elder a Gu General in six to eight hours. He left Nan Shang as collateral and went to the market to stage a search for materials while secretly watched.

• Feng Jinyan vouched for Lin Ke, and the black-robed elder accepted twenty Gu Insects in exchange for Feng Jinyan’s life.
• When a Nascent Soul middle-stage cultivator demanded more Gu Insects, the elder killed him and absorbed his soul, Nascent Soul, and Essence Blood.
• Lin Ke promised to bring the elder a Gu General within six to eight hours, and the elder agreed to release Lin Ke’s companions once he delivered it.
• The elder made Nan Shang agree to remain as Lin Ke’s collateral, and Lin Ke left with the Gu Insects.
• Lin Ke entered the market, noticed that Illusionless Gu Sect cultivators were following him, and bought roast mountain chicken legs and a Spirit Fox pelt as supposed secret-technique materials.

Lin Ke experimented with breeding and fusing gu insects while pretending to refine pills in a cave watched by two Illusionless Gu Sect cultivators. After discovering that witch gu qi could cultivate new insects inside living hosts, he began breeding them alongside his fusion attempts and produced two horned gu insects that might be Gu Generals.

• Lin Ke bought tea leaves and a lock of hair from a Golden Core early stage cultivator, then rented a cave to refine pills.
• Lin Ke staged a pill-making display for the two Illusionless Gu Sect cultivators spying on him while he experimented with gu insects in his Niwan Palace.
• Lin Ke tried fusing gu insects, but the attempts failed or only slightly increased an insect's strength.
• Lin Ke found that a gu insect could mate with and consume a caterpillar, and that witch gu qi could poison a living host and produce a new gu insect.
• Lin Ke began breeding and fusing gu insects, and two fusions produced pointed-horned gu insects that he suspected were Gu Generals.

Lin Ke discovered that his Gu Insects could produce Gu Generals by mating with themselves, then brought one to the Illusionless Gu Sect for inspection. The old man identified a horned Gu Insect as a legendary Purple Mansion Insect that could help cultivators open their Niwan Palace.

• Lin Ke realized the Gu Insects were hermaphroditic and used Dragon Might to make them mate, producing his first Gu General.
• The Dream-Eating Gecko called Lin Ke back from the Niwan Palace after nearly burning up the cave’s leaves and grass to produce smoke.
• Lin Ke returned to the Illusionless Gu Sect gathering and first showed the old man a horned Gu Insect, which the crowd mistook for another failed Gu General.
• The old man asked Lin Ke to show the horned Gu Insect again and recognized it as a Purple Mansion Insect.
• The old man explained that Purple Mansion Insects could help ordinary cultivators open their Niwan Palaces and reach the Purple Mansion Realm.

Lin Ke and his companions joined the Illusionless Gu Sect after the black-robed elder agreed to take them as disciples, and they followed him through the Poison Tempering Mountains toward the Giant Strength Fire Prison Sect. Before entering its territory, Lin Ke took a Gu Poison Pill with an antidote, then froze when the elder removed his mask and hood.

• The black-robed elder identified Lin Ke's insect as a rare Purple Mansion Gu, accepted Lin Ke and his companions into the sect, and threatened to seize Lin Ke if he refused.
• Lin Ke explained that his memories of the breeding technique had been erased and that the two scrolls contained different information, so the elder made Lin Ke, his senior brother, and Nan Shang his disciples.
• The elder led the new disciples across the Poison Tempering Mountains, where they traveled safely and the group bullied Spirit Beasts along the way.
• Lin Ke recognized that they had reached the Giant Strength Fire Prison Sect's territory and wondered whether the elder intended to confront it.
• The elder gave Lin Ke a Gu Poison Pill to let him manipulate Witch Gu Qi, and Lin Ke secretly swallowed Zong Ya's Clear Wind Stasis-Resolving Powder with it.
• The black-robed elder removed his mask and hood, and Lin Ke recognized him in shock.

Lin Ke recognized Howling Ape Old Ghost as a leader of the Illusionless Gu Sect and pretended to join him while concealing his plans to warn Hua Wujiang and help his senior sister. When Fu Tan arrived, the old man revealed that the recruits were intended as blood food and ordered his disciples to absorb the captives.

• Lin Ke recognized Howling Ape Old Ghost, swallowed the poisoned Gu Poison Core, and concealed his intentions while posing as a willing disciple.
• Howling Ape Old Ghost welcomed Lin Ke and Feng Jinyan into the sect, believing Lin Ke had left the Golden Wing Sect after Hua Wujiang failed to protect his senior sister.
• Fu Tan arrived after breaking through to Nascent Soul and congratulated Lin Ke, Feng Jinyan, and Nan Shang on joining the Illusionless Gu Sect.
• Howling Ape Old Ghost revealed that he had lured the other recruits there as blood food, and Fu Tan killed the Cloud Ink Sect woman by pouring witch gu qi into her.
• Howling Ape Old Ghost stopped three fleeing rogue cultivators and ordered Lin Ke, Feng Jinyan, and Nan Shang to absorb them or kill them for Fu Tan.

Lin Ke and Feng Jinyan killed the cultivators Howling Ape Old Ghost forced them to execute, while Nan Shang refused and received Spirit-Congealing Pills instead. They entered the burning, besieged Giant Strength Fire Prison Sect, where Lin Ke realized the Illusionless Gu Sect had already overrun it; after Nan Shang thanked him and went into seclusion, Lin Ke discovered several people inside his room.

• Lin Ke, Feng Jinyan, and Howling Ape Old Ghost killed the captive cultivators, while Nan Shang could not bring himself to do it.
• Fu Tan gave the three junior disciples Spirit-Congealing Pills, and Howling Ape Old Ghost took them into the Giant Strength Fire Prison Sect.
• Lin Ke saw the sect engulfed in fighting and fire and concluded that the Illusionless Gu Sect had effectively defeated it.
• Howling Ape Old Ghost showed the three to guest rooms, where Nan Shang knelt to thank Lin Ke and asked to repay him as a younger brother.
• Nan Shang said he would enter seclusion, and the Dream-Eating Gecko warned Lin Ke that several people were inside his room.

Lin Ke found disciples of the Giant Strength Fire Prison Sect hiding in his quarters and arranged for them to carry secret messages out of the sect. Fu Tan then visited and asked Lin Ke to accompany him to the Sacred Sect's Gold-Storing Academy.

• Lin Ke discovered a little girl and several disciples of the Giant Strength Fire Prison Sect hiding in the room.
• Lin Ke convinced the disciples that he opposed the Illusionless Gu Sect and asked them to release message-carrying Amethyst Longhorn Beetles in the Poison Tempering Mountains.
• The disciples agreed to help Lin Ke, and he gave them Breath-Concealing Pills and placed Soul-Hunting Mosquitoes in their Divine Souls to ensure their secrecy.
• When Fu Tan arrived, Lin Ke hid the disciples beneath the bed and learned that Fu Tan wanted him to visit the Sacred Sect's Gold-Storing Academy.

Lin Ke accompanied Fu Tan to the Gold-Storing Academy, hoping to learn about the Cloud Dragon Secret Realm and find a way to remove gu insects. He found records on the secret realm and insect formations, and Lin Xuanyuan shattered their protective barriers for him.

• Lin Ke agreed to accompany Fu Tan after learning his insect-breeding achievements had earned him contribution points to spend at the academy.
• Fu Tan led Lin Ke to the Gold-Storing Academy, where an elder explained that records could not be taken without permission and contribution points.
• Lin Ke searched the top floor and found records about the Cloud Dragon Secret Realm and the Illusionless Gu Sect, as well as a book on insect formations, but no information on removing gu insects.
• Lin Xuanyuan emerged at Lin Ke's request and shattered the barriers protecting all three records.