Chapter Summaries

Chen Jin killed the Song brothers after learning that the Yan Household had placed a bounty on him and questioned one of them about the newly opened market. With more people likely to enter his hiding place, he resolved to accelerate his cultivation and break his deadlock.

• Great-Uncle declared that the Yan Household would not wait for death and ordered its members to return and fight back.
• The Song brothers murdered a traveler and then mistook Chen Jin for the zombie featured in the Yan Household's bounty.
• Chen Jin killed one brother with Corpse Qi and crushed the other's back before questioning him about the bounty and the Yan Household Market.
• Chen Jin learned that the market displayed vague portraits of the zombie, then looted the brothers' belongings and buried their bodies in the secluded valley.
• Chen Jin worried that mountain foragers would discover his bird's nest and decided to take risks to accelerate his cultivation.

A river spirit questioned the mutant toad about the corpse monster, then took the toad along to cultivate. Meanwhile, Chen Jin released his yin baleful corpse Qi to summon wind and clouds, but lightning struck him as he tried to balance his cultivation.

• A being in the river forced the mutant toad out at Savage Ford and questioned it about the corpse monster's movements.
• The toad recounted its encounters with the corpse monster and explained that it had gone upstream; the river being invited the toad to cultivate with her.
• Chen Jin stayed in his nest, waiting for cloudy weather so he could obtain yang fire to counter his excessive yin Qi.
• A troop explored the valley but retreated after arguing, leaving Chen Jin worried they would return once they overcame the miasma.
• Chen Jin released his yin baleful corpse Qi and cried, "Wind, come!"; wind and dark clouds gathered, and lightning struck him.

Chen Jin used a lightning tribulation to disperse the Yin Baleful Corpse Qi within him and complete the transformation back into a living man. He left behind his corpse skin and filth as the He family fled the mountain, believing a demon was undergoing tribulation.

• Chen Jin deliberately drew lightning to himself and used the Eight Scenes Contemplation and Visualization Method to gather his scattered thoughts and consciousness.
• He Tie and Old Man He saw the storm over the secluded valley and suspected the thousand-year-old snake demon was undergoing tribulation.
• Old Man He ordered his family to break camp and flee rather than risk encountering the demon.
• The lightning dispersed Chen Jin's stagnant Yin Baleful Corpse Qi, opening his Three Yin Meridians of the Foot and restoring his body to life.
• After the storm passed, Chen Jin stripped off his burial clothes and washed away his red hair and blue-black corpse skin, revealing his living body.

Chen Jin left the secluded valley in disguise and revisited the places tied to his past, finding the snake demon gone and Banyan Tree Slope changed. He reached the Yan Household Market and discovered bounty notices seeking a zombie and a white-faced ape.

• Chen Jin disguised himself as an aging mountain forager and went to Corpse-Nurturing Cliff, where he found the thousand-year-old snake demon gone and the coffin missing.
• Chen Jin passed Savage Ford and recalled how the lightning strike had shattered and reassembled his consciousness, then decided he would need a quiet place to sort out his origins.
• Chen Jin found the shrine at Banyan Tree Slope replaced by a larger stone building and spent the night alone in the tree above it.
• Chen Jin walked toward the Yan Household Market and passed other mountain foragers without speaking to them.
• Chen Jin reached the market and saw bounty notices seeking a zombie and a white-faced ape.

Chen Jin hid from the Yan Household’s bounty by settling at its market, where he began recovering and meditating. His memories revealed how Yan Hui had lured him to the Yan Household Great Stronghold and caused his death, leaving him to rise from a coffin amid a storm.

• Chen Jin saw that he and Yuan Bai were wanted, then paid for entry and a hut at the Yan Household Market without giving his name.
• Chen Jin cleaned hut number thirty-three and noticed the family he had frightened earlier staying nearby.
• Chen Jin meditated to recover his body and spirit, using the market as cover while he adjusted to life after his return from death.
• Chen Jin recalled that he had been a gifted Zhongnan Sword Sect disciple whose damaged Qi Seed blocked his path to the Innate realm.
• Chen Jin remembered how Yan Hui had gained his trust, taken him to the Yan Household Great Stronghold, and left him to die after he collapsed in their room.
• Chen Jin opened his eyes in tears, overwhelmed by his past and his regrets in this life.

Chen Jin refused Old Man He’s food and devoted himself to rebuilding his cultivation by absorbing Yin and Yang Qi. After staying inside the hut for several days, he finally stepped out as Old Man He and He Tie argued over whether to check on him.

• Old Man He brought Chen Jin a bowl of food, but Chen Jin declined it and shut the door.
• Old Man He told He Tie that Chen Jin seemed particular because he had swept the hut after moving in.
• Chen Jin reflected on his rebirth, his damaged Qi Seed, and his resolve to cultivate Yin and Yang Qi without repeating his past mistakes.
• Chen Jin practiced in the hut for two or three days while Old Man He’s family stayed nearby.
• Old Man He worried that Chen Jin might have died inside, but He Tie urged him not to interfere.
• Chen Jin opened the hut door while Old Man He and He Tie were still arguing.

Chen Jin bought talisman supplies and furniture at the market, then practiced drawing Safety Talismans in his hut. Meanwhile, Shen Shan’s party camped outside a secluded valley, where a demon entered his tent and attacked him.

• Chen Jin bought talisman ink and paper with money taken from the Song brothers.
• Chen Jin returned to his hut, bought a table and chairs, and practiced drawing Safety Talismans until his strokes became successful.
• Shen Shan worried that his hastily assembled party would turn against one another when they explored the valley.
• Shen Shan sensed the night camp had fallen unnaturally silent, then was immobilized by a sinister chill as a demon entered his tent.
• The demon came close to Shen Shan and bit down.

Chen Jin cultivated and discovered that the Slay Evil Sword had once belonged to him before his senior brother Su Zhen won it in a wager. After several quiet days, Old Man He warned him that people entering Stream Mountain were disappearing and urged him to leave.

• Chen Jin practiced his celestial circuits, considered his unusual cultivation realm, and refined the Slay Evil Sword.
• Chen Jin recalled winning the sword in a competition, losing it to Su Zhen, and later reclaiming it after it passed through the Yan Household Great Stronghold and the Yellow Immortal Clan.
• Chen Jin realized that the sword's inscription had originally borne his name and that it had returned to its rightful owner.
• Chen Jin spent several days cultivating, drawing talismans, and refining his sword in his hut.
• Old Man He told Chen Jin that people who entered the mountains to gather herbs had gone missing and said his family was leaving that day.

After the mountain exit collapsed, Chen Jin warned Old Man He that the Yan Household might be behind the crisis and gave his family five Safety Talismans. Old Man He realized his family was trapped in the market and went to warn the other residents.

• Old Man He and the other market residents returned after learning that the mountain exit had collapsed and the Yan Household was organizing a new Demon-Slaying Alliance.
• Chen Jin gave Old Man He five Safety Talismans and warned that the snake demon might not be responsible for the attacks.
• He Tie recognized the talismans as genuine and powerful, while Old Man He speculated that the Yan Household might be setting corpses loose and feeding people to them.
• He Tie panicked and wanted to flee, but Old Man He pointed out that the family had nowhere safe to go.
• Old Man He decided to warn the others in the market about his suspicions of the Yan Household.

The Yan Household’s trapped visitors realized the household had likely engineered the crisis, then faced an ambush as zombies erupted from beneath the market. As a zombie emerged at Old Man He’s shack, a mysterious figure stomped it back into the pit.

• Old Man He overheard Niu Ben and Lu Gao organize the trapped travelers after they suspected the Yan Household had caused the mountain exit to collapse and learned its guards had disappeared.
• Niu Ben and Lu Gao’s followers built bonfires around the market while Old Man He returned to his family and decided they should follow Chen Jin if chaos broke out.
• An eerie wind extinguished the bonfires, and people who fled into the darkness screamed as a bell rang and a voice chanted an incantation.
• Zombies burst from beneath the market and attacked the travelers, while Niu Ben fought one with his gold-melon hammer.
• A zombie emerged at the entrance to Old Man He’s shack, and an unknown figure landed on its head and stomped it back into the pit.

Chen Jin entered the battle at Yan Household Market as a corpse demon’s bell threatened the defenders. His imitation bell disrupted the demon’s control over the zombies, leaving the fight’s outcome uncertain.

• Old Man He recognized Chen Jin as a formidable fighter, saw the sword on his back, and led his family after him toward the market’s center.
• A silver-armored corpse demon entered the market, used its bronze bell to bewitch people, and cut down those who could not resist.
• Lu Gao warned the defenders about the Demon Bell Soul-Capturing Technique and rang his own bell, but the corpse demon shattered it and broke his Law Technique.
• Niu Ben attacked the corpse demon with his golden melon hammer while Lu Gao, injured and powerless, watched the defenders fall back into chaos.
• Chen Jin approached while ringing an imitation bronze bell, and its clashing chimes disrupted the corpse demon’s control, leaving the zombies confused.

Chen Jin used Yan Ji’s Corpse-Driving Bell to confuse the zombies, letting the fighters burn them and corner the corpse demon. As the demon tried to escape the marketplace, Chen Jin sent out the Slay Evil Sword, which cut off its right arm.

• Chen Jin rang Yan Ji’s Corpse-Driving Bell, disrupting the zombies and giving everyone a chance to attack them.
• The fighters set the zombies on fire and destroyed many of them, leaving the corpse demon isolated.
• The corpse demon realized its scheme had failed and tried to flee, but Niu Ben and the others pursued it.
• The corpse demon killed several fighters as it reached the marketplace entrance, while ordinary attacks failed to stop it.
• Chen Jin commanded the Slay Evil Sword to unsheathe, and it cut off the corpse demon’s right arm.

Chen Jin led a crowd toward Yan Household Stronghold after wounding the corpse demon, but the demon’s return triggered a massacre inside the stronghold. By the time Chen Jin arrived, Yan Household had fallen, and he entered alone to investigate.

• Chen Jin urged the crowd to pursue the wounded corpse demon and attack Yan Household Stronghold, while the He family stayed beside him.
• Yan Laojiu welcomed his great-uncle back, but the one-armed corpse demon attacked and fed on Yan Household disciples before running to the underground corpse yard.
• Yan Laojiu rang the bell and called for defenders, but the Yan Household disciples had died or fled as raiders advanced on the stronghold.
• Old Man He and his family left Chen Jin to search the fallen stronghold for opportunities.
• Chen Jin entered Yan Household Great Stronghold alone, intending to explore it and uncover its secrets.

Chen Jin descended into the Yan Household’s underground burial ground and killed the wounded corpse demon. He then exposed and destroyed the shadow hidden inside an old man, leaving the stronghold’s remaining threat to be dealt with.

• Chen Jin followed the Yin Baleful Qi through the stronghold and found the Yan Household’s underground coffin chamber, where he recognized an empty coffin as the one he had crawled out of.
• A corpse demon burst from the jade coffin and attacked Chen Jin, who defeated it with the Slay Evil Sword and cut off its head.
• Chen Jin entered a nearby chamber, opened a black coffin, and pulled out an old man who appeared to be dead.
• The old man recognized Chen Jin uncertainly, but Chen Jin pierced a hidden shadow on the wall with his sword, and it howled before dissipating.

Chen Jin killed Great-Uncle, recovered his Pot Heaven Bag and the Corpse-Driving Bell, and burned the Yan Household’s corpse-filled underground graveyard. As he emerged, a white-haired woman, a burly man, and a tiger-riding hunter confronted him, seeking what he had taken.

• Chen Jin searched Great-Uncle’s remains, found the Yan Household Corpse Liberation Immortal Method and his own restricted Pot Heaven Bag, then took the genuine Corpse-Driving Bell from the jade coffin.
• Niu Ben, Lu Gao, and their companions found Chen Jin in the graveyard and left after seeing the slain corpse demon.
• Chen Jin opened the remaining coffins, found Su Zhen dead, and set the underground graveyard ablaze.
• Chen Jin emerged to find the Yan Household badly damaged and many bodies strewn across the grounds.
• A white-haired old woman, a bare-chested man with a spiked club, and a hunter riding a tiger surrounded Chen Jin, with the hunter demanding what Chen Jin had taken from the graveyard.

Chen Jin confronted representatives of the Chen, Sun, and Wu households after they surrounded him at the Yan Household stronghold. Using Earth Escape, he killed Third Granny Chen and attacked Sun Meng, while Wu Wei fled.

• Third Granny Chen, Sun Meng, and Wu Wei surrounded Chen Jin and attacked him together.
• Chen Jin burrowed underground, reappeared behind Third Granny Chen, and killed her with one sword thrust.
• Sun Meng and Wu Wei regrouped and tried to persuade Chen Jin to let them leave, but he reminded them that they had attacked him first.
• Chen Jin used Earth Escape again and dragged Sun Meng into the ground.
• Wu Wei fled on his tiger while Chen Jin dealt with Sun Meng.

Chen Jin killed Wu Wei with the Slay Evil Sword and learned that Yuan Bai had left the mountains. As the female ghost vanished and the Yan Household Great Stronghold continued to burn, Chen Jin sensed a powerful presence approaching.

• Wu Wei urged his tiger toward the stronghold gate, but an eerie shadow blocked their path before Chen Jin's flying sword pierced Wu Wei's heart.
• The female ghost watched Chen Jin approach and reflected on the Demon-Ghost Alliance's defeat and her hatred of him.
• Chen Jin asked the female ghost whether she had seen the monkey, and she told him Yuan Bai had left the mountains.
• The female ghost mocked Chen Jin for being left behind, but he said he wished Yuan Bai well and planned to leave too, prompting her to disappear in anger.
• Chen Jin put on his battered bamboo hat and sensed a powerful presence approaching from outside the burning stronghold.

Chen Jin decided not to reveal himself to the arriving Zhongnan Sword Sect elder, fearing Yan Hui could turn the accusations against him. Xue Hongmei arrived at the ruined Yan Household stronghold with Yan Hui and began investigating the massacre, concluding that a sixth-realm swordsman had been involved.

• Chen Jin weighed the risks of accusing Yan Hui and escaped before the arriving elder could see him.
• Xue Hongmei and Yan Hui arrived at the burning Yan Household stronghold, where Yan Hui searched for her relatives and found the household in ruins.
• Xue Hongmei examined Wu Wei's corpse and determined that no snake demon had caused the destruction.
• Yan Hui told Xue Hongmei that bandits had attacked after her great-uncle's Lifebound Corpse went mad, while Xue Hongmei judged that a capable sixth-realm swordsman had fought there.
• Xue Hongmei uncovered Sun Meng's corpse with the Earth Travel Technique and then vanished from the spot.

After fleeing the Yan Household Great Stronghold, Chen Jin hid underground and considered returning home while Xue Hongmei failed to find him. Yan Hui returned to the Zhongnan Sword Sect Lower Court and came face-to-face with Chen Jin, who greeted her at his courtyard gate.

• Chen Jin escaped the stronghold, concealed himself underground, and considered visiting his family, partly to protect them from Yan Hui.
• Xue Hongmei searched the area but could not find Chen Jin, then returned to the burning stronghold and told Yan Hui to focus on the coming sword competition.
• Yan Hui and Xue Hongmei inspected the Nether Passage River, where Xue Hongmei concluded that the supposed thousand-year-old snake demon was not there and might never have existed.
• Xue Hongmei took Yan Hui back to the Zhongnan Sword Sect Lower Court after ordering her to settle the stronghold's affairs and stop returning home.
• Yan Hui visited a small courtyard and was stunned when Chen Jin emerged with a broom and greeted her.

Chen Jin returned to the sword sect and confronted Yan Hui, who fled in terror after seeing him alive. As Chen Jin found clarity in his courtyard, Yan Hui decided she could deny his accusations and resolved to treat him as the one who owed her revenge.

• Chen Jin greeted Yan Hui, who panicked and ran when she realized he had returned from the dead.
• Chen Jin explained to himself why accusing Yan Hui would accomplish little and chose to rely on the sect’s rule against disciples attacking one another.
• Huang Mengliang welcomed Chen Jin back, told him Yan Hui had advanced to the sixth realm, and invited him over for wine.
• Chen Jin considered destroying the peach tree he had planted for Yan Hui, then stopped and recited a verse that eased his heart.
• Yan Hui traced the troubles at Stream Mountain to Chen Jin, concluded she could deny his claims, and vowed to seek revenge for her granduncle and clansmen.