Chapter Summaries

After advancing the Taotie Method, Ren Qing explored ways to nourish his soul and suppress soul aberration while cultivating in the Stomach within Stomach. He narrowly escaped the Dao of Non-action Dojo’s maggots and reached the Secret Treasure Pavilion, where he hoped to find useful Arts.

• Ren Qing advanced the Taotie Method and found that the Ghost Wolf subdued the other Eerie Object in his Prison Within the Stomach, while the Husky had grown large enough to serve as a mount.
• Ren Qing spoke with Li Fangtan, who revealed he had been imprisoned for thirteen years, and dismissed the trapped prisoners’ pleas to free them.
• Ren Qing restrained Fei Du Soul, swallowed some of its eyeballs, and discovered they nourished his Main Soul before the Bottle Imp warned him not to kill it.
• Ren Qing began investigating a Fabricated Art to suppress soul aberration and decided to wait until he advanced to the Yin Messenger Realm before acting on the prisoners.
• Ren Qing rode a corpse toward the Doushuai Palace, attracted the pond maggots with his splashing, and escaped them by leaping onto a smaller corpse and swimming to a lotus leaf.
• Ren Qing reached the Secret Treasure Pavilion and recognized it as a place that stored books on Arts.

Ren Qing explored the ruined Secret Treasure Pavilion and discovered that the Dao of Non-action Monastery’s cultivation system relied on parasitic Heavenly Dao Worms. After uncovering a hidden passage, he prepared to investigate it, prioritizing the Forbidden Guards.

• Ren Qing opened the Secret Treasure Pavilion with the Dao Ancestor’s arm and copied maps showing Jingzhou, Xiangxiang, and places beyond them.
• Ren Qing found recent barefoot footprints and collected the Entry Methods, which he suspected had been used to spread the monastery’s influence into Xiangxiang.
• Ren Qing examined the Xuantian Method and learned that the monastery’s Arts cultivated Heavenly Dao Worms that gradually took over and transformed their hosts.
• Ren Qing inferred that Jailer Hall had disrupted the worm’s spread by removing Internal Cultivation from the martial arts manuals and considered the possibility that corpses had resisted the worms.
• Ren Qing noticed an uneven wall, triggered a hidden mechanism, and opened a dark passage.

Ren Qing discovered that the Dao of Non-action Monastery had tried to help mortals cultivate, but its experiments left them dead or altered by the Heavenly Dao Worms. After a Wraith killed his Split Soul, he found that the blank-tombstone graves held numerous Sons of Heavenly Dao and returned to the secret passage to retrieve its manuals.

• Ren Qing explored an underground temple and found coffins containing the remains of mortals who had died trying to cultivate the Jailer Method and Beast Pen method.
• Ren Qing recovered several manuals, including the Divine Incarnation Technique, but a Wraith killed his Split Soul before he could investigate further.
• Ren Qing healed his soul by consuming an eyeball from the Fei Du Soul and returned to the Dao of Non-action Dojo with his avatar.
• Ren Qing dug up graves with blank Tombstones and discovered that each held a Son of Heavenly Dao, including one who had mastered the Divine Incarnation Technique.
• Ren Qing concluded that a mad Son of Heavenly Dao had killed his Split Soul and decided to carry one of the corpses into the secret passage to retrieve the manuals.

Ren Qing’s Split Soul witnessed Son of Heavenly Dao awaken and Aberrate into a monstrous soul before briefly regaining control through a corpse. Ren Qing retrieved the Divine Incarnation Technique, learned its true cost from the Information Flow, and decided not to cultivate it.

• Ren Qing carried Son of Heavenly Dao’s corpse to the little temple, where the statue awakened and crumbled as Son of Heavenly Dao’s monstrous soul emerged.
• Son of Heavenly Dao’s strange cry roused the corpses in the coffins, but he fused with his corpse and briefly restored order around the temple.
• Ren Qing entered the temple and took the Divine Incarnation Technique manual before following Son of Heavenly Dao outside the Secret Treasure Pavilion.
• Son of Heavenly Dao saw the ruined monastery and the corpses in the pond, then lost his remaining sanity as his body melted, so Ren Qing withdrew his Split Soul.
• Ren Qing read the manual’s warnings and learned that the Divine Incarnation Technique used the body as firewood, consumed part of the soul to form the Supreme Heavenly Demon, and could temporarily block its gaze.
• Ren Qing rejected cultivating the technique and examined his remaining Arts, where he found an unexpected gain.

Ren Qing explored Fire Refining Palace and discovered how the Dao of Non-action Monastery used parasitized corpses and a young Heavenly Dao Worm to refine Artifacts. He decided to cultivate Shadowless Ghost as a possible way to control Fire Refining Palace, but the active worms in the Pond left the danger of the Heavenly Dao Egg unresolved.

• Ren Qing rejected Corpse Dog Art and chose to consider Shadowless Ghost, planning to wait until the Human Skin Book reached the Ghost Envoy Realm before deciding how to cultivate it.
• Ren Qing replenished his resources at the Ghost Market, reopened Great Dream Artifact Forging, and planned to seek artifact-refining methods in Fire Refining Palace.
• After fourteen days, Ren Qing entered the Dao of Non-action Dojo and found the maggots in the Pond subdued, allowing him to swim to Fire Refining Palace.
• Ren Qing discovered that Fire Refining Palace contained a trapped young Heavenly Dao Worm connected to corpses being used to nurture Artifacts.
• Ren Qing realized Son of Heavenly Dao had considered using Shadowless Ghost to replace himself as the host for the Heavenly Dao Egg, and Ren Qing decided to cultivate the Art himself.
• Ren Qing left Fire Refining Palace troubled by the Heavenly Dao Egg as the young Heavenly Dao Worms in the Pond became active again.

Ren Qing advanced the Shadowless Ghost along the Shadow Warrior path and chose the Netherworld Cultivation Method as a possible way to host a Heavenly Dao Worm. He began training the Ghost Shadow in its Entry Method, but its slow progress left it unclear whether it could safely approach the worms.

• Ren Qing tested the newly mastered Shadowless Ghost, studied its three aberration paths, and chose the Shadow Warrior path as the best fit for hosting a Heavenly Dao Worm.
• Ren Qing advanced the Ghost Shadow to the Ghost Envoy Realm, where it possessed his body, greatly strengthened his defenses, and could absorb transferred injuries.
• Ren Qing organized the Information Flow’s display of his Arts and resolved to keep the Shadowless Ghost’s realm above that of the Heavenly Dao Method.
• Ren Qing searched his collected texts, discovered the Netherworld Cultivation Method for placing a Heavenly Dao Egg in the intestines and stomach, and decided he needed to reach the Hall of Non-action.
• Ren Qing used the Mirror Immortal’s illusion to help the Ghost Shadow practice the Nether Sea Qi Cultivation Method, but after more than half a month it had only barely begun learning it.

Ren Qing sent Ghost Shadow into the Dao of Non-action Dojo to search for the Netherworld Cultivation Method and its Heavenly Dao Egg, but a Giant Maggot nearly devoured it. He found the method and, after encountering the unstable Son of Heavenly Dao, obtained an egg and left the dojo to prepare for cultivation.

• Ren Qing guided Ghost Shadow through the pond toward the Hall of Non-action, where a Giant Maggot swallowed most of it, but Ghost Shadow escaped with the Split Soul and reached the hall.
• Ren Qing searched the Tianshu acupoint cave dwelling, found Huang Qi’s annotated Netherworld Cultivation Method, and began searching other cave dwellings for a Heavenly Dao Egg.
• The Son of Heavenly Dao confronted Ren Qing, but Ghost Shadow’s return made Ren Qing’s aura match the Entry Method, and the Son mistook him for Huang Qi.
• Ren Qing told the Son of Heavenly Dao that he lacked a Heavenly Dao Egg, so the Son went to fetch one and gave him a porcelain bottle containing a young Heavenly Dao Worm.
• Ren Qing withdrew from the Dao of Non-action Dojo with the Heavenly Dao Egg and planned to let Ghost Shadow recover before cultivating the Netherworld Cultivation Method.

Ren Qing finished his secluded cultivation, tested the Ghost Shadow’s progress in the Netherworld Cultivation Method, and returned to the Fire Refining Hall after months away. He reunited with Xiao Wu and discovered a long-delayed message hidden beneath a frozen Nether Crow.

• Ren Qing had the Ghost Shadow cultivate with a Heavenly Dao Egg, which took root and produced Nether Essence; Information Flow showed that advancing to a Nether Spiritual Root would cost fifty-five years of lifespan.
• After mastering his final Art, Ren Qing left the Stomach within Stomach and accepted Li Fangtan’s jade pendant and request to tell Li Er not to wait for him.
• Ren Qing returned to the Fire Refining Hall and learned from Xiao Wu that Spring Festival was near and Xiao Wu had moved his family to a courtyard in the northern outskirts.
• While clearing snow in the courtyard, Ren Qing found a frozen Nether Crow that delivered a yellowed slip of paper before it turned into minced flesh.

Ren Qing learned that Zhang Mu had vanished while escorting a mysterious shipment to Annan Town, and that thousands of people who had spoken with him received strange notes. After receiving a task to retrieve Shore Flowers, Ren Qing realized the Jailer Hall might use them to summon a lost soul.

• Ren Qing used a Netherfeather to contact Huang Ziwang about Zhang Mu's note and visited Butcher Zhang during the New Year festivities.
• Huang Ziwang told Ren Qing that Zhang Mu had disappeared while escorting a shipment to Annan Town and that 7,564 people had received mysterious notes after speaking with him.
• Ren Qing learned that Forbidden Guards were searching the road to Annan Town, while Huang Ziwang said Zhang Mu's disappearance was connected to a separate task there.
• A Nether Crow delivered Ren Qing a task to retrieve several thousand jin of flowers and herbs from Annan Town.
• Huang Ziwang revealed that the Jailer Hall's Shore Flower could help summon a lost soul, leading Ren Qing to suspect the Hall planned to use the Soul Summoning Technique again.

Ren Qing rescued Xiao Wu’s younger brother from the Mud River Gang, whose members were cultivating the Eye-less Method by consuming human eyes. After the gang leader’s death and the arrests, Ren Qing celebrated the new year with his companions, visited Madam Chen, and prepared to leave for Annan Town.

• Ren Qing found Xiao Wu blocked from taking Xiao San’er home from a martial arts school and traced the school to the Mud River Gang.
• Ren Qing entered the gang’s compound, defeated its members, and found Fat Dragon consuming human eyes to cultivate the Eye-less Method.
• Ren Qing rescued seven or eight boys with missing left eyes and killed Fat Dragon, noticing a strange line on his body resembling marks in Zhang Mu’s note.
• Ren Qing contacted the Jailer Hall, and Xu Shilin arrived as the authorities arrested the gang members.
• Ren Qing returned to the Fire Refining Hall, visited Madam Chen after the new year, then received Huang Ziwang’s notice and prepared to travel to Annan Town.

Ren Qing and the others traveled to Annan Town on Husky, where a strange clue revealed a Forbidden Zone resembling a giant’s kitchen. Near town, Ren Qing discovered that the Shore Flowers grew on a rib from Abhidi Hell that collected the souls of the dead.

• Ren Qing released Husky and rode with Huang Ziwang and Lu Xiaoyu toward Annan Town.
• Near Anshan Mountain, Ren Qing used a scented slip of paper to glimpse a vast kitchen where a giant made of moldy rice and maggots cooked human limbs and eyeballs with Tamarix grass.
• Ren Qing reported what he had seen, including the possible connection to Fat Dragon, to Miss Bai and the arriving Forbidden Guards.
• Husky ate hunted flesh and blood, then carried the group to Annan Town by nightfall.
• Ren Qing examined the Shore Flowers with his Double Pupils and saw that they grew on a rib from Abhidi Hell that absorbed nearby souls.
• Huang Ziwang told Ren Qing that ordinary people’s souls scattered when they died, while cultivators’ souls were devoured by Eerie Objects.

Ren Qing and his companions arrived in Annan Town, where Mu Yi warned them to stay indoors at night and they learned the Shore Flowers drew remnant souls. During Chou Shi, Ren Qing witnessed the souls merge into a Tiger Ghost, which Ghost Shadow devoured, then followed wealthy townspeople to a dilapidated Daoist temple to investigate the town’s nighttime mystery.

• Mu Yi sent a sparrow to warn Ren Qing, Huang Ziwang, and Lu Xiaoyu not to leave their rooms at night.
• Huang Ziwang explained that Ksitigarbha King’s ribs had grown among the Shore Flowers after the Jailer Hall performed the Soul Summoning Technique.
• Lu Xiaoyu encountered an eerie old woman who vanished, and the innkeeper told them Annan Town’s residents stayed indoors during Chou Shi.
• At Chou Shi, Ren Qing saw remnant souls gather into a Tiger Ghost, which Ghost Shadow absorbed before retreating.
• Ren Qing spotted wealthy townspeople heading to a dilapidated Daoist temple and followed them with his Split Soul.

Ren Qing watched Forbidden Guards gather residual souls during the Night of a Hundred Ghosts, then revealed his strength by defeating Yu Dachuan’s challenge and consuming a powerful ghost. He returned to his guest room as the night ended, expecting the competition for residual souls to intensify over the coming days.

• Ren Qing saw Yu Dachuan use a ritual to rejuvenate a wealthy merchant while draining the merchant’s life, then witnessed Water Gourd gather most of Annan Town’s residual souls.
• Ren Qing searched for nearby Forbidden Guards and saw Yu Dachuan, Bat Man, and Wan Qi collect residual souls as they eyed one another warily.
• Yu Dachuan and Wan Qi prepared to fight over a powerful Mountain Ape Ghost, but Ren Qing arrived first and swallowed it with Ghost Shadow.
• Yu Dachuan attacked Ren Qing, who used Dragon Snake Spine and Ghost Shadow to repel him despite concealing his Ghost Envoy Realm Art.
• Wan Qi warned that dawn had come, and the Forbidden Guards withdrew as Ren Qing returned to his guest room.

Ren Qing investigated the Shore Flower Field and learned that Jailer Hall used lingering souls and Ksitigarbha King’s blood to cultivate the flowers, while Forbidden Guards made preparations for the next Night of a Hundred Ghosts. As Chou Shi approached, the flowers burst through Mu Yi’s vine seal, and Ren Qing sensed that something savage was about to emerge.

• Ren Qing, Huang Ziwang, and Lu Xiaoyu visited the Shore Flower Field, where Mu Yi warned Ren Qing that the anomalies would grow more dangerous as the Shore Flowers neared blooming.
• Mu Yi explained that the Shore Flowers were watered with lingering souls mixed with Ksitigarbha King’s blood, and their approaching bloom attracted increasingly strange souls.
• Ren Qing observed Yu Dachuan using consecrated artifacts to select elderly worshippers as targets, while Wan Qi’s face-patterned kites drained some of the children’s yang energy.
• Ren Qing waited in the inn at night and watched the Shore Flower Field with his Double Pupils as Mu Yi sealed it beneath her vines.
• As Chou Shi drew near, dull thumps came from the hill, then part of the Shore Flowers burst through the vines and Ren Qing sensed a savage presence within.

Ren Qing discovered that the Shore Flower transformed remnant souls and gathered spiritual light, then fought through the Night of a Hundred Ghosts while the Forbidden Guards competed for souls. The chapter left him facing a fused Beast Ghost whose cry reminded him of the Heavenly Demon from the Dao of Non-action Dojo.

• Ren Qing recognized that the Shore Flower resembled a soul artifact and watched it bloom after consuming remnant souls and spiritual light.
• Water Gourd killed a half-human, half-mosquito Forbidden Guard and claimed remnant souls, while Zhang Yu searched for an unguarded area to hunt.
• Ren Qing struck Zhang Yu down when he attacked remnant souls near the inn, forcing him to withdraw from the Night of a Hundred Ghosts.
• Ren Qing used Dragon Snake Spine, the Mirror Immortal, and Ghost Shadow to slaughter Beast Ghosts and absorb remnant souls.
• Two Beast Ghosts fused, and Ren Qing recognized their cry as resembling the sound made by a Heavenly Demon.

Ren Qing used Ghost Shadow’s illusion and the Dao of Non-action Dojo to outmaneuver other Forbidden Guards while preparing to advance Shadowless Ghost. As Water Gourd withdrew and the Shore Flowers opened further, Ren Qing began gathering lingering souls in West of the City, determined to complete the advancement that night.

• Ren Qing made the Forbidden Guards see an illusion while Ghost Shadow devoured the giant Beast Ghost, then returned to his guest room with many ghosts inside it.
• The Heavenly Dao Worm rapidly absorbed lingering souls through Ghost Shadow, prompting Ren Qing to decide to advance Shadowless Ghost to the Ghost Envoy Realm that night.
• Ren Qing projected his Split Soul into the Dao of Non-action Dojo and used the Twin Nightmare Demon and Mirror Man to draw several Forbidden Guards’ consciousnesses into the Council Hall.
• As three quarters of the Shore Flowers bloomed, Water Gourd collected half the lingering souls and announced he would stop interfering the following night.
• Ren Qing went to West of the City and used the Dragon Snake Spine to imprison lingering souls in the Prison Within the Stomach, while Yu Dachuan felt relieved and nearby Forbidden Guards grew resentful.

Ren Qing harvested remnant souls in Annan Town and advanced Ghost Shadow to the Ghost Envoy Realm, while learning that the Beast Pen cultivators were parts of the Supreme Heavenly Demon. As the Night of a Hundred Ghosts began, the Forbidden Guards descended into madness and Ren Qing watched from safety.

• Ren Qing collected more than a thousand remnant souls, drove off the Forbidden Guards who tried to stop him, and returned to the inn to feed Ghost Shadow.
• Ren Qing guided Ghost Shadow through its advancement while suppressing the Heavenly Dao Egg, and Son of Heavenly Dao appeared in the Dao of Non-action Dojo.
• Ghost Shadow became the Yin Ghost Demon Shadow, and Son of Heavenly Dao explained that the Supreme Heavenly Demon was the origin of all things before fully transforming into a Black Goat.
• Ren Qing realized that Beast Pen cultivators contributed to a shared Supreme Heavenly Demon consciousness and resolved to move the Dao of Non-action Dojo's resources into the Prison Within the Stomach.
• The Night of a Hundred Ghosts began, the Forbidden Guards fought and absorbed Beast Ghosts until remnant souls influenced them, and Wan Qi lamented that the night should not be like this.

Water Gourd refined Yu Dachuan into a Flesh-and-Blood Gourd, absorbed the Beast Ghosts and reclaimed the remnant souls from the Forbidden Guards, then attacked Ren Qing for his own souls. Ren Qing escaped the fight with an Illusion, but the Shore Flower transformed Zhang Mu into a human form as an unknown Forbidden Zone afflicted the town.

• Water Gourd turned Yu Dachuan into a Flesh-and-Blood Gourd and used it to suck the Beast Ghosts into itself.
• Water Gourd drew the undigested remnant souls out of the Forbidden Guards, while Ren Qing warned Huang Ziwang and Lu Xiaoyu to stay inside and contact Song Zongwu.
• Ren Qing manifested Ghost Shadow Possession and confronted Water Gourd, who shot a droplet through his heart and pursued him with ice crystals.
• Ren Qing used an Illusion to escape Annan Town, leaving Water Gourd stunned by his retreat.
• The Shore Flower formed a human figure from flesh and severed limbs, which Ren Qing recognized as Zhang Mu.
• Chaotic lines spread across nearly everyone in town, the exposed Forbidden Guards vanished, and a voice declared, “Food was the common people's heaven...”

After the Immortal Devouring Forbidden Zone swallowed people from Annan Town, Ren Qing awoke inside it in an unfamiliar body and discovered a way to escape by collapsing his Split Soul. Song Zongwu received a slip depicting a mountain village, giving the Forbidden Guards a possible lead on the zone’s location.

• Water Gourd realized the Shore Flower Field had been used to conceal the forbidden zone, contacted Jailer Hall, and learned about the Immortal Devouring Method.
• Ren Qing woke in a sealed cave without access to most of his Arts and found himself in an enormous kitchen where a Grain Giant fed captured citizens to plant-like rats.
• Ren Qing discovered that the rats transformed as they ate grain, and that his own body was changing as his fingernails turned into coarse salt.
• Ren Qing followed the rats to a Stone Wall that showed a mountain village, then used the Twin Nightmare Demon’s power to collapse his Split Soul and escape the forbidden zone.
• Song Zongwu received a slip from a Nether Crow showing the mountain village, giving the Forbidden Guards a new lead.

Ren Qing recovered enough to observe the townspeople and Forbidden Guards trapped in the Grain Giant’s iron cage, where Insect Men treated the townspeople kindly while the Forbidden Zone consumed Eerie Objects. After witnessing the Grain Giant capture and feed a Chameleon Eerie Object, Ren Qing remained trapped as the people of Annan Town began craving and eating raw poultry under the Zone’s influence.

• Ren Qing awoke in the iron cage, healed his damaged soul with Yin-Yang Eyes, and saw Huang Ziwang, Yu Dachuan, other Forbidden Guards, the townspeople, and the Insect Men trapped with him.
• Ren Qing watched the Insect Men provide food and shelter to the townspeople while searching the amber corpses for a mysterious liquid.
• A Chameleon Forbidden Guard began thrashing, and the Grain Giant bound and swallowed its Eerie Object before feeding it steamed pork with rice flour, causing Chameleon hatchlings to scatter into the stove.
• The Grain Giant pulled a giant Whole Chicken from its body as if preparing another dish.
• Days later, the townspeople developed an intense craving for poultry and began eating it raw, while the Water Gourd consumed more than a hundred chickens without retaining the food.