Chapter Summaries

Demon Blade failed to find the killer who had wiped out the Jinling branch and suspected the Resisters had helped him escape. Baihu dismissed the search, revealed her history with Judge, and became intrigued by the unknown killer now in the Demon Capital.

• At the north high-speed rail station, Night Watchers recognized wanted robber Zhang San but let him go because his crimes did not affect the balance.
• Demon Blade learned that checkpoint searches had found no trace of the killer and suspected Hong Gui and the Resisters had sheltered him.
• Baihu called Demon Blade and told him to stop worrying if he could not catch the killer.
• Baihu examined an old photograph of herself with Judge and reflected that Judge had become a lackey before a new Resister killed him.
• Baihu looked over the Demon Capital and wondered what the mysterious killer was like, hoping he would not disappoint her.

Dongfang Yueming bought a large collection of Yellow Grade methods and techniques in the Demon Capital, intending to synthesize them into stronger abilities, while learning that Meridian Opening methods and pupil techniques were unavailable on the open market. After he left the Myriad Treasures Pavilion, its attendant marked him as a target for a robbery.

• At Demon Capital Martial University, Chen Hao accepted Purple Gold Barrier-Breaking Pills from Xiao Ya to help him break through to the Blood Transformation Realm Fifth Level and surpass Chu Kuangren.
• Dongfang Yueming visited the Myriad Treasures Pavilion in Black Crow Alley and bought four Yellow Grade Qi Gathering methods, along with numerous movement, combat, concealment, and hidden-weapon Qi Techniques.
• The attendant told Dongfang Yueming that Meridian Opening methods were not sold openly and that pupil techniques had disappeared from the market.
• Dongfang Yueming spent 8.1 million Federation credits, leaving him with 3.9 million, and carried his purchases out of the pavilion.
• After Dongfang Yueming left, the attendant contacted accomplices and identified him as a wealthy target traveling alone.

Dongfang Yueming let Gray Wolf and the Myriad Treasures Pavilion mistake him for an easy target, then crushed Gray Wolf when he tried to rob him. He learned that the Core Black Market sold Meridian Opening methods and ocular techniques before killing Gray Wolf and escaping to find a safe place to improve his skills.

• Gray Wolf followed Dongfang Yueming into the eastern slum ruins, intending to seize his case and sell him to the underground market.
• Dongfang Yueming dropped his disguise and defeated Gray Wolf with a single punch, revealing his Superior Qi Gathering Perfection cultivation.
• Dongfang Yueming severed Gray Wolf’s hand when he tried to use an emergency communicator, then forced him to reveal the Core Black Market as a source of Meridian Opening methods and ocular techniques.
• Gray Wolf refused to disclose the Myriad Treasures Pavilion’s strongest experts, so Dongfang Yueming killed him and vowed to remember the pavilion’s attack.
• Dongfang Yueming used The Ends of the Earth Are Within Reach to leave the ruins and planned to find a safe place to perfect his Yellow Grade materials and synthesize Heaven Grade killing moves.

After Gray Wolf was killed while following Dongfang Yueming, the Myriad Treasures Pavilion investigated the man in black’s purchases and reported them to an elder. The elder concluded that Dongfang Yueming was likely the mysterious killer who had destroyed the Night Watchers’ Jinling City branch and killed the Jinling Judge.

• The Myriad Treasures Pavilion’s monitoring center detected Gray Wolf’s life soul lamp going out and confirmed that he had died in the eastern city ruins.
• The supervisor reviewed footage of Gray Wolf following Dongfang Yueming and questioned Awei about the man’s purchases and questions.
• Awei reported that Dongfang Yueming had bought cultivation methods, concealment Qi Techniques, and requested ocular techniques.
• The supervisor sent a top-secret report to one of the Pavilion’s elders, who recognized the significance of Dongfang Yueming’s requests.
• The elder connected Dongfang Yueming’s ability to kill Gray Wolf instantly with the recent destruction of the Night Watchers’ Jinling City branch and identified him as a likely suspect in the Jinling Judge’s death.

Dongfang Yueming fused his cultivation methods and Qi Techniques into Heaven-grade arts, reaching the peak of the Qi Gathering Realm. He decided to seek the remaining techniques and a Meridian Opening method at Demon Capital’s underground black market, while preparing to settle accounts with the Myriad Treasures Pavilion auction house.

• Dongfang Yueming fused four elemental qi gathering methods and Taixu Heavenly Dipper into the Heaven-grade Chaos Primordial Beginning Qi Gathering True Scripture, attaining Purple Qi Comes from the East.
• Dongfang Yueming fused movement techniques into Taixu Roaming Dragon Heaven-Surpassing Steps and gained the Roaming Dragon Shatters the Void art.
• Dongfang Yueming fused fist, sword, concealment, and unorthodox Qi Techniques into several Heaven-grade techniques and updated his status panel.
• Dongfang Yueming identified the ocular techniques, seal techniques, and Meridian Opening cultivation method he still needed.
• Dongfang Yueming chose to search Demon Capital’s underground black market and vowed to confront the Myriad Treasures Pavilion auction house for sending people to ambush him.

The Myriad Treasures Pavilion elder told Demon Blade that Dongfang Yueming might be the Jinling murderer and urged the Night Watchers to eliminate him. After Baihu dismissed the clue and Demon Blade refused the Pavilion’s offer, the elder plotted to spread it through the black market and revealed his own formidable strength.

• The Tang-suited elder decided Dongfang Yueming threatened the Pavilion’s profitable dealings and reported his purchases and Gray Wolf’s suspected death to Demon Blade.
• Baihu inferred that Dongfang Yueming was trying to improve his cultivation method, but she told Demon Blade to hold his position rather than pursue him.
• Demon Blade rejected the elder’s offer to help search the eastern ruins, and the elder concluded Baihu had suppressed the matter.
• The elder ordered his manager to leak word of Dongfang Yueming’s eastern ruins sightings through the black market and hint that Baihu had blocked action.
• The elder revealed that he was a sixth-level Meridian Opening Realm cultivator with a near-Major Accomplishment Earth Grade Great Wilderness Earth-Splitting Palm.

Hong Gui searched for Dongfang Yueming while Xiahou Ying encountered a predatory campus loan scheme at Demon Capital Martial University. After Hong Gui secretly freed Xiahou Ying from mental enchantment, a message about Gray Wolf's death drew her toward the eastern ruins.

• Hong Gui searched Dongfang Yueming's empty dorm room and deduced he might be at the underground black market or a major auction house.
• Xiahou Ying explored the library's open cultivation resources and reflected on how inaccessible such resources had been in Jinling.
• Senior Li used mental enchantment to persuade Xiahou Ying to sign a campus loan contract, but an unseen mental attack broke his hold over her.
• Hong Gui watched Senior Li leave and received a message linking Gray Wolf's death at the eastern ruins to the person she was searching for.
• Hong Gui hurried to the eastern ruins, while Xiahou Ying realized the campus loan had been a dangerous trap.

Hong Gui tracked Dongfang Yueming to an abandoned air-raid shelter, where he concealed himself with Heaven and Earth Assimilation. After Hong Gui used a seductive ploy to draw him out, she introduced herself and said she wanted to make his acquaintance, leaving him to question whether she intended to capture him for killing a Night Watchers investigator.

• Hong Gui examined Gray Wolf’s corpse, traced the killer’s trail to an abandoned shelter, and suspected he had reached the Meridian Opening Realm.
• Dongfang Yueming sensed Hong Gui approaching and hid himself inside the stone wall using Heaven and Earth Assimilation.
• Hong Gui pretended she had not found anyone and began undressing, prompting Dongfang Yueming to emerge and tell her to stop.
• Dongfang Yueming tried to leave, but Hong Gui dropped her act, introduced herself, and said she wanted to make his acquaintance.
• Dongfang Yueming asked whether Hong Gui planned to capture him and claim the reward for killing a senior investigator of the Great Xia Night Watchers.

Hong Gui revealed that she was a senior cadre of the Great Xia Resisters and explained how the organization survived through idealism, excitement, and powerful families hedging their bets. Dongfang Yueming remained unwilling to join, insisting he would fight the monsters alone.

• Hong Gui introduced herself as a senior cadre of the Great Xia Resisters, surprising Dongfang Yueming with the existence of an organization opposing the authorities and Night Watchers.
• Dongfang Yueming questioned how the Resisters obtained the resources to survive, and Hong Gui said their motives and membership were diverse.
• Hong Gui explained that some wealthy members sought excitement, while others funded the Resisters to protect their families if the system collapsed.
• Dongfang Yueming said he would continue fighting the monsters without the Resisters, and Hong Gui was stunned by his confidence that he could stand alone.

Hong Gui challenged Dongfang Yueming to a fight, offering secret intelligence and whatever else he wanted if he won. After he defeated her, an awkward mishap left them both flustered, and Hong Gui teased him as he pressed her to deliver the promised reward.

• Hong Gui offered Dongfang Yueming secret intelligence and a personal favor if he could beat her, then launched a Meridian Opening Realm ambush.
• Dongfang Yueming dodged Hong Gui's barrage of attacks with his movement techniques until he chose to fight back.
• Dongfang Yueming revealed his top-tier Purple Qi Comes from the East and clashed with Hong Gui's Purple Gauze Heavenly Net: Thousandfold Flower Baleful Qi.
• Dongfang Yueming used Supreme Formless Concealment to appear behind Hong Gui and pin her against a wall, but her damaged clothes tore during the struggle.
• Hong Gui freed herself and covered up, while Dongfang Yueming reminded her of the promised reward.
• Hong Gui approached Dongfang Yueming with a teasing smile and asked if he was eager to claim his reward.

Dongfang Yueming forced Hong Gui to give him a Meridian Opening method after discovering his Top-Tier Qi Gathering Perfection and powerful Qi Technique. Hong Gui handed over a Profound-Grade method and offered to find an Earth-Grade one in a few days.

• Hong Gui recognized Dongfang Yueming's Top-Tier Qi Gathering Perfection and suspected he possessed a Heaven-Grade Qi Technique.
• Dongfang Yueming rejected Hong Gui's advances and demanded a Meridian Opening method.
• When Hong Gui continued teasing him, Dongfang Yueming restrained and struck her until she surrendered.
• Hong Gui gave Dongfang Yueming a jade slip containing the Profound-Grade Azure Wood Nether-Penetrating Art.
• Hong Gui offered to find an Earth-Grade Meridian Opening method for Dongfang Yueming in a few days.

Dongfang Yueming received the Profound Grade Azure Wood Nether-Penetrating Art from Hong Gui and learned about the Demon Capital’s powerful factions and the Myriad Treasures Pavilion’s defenses. He cultivated to Meridian Opening Realm Perfection and set out to take revenge on the auction house and search its treasury for more meridian-opening arts.

• Hong Gui gave Dongfang Yueming the Azure Wood Nether-Penetrating Art and a Cloud Hotel key card, then explained the Demon Capital’s major families, the Night Watchers, and the Myriad Treasures Pavilion’s strength.
• Dongfang Yueming returned to his secluded basement and used the system to learn the art, advancing from the first level of Meridian Opening to Perfection.
• Dongfang Yueming unlocked all his extraordinary meridians and reached Middle-Tier Perfection, greatly increasing his power.
• Dongfang Yueming headed toward the Myriad Treasures Pavilion auction house to settle the score for its attempt to kill him and search its treasury for meridian-opening arts.

Qinglong learned that the Pan Family was trying to manipulate the Night Watchers into targeting the killer of Gray Wolf, and he chose to stay out of the conflict while secretly preparing to take a powerful pill. After the Li Family announced a purge of the Pan Family, Qinglong agreed not to interfere, killed his subordinate, and watched a mysterious entity emerge in his office.

• Qinglong heard that Gray Wolf had been killed and that Baihu had suppressed the investigation, then concluded the Pan Family was trying to sow discord and use him against the killer.
• Qinglong ordered his subordinate to guard the office while he entered seclusion, then opened a hidden box containing a dark purple pill he believed could help him reach the Sea of Consciousness realm.
• A Li Family elder arrived and told Qinglong that the Li Family and the military would purge the Pan Family and the Myriad Treasures Pavilion, asking the Night Watchers to stand aside.
• Qinglong agreed not to interfere, then killed the subordinate who had been standing behind him after the Li Family elder left.
• A grotesque entity made of writhing dark red flesh and eyeballs emerged from a distortion in the office air.

Dongfang Yueming watched the three great families and the Night Watchers destroy the Pan Family during a crackdown on its dealings with Variants. With the Pan Family’s estate under attack and its assets up for grabs, he saw a chance to fish in troubled waters.

• A mysterious entity devoured a Blood Transformation Realm subordinate and told Qinglong that a new master was about to emerge.
• Dongfang Yueming infiltrated a Pan Family warehouse where the family traded civilian martial artists to Variants for blood soul grass.
• As Dongfang Yueming prepared to attack, the three great families and the Night Watchers stormed the warehouse and killed the Pan Family and Variant forces.
• The three great families’ elders attacked the Pan Family patriarch at his estate, and he burned his lifespan in a desperate fight against them.
• Dongfang Yueming watched the purge and decided to take advantage of the chaos to fish in troubled waters.

After the Myriad Treasures Pavilion fell, its Tang-suited elder fled with valuables, but Dongfang Yueming intercepted and killed him. Dongfang Yueming took the elder’s sword, black card, and earth-grade Meridian Opening method, bringing him closer to his goal of synthesizing a heaven-grade method.

• The Tang-suited elder learned that the Pan Family patriarch and the Myriad Treasures Pavilion’s trading point had fallen, then escaped through a hidden passage with valuables.
• Dongfang Yueming spotted the elder fleeing and used Taixu Roaming Dragon Heaven-Surpassing Steps to intercept him in a wilderness forest.
• The elder attacked Dongfang Yueming with Great Wilderness Earth-Splitting Palm, but Dongfang Yueming erased the technique with Sumeru Mustard Seed Formless Slaughter and killed him instantly.
• Dongfang Yueming searched the elder’s storage bag and took a top-tier Federation black card and an S-grade longsword.
• Dongfang Yueming opened a jade box and learned the earth-grade Vast Earth Bears All Things Meridian Opening Art.

Dongfang Yueming fused two Meridian Opening arts into an earth-grade scripture and returned to Demon Capital Martial University, where he uncovered a student union scheme to traffic students through predatory contracts. The chapter ended with two university directors ordering him to sign one of those contracts.

• Dongfang Yueming used the system to perfect the Vast Earth Bears All Things Meridian Opening Art and fuse it with the Azure Wood Nether-Penetrating Art, obtaining the Great Wilderness Creation Meridian Opening True Scripture.
• He reached Upper-Tier Meridian Opening Perfection and sensed a large battle involving several True Power Realm cultivators in downtown Demon Capital, but chose to return to the university.
• A Mutual Aid Association officer tried to make Dongfang Yueming sign a contract that would claim his body and belongings if he failed to meet its cultivation terms or died.
• Dongfang Yueming recognized the contract as part of an operation trafficking students and refused, then challenged the officer about the university's involvement.
• Director Zhao and Director Li arrived, endorsed the Mutual Aid Association, and ordered Dongfang Yueming to sign the contract.

Dongfang Yueming killed two disciplinary directors and a young man who tried to force him into signing a blood-backed contract, then vanished from Demon Capital Martial University. Meanwhile, the three great families had crushed the Pan Family, and the Wu Family arrived at the warehouse where its surviving members were held.

• Dongfang Yueming revealed Meridian Opening Perfection strength after the directors and the young man demanded he sign the contract.
• Dongfang Yueming killed Director Zhao and Director Li with a single attack, then crushed the young man's throat with true qi.
• Dongfang Yueming rejected his auditing-student status, stomped the contract into the blood, and disappeared using The Horizon Within Reach.
• The three great families imprisoned hundreds of Pan Family members after killing the Pan Family patriarch and wiping out its leading fighters.
• Several dozen members of the Wu Family entered the warehouse, their robes tearing as they reached its center.

The three great families fed the Pan Family’s captured experts to the Wu Family’s xenomorphs, unaware that the creatures planned to use the blood and energy to break the seal beyond the Demon Capital and summon their king. Li Canghai learned the purge had succeeded and asked what his daughter Hong Gui had been doing in the underground world.

• The Wu Family revealed their xenomorph forms, and the Li Family elder ordered them to feast on the chained Pan Family members.
• The three great families’ elders discussed using the Wu Family xenomorphs to produce True Power-grade essence blood while Sea of Consciousness Realm patriarchs watched over them.
• The Wu Family patriarch secretly told the xenomorphs they would sacrifice themselves to break the boundary seal and welcome their king.
• The Li Family elder reported to Li Canghai that the Pan Family patriarch was dead, its assets had been divided, and its captured experts were being fed to the Wu Family.
• Li Canghai asked what Hong Gui had been stirring up in the Demon Capital’s underground world.

Li Canghai defended the three great families’ destruction of the Pan Family, while Hong Gui warned that feeding its experts to the Wu Family’s mutants could unleash a catastrophe. She left after telling her father she planned to give the Li Family’s Earth-Grade Meridian Opening Method to an outsider, whom Li Canghai suspected was the mysterious killer from Jinling.

• A Li Family elder reported that Hong Gui had been recruiting for the Resisters and seeking contact with the mysterious killer, but Li Canghai let her act freely.
• Hong Gui learned that the three great families had wiped out the Pan Family and realized its experts had been used as premium feed for the mutants.
• Hong Gui rushed to the Li Family estate and accused Li Canghai of risking the Demon Capital by feeding the Wu Family’s Purple-Winged Demon Bats.
• Li Canghai said the Pan Family had to die for secretly allying with a powerful family in the Capital and trying to become a fourth power in the Demon Capital.
• Hong Gui warned her father that he might be devoured by the mutants he had raised, then announced she would give the Li Family’s Earth-Grade Meridian Opening Method to an outsider.
• Li Canghai suspected Hong Gui planned to give the method to the mysterious killer from Jinling and resolved to cover for her if necessary.

Baihu challenged the Night Watchers’ decision to let the three great families destroy the Pan Family, while a hidden agent announced that the Capital would enter the Demon Capital’s power struggle. At Demon Capital Martial University, Dongfang Yueming planned to visit the black market before an announcement revealed that Capital Martial University and the Long Family had arrived.

• Baihu learned that Qinglong had approved the three great families’ purge of the Pan Family, then warned the Night Watchers’ supreme commander that the resulting feeding of Variants could make them much stronger.
• The commander told Baihu that the three Sea of Consciousness Realm ancestors had pressured the Night Watchers with Variant essence blood, and ordered her to accept the decision.
• A concealed agent reported the Pan Family’s destruction to his Family Head, who ordered the Capital to enter the Demon Capital’s game and reshuffle the board.
• Instructor Wang warned the exchange students to keep a low profile, while Lin Feng bragged to Dongfang Yueming about a Stage-Breaking Pill he had obtained through a campus loan.
• Dongfang Yueming considered using his fortune to acquire materials for his techniques and planned to meet Hong Gui at the Cloud Hotel.
• The university announced that the Capital Martial University delegation and the Long Family’s core inspection team had arrived, setting off an uproar across campus.