Chapter Summaries

Wang Ba suspected the Immortal Ascension Society was behind Niu Yong’s disappearance but chose not to risk exposing himself. Meanwhile, Li Zhi visited Yu Changchun with news that the Society had nearly been discovered and asked about Wang Ba.

• Niu Yong’s younger brother told Wang Ba that Niu Yong had been missing for nearly two days and asked him to share any leads.
• Wang Ba suspected the Immortal Ascension Society had targeted Niu Yong, but stayed silent because he was under surveillance and feared for his life.
• Wang Ba decided against exposing the Immortal Ascension Society and conserved his Yin Spirit Power while waiting for Old Hou.
• Li Zhi visited Yu Changchun and revealed that Liu Changfeng had been killed after his attempt to lure a Servant Disciple nearly exposed the Society.
• Li Zhi warned Yu Changchun that the chief steward had killed Liu Changfeng as a warning, then asked how Yu Changchun had handled Wang Ba.

Yu Changchun and Li Zhi watched Old Hou try to draw Wang Ba into the Immortal Ascension Society by revealing its leader’s identity and describing his bone replacement. Li Zhi then stunned Yu Changchun by confirming that He Lin, whom Old Hou had named as the leader, really was one of them.

• Yu Changchun predicted that Wang Ba would join the society within three days, while Li Zhi warned that Wang Ba was cautious and should not be underestimated.
• Old Hou arrived at Dingbaqi Manor and told Wang Ba that the society’s leader had risen from the servant disciples and expected members to remain loyal after gaining Spiritual Roots.
• Wang Ba guessed that the leader might be He Lin, and Old Hou showed him the scar from his replaced pelvis and described the Spiritual Roots it might help him form.
• After Old Hou left, Yu Changchun claimed his story would win Wang Ba over, but Li Zhi revealed that He Lin really was a society member.

Yu Changchun learned that He Lin was one of their people, while Li Zhi stopped him from killing Wang Ba and left the servant disciple in his care. Under surveillance and running low on Yin Spirit Power, Wang Ba devised a way to replenish it using the epidemics affecting the Sect and slipped out of the Mountain Manor with two Spirit Chickens.

• Yu Changchun was shocked to learn from Li Zhi that He Lin was one of their people and tried to kill Wang Ba and the other witnesses, but Li Zhi stopped him.
• Li Zhi left Wang Ba in Yu Changchun's care for the next few days, and Yu Changchun resolved to watch Wang Ba closely.
• Wang Ba realized that a powerful cultivator had also been watching him and calculated that his remaining Yin Spirit Power would last only a few days.
• Wang Ba considered using the Sect's widespread chicken and pig epidemics to gain lifespan and accelerate his Yin Spirit Power recovery.
• Wang Ba drained most of the lifespan from forty-six Spirit Chickens, then left the Mountain Manor with two of them.

Wang Ba disguised himself as a sect disciple and gathered the lifespans of plague-stricken Precious Chickens from two estates. Back in his room, he used the lifespan he had accumulated to complete the seventh and eighth levels of the Body-Strengthening Scripture.

• Song Lun watched Chicken Plague devastate his flock at Ding Sixteen Manor and feared losing his livelihood.
• Wang Ba posed as a sect disciple, offered Song Lun two Spirit Chickens, and sent him out of the estate.
• Wang Ba touched more than four hundred sick Precious Chickens, gaining their lifespans while many died.
• Wang Ba bought over two hundred and forty plague-stricken chickens from a nearby estate and collected their lifespans, reaching about 1,810 years.
• Wang Ba spent 576 years to complete the seventh level and 1,152 years to complete the eighth level of the Body-Strengthening Scripture.

After strengthening his body, Wang Ba increased his ability to digest Spirit Chickens and condense Yin Spirit Power, while secretly gathering more chickens. As he questioned Old Hou about the Immortal Ascension Society, Yu Changchun prepared to kill him, and Old Hou’s body began to reveal a weapon of white bones.

• Wang Ba killed and stewed a Spirit Chicken, then told Old Hou that he had sick chickens to explain his continued chicken consumption.
• Wang Ba ate an entire Spirit Chicken and discovered that he could condense Yin Spirit Power much faster after advancing in the Body-Strengthening Scripture.
• Wang Ba secretly visited several manors and acquired nearly six hundred chickens, gaining about twelve hundred years of lifespan.
• Old Hou refused to explain more about the Immortal Ascension Society, and Wang Ba realized Yu Changchun might soon force him to join or kill him.
• Yu Changchun decided to kill Wang Ba if he refused to join, then used his power to make Old Hou’s eyes turn cold as white bones extended beneath his sleeves toward Wang Ba.

Wang Ba rejected Yu Changchun’s attempt to lure him into the Immortal Ascension Society and attempted bone replacement on his own using a Spirit Chicken bone. As Yu Changchun watched through a Water Mirror, Wang Ba endured the agonizing procedure, and Yu Changchun began to suspect he had grown stronger.

• Yu Changchun, speaking through Old Hou, urged Wang Ba to join the Immortal Ascension Society and warned him about the dangers of replacing bones alone.
• Wang Ba said he had already chosen what to use and returned to his house, leaving Yu Changchun to watch through a Water Mirror.
• Wang Ba slaughtered several Spirit Chickens, selected a bone, and cut into his left little finger to remove its topmost bone.
• Wang Ba inserted the Spirit Chicken bone, drew a blood pattern, and placed six Spirit Stones around it before activating the ritual.
• Wang Ba screamed through the painful procedure, while Yu Changchun admired his resolve and wondered why he seemed to have grown stronger.

Yu Changchun believed Wang Ba’s bone replacement had failed, then comforted him, gave him the lower volume of the Bone-Burying Secret Art, and accepted six Spirit Chickens as a gift. Yu Changchun left hoping to cultivate Wang Ba as a source of chickens, while Wang Ba privately cursed him and kept up the illusion of his injury.

• Yu Changchun watched Wang Ba’s agony through the Water Mirror and concluded that his attempt at bone replacement had failed.
• Yu Changchun withdrew his presence and visited Wang Ba at Dingbaqi Manor, where he praised Wang Ba’s resolve and gave him the lower volume of the Bone-Burying Secret Art.
• Yu Changchun warned Wang Ba to recuperate for at least half a month and seek a better bone source before trying again.
• Wang Ba offered Yu Changchun six Spirit Chickens, and Yu Changchun accepted them and explained how his Spirit Beast Bag worked.
• Yu Changchun left, considering how Wang Ba’s chickens could help him, while Wang Ba maintained the illusion of his twisted finger and cursed Yu Changchun inwardly.

Wang Ba realized the Immortal Ascension Society had infiltrated the Sect and resolved to keep his distance from it. When Yu Changchun stopped watching him, Wang Ba took Jia Seven out to train and fed her Tendon-Cutting Nematodes, then quietly left with four Spirit Chickens after nightfall.

• Wang Ba recalled how he had fooled Old Hou by faking the bone-replacement process, and inferred that Steward Li was also part of the Immortal Ascension Society.
• After reading that the Bone-Burying Secret Art required taking bones from living people, Wang Ba resolved to escape the Sect and avoid the Society.
• Niu Yong's younger brother told Wang Ba that searchers still had not found Niu Yong, and feared he was dead.
• Wang Ba discovered his Yin Spirit Power was no longer circulating as if Yu Changchun had stopped watching him.
• Wang Ba fed Jia Seven Tendon-Cutting Nematodes and trained her in several combat maneuvers.
• That night, Wang Ba found he was still unobserved and quietly left with four Spirit Chickens.

Wang Ba completed the ninth layer of the Body-Strengthening Scripture and learned that he needed 4,608 years of lifespan to master the tenth, but believed his chicken-gathering could overcome the obstacle. After hearing that several sects were preparing for hostilities, he worried the conflict might disrupt his escape plan and hurried toward South Lake Village.

• Wang Ba collected nearly seven hundred sick chickens, then found footprints and flattened grass in a mountain hollow and carefully restored the area.
• Wang Ba spent lifespan to complete the ninth layer of the Body-Strengthening Scripture and discovered that the tenth layer required 4,608 years of lifespan.
• Wang Ba trained Jia Seven, worked at Dingbaqi Manor, and visited West Garden Market, where he saw crowds stockpiling talismans, pills, and Law Artifacts.
• A young servant disciple told Wang Ba that the Eastern Saint Sect and several other sects were preparing to commence hostilities and might reward volunteers with Spiritual Roots.
• Wang Ba sold two Spirit Chickens at elevated prices, disguised himself, and hurried toward South Lake Village to investigate.

Wang Ba found South Lake Village crowded with new servant disciples and learned that the Lu Household had been driven out but refused permission to leave the sect. After visiting Shopkeeper Lu, he met Zhao Feng, who gave him a powerful strand of sword Qi in a jade pendant and urged him to enter the outer sect.

• Wang Ba searched South Lake Village for the underground passage but found sect disciples watching the area, then learned from a servant disciple that the Lu Household had been driven out and that the sect was preparing for war against the Fu Kingdom.
• Wang Ba visited the Lu Household’s manor, found Shopkeeper Lu gravely ill, and left him several spirit stones.
• Zhao Feng stopped Wang Ba, sensed that he had reached the ninth layer, and revealed that he had helped the Lu Household but could barely protect them from their enemies.
• Zhao Feng told Wang Ba that he suspected Lu Yuansheng’s death involved people within the sect, then advised him to reach the tenth layer of the Body-Strengthening Scripture.
• Zhao Feng infused Wang Ba’s jade pendant with a single-use strand of sword Qi powerful enough to threaten ordinary cultivators below the seventh layer of Qi Refining, explaining that Lu Yuansheng had once treated him similarly.

Wang Ba sought more chickens to increase his lifespan and finish the Body-Strengthening Scripture, but Steward Li’s news disrupted his plans. After Wang Ba avoided being sent to the front lines, he was assigned to learn at Dingjiu Manor, where he saw an enormous supply of spirit chickens.

• Wang Ba trained Jia Seven, traded for sick chickens, and raised his lifespan to 658.7 years, still far short of what he needed for the tenth layer.
• Steward Li told Wang Ba that servant disciples had been selected for front-line duty, but he had turned down the assignment on Wang Ba’s behalf.
• Wang Ba thanked Steward Li with spirit chicken eggs and learned that Elder Qian had ordered him to help and learn at Dingjiu Manor each afternoon.
• Steward Li brought Wang Ba to Dingjiu Manor, where Wang Ba saw the many spirit chickens and recognized their potential lifespan.

Wang Ba began work at Dingjiu Manor, where he met its four Outer Sect cultivators and learned about their conflicts and poor cultivation prospects. He secretly absorbed two years of a Spirit Chicken’s lifespan and planned to judge the cultivators’ reactions the next day.

• A white-robed disciple ordered Wang Ba to wash his hands outside before he could handle the Spirit Chickens’ feed.
• Wang Ba worked through the meticulous care of Dingjiu Manor’s eight hundred Spirit Chickens as three disciples returned.
• Tao Yi introduced himself and explained that Senior Brother Shi was an elderly, stalled cultivator, Chu had driven off the former Servant Disciples, and Lin Yu demanded Wang Ba collect her eggs.
• Tao Yi warned Wang Ba about Chu and offered to support him if Chu caused trouble.
• After finishing the work and returning to Dingbaqi Manor, Wang Ba secretly absorbed about two years of lifespan from a male Spirit Chicken to test whether the cultivators could detect it.

Wang Ba worked at Dingjiu Manor while concealing his abilities and making sure the cultivators did not notice the Spirit Chicken whose lifespan he had drained. After he expertly slaughtered a chicken for Chu Erniu, Senior Brother Shi revealed that Wang Ba had raised two of the manor’s Spirit Chickens and summoned him to meet that afternoon.

• Wang Ba trained Jia Seven, prepared chicken feed, and went to Dingjiu Manor early after Niu Yong’s younger brother failed to arrive.
• Tao Yi defended Wang Ba from Chu Erniu’s insults, while Wang Ba discreetly led the drained male Spirit Chicken past Tao Yi and Lin Yu without drawing notice.
• Chu Erniu demanded that Wang Ba slaughter his monthly Spirit Chicken, and Tao Yi warned him that the bird could badly injure a mortal.
• Wang Ba swiftly killed the Spirit Chicken and caught its blood, astonishing Tao Yi, Lin Yu, and Chu Erniu.
• Senior Brother Shi told the others that Wang Ba had raised and offered two Spirit Chickens, then ordered Wang Ba to see him after work.

Wang Ba cleaned the spirit chickens, discussed his cultivation method with Immortal Shi, and received permission to study a guide to raising precious chickens. Tao Yi returned with news that demonic cultivators had slaughtered an entire city near the sect in a blood ritual.

• Tao Yi told Wang Ba that Immortal Shi wanted to meet him and might teach him beast-rearing skills.
• A Gold Core True Person streaked across the sky, prompting Tao Yi and Lin Yu to leave the manor while Wang Ba continued working.
• Wang Ba collected nearly eight hundred years of lifespan from the spirit chickens as he cleaned them.
• Wang Ba explained his spirit-chicken cultivation method to Immortal Shi, who critiqued its cost and lent him a guide to read.
• Tao Yi returned and told Wang Ba that demonic cultivators from the Fu Kingdom had sacrificed a nearby city, killing all 120,000 people there.

Wang Ba collected lifespan from Spirit Chickens and ducks while the Sect prepared for war and his attempts to reach the Underground Passage were thwarted. His lifespan reached 5,403.1 years, and a new Divine Ability, Substitute Death, appeared before him.

• Wang Ba bought more than 270 sick chickens and 120 sick ducks, brought them to his manor, and extracted their lifespan alongside that of his other birds.
• Old Hou gave Wang Ba a large supply of Chicken Feed, while Wang Ba worried about the growing pile of chicken manure and Niu Yong's absent younger brother.
• A purple-robed Foundation Establishment cultivator ordered 400 Spirit Chickens, and the Stone-Surnamed Cultivator gave Wang Ba Extreme Blood Pills to feed to Precious Chickens.
• Wang Ba failed to enter the Underground Passage at South Lake Village because more Sect disciples had arrived there.
• Wang Ba extracted lifespan from more than 470 Spirit Chickens and 120 spirit ducks, bringing his total lifespan to 5,403.1 years.
• A screen informed Wang Ba that Substitute Death had activated and could bind one living creature at the cost of 1,000 years of lifespan.

Wang Ba completed the Body-Strengthening Scripture’s tenth layer and formed a spiritual root, then tried to find a way to confirm it and learned that the poultry plague crackdown had made collecting precious chickens dangerous. He decided to leave the Eastern Saint Sect as soon as possible, but arrived at Dingjiu Manor to hear Chu Erniu crying that he would not go to the front lines.

• Wang Ba spent 4,608 years of lifespan to complete the Body-Strengthening Scripture’s tenth layer and form a spiritual root.
• Wang Ba searched West Garden Market for a Spiritual Root Testing Talisman but found none, and he sold his spirit chickens because the shops no longer bought sick poultry.
• Wang Ba learned that shops in North Pine Market had been sealed and that outer sect disciples who bought sick chickens had been arrested, making him fear that his own purchases might be discovered.
• Wang Ba resolved to leave the sect rather than risk confronting the Immortal Ascension Society and its suspected backers.
• Wang Ba reached Dingjiu Manor and heard Chu Erniu wailing that he would not go to the front lines.

Wang Ba learned that the Sect was sending more disciples to war and saw a chance to escape once they left South Lake Village. Before he could act on that plan, Chu Erniu suddenly attacked him with a sword.

• The Stone-Surnamed Cultivator told the manor residents that Chu Erniu would leave for the Fu Kingdom border and that their group would manage two manors.
• Lin Yu protested the added work, but the Stone-Surnamed Cultivator assigned her, Tao Yi, and himself duties at Manor Ten.
• Tao Yi told Wang Ba that the disciples would depart from South Lake Village in five or six days, giving Wang Ba hope that he could leave while the village was unguarded.
• As Wang Ba shoveled chicken droppings, Chu Erniu charged at him with a magic sword and shouted, "Die!"

Chu Erniu attacked Wang Ba out of resentment over being sent to the front lines, but the Stone-Surnamed Cultivator stopped him and warned him not to attack again. Wang Ba placated Chu Erniu with a pouch of Spirit Stones just as Zhao Feng arrived at the manor.

• Chu Erniu attacked Wang Ba with a magic sword and a fireball, but the Stone-Surnamed Cultivator intervened and his Leopard-Faced Black Weasel swallowed the fire.
• Chu Erniu admitted he wanted to kill Wang Ba because he resented that others could stay behind while he was sent to the front lines.
• The Stone-Surnamed Cultivator warned Chu Erniu that he would kill him if he attacked Wang Ba again, then returned inside with Lin Yu.
• Wang Ba pretended to apologize to Chu Erniu and slipped him a pouch containing twenty Spirit Stones.
• Zhao Feng of the Evil Punishment Office arrived at the Mountain Manor to collect Spirit Chickens.

Wang Ba encountered Zhao Feng at the Mountain Manor, where Zhao warned him that danger might arise during the Sect’s upcoming march and urged him to seek shelter there. After Zhao left, the others tried to make amends with Wang Ba, but Chu Erniu’s apparent repayment did not satisfy him.

• Zhao Feng arrived to collect two hundred Spirit Chickens and recognized Wang Ba, startling the Stone-Surnamed Cultivator, Lin Yu, and Chu Erniu.
• When Zhao Feng questioned Wang Ba’s chicken-stained clothes, Wang Ba claimed he had dirtied them himself and prevented Zhao from confronting the others.
• Zhao Feng privately warned Wang Ba that he suspected trouble during the Sect’s upcoming march and told him to come to the manor immediately if anything happened.
• After Zhao Feng departed, Lin Yu asked about Wang Ba’s connection to him, and the Stone-Surnamed Cultivator offered Wang Ba access to his books.
• Chu Erniu returned the twenty Spirit Stones and declared them even, while gray flecks spread from his temples; Wang Ba silently rejected the settlement.

After secretly draining most of Chu Erniu’s lifespan, Wang Ba discovered that taking lifespan from a human had cost him twice as much in a prion infection. He cultivated at Dingbaqi Manor, then found West Garden Market closed and learned that Servant Disciples needed a Sect disciple or identity token to enter Fengyang Market; the chapter ended with him arriving at Dingjiu Manor and spotting a covered corpse among Zhao Feng and several grave-faced Sect disciples.

• Wang Ba absorbed 102 years from Chu Erniu, lost 204 years to prion lifespan, and suspected that lifespan transfers between humans carried a heavy cost.
• Wang Ba ate a Spirit Chicken and cultivated the Yin Spirit Great Dream Scripture, condensing a drop of Yin Spirit Power more efficiently and bringing his total to twenty drops.
• Wang Ba tried to make Jia Seven swallow fire, but she refused; he noticed that her beak had hardened and her speed had improved.
• Wang Ba found West Garden Market closed and learned that its shopkeepers had been sent to work; a bookshop owner told him that Servant Disciples needed a Sect disciple or identity token to enter Fengyang Market.
• Wang Ba returned to Dingjiu Manor, where he found Zhao Feng and several Sect disciples gathered around a covered corpse, which made his heart leap.