Chapter Summaries

He Manhua’s self-destruction of his natal magic treasure devastated the clearing but failed to kill the hunchbacked elder, who survived with the unconscious purple-robed young man. As He Manzi and Blood-Handed Flying Sickle moved to attack the weakened elder, Li Yan appeared behind them with He Manhua under his control, having decided to seize the opportunity after hearing about the Profound Nether Token.

• He Manhua emerged from the earth badly injured after detonating his natal magic treasure, while He Manzi and Blood-Handed Flying Sickle arrived at the ruined clearing.
• The hunchbacked elder burst out of the pit alive, carrying the unconscious purple-robed young man and the Jade Pure Bottle, but suffering severe injuries.
• He Manzi and Blood-Handed Flying Sickle rushed the weakened elder before he could recover, while he tried to force the purple-robed young man awake.
• Li Yan heard the fighters discuss the Profound Nether Token and inferred that the purple-robed young man was being hunted over an inheritance and its rewards.
• Li Yan appeared behind Blood-Handed Flying Sickle and the others with one hand on He Manhua’s head, leaving He Manhua too terrified to move.

Li Yan ambushed He Manhua to force the rival parties to negotiate over Huchen Wuding's safety and the Mysterious Nether Token. Huchen Wuding promised a rich reward if he returned to his Lineage, while He Manzi warned Li Yan that Shadowthorn would pursue them.

• Li Yan decided to intervene if the fighting weakened both sides, and he survived the younger black-robed man's detonation of his natal magic treasure by hiding underground.
• Li Yan used Night-Hiding Stealth to approach the injured He Manhua and hold a palm over his head, startling He Manzi, Blood-Handed Flying Sickle, and the hunchbacked old man.
• Huchen Wuding awakened and explained that he was competing to become his Lineage's heir, a position that would let him give Li Yan a Mysterious Nether Token.
• After learning that Huchen Wuding could not provide the listed rewards immediately, Li Yan proposed taking only the token while the others divided the rest.
• Huchen Wuding offered the other reward items at twice their current value if Li Yan helped him return to his Lineage.
• He Manzi warned Li Yan that Huchen Wuding would face further assassination attempts and urged him not to provoke Shadowthorn.

Li Yan appeared to yield to the He brothers, but after He Manzi reclaimed He Manhua, a hidden poison debilitated him and revealed that Li Yan had secretly acted. He Manzi demanded an antidote while Hu Chen Wuding suspected Li Yan was a master poison expert.

• Blood-Handed Flying Sickle refused to abandon the fight, but He Manzi agreed to withdraw with He Manhua and avoid further conflict with Li Yan.
• After Hu Chen Wuding and the hunchbacked old man warned Li Yan about the He brothers, Li Yan withdrew his hand from He Manhua and let him return to He Manzi.
• He Manzi inspected He Manhua, then revealed that he still intended to settle his private debt with Li Yan, and He Manhua accused Li Yan of ambushing him.
• He Manzi prepared to attack Li Yan with a deadly abacus technique, but He Manhua collapsed and began gasping as though his body had been drained.
• He Manzi tried to replenish He Manhua with spiritual power, but a force inside He Manhua consumed it, so He Manzi demanded that Li Yan provide an antidote.
• Hu Chen Wuding realized Li Yan might be an expert in poison and watched him with excitement.

Li Yan’s poisoned He Manhua turned on He Manzi, killing the brothers while Li Yan’s companions watched in horror. Afterward, Li Yan’s concealed use of three poisons revealed how he had set traps for both brothers, leaving his enemies terrified of him.

• Li Yan offered He Manzi an antidote if he agreed to follow Li Yan to the Huchen Lineage, but He Manzi refused and attacked him.
• He Manzi sent Blood-Handed Flying Sickle after the hunchbacked old man and launched his emerald calculating bead at Li Yan.
• As Li Yan’s barrier seemed close to breaking, He Manhua seized He Manzi from behind and bit into the back of his neck.
• He Manzi collapsed and died after He Manhua drained his blood, then He Manhua also died after briefly regaining clarity.
• Li Yan silently revealed to himself that he had planted three poisons, including one on He Manhua’s clothing that disrupted He Manzi’s spiritual power, while the others watched him in fear.

Li Yan, the hunchbacked old man, and Hu Chen Wuding killed Blood-Handed Flying Sickle and the He brothers, then fled and reached a second-rate sect to recover. As Li Yan learned more about the Hu Chen Lineage and its powerful poison techniques, the group remained at the sect while the other two healed their injuries.

• Li Yan urged the hunchbacked old man to pursue Blood-Handed Flying Sickle, while Hu Chen Wuding sealed the Jade Purity Bottle to stop its poison from spreading.
• The hunchbacked old man returned with Blood-Handed Flying Sickle dead, and Hu Chen Wuding credited Li Yan with making the ambush succeed.
• Li Yan and the hunchbacked old man collected the enemies' Storage Pouches and burned their corpses before the three fled the area.
• After changing routes and using another teleportation array, the three reached a second-rate sect, where the injured hunchbacked old man and Hu Chen Wuding stayed to recuperate.
• Li Yan learned that the Hu Chen Lineage was a first-rate family renowned for alchemy, medicine, and its twelve-level Ghost Domain Poison Scroll.

Hu Chen Wuding recounted his troubled childhood, his mother’s death, and the years he spent with Zhu Lingfeng before returning to the Hu Chen Lineage. As Li Yan reflected on Wuding’s interest in poison and the Ghost Domain Poison Scroll, he began opening the Storage Pouches of the dead He brothers and Blood-Handed Flying Sickle.

• Hu Chen Wuding’s father secretly sent him and his mother away from the Hu Chen Lineage with copies of the first five layers of the Ghost Domain Poison Scroll.
• Hu Chen Wuding, his mother, and Zhu Lingfeng lived in a mountain valley until his mother died, after which Zhu Lingfeng buried her and took Wuding away.
• Hu Chen Wuding and Zhu Lingfeng spent six years in a village while cautiously gathering news of the Hu Chen Lineage, and Wuding learned Zhu Lingfeng’s identity and reputation.
• Zhu Lingfeng told Hu Chen Wuding last month that he could return to the Hu Chen Lineage, and Wuding later shared his history with Li Yan.
• Li Yan considered Hu Chen Wuding’s poison skills and the Ghost Domain Poison Scroll, then opened the Storage Pouches belonging to the He brothers and Blood-Handed Flying Sickle.

Li Yan examined the wealth and possessions he had taken from Bloodhand Flying Scythe and the He brothers, discovering two rare Blood-refined Amber Pills that could temporarily boost his strength. He inspected Bloodhand Flying Scythe’s folding fan and found eight Flying Scythe Blood Mantises recovering in its river of blood.

• Li Yan collected the three heaps of spirit stones, finding thirty thousand from Bloodhand Flying Scythe and fifty thousand combined from the He brothers.
• Li Yan examined Bloodhand Flying Scythe’s jade bottles and identified two modified Blood-refined Amber Pills, which could raise strength temporarily at the cost of leaving the user’s meridians fragile.
• Li Yan put away the pills and other bottles, then noticed Bloodhand Flying Scythe’s deputy sect master waist token and considered the consequences of his death.
• Li Yan inspected Bloodhand Flying Scythe’s folding fan and found eight Flying Scythe Blood Mantises in its blood-river inner world, slowly recovering from their injuries.

Li Yan sorted through the He brothers’ spoils and discovered that a mysterious handkerchief could interfere with formations. He left the room to test its power, then returned delighted after confirming it was a valuable treasure.

• Li Yan recognized the Flying Scythe Blood Mantises as Bloody Hand Flying Scythe’s hidden reserve and decided he would need to refine the folding fan to control them.
• Li Yan sorted the He brothers’ belongings, kept useful medicines, burned their aphrodisiac pills, and set aside demonic items to sell.
• Li Yan examined a jade-white handkerchief and found that it expanded with spiritual power but showed no obvious effect on nearby treasures or implements.
• Li Yan suspected the handkerchief’s tangled threads resembled formation runes, but his attempts to activate it with formation arts failed.
• Li Yan sent the handkerchief into the range of a formation flag and watched it vanish from his divine sense while opening a hole in the defensive formation.
• Li Yan tested the handkerchief for two hours and returned to his room delighted with his discovery.

Li Yan tested the brocade kerchief and discovered it could silently breach formations and dissolve attacks generated by them, then refined it as the Heaven-Stealing Kerchief. He also identified Qin Chengyi’s inkstone as a powerful magic treasure, sorted his spoils, and set out with Zhuo Lingfeng and Huchen Wuding while concealing his cultivation.

• Li Yan tested the brocade kerchief against defensive and offensive formations, confirming that it opened holes in defenses and erased formation-based attacks.
• Li Yan named the kerchief the Heaven-Stealing Kerchief, refined it, and used it to make a hole in his room’s formation.
• Li Yan examined Qin Chengyi’s puppet and inkstone, overcame the inkstone’s resistance, and learned it was the first-grade Pine-Ink Inkstone.
• Li Yan sorted his recent spoils, storing his most valuable treasures in Tuban and packing other items into Storage Pouches for later sale.
• Zhuo Lingfeng took Huchen Wuding and Li Yan toward their destination on a Black-Armored Demon Hound, while Li Yan avoided revealing his cultivation.

As Li Yan, Huchen Wuding, and Zhuo Lingfeng traveled toward the lineage, the chapter shifted to Yu Jiangshi reporting his failed attempt to kill the boy before the heir contest. The mistress ordered Yu Jiangshi punished and told him to uncover the contest’s details, while the boy’s arrival remained imminent.

• Li Yan and Huchen Wuding discussed poison-making during their journey, and each came to admire the other’s knowledge.
• Yu Jiangshi entered a hidden valley through a Light Gate and hurried to the first branch’s compound to meet his mistress.
• Yu Jiangshi told the mistress that his search for the boy had failed and that he had hired Shadow Assassins to intercept him.
• The mistress said the lineage head had guarded the routes near the lineage and ordered Yu Jiangshi to take fifty lashes of the water-torture whip.
• The mistress commanded Yu Jiangshi to obtain the details of the heir contest before it began the day after tomorrow.

Li Yan, Zhuo Lingfeng, and Huchen Wuding reached the Huchen Lineage after discovering that several groups had watched them on the way. Huchen Wuding entered through a hidden gate and presented his token to the guards, whose shock left his identity unresolved.

• At Spirit Moon Mountain, Li Yan told Zhuo Lingfeng and Huchen Wuding that pursuers had watched them, while Zhuo Lingfeng explained why he had stopped to inspect the area.
• Zhuo Lingfeng recalled Huchen Wuding’s mother and her memories of Spirit Moon Mountain before they set off toward the Lineage.
• The next morning, Huchen Wuding used his mother’s black cauldron to open the hidden entrance, and he, Li Yan, and Zhuo Lingfeng entered the Huchen Lineage.
• Five guards confronted the strangers, and Huchen Wuding showed them a black cauldron marked with three golden lines.
• Huchen Liang and the other guards recognized the cauldron as a Lineage token and reacted with surprise.

Hu Chen Wuding returned to the valley and visited the courtyard where he had lived with his mother, grieving as he recalled their life together. He warned Zhuo Lingfeng not to act against his father if he came, at least until Zhuo Lingfeng reached the Golden Core Realm.

• Hu Chen Qiukong recognized Hu Chen Wuding at the valley entrance and escorted him inside, while Hu Chen Wuding responded coldly to the mention of the Lineage Head.
• Hu Chen Liang left to report Hu Chen Wuding's return, and Hu Chen Tuhu asked Hu Chen Le whether he would notify the Fourth Branch.
• Hu Chen Wuding reached his old courtyard, saw that it had been maintained, and wept when he realized his mother was no longer there.
• Hu Chen Qiukong offered to arrange servants, but Hu Chen Wuding declined and said he had Zhuo Lingfeng and Li Yan with him.
• Hu Chen Wuding remembered his mother's meals at the stone table and looked through the rooms, where most belongings remained.
• Hu Chen Wuding asked Zhuo Lingfeng not to act if his father came to see him, at least until Zhuo Lingfeng reached the Golden Core Realm.

Hu Chen Wuding settled into his old courtyard with Li Yan and Zhuo Lingfeng, revealing the sacrifices behind his magical treasure as he prepared to compete for the inheritor’s position. Meanwhile, Li Yan discovered that hostile groups were already watching them, and Hu Chen Wuding’s enemies began identifying Zhuo Lingfeng as the man who had helped him and his mother escape.

• Hu Chen Wuding sent Zhuo Lingfeng to stay in his mother’s room and offered Li Yan a place in the courtyard, while Li Yan urged him not to waste the chance he had fought to reach.
• A servant delivered an elaborate meal, but Zhuo Lingfeng refused to leave his room and instead sat by his mother’s old dressing table; Hu Chen Wuding then invited Li Yan to eat with him.
• Hu Chen Wuding explained that Zhuo Lingfeng had sacrificed years of cultivation to make his magical treasure, which held four kinds of pills and could enhance their effects, and described how he had developed its poison-detecting silver mist.
• Li Yan drank with Hu Chen Wuding while secretly relying on his own poison expertise, then returned to his room and set up formation flags after noticing four groups probing the courtyard, at least two of them carrying concealed killing intent.
• A young man told a woman in court robes that Hu Chen Wuding had returned and that Zhuo Lingfeng had repelled Yu Jiangshi’s Divine Sense; the woman suspected Zhuo Lingfeng was the ally who had helped Hu Chen Wuding’s mother escape.

On the eve of the Huchen Lineage contest, the first branch plotted to seize power and eliminate Wuding and his allies, while the other branches prepared their own moves. The chapter ended with Huchen Jianghai ready to reveal his hidden ability in the contest.

• The beautiful woman in court robes warned her son that the Huchen Lineage ancestor and its elders made a direct takeover too dangerous, then ordered routes guarded so Wuding and the Foundation Establishment cultivator could not escape after the contest.
• The gloomy young man vowed to defeat Wuding and claim the Lineage heir position, while his mother concealed her hatred for Third Mother and planned to kill her and her allies.
• Huchen Huiqing complained that Wuding had returned without visiting her, and her mother urged her to seek him out and ask why Third Mother had not come back.
• Huchen Le reported that the Foundation Establishment cultivator had injured Chief Steward Yu's Divine Sense, but the woman in the flower garden told Huchen Jianghai to withdraw his watchers and focus on the contest.
• Huchen Jianghai agreed to show his true capability and privately anticipated astonishing Huchen Wanli and Huchen Huiqing.

Huchen Huiqing encouraged Huchen Wuding to fight for the inheritance position, while Li Yan tested his dangerous Five Elements Return to Primordial Chaos technique and increased his ability to wield a fire-attribute treasure. The chapter ends with a yellow-robed man resembling Huchen Wuding arriving at night, as Zhuo Lingfeng silently watches him.

• Huchen Huiqing recalled how she had protected Huchen Wuding as a child and urged him to work hard for the inheritance position, promising to support him.
• Li Yan transformed all five elements of spiritual power into fire spiritual power for two breaths, then suffered backlash and reflected on the technique's power and risks.
• Li Yan resumed cultivating after putting away the Bloodhand Flying Sickle folding fan.
• A yellow-robed middle-aged man arrived at the courtyard at night, and Zhuo Lingfeng appeared behind Huchen Wuding.
• Huchen Wuding called the newcomer Uncle Sang and reproached him for only daring to visit at night, making the man tremble with pain.

Huchen Wandong explained why he had sent Huchen Wuding and Yue Xiangyun away and revealed how the First and Fourth branches had threatened their lives. Zhuo Lingfeng confirmed the account, while Huchen Wuding was left confronting the painful history behind his mother’s marriage.

• Huchen Wandong told Huchen Wuding that he had arranged for him to return and compete for the heir’s position, then thanked Zhuo Lingfeng for protecting him and Yue Xiangyun.
• Huchen Wandong raised a sound-blocking restriction around the courtyard and began recounting Yue Xiangyun’s past.
• Huchen Wandong explained that Yue Xiangyun had been forced by her sect to marry him and had suffered humiliation from the First and Fourth branches of the Huchen Lineage.
• Huchen Wandong revealed that he had secretly sent Yue Xiangyun and Huchen Wuding away when the First and Fourth branches planned to kill them, then delayed the heir contest until the Huchen ancestor emerged from seclusion.
• Zhuo Lingfeng confirmed that Huchen Wandong’s account of Yue Xiangyun’s forced marriage was true and remembered leaving their sect after she had been compelled to marry.

Hu Chen Wuding confronted Hu Chen Wandong about his resentment and his wish to abandon the Hu Chen surname, then prepared to compete for the position of Heir of the Lineage. As the contest gathered at the plaza, an unidentified observer weighed the contenders, and Hu Chen Wuding was challenged by a gloomy voice.

• Hu Chen Wuding told Hu Chen Wandong that he had returned to reclaim the Heir of the Lineage position and intended to leave the Hu Chen surname behind afterward.
• Hu Chen Wandong gave Hu Chen Wuding a jade slip about the contest and left angrily, while Uncle Sang urged him to keep the position if he won.
• An ink-robed young man secretly observed the courtyard, assessed Hu Chen Wuding and Li Yan, and considered the contest's other contenders.
• Hu Chen Qiukong led Hu Chen Wuding, Li Yan, and Zhuo Lingfeng to the plaza where the contest would take place the next day.
• Hu Chen Qiukong warned Hu Chen Wuding about Hu Chen Wanli and Hu Chen Jianghai, then an unseen speaker mocked Hu Chen Wuding for returning to compete.

Huchen Wuding faced Huchen Wanli’s threats at the square while preparing for the Huchen Lineage inheritance competition, which tested mastery of the Ghost Domain Poison Scroll rather than cultivation alone. As the contenders and their supporters gathered, Huchen Wandong and other senior family members arrived to begin the event.

• Huchen Wanli confronted Huchen Wuding and released his Foundation Establishment pressure, but the hunched old man blocked it and forced it back upon him.
• Huchen Wuding recalled the childhood humiliations inflicted by Huchen Wanli and Huchen Jianghai and resolved to strip them of their qualifications and dignity.
• Huchen Wuding considered the Ghost Domain Poison Scroll’s cultivation methods and concluded that Huchen Wanli’s unstable Foundation Establishment might mean he was being used as a pawn.
• Huchen Huiqing arrived with four companions, and the Foundation Establishment cultivators among them recognized Zhuo Lingfeng’s openly displayed False Core cultivation.
• Huchen Huiqing warned Huchen Wuding about Huchen Jianghai, while Huchen Wanli and Huchen Jianghai discussed killing Huchen Wuding during the competition.
• Huchen Wandong arrived at the square with the ancestor, other senior figures, and his three wives as more than a thousand spectators watched.

The Huchen Lineage began its heir competition under the watch of Patriarch Huchen and the patriarchs of the Xie, Ye, and Chi families. Huchen Wuding entered the first round, where contestants had to reconstruct medicinal herbs from countless fragments, and the challenge began with tens of thousands of plants splitting apart before him.

• Li Yan observed the Huchen family’s powerful guests as Patriarch Huchen introduced the Xie, Ye, and Chi family patriarchs and noted that the Biexue Sect’s sect master was absent.
• Huchen Tingchun announced a two-round heir competition, and the first round began with contestants reconstructing herbs inside light barriers within half an hour.
• Huchen Wanli threatened Huchen Wuding, while Huchen Huiqing urged Wuding not to be provoked before they entered the plaza.
• Huchen Wandong explained that contestants would be ranked by how many herbs they could reassemble, while Patriarch Huchen privately recognized that the visiting families had misjudged the test.
• Huchen Wuding entered a light barrier, where tens of thousands of medicinal herbs appeared and instantly shattered into more than ten million fragments.

Huchen Wuding and the other contestants faced a surprise test assembling medicinal herbs from countless fragments, which rewarded mastery of the Ghost Realm Poison Scroll and the use of divine sense. As contestants began collapsing from exhaustion, Huchen Wanli was eliminated after assembling 312 herbs, while Wuding had only just begun revealing his approach.

• Huchen Wuding realized the test differed from the information he had received and began scanning the fragments to learn their forms before assembling any herbs.
• Huchen Wanli, Huchen Jianghai, Huchen Huiqing, and Huchen Qiukong quickly assembled herbs, while Wuding remained motionless and his barrier stayed grayish white.
• The crowd noticed Wuding's lack of progress, but halfway through the test his barrier began changing color as he completed ten herbs in fewer than fifty breaths.
• Contestants began emerging exhausted or unconscious, and the crowd learned how many herbs they had assembled, including Huchen Ling's 193 and Huchen Feishan's 170.
• Huchen Wanli reached 312 herbs but collapsed from divine-sense exhaustion before completing another, and Huchen Tingchun appeared as his barrier turned transparent.